My Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2021

We’re entering the final quarter of the year, and, spoiler alert: most of your favorite blogs already have their album of the year selected. Not me, though. I have some favorites, obviously, but when I think about my Album Of The Year 2021, it’s still anyone’s game in my mind. 

On some level, it’s easy to get swept up in end-of-the-year festivities and opt-out of the constant swirl of new music, so I wanted to give a little preemptive roundup of all the records still to be released this year that I’m excited about. These albums range in scope from heavy hitters of the indie world like My Morning Jacket and Snail Mail to up-and-coming acts that everyone should be tracking like Snarls and Illuminati Hotties. In other words, I hope you find something new here, or at the very least something to be excited about, because there’s still lots of 2021 left. 

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Explosions In The Sky - Big Bend (An Original Soundtrack or Public Television) (October 1st)
The post-rock stalwarts are back with another soundtrack, this time for a new nature documentary from PBS titled Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas. As someone who has spent their summer hiking the mountains of Colorado, I look forward to this record soundtracking my last few hikes of the season before things turn too wintery. 

Hovvdy - True Love (October 1st)
Simply put, Hovvdy are masters of fall music. Their last record, Heavy Lifter, was an inventive indie rock album that perfectly captures the languid, slow-paced feeling of the season. It’s moody, vibey, inward, and perfect for late nights as the weather gets colder. The four singles released thus far have been absolutely stunning, so I can’t wait to see what the whole album sounds like. 

illuminati hotties - Let Me Do One More (October 1st)
Pool-hopping season may be over, but that fact won’t crush the indomitable spirit of Sarah Tudzin. The “tenderpunk” pioneer is back with another album-length collection of vivacious songs that I expect will counteract the dark days of autumn. 

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls (October 8th)
The fourth-wave emo figureheads return with an epic collection of tracks grappling with a society in decay. Whether taking on a proggy post-hardcore tone or more of an open-ended Broken Social Scene approach, this record is shaping up to be something career-defining. 

Kevin Morby - ​​A Night At The Little Los Angeles (October 8th)
2020’s Sundowner was a flawless fall record. Now, Kevin Morby looks to recreate that success by revisiting the album with a pack of 4​-​Track demos recorded for the project. Hopefully an even more stripped-down version of the record, I look forward to hearing songs like “Campfire” in an even more intimate environment. 

Virginity - PopMortem (October 15th)
Each year, Florida rockers Virginity outdo themselves. 2019’s With Time is a personable emo record with hooks for days. 2020’s Death to the Party upped the ante with even more ferocious performances and relatable lyrics. Based on this trend, PopMortem is set to be the band’s new gold standard. 

My Morning Jacket - My Morning Jacket (October 22nd)
The first new My Morning Jacket LP in-earnest since 2015’s The Waterfall, the group’s eponymous release is set to be a monument to their two-decade-plus career as some of the most wholesome alt-rockers in the music scene. 

Trace Mountains - House of Confusion (October 22nd)
Over the course of his last two albums, Trace Mountains has evolved from bedroom country-light into fully-fledged indie rock. Dave Benton may not have the audience I feel he deserves, but watching his sound, production, and musical ideas evolve over the last few years has been immensely rewarding. His newest album is said to be a darker, earthier counterpart to last year’s Lost In the Country.

Spirit Was - Heaven’s Just a Cloud (October 22nd)
In his newest solo project, the ex-LVL UP member combines hearty folk sounds with Sunbather-level black metal. This album is probably the one thing I’m most excited about in the rest of 2021 due sheerly to its potential to be uniquely “my shit.” 

Every Time I Die - Radical (October 22nd)
Every Time I Die is back, and it’s time to punch something. Crafting some of the most finely produced metal I’ve heard in ages, Radical looks to be an assemblage of bottled-up rage that’s been mounting for the last few years. A single cathartic outpouring that’s long overdue. 

Parquet Courts  - Sympathy for Life (October 22nd)
Parquet Courts seem to have let their last album do the talking. In the time since 2018’s Wide Awake, we’ve seen fascism, racism, inequality, and death all on a steady rise; all things the band predicted on that sixth album. Where they will go next is anyone’s guess, but I’d wager we will look back on Sympathy for Life in a few year’s time in awe of how prescient it was. 

Angel Du$t - Yak: A Collection of Truck Songs (October 22nd)
Once a hardcore band, now just a band, Angel Du$t aren’t afraid to challenge preconceived notions. Throughout their eight-year career, the supergroup has evolved from Turnstile-indebted hardcore to wildly inventive indie rock. It’s a pivot so flawless that even the most coked-up hardcore bro will have a hard time denying it. Get ready to dance your rage out.

The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore (October 29th)
The modern heartland rock kings return with their newest collection of songs. Seemingly continuing the somber approach of 2017’s A Deeper Understanding, Adam Granduciel and company seem to be crafting a record designed to soundtrack the indigo-colored sunsets and amber-tinted afternoons of late fall. 

Minus the Bear - Farewell (October 29th)
My favorite band from high school (one I saw live half-a-dozen times before I could even drive) is releasing a career-spanning live album. Captured on the band’s final tour in 2018, I simply cannot wait to revisit my final two hours spent with the band as they hit all my favorite songs from a decade-spanning career—a true gift. 

Save Face - Another Kill For the Highlight Reel (October 29th)
New Jersey-based shredders Save Face are unleashing their newest collection of songs on the world this fall. Fittingly releasing in the days before Halloween, the Skeleton-adorned and blood-encrusted record is likely the closest thing we will get to a new My Chemical Romance album, so drink it up, get spooky, and rock out. 

Snail Mail - Valentine (November 5th)
The long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s Lush is almost upon us. Initially heralded as a teenage savant, Lindsey Jordan was poised to be the “next voice” of indie rock music. She’s spent the intervening half-decade touring, discovering herself, and enjoying the final stretch of her teenage years. Valentine will likely be a synthesis of all those experiences and emotions. It will also likely be the soundtrack to your crush’s Instagram Stories for years to come. 

Radiohead - Kid A Mnesia (November 9th)
Sorry, but I love Radiohead. A box set of Kid A and Amnesiac is necessary. It may not be my favorite era of the band, but many people look back on this period of Radiohead as their best. Much like OKNOTOK, I’m eager to hear the songs left off the records and experience an overindulgent celebration of all the demos and recordings that missed the cut on these landmark alternative albums. 

Delta Sleep - Spring Island (November 12th)
A mathy combination of TTNG and Minus the Bear, Delta Sleep look at the world through a naturalistic lens and then filter those observations through prog-tinted indie rock. The band’s first album in three years, Spring Island, is building off the rubble of Ghost Cities into something more organic and awe-inspired. 

Snarls - What About Flowers? (November 12th)
If there were any justice in this world, Snarls would have been the biggest band of all time by the end of 2020. At the beginning of the ill-fated year, the group released Burst, a stunning collection of songs that felt primed for the mainstream… then the rest of the year happened. Rather than get dragged down, the group rallied and recorded What About Flowers?, an EP designed to reignite the spark that they’ve been patiently waiting on for nearly two years. With any luck, by this time next year, they will have the listenership they have always deserved. 

Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time (November 12th)
The iconic Australian rocker returns from the shadows of 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel with an album that sounds more deliberately laid-back and easy-going. An excellent reminder to take things at your own pace and that good things will come in time. 

Ovlov - Buds (November 19th)
The Connecticut shoegazers are back with their first record since 2018’s Tru. While members have dropped other projects under the names Stove, Pet Fox, and Smile Machine, the group has announced their reformation in earnest with “Land of Steve-O,” a stunning signal of the album to come.

May 2018: Album Review Roundup

June is almost upon us, and that can only mean one thing… it’s time for another roundup of the month’s best new music! May was a stellar month with some big names dropping long-awaited records, and as usual, there were some surprises along the way. Let’s waste no time and jump straight into it.

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Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! 

The lead-up to Parquet Courts’ sixth album appeared to be a series of increasingly-questionable decisions, each of which seemed more worrisome than the last. The first strike came when the band announced that production on their new record was to be helmed entirely by Danger Mouse, a known-homogenizer of rock music. By the time the band made a daytime appearance on Ellen, most fans cautiously waded into Wide Awake! with tempered expectations. While I’ll admit I’m a relatively new fan of Parquet Courts, Wide Awake! seems to be the most thoughtful, polished, and complete offering the band has put out to date. Perhaps thanks to that unified sound brought to the table by Danger Mouse, it feels like the band was finally unencumbered enough to get as freaky, groovy, and political as they have always wanted to, all while sounding as clear and raw as they ever have. Still oscillating between thrashy punk and long-winded indie, after hearing the record it now feels silly that we ever doubted them in the first place. 

