4 albums you need to hear this week

In the age of streaming, it’s never been easier to listen to new music — but with over 60,000 new songs added to Spotify every day, it’s also never been harder to know what to put on. Every week, the team at Rolling Stone UK will run down some of the best new releases that have been added to streaming services.

This week, we’ve highlighted records by Michael Kiwanuka, Father John Misty, Poppy Ajudha and Kim Deal.

Michael Kiwanuka – Small Changes

Michael Kiwanuka’s follow-up to his Mercury Prize-winning third album, KIWANUKA, is titled Small Changes but sees him reflect on some truly seismic ones. As well as moving out of his hometown of London for the first time, the singer and songwriter has also welcomed two children. The album gently and beautifully chronicles this new life, best shown on gorgeous lead single ‘Floating Parade’, written about a street party he stumbled upon one day. As he explains: “At times of anxiety, I thought that’s exactly where you need to get to. A floating parade which releases you from whatever oppressive place you find yourself in life.”

Listen on: Spotify | ‎Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music

Father John Misty – Mahashmashana

When Joshua Tillman’s folk alter-ego emerged in the mid-noughties, his unique ability to blend classic folk with relentless bouts of cynicism and snark attracted a legion of fans. But with it, too, came a legion of detractors who couldn’t get onboard with the sarcasm. On this latest effort, it feels like that version of Mr Tillman is truly dead in the water. Instead, as you have gathered from the title, he’s gone for mysticism and psychedelia. There’s brilliant psych-rock on ‘She Cleans Up’ and a mystifying title track that clocks in at an epic nine minutes. It’s a new guise for Tillman, but the wisdom – and underlying brilliance – emerges as clear as it ever did.

Listen on: Spotify | ‎Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music

Poppy Ajudha – Poppy

Poppy Ajudha’s latest album takes in moments of slinky R&B and all-out pop to tell – as the title might suggest – her total story. There’s raw power on the soaring ‘Somebody To Love’, while the beguiling ‘Temptation’ shows off a looser side to Ajudha’s sound. “I think it has a lot of the themes that are very genuine to me and what I love to talk about in terms of my future,” she told RS UK earlier this year. I can make music that’s empowering and that enables you to go for what you want in life and encourages you to be your authentic self. 

Listen on: Spotify | ‎Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music

Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More

Kim Deal’s debut solo album has been in the works for more than a decade, and serves as a summary of her post-Pixies career, which began in 2013 with the release of a ten-song, five-part 7″ vinyl series. Some of the songs from that series also appear on Nobody Loves You More, a record that sees Deal collaborate with members of The Raconteurs, Savages, her twin sister Kelley, legendary late producer Steve Albini and more. It’s a definitive and long-overdue solo statement from one of American rock music’s true titans.

Listen on: Spotify | ‎Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music