Another week, another slate of fresh new musical releases to enjoy and consume. Today sees the return of Las Vegas’ arena rock prodigal sons, the rebirth of a band we thought we already knew, and the culmination of Kanye West’s label roster showcase.
The Killers – Battle Born
After a brief hiatus that saw each individual member of The Killers take a stab at the solo life, Brandon Flowers & co. produce their best Bruce Springsteen tinged bombast on a sprawling album that ditches the disco drums and focuses on the Queen like melodies. Only occasionally over-reaching onto the cheesy plateau, Battle Born shows that the Vegas quartet are still progressing even beyond their early successes. If their headlining performance at this year’s Firefly Festival was any indicator, be sure to catch the new material in a fiery live setting this fall.
Grizzly Bear – Shields
Building upon the textures and vocal compositions of their previous efforts, Grizzly Bear set forth their most complete record to date on Shields. Opener “Sleeping Ute” shows the band’s immediate shift in atmosphere with gorgeous, shimmering layers and cosmic bursts reminiscent of an uncaged My Morning Jacket.
G.O.O.D. Music - Cruel Summer
Mr. West presents his graduating class with his G.O.O.D. Music imprint’s first collective outing. Although the party host claims a more than fair amount of space, his proteges and signed contemporaries still find room to shine with a little help from friends like Jay – Z, R. Kelly, and 2 Chainz.
Check out even more new releases below!
Paul Simon – Live In New York City
Dinosaur Jr. – I Bet On Sky
Menomena – Moms
