New Releases We Can't Wait to Dig Into

Happy New Year! There is no shortage of excellent music coming out this week. As we start diving more into upcoming release lists, singles and endlessly scrolling through Instagram, we are still very much interested in hearing from you about Chicago music on the horizon. Head below to read about a couple albums coming out this week that we’re excited about.

splits (Chicago)
vice versa
Self Released

If the single “Vanishing” is any indication, vice versa promises to be an epic indie pop journey . Taylor Ericson’s vocal rides on a symphony of guitar layers and a driving rhythm that hooks from the get go. On the coattails of their debut EP, they let us go, this promises to be a welcome opening to the music of 2021.

Owell (Chicago)
Orwell 1995
Self Released

A compendium of all the recorded material from the short lived band Orwell, which birthed a myriad of acts including Braid, Haymarket Riot, Punjab, Guttersnipe, Friction, Gainer, Hubcap, and many, many more. Capturing the energy of a group of musicians in their early 20’s coming into their own is a beautiful thing. And from the two tracks out now it captures a sound that is soooo ‘95 it takes us back to highschool, blasting Sunny Day Real Estate from the Honda Civic in the sophomore lot.

Aaron Frazer (Brooklyn)
Introducing...
Dead Oceans

Breaking out on his own, the drummer with the voice from Durand Jones & The Indications gets his due with this feature solo debut. Containing plenty of his classic falsetto and funky retro R&B/soul appeal, this one is sure to be on repeat through into the spring.

Dante Elephante (Los Angeles)
Mid-Century Modern Romance
Born Losers Records

Did someone say disco? Get your living room dance party hot and heavy with this west coast fