The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Fantastic Negrito, “Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?” (Cooking Vinyl)
The Oakland roots artist is two for two thus far: Both of his albums released under his current stage name won Grammys for best contemporary blues album. And the third album may just be strong enough to extend the streak (the anguish in his voice on “How Long,” which he sends to “all my baby Al Capones,” is a particular standout).
He didn’t need it, but his Oakland cred is confirmed with the appearance of Bay Area rap legend E-40 on “Searching for Captain Save a Hoe.”
Oakland’s Fantastic Negrito: ‘Great opportunities to just be a human being right now’
Bruce Hornsby, “Non-Secure Connection” (Thirty Tigers)
Just a year after returning to solo work with the well-reviewed “Absolute Zero,” Hornsby continues his hot streak with a collection of jazzy pop songs on topics ranging from civil rights to AAU basketball. The collaboration-heavy album includes guest spots from soul songwriter Jamila Woods, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, James Mercer of the Shins, Vernon Reed of the legendary hard rock band Living Colour and, via an unreleased demo, the late, great troubadour Leon Russell.
Kiesza, “Crave” (Zebra Spirit Tribe)
It’s been six years since the Canadian singer-songwriter has released a full album, and the intervening years were no vacation. She felt the highs of collaborations with Diplo and Skrillex (the high-charting “Take Ü There”), Pitbull and Duran Duran, but the low came with a car accident in 2017 that caused a traumatic brain injury. Her new album, though, returns Kiesza to her proper place as a pop star who knows how to get people dancing around the world.
Biffy Clyro, “A Celebration of Endings” (14th Floor)
Happy 25th anniversary to the Scottish alt-rock trio, which returns for its eighth studio album and its first in four years. If, instead of leaning so heavily into nu-metal in the early 2000s, American alternative music had become a little more melodic, then Biffy Clyro could have become a massive act in the U.S.; a song like “Instant History” is paced almost exactly like a Linkin Park track, but with the guitar simply turned up to 9 rather than 11.
Dave East, “Karma 3” (Def Jam)
After putting out music in the form of mixtapes and singles stretching back to at least 2010, the Harlem rapper finally released his debut album, “Survival,” in 2019. That was part of a massive year for East, who also starred as Method Man in Hulu’s “Wu Tang: An American Saga,” which premiered last September.
“Karma 3” picks up where East left off: street tales from a man who once lived that hustler’s life. “Know How I Feel” features a surprise drop-in from Mary J. Blige, and is a great synopsis of the last decade of East’s life.
EPs, COVERS, ODDS & ENDS
Jordin Sparks, “Sounds Like Me” (Disrupt)
“Sounds Like Me” is Sparks’ first solo collection of music since 2015’s “Right Here Right Now” — in the meantime, the R&B singer-songwriter got married, had a child, hosted a web series focusing on her baking and performed on Broadway. Single “Red Sangria” is a dancing-while-cooking smash, while “Unknown” is a throwback ballad reminiscent of Toni Braxton or SWV.
Tori Kelly, “Solitude” (Capitol)
Kelly’s five-track collection features a Drake cover (“Time Flies,” bringing back that acoustic guitar/hip-hop cover trend) and four originals, all written during quarantine. It finds her in a seemingly happy place, which enlivens her coffeehouse R&B vibe. She spent early lockdown recording “QuaranTEA with Tori,” chatting with artists like gospel singer Kirk Franklin, Sheryl Crow and Alessia Cara, among many others.
Emma Swift, “Blonde on the Tracks,” (Tiny Ghost)
Swift also provides some throwback tunes. As her album name may indicate, she goes full Dylan with eight covers, including seven from 1965 to 1975 (and one, “I Contain Multitudes,” from just this April). There’s a purity to this collection that allows both Dylan’s poetry and Swift’s emotion to shine; she embodies tracks like “Simple Twist of Fate” in a way that makes it feel like she wrote it herself.
Tanya Donelly and the Parkington Sisters, “(self-titled)” (American Laundry)
Donelly — formerly of college rock acts Throwing Muses, the Breeders (pre-“Cannonball”) and Belly — takes on a wide range of artists on this covers record, including Leonard Cohen (an almost mournful “Dance Me to the End of Love”) and Kirsty MacColl (“Days,” originally written by the Kinks, and with perfect harmony provided by the Parkington Sisters).
#ICYMI
Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” (Atlantic)
Two of the biggest names in music — hip-hop, pop, any sort of music — released this collaboration on Aug. 7, and it’s hard to figure out how to write about it in what’s considered a family publication. The X-rated song is an irresistible banger, with a video that is not safe for almost any workplace (good thing many of us are at home, huh?). Let’s just say it’s destined for a long life in strip clubs across the country.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Jai Uttal, “Behind the Walls” (self-released)
Uttal, who mixes Indian influences into American rock and jazz into a fusion he calls on his website “world spirit music,” first began performing in prisons in the 1970s while touring with spiritual teacher Ram Dass (who is often credited as popularizing yoga in the West with his book “Be Here Now”). Here, he calls attention to the current plight of the prisoners of San Quentin, the infamous penitentiary that has been ravaged by the coronavirus, with hundreds infected. “No one is looking, no one is talking, no one is watching,” he sings over an acoustic guitar and a mournful trumpet.
YOUR STAY-AT-HOME DANCE BREAK
Tegan and Sara, “I’ll Be Back Someday (Tracy Young Extended Remix)” (Warner)
Last year’s “Hey, I’m Just Like You,” a collection of high school demo tracks revisited and turned into synth-pop gems, gets the dance-floor treatment with a compilation of remixes from Tegan and Sara’s co-conspirators. For the original album’s first single, the duo connects with Tracy Young, who has added her house-leaning touch to songs by Madonna, Enrique Iglesias and Rihanna, among others. Young’s take is a dance-floor throwback, a ’90s-feeling house beat, free of EDM’s overbuilt bass drops. Choose the extended remix over Young’s regular one; the former is 2½ minutes longer, and you deserve the extra dancing time.