7 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 Blossoms, Kelly Lee Owens, Let’s Eat Grandma, and more.

Bloc Party, Alpha Games

Bloc Party are back with their sixth studio album Alpha Games, the anticipated follow-up to 2016’s Hymns. Their first new album in six years, frontman Kele Okereke recently explained that recent single ‘If We Get Caught’ is only one of two songs with “any tenderness” on the record, with riotous single ‘Traps’ setting the urgent tone for the album which is ready for “big rooms and outdoors” as a UK and European tour beckons.

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

Blossoms, Ribbon Around the Bomb

On their fourth album Ribbon Around The Bomb, Blossoms have dialled down on their trademark synths and retro pop hooks to deliver an introspective effort that sees them taking stock of the journey so far. This time around they’ve channelled an evident love of classic American songwriters – with clear nods to the likes of Harry Nilsson and Paul Simon. “Change is good; you can’t keep the same thing all the time,” singer Tom Ogden recently told Rolling Stone UK of their new sound. “You look at what Arctic Monkeys did on their last record, and we look up to them. Being in a band, you have to aspire to achieve something new.”

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

daine, Quantum Jumping

On her future-facing debut mixtape, daine proves why she’s already secured a collab with Oli Sykes and been hailed as one of Charli XCX’s favourite artists of all time. While leaning into classic emo-pop sensibilities, the Filipino-Australian artist’s otherworldly images also prove reminiscent of PC Music’s visual aesthetics. “Witch on the lowkey, cemetery dreams of you, And I could be pretty and not always blue. Feel like I’m living in a past life, baby,” she offers on the haunting ‘Cemetery Dreams’.

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

Kelly Lee Owens, LP.8

Kelly Lee Owens returns with a raw and exploratory new album. Despite its name, LP.8 is Owens’ third album – after releasing her second full-length, 2020’s Inner Song, in the middle of the pandemic, the Welsh avant-pop musician, songwriter, and producer decided to switch gears for her next record, heading to Oslo and booking some studio with the noise musician Lasse Marhaug with no idea of where their music would take them. The destination they arrived at a month later is LP.8, a blend of industrial music and Celtic mysticism.

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

Let’s Eat Grandma, Two Ribbons

Since arriving with their 2016 breakout debut I, Gemini, the tight-knit bond of friends Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton has been at the very core of Let’s Eat Grandma. But on third album Two Ribbons’ the pair re-evaluated their relationship as they wrote separately for the first time.  Over shimmering synths and pulsating bass, the results prove spectacular. “Nothing that was broken can touch how much I care for you / Because you know you’ll always be my best friend,” sings Walton on the emotional lead single ‘Happy New Year’.

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

Monsta X, Shape of Love

With fans patiently waiting nearly three extra weeks for the K-pop giants’ new mini album (following a positive Covid test from Hyungwon), Monsta X’s latest project tackles love in all its fiery forms. Following November EP No Limit and December’s English language album The Dreaming, the Korean megastars show no signs of creative fatigue, diving into an eclectic mix of sounds while exploring what love can look and feel like.

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

SCALPING, Void

Bristol four-piece SCALPING fuse their love of heavy music (punk, hardcore, metal) with the bass weight and rhythmic thrust of their city’s contemporary electronic music scene (rave labels like Timedance and Livity Sound, Giant Swan’s gnarly live techno). Although they spent two years honing their live show before even releasing a note of recorded music, the band’s debut album Void doesn’t capture their raw live energy – instead, it was put together remotely over lockdown, with the result taking more unexpected and unusual turns.

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