Bear with me here, this is gonna be a long one…

Allan Kingdom – Lines

A Kanye cosign (catch him on the chorus of  “All Day”) blasted Allan Kingdom into mass consciousness a couple years ago, but the Winnipeg-born, Minnesota-based rapper/singer has steered clear of the limelight: he’s kept a relatively small, but devoted fanbase, and each new project has expanded his reach a little further. 2014’s Future Memoirs and last year’s Northern Lights both proved that Kingdom is a name that you should really be keeping your eye on. Denzel Curry, Kevin Abstract, Ramriddlz, and more all appear on the 14-track album.

Blackbear – Salt EP

Following up the release of his underwhelming Mansionz collaboration with Mike Posner, Blackbear builds up anticipation for his upcoming studio album by dropping a quick three-track EP of acoustic cuts that he “made in mountains feelin salty”. Keep an eye out for Digital Druglord, his much-anticipated third album, which drops in two weeks.

 

Father John Misty – Pure Comedy

Father John Misty’s 2015 sophomore album I Love You, Honeybear was one of the year’s best albums, made all the more impressive by its competition (TPAB, Surf, etc.). The former Fleet Foxes drummer has an incredible voice and an even better pen, crafting a perfectly composed album on the subject of commitment. His followup, Pure Comedy, tackles some far loftier topics, addressing existence, religion, legacy, politics, fame, identity, and dozens of other complex issues over the project’s 75 minutes. While he sometimes allows his ego to get away with him, Father John Misty has undoubtedly created one of the year’s most impressive projects by far.  It’s going to be a fun project to try to pick apart and explain, so expect my attempt at that sometime soon.

Future Islands – The Far Field

The Baltimore indie rock/synthpop band fifth album might be their best to date. Following up the massive success of 2014’s Singles (which included the incredible single “Seasons (Waiting on You)”, voted the #1 song of 2014 by Consequence of Sound, Pitchfork, NME, Spin, and more). After frontman Sam Herring spent the past couple years dabbling in hip hop (even making an EP with Madlib as Trouble Knows Me), the band got back together to create The Far Field, preceded by an excellent single and video with “Ran“.

Guided by Voices – August by Cake

First The Jesus & Mary Chain, now Guided by Voices: late-80s alt-rock is trying its best to make a comeback. Robert Pollard’s prolific band, which broke up in 2014 but reformed a couple of years later, is back with their 25th project (the 100th project in Pollard’s discography). Despite their age, and the fact that they’ll clearly never live up to the 90s fames of their Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes albums, it’s nice to see that a band who once had one of the most devoted followings in music history is still very much active.

Joey Bada$$ – All Amerikkkan Bada$$

New York’s biggest rising star, Joey Bada$$, is back with his fourth project (second studio album), and I’m almost tempted to call it his best yet. His debut mixtape, 1999, will always be an underground classic, and 2015’s B4.Da.$$ was pretty incredible, but All Amerikkkan Bada$$ is his most truly impressive project. This is Joey at his most militant, eviscerating the United States and their treatment of African Americans, attacking the police and Donald Trump, and essentially recommending an all out race war. With ScHoolboy Q, J. Cole, Styles P, and Chronixx on the album, Joey’s managed to pull some incredible features, and his Beast Coast posse cut “Ring the Alarm” (with Pro Era’s Kirk Knight and Nyck Caution, as well as Flatbush Zombies’ Meechy Darko) is one of the album’s early standouts.

The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions

The revered Vancouver supergroup New Pornographers have been indie darlings since their 1999 debut with Mass Romantic. Composed of Neko Case, Carl Newman (A.C. Newman), Kathryn Calder (Immaculate Machine), John Collins (Evaporator), and, formerly, Kurt Dahle (Limblifter) and Dan Bejar (Destroyer), the Pornographers are now six albums into what was once supposed to be a brief collaborative project. Whiteout Conditions follows the pop leanings of their last two projects (Brill Bruisers and Together), but the band still continues to sound fresh and interesting, despite pretty well sticking to a formula. Whiteout Conditions obviously suffers from the lack of Dan Bejar, by far the best lyricist in the group, but hopefully his absence implies that he’s hard at work on a new Destroyer project.

Njomza – Sad For You

Since signing to Mac Miller’s Most Dope label a few years ago, Njomza has been on the steady comeup, proving herself as an incredibly talented singer (you can catch her on Michael Christmas’ “I Wrote a Poem”, Fki 1st’s “For What It’s Worth”, and Mac’s recent “Planet God Damn”). Her latest project is Sad For You, a seven track EP with production from Caleb Stone, Papi Beatz, and more. It’s her best work to date: the Chicago songstress has incredible talent, and she proves her abilities behind both the pen and the mic. Keep an eye on Njomza; hopefully, as well as crafting more solo work, she continues to make more feature appearances in the future.

