6 albums you need to hear this week
With music from English Teacher, Nia Archives, Maggie Rogers, Shabaka, Girl In Red and BODEGA.
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 English Teacher, Nia Archives, Maggie Rogers, Shabaka, Girl In Red and BODEGA.
English Teacher – This Could Be Texas
On their debut album, English Teacher posit a titular question: This Could Be Texas. Well let us offer one back: This Could Be The Greatest Debut Of A UK Guitar Band in 2024. Across 13 thrilling tracks, the Leeds group go far in shaking off the easy post-punk label they’ve been handed and instead prove that the world is theirs for the taking.
“I want this album to feel like you’ve gone to space, and it turns out it’s almost identical to Doncaster,” enigmatic vocalist Lily Fontaine said of the album. True to her claim, it’s a slice of endlessly inventive and beguiling guitar music, the likes of which will prove hard to top for the rest of the year. A stellar debut.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Nia Archives – Silence is Loud
Since scoring a key breakthrough when making music in their bedroom during the dark days of 2020, Nia Archives has forged a rightful reputation as one of the UK’s most unique producers and the leader of a Jungle music revival for a new generation. As our album review attests, Silence is Loud sees Nia dish up “plenty of intense bass lines to keep jungle purists satisfied, but the record’s intricately detailed, narrative-driven songs make this a collection to be experienced in full, from start to finish”.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me
Maggie Rogers wrote the entirety of her third album in the space of five heady days at New York’s Electric Lady Studios. Making the album almost by accident and with no grand plan, Don’t Forget Me flows with instinctive and effortless energy, weaving stories from Rogers’ life and of her friends into an album that sees her loosen up and embrace a breezier sound. Read her new interview with Rolling Stone UK about the album here.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Shabaka – Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace
Shabaka Hutchings, the former bandleader of modern jazz greats Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming and Shabaka and the Ancestors, furthers the new beginnings of his 2022 EP Afrikan Culture on a stunning debut album. Drafting in the likes of Floating Points, Lianne La Havas and André 3000 for sessions at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder studios in New Jersey, Shabaka turns to the flute and makes a New Age record defined by its immersive qualities and improvisational nature. It’s a fascinating new turn from a modern jazz legend. Read his new interview with Rolling Stone UK about the album here.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Girl In Red – I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!
Last year saw Marie Ulven – aka Girl In Red – support Taylor Swift on her mammoth eras tour. On this third album from the Norwegian alt-pop star, you can’t help wonder if Swift’s renowned sense of spectacle has rubbed off on her. Here, maximalism is the order of the day – whether that’s on the pounding synths of ‘Phantom Pain’ or the cry of “I’m on a new level!” on the album’s title track. Few would argue with that statement.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
BODEGA – Our Brand Could Be Yr Life
Across their first two albums, New York art-rockers BODEGA mastered a mix of wordy, socially conscious lyrics with warm and sweet indie rock melodies. Third record Our Brand Could Be Yr Life sees no slowing down of their skewering of modern capitalist existence, and the sugary sweet hooks remain too.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music