The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW MUSIC
Blackpink, “The Album” (YG/Interscope)
The Korean girl group sold more than 750,000 copies of “The Album” within a week after accepting preorders, in case you’re wondering what next week’s No. 1 album will be. The lyric video for the second single “Ice Cream” features Selena Gomez and was streamed almost 250 million times in its first three weeks. The foursome is likely to be inescapable for the near future.
Bon Jovi, “Bon Jovi: 2020” (Island)
Two songs relevant to the year have been added to the track list since the band delayed the record from its May release date to Friday, Oct. 2: “Do What You Can,” about banding together to fight COVID-19, and “American Reckoning,” about the death of George Floyd.
Aloe Blacc, “All Love Everything” (BMG)
“All Love Everything” is the soul singer-songwriter’s first album of new material in seven years. His eclectic sonic palette is apparent in the Caribbean vibes of “Nothing Left But You,” the country-blues of “Corner,” and folkie album closer “Harvard.” He has said that he considers his songwriting to be less about a specific genre and more about an overarching anthemic feeling; “My Way,” with its gospel choir and uplifting chorus, fits the descriptor perfectly.
YG, “My Life 4Hunnid” (Def Jam)
The “FDT” rapper continued that radio-unfriendly title trend this year with “FTP” (hint: the last two letters stand for “the Police”), which became an anthem for some protestors over the summer. He recorded this, his fifth album, entirely during the pandemic. Its single “Out on Bail” is, by his admission, based on the Tupac song of the same name.
Smoke DZA, “Homegrown” (RFC)
The New York rapper has built his career on both his prolific nature and his willingness to collaborate; it can feel like every MC from New York has worked with DZA at some point since his first EP in 2009. Single “Santos Party House,” named after rocker Andrew W.K.’s now-defunct New York nightclub, has quite the guest list: Wiz Khalfia, Curren$y and Big K.R.I.T. all drop verses, while mashup pioneer Girl Talk handles the production (with help from the same ’80s soul sample that showed up in Zhane’s “Hey Mr. D.J.”).
FROM THE VAULT
Robert Plant, “Digging Deep: Subterranea” (Es Paranza)
The Led Zeppelin legend, who headlined last year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, is releasing a solo-career-spanning box set to coincide with the new season of his podcast “Digging Deep With Robert Plant.” The 30 tracks will contain three new songs, including a duet with folk singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, and the first single from Plant’s forthcoming album.
Mariah Carey, “The Rarities” (Columbia/Legacy)
Prepare for the onslaught of the Lambs, as Carey’s fans call themselves. Mimi is looking back with a collection of B sides, unreleased tracks, and a bonus disc taken from a Tokyo concert in 1996. Her autobiography, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” was released on Sept. 29, as another part of #MC30, the celebration of her debut album and career to this point.
The Jaded Hearts Club, “You’ve Always Been Here” (Helium-3/BMG)
This British (sort-of) supergroup features Matt Bellamy from Muse alongside Miles Kane (The Last of the Shadow Puppets), Nic Cester (Jet), Graham Coxon (Blur), Jamie Davis (Transcopic) and Sean Payne (The Zutons) and is a covers-based collective. The band reaches into the past and revives Northern Soul classics like “Reach Out I’ll Be There” and “Nobody But Me.” If there’s no Adele album in 2020, “You’ve Always Been Here” would make an excellent replacement holiday present for that tough-to-shop-for parent, aunt or uncle as the tracks are new, but completely familiar and comforting.
FALL TREND: EPONYMOUS RELEASES
Melanie C, “Melanie C” (Red Girl)
Sporty Spice, as she was known a generation ago, is long removed from her days in the most popular band in the world. Now she’s evolved into an adult pop-R&B style artist. But the Spice Girls reunion of 2019 seems to have drawn her back to the dance floor in this latest release. Singles “In and Out of Love” and “Blame It on Me” each top 120 beats per minute and have received official remixes already.
Shamir, “Shamir” (Shamir)
His 2015 dance-pop album “Ratchet” garnered a lot of praise, but it’s his career since that’s been more interesting. With a turn toward the fuzzy guitars of indie rock, then a sort-of genreless gumbo (“Other Side” on the new album is a country song bathed in distortion), this self-titled release still manages to let his distinctive countertenor voice shine in its full beauty.
“I felt like it didn’t need a name, (because) it’s the record that’s most me,” he said in a statement.
Roisin Murphy, “Roisin Machine” (Skint/BMG)
Her name may not technically be “machine,” but the new album from the Irish queen of nu-disco feels like an engine firing on all cylinders. Mixed to be consumed as one continuous DJ session, the album feels like a night at an upscale lounge – everything’s danceable, but it’s also chill enough to relax and people-watch. In quarantine, that might translate to just making a top-shelf martini and making a little space to groove in the living room.
#ICYMI
Kronos Quartet featuring Meklit, “The President Sang ‘Amazing Grace’ ” (Smithsonian Folkways)
The legendary string foursome, which has been based in San Francisco since the late-’70s, releases an album-length tribute to Pete Seeger and friends on Friday, Oct. 9. Among the powerful songs on the forthcoming release is this track, sung by San Francisco singer Meklit, was written by Joan Baez in 2018 in response to the murder of nine churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., and the televised memorial featuring former President Barack Obama’s rendition of the hymn. The lyric “we argued where to place the blame: On one man’s hate or our nation’s shame?” seems like a question still being asked.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Tyler Childers, “Long Violent History” (Hickman Holler/RCA)
The country star’s mostly instrumental new album was a surprise release on Sept. 19, and a brave one as well. The title track is just short of a Black Lives Matter anthem, with lines like “It’s called me belligerent, it’s took me for ignorant, but it ain’t never once made me scared to just be. Could you imagine just constantly worrying, kicking and fighting, begging to breathe?” He even released a video on YouTube, explaining his position to who he calls his “white, rural listeners.”
YOUR STAY-AT-HOME DANCE BREAK
Rare Essence featuring Snoop Dogg, “Hit the Floor” (Rare One)
The track goes from D.C. to the LBC, with the Washington go-go kings laying down the groove for Snoop’s rhymes.
Rare Essence is celebrating 45 years as a band in the same year that go-go music was declared the official sound of the nation’s capital. The group can be found playing at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage or at a block party — when you create the rhythm, you bring it anywhere.