Spark Master Tape – The Lost Grapes EP

The most notorious anonymous hip hop supervillain since MF DOOM has returned with a new project, and it’s his strangest work to date. Diverging from his typical dark, militant design and dense, aggressive sound, the Pink Grapes EP changes things up with a bright pink album cover and a sound that’s prepping it for perfect summer rotation. The samples are as incredible as ever (including Masters At Work on “Rowdii Piper”, Alt-J on “NT PSTV”, and Waka Flocka on “Maskkon”), and Spark’s remarkably underrated abilities as a rapper continue to shine through his pitched-down vocals. Don’t sleep on Spark Master Tape: he may be riding a gimmick, but his music is both undeniably impressive and fun as hell.

Tee Grizzley – My Moment

After the massive success of “First Day Out”, and his recent signing to 300 Entertainment (home of Young Thug, Migos, etc.), Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley is cashing in on his newfound fame with his first album, My Moment. “First Day Out” is included on the featureless debut, along with singles “Real N***as” and “No Effort”. Grizzley is undeniably on the comeup, with fans vying for him to get a position on the 2017 XXL Freshmen list, and he’s worth the hype. The Detroit rap scene has never been one of the most discussed, but every few years or so a new rapper shows up and steals the show. Grizzley is repping his city well.

Tech N9ne – Collabos: Dominion

For the seventh album in his prolific Collabos series, Tech N9ne’s latest 24-track project highlights tracks by members of his Strange Music label. While Tech himself only has one song to himself, he’s on all but three tracks on the entire album. Krizz Kaliko, Murs, Ces Cru, ¡MAYDAY!, Rittz, Mackenzie Nicole, and many more make appearances.

 

Timber Timbre – Sincerely, Future Pollution

Ontario folk-rock group Timber Timbre have been dropping quiet, understated, minimalist music for a little over a decade now, and their haunting sound is incredibly evocative. They received a decent amount of attention for their song “Magic Arrow” (after it was used in an episode of Breaking Bad), and two of their albums have been shortlisted for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize. Sincerely, Future Pollution is the band’s sixth album, released through German-based label City Slang (also home to Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and Dan Mangan).

Vancouver Sleep Clinic – Revival

Brisbane, Australia’s Tim Bettinson has been a favourite in the ambient/alt pop scene for a while, releasing music under the moniker Vancouver Sleep Clinic and working with the likes of ZHU and Raury. Revival is his first full-length project, after four years of being in the game, with the only outside help coming from Al Shux (whose resume includes work with Jay Z, Nas, BANKS, Lana Del Rey, and many more).

 

YFN Lucci – Long Live Nut

YFN Lucci’s “Keys to the Streets” was one of last year’s biggest trap hits (especially the Collegrove-assisted remix), and last year’s Wish Me Well 2 mixtape was a solid effort from the up-and-coming artist. His latest EP, Long Live Nut, includes appearances from Rick Ross, Dreezy, PnB Rock, Lil Durk, Boosie Badazz, Trae Pound, and frequent collaborator Bigga Rankin.

 

Young Dolph – Bulletproof

Dolph’s been on a roll lately, dropping his last mixtape (Gelato) less than two months ago. His sophomore album, Bulletproof, is a nod to the fact that he miraculously survived getting shot at more than a hundred times last month, due to his ongoing feud with fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti. Gucci Mane is the sole feature on the album, and production comes via Metro Boomin, Zaytoven, Drumma Boy, and more.

 

Also released:

The Chainsmokers, Memories… Do Not Open: These two frat-boy trash-DJs have dropped an album! The features prove that Coldplay is about as low as they can possibly get, and Jhene Aiko needs to up her standards.
Cold War Kids, LA Divine: The Cold War Kids’ first album since Hold My Home. They still sound like a Modest Mouse knockoff, now with more generic stadium pop!
Deep Purple, Infinite: The UK rock band/recent Hall of Fame inductees return with their nineteenth album.
Diet Cig, I Swear I’m Good At This: The rising New York punk duo drop off their first project.
Falling in Reverse, Coming Home: Falling in Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke used to be one of the brightest voices in emo (back when, y’know, emo was a thing), but his new band (which recently tried to make a crossover into rap) is putting out generic post-hardcore trash.
Flume, Skin: The Remixes: A series of remixes from last year’s Skin album, featuring Baauer, Disclosure, Clean Bandit, Stwo, and more.
Germ, Badshit Bootleg: Florida’s Germ, right off a well-received EP with $UICIDEBOY$, returns with his second solo project.
K$upreme, Flex Muzik: Lil Yachty affiliate/Sailing Team member K$upreme drops off his first project, with appearances from Kodie Shane, Chief Keef, Rich the Kid, and Lil Boat himself.
Lil Tracy, XOXO: The GothBoiClique member’s latest EP is nearly entirely produced by BigHead, and features Lil Peep, Famous Dex, YSL Luke, and ThouxanBanFauni.
Sam Gellaitry, Escapism III: The up-and-coming Scottish electronic producer, who recently signed to LA’s Soulection label, returns with his latest EP.
White Reaper, The World’s Best American Band: White Reaper follow up 2015’s acclaimed Does It Again with a new album of solid rock & roll.