Rae Sremmurd - SR3MM

By now everyone knows the story of Rae Sremmurd. Two brothers from Mississippi who broke their way onto the scene with “No Flex Zone” in 2014 and continued to solidify their place in hip-hop with a stream of undeniable singles, killer features, and inescapable cultural moments. For their third record, the duo decided to embrace the theme of threes and release a triple album; one traditional Rae Sremmurd release, plus one solo record from each of the two brothers. I ended up enjoying SR3MM far more than I ever expected (in fact, I wrote a full review for it here) but aside from exceeding my expectations, I think the Brothers Sremm handled every facet impeccably. Triple albums are rare, but when we do get them they’re notoriously bloated, overly-long, and just plain bad, but here the two approached it with a unique perspective and were able to deliver the exact level of fun that fans have come to expect from them. Plus watching Swae Lee and Slimm Jximmi flourish in their respective styles is wonderful to see. From bangers to ballads, SR3MM has it all and excels on every front. 

Beach House - 7

I’ve always been a pretty passive fan of Beach House. I like what they do, but rarely ever seek it out on my own. When the group released Depression Cherry in 2015 something finally clicked for me, and I fell in love. Wonderfully-dark, beautifully-pensive, and just the right amount of distorted, Depression Cherry was the record I’d always wanted the band to make. Despite turning me into a fan with that record, the duo squandered that goodwill almost immediately when they released Thank Your Lucky Stars the very same year and gave us a second album that sounded exactly like everything else they’ve ever done. Now in 2018, the group seems to have stared down these two divergent paths and leaned even harder into that darker side that I enjoyed so much on Depression Cherry. Forecasted by a plethora of increasingly-dark singles and a detailed public announcement/explanation of their sonic change-up, 7 represents the fulfillment and embrace of the band’s darker side. The full evolution of this distorted, borderline-shoegazey sound, which (from the outside) sounds like quite the pivot for a dream pop act, yet Beach House manage to make it look effortless. 7 finds the band plunging headfirst into midnight and emerging with some of their best work to date. 

Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino 

For their sixth album as a band, the Arctic Monkeys decided to curve every sonic, historical, and fan expectation in favor of something completely left field. A far pivot from the dark deserty sounds of their last album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino sees Alex Turner taking center stage (quite literally) as a sort of smoky lounge-singer in search of the soul. On some level, this record is just as “dark” as AM, but ends up being much more laid-back, conversational, and perhaps most importantly: funny. Tranquility Base a Hotel & Casino takes a similar approach to all of its songs, embracing a dynamic of hyper-verbose lyricism sung over subdued instrumentals. It’s a far cry from any of their previous work, but it’s a combination that works for me. There are still enough musical moments for the other band members to show their chops, but as a whole Tranquility Base reads like a late-night exploration of Turner’s brain over the course of one dark night of the soul. A lounge album recorded in the void of space. A stream-of-consciousness outpouring in the aftermath of a post-Bowie world. A near-future disaster recorded directly to music. A wonder. 

Pusha T - Daytona

Ever since releasing one of the best records of his career in 2015, the hip-hop public has long-anticipated Pusha T’s next move, waiting with bated breath to see how he could possibly follow it up. On his first full-length in three years, he reveals the answer was to make things shorter, tighter, and even more cohesive. The first of four Kanye-produced albums we’re receiving over the next 30 days, Daytona is the best non-poop-related indicator of what to expect from these upcoming projects. Bearing Ye’s classic chopped-up soul-sampled beats, an intentionally-short tracklist, and songs that bleed into one other flawlessly, Pusha’s latest output is a sharp, soulful, and compact update on the rapper’s mindstate. “Santeria” is a slowly-mounting guitar-based track that climaxes in an explosion of organ and a moody Spanish refrain. Oppositely, “Infrared” is a barebones track that finds Pusha T spitting realness on everything from politics to race relation and ends on a few subliminal shots at Drake… Speaking of which, the benefit of writing these at the end of the month is that we now seem to find ourselves in the midst of a beef between the two. On the 25th Drake dropped “Duppy Freestyle” to which Push responded with “The Story of Adidon.” While Drake’s freestyle centers around Pusha’s credibility in the drug game, Pusha T went straight for the jugular attacking Drake, his family, and his best friend, all within three minutes. The story is still developing, but as a fan of each artist, it’s exciting to hear new, sharp, and mean music from each as they go back and forth in what may be the defining hip-hop beef of the decade. 

Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel

For someone whose music typically gets placed under the “Slacker” sub-genre of indie, Courtney Barnett seems to work really fucking hard. I know that name is just a silly label meant to describe her music, but I can’t help but feel like that title is a disservice to her art. There are certainly still moments of slack-fueled hopelessness throughout Barnett’s sophomore effort (most notably “Crippling Self Doubt and a General Lack of Self-Confidence”), but there are moments of strength too. Perhaps spiritually-bolstered by last year’s collaboration with Kurt Vile, Barnett seems more pointed, bombastic, and personable than ever before. Opting for less-narrative songs than her breakthrough record, Tell Me How You Really Feel finds Barnett shredding, grooving, and narrating her way through ten stories of personal growth. Sometimes psychological, sometimes agonizingly-real, this album feels like Courtney Barnett engraved a piece of herself onto each record and passed them out to people on the street. A wondrous (and sometimes rambling) journey of the self. 

Ministry of Interior Spaces - Life, Death and the Perpetual Wound

I’m not a sad person. I don’t have many regrets in life, nor a wealth of personal tragedies to draw from. Earlier this year I attended a This Will Destroy You concert, and it was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had in recent memory. I knew their songs like the back of my hand and midway through the instrumental set, my mind began to wander into long-forgotten thoughts. It was meditative. I began thinking about people, places, and events I hadn’t considered in years, as if the music was helping my brain re-establish these broken connections in order to feel these things I hadn’t in decades. At its best, I feel music offers listeners a canvas on which to project their own feelings and anxieties. An avenue to interact with deep-seated traumas and unheard thoughts, and that’s exactly what Ministry of Interior Spaces offers on Life, Death and the Perpetual Wound. Half concept album, half whatever you want it to be, Perpetual Wound is an ambient release that recounts the tale of a “mystical road trip through a magic-realist American West.” It’s a document of its creator’s struggle with drugs, depression and, friendship in the face of natural beauty. The record tells a timeless tale that simultaneously acts as a canvas for the listener to venture through and draw upon. A beautiful self-exploration. 

We interviewed Ministry of Interior Spaces here.

Illuminati Hotties - Kiss Your Frenemies

When I first discovered The Wonder Years the band felt like a revelation to me. The group’s hyper-realist approach to lyricism was something I’d never heard before in my life, and something I desperately needed at that time. When I first discovered Illuminati Hotties, their single “(You’re Better) Than Ever” immediately evoked the same feeling I first got when I discovered The Wonder Years so long ago. Punchy, powerful, and disarmingly self-aware, Illuminati Hotties is a “tenderpunk” group fronted by Sarah Tudzin that finds the band grasping at the straws of adulthood. It’s both heartbreaking and reassuring to hear music from someone in such a similar situation as myself. It’s an album about fucking up, growing up, and moving on. Tudzin takes a similar approach to The Wonder Years using specific vignettes and imagery from her own life to let the listener into her existence on a level that’s almost too close for comfort. From working three jobs to pay off college debt to doughnut dates and ceilings covered in glow in the dark stars, everything connects in a way that’s just eerily real. Filled with cute lines, catchy choruses, and poetic barbs, Kiss Your Frenemies fumbles its way through adulthood in an intimate, anthemic, and beautiful way.

Quick Hits

• BlocBoy JB - Simi: After making waves with the Drake-assisted “Look Alive” in February, Memphis rapper BlocBoy JB funneled his newfound-attention into a well-polished and banger-filled mixtape. Additional fun fact: I crunched the numbers and Mr. JB ad libs “that’s on my mama” a total of 32 times throughout.

• Royce 5'9" - Book of Ryan: Hyper-lyrical, incredibly-dense, and heartbreakingly-personal hip-hop that demystifies the history of Ryan Daniel Montgomery. Told from a first-person perspective, Royce remains as technical as ever while also taking an incredibly-compelling storytelling approach.

• Desiigner - L.O.D.: A perfectly-punctual and wonderfully-ad libbed EP from the goofy dude that brought us “Panda.”

• Iceage - Beyondless: Moody and anxiety-riddled post-rock from Copenhagen.

• Parkway Drive - Reverence: Well-crafted metalcore that bubbles up from the diaphragm and explodes into a perfectly-honed point. Chuggy, angry, and filled with growls, Parkway Drive continues to kill it.

• DJ Koze - Knock Knock: Natural electronic music that’s been warped, shifted, and delivered it to us from another universe. Simply Transportive.

• Shakey Graves - Can’t Wake Up: Slow-moving psychedelic Americana that twists and writhes in the evening light.

• Cut Worms - Hollow Ground: Jangly throwback rock with just enough personality and weirdness to be a pleasant oddity.

• The Word Alive - Violent Noise: Sinewy and mostly-generic metalcore with an electronic tinge.

• Jon Hopkins - Singularity: (Mostly-)electronic music that crests with emotion and pulsates with mood until eventually frittering out into slowly-unwinding heartbreak.

• Mark Kozelek - Mark Kozelek: Long-winded as ever, Mark Kozelek gets personable and folksy for 90 minutes as he expels every verbose thought in his head.

• Ty Dolla $ign - Beach House 3 Deluxe Edition: Noted crooner/rapper hybrid Ty Dolla $ign tops off last year’s installment of the acclaimed Beach House Series with an additional six summery songs.

• Lady Legs - Holy Heatwave: Celebratory indie rock with a ceaseless groove and unkillable joy.

• Playboi Carti - Die Lit: 19 smoky bangers filled with incredulous ad-libs and not a lot else.

• La Luz - Floating Features: Dreamy, sun-kissed surf rock that reverberates with passion and strength.

• Wajatta - Casual High Technology: Reggie Watts and John Tejada combine forces to form a delightful portmanteau and equally-delightful electro-pop.

• NAV - Reckless: I don’t understand Nav.

• James Bay - Electric Light: Pop music that’s simultaneously soulful and sterile.

• KYLE - Light of Mine: 2017 XXL Freshman, joyous rapper, and possible industry plant KYLE returns with a 15-track tape of feel-good hip-hop.

• Now, Now - Saved: Polished and simplistic indie pop that mixes heartfelt emo with electronic sensibilities.

• Remember Sports - Slow Buzz: After changing their name, the vivacious pop-punk band is back proving (once again) that Philly is the eternal hotbed of upcoming emo rock.

• Lil Baby - Harder Than Ever: Street rap assisted by a high-profile Drake feature.

• Clairo - diary 001: Since half the tracklist consists of revisiting the viral hits that have brought her thus far, diary 001 ends up being a scattershot history of Clairo’s rapidly-ascending career and musical phases up to this point.

• A$AP Rocky - Testing: Immaculate flows, booming bass, and dark production. A million drugged-out lines spit in zero gravity while coming down from acid.

• Hatchie - Sugar & Spice: Lovelorn dream pop that captures relationship dynamics with as much color as a middle school trapper keeper.

• Chvrches - Love is Dead: Glossy and bright indie pop that practices what its title preaches.

• Shawn Mendes - Shawn Mendes: Pretty-boy pop music that I wouldn’t know about if it weren’t for Kevin Abstract.

• American Pleasure Club - Tour Tape: Following-up their fantastic a whole fucking lifetime of this, Sam Ray offers up a free download of twelve tracks that were previously exclusive to the band’s merch booth.

• Lil Aaron - ROCK$TAR FAMOU$: After discovering his jaw-dropping emo remixes last summer, Aaron is back with a sophomore album that continues to blend his unique combination of hip-hop, rock, and humor.

We also saw singles from Travis Scott, Snail Mail, Childish Gambino, Sufjan Stevens, Dance Gavin Dance, Andre 3000, Future Islands, Jimmy Eat World, Dirty Projectors, Protomartyr, The Flaming Lips, Sia, Attila, White Denim, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Lil Uzi Vert, Shortly, Denzel Curry, Weezer, Tyler, The Creator, The Devil Wears Prada, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Get Up Kids, Jorja Smith, Drake, Anderson .Paak, Weezer (again), Jay Rock, James Blake, Lil Peep, Fleet Foxes, Idles, Mac Miller, Charli XCX, and Mitski.

Rewind

In other news, we’re now far enough into the year that I’m beginning to make discoveries that I wish I had included in previous month’s write-ups. To amend this, I’m adding a new section to these monthly roundups: A “Rewind” section that goes back in time to highlight albums I missed but wish I hadn’t.

• Bambara - Shadow on Everything: Dark, hard-drinking post-punk with a southern narration-like drawl. Music for a midnight drive through the desert.

• Nanaki - Decline & Dislocation: Brooding spiritual post-rock that drips with distortion and head-bobbing riffs.

• The World Extinct - Theodicy: A powerful bite-sized metalcore offering from a (mostly) new lineup of band members.

• Bewilder - Everything Up To Now: Heart-rending and soul-binding emo-flavored math rock. An incredibly-apt band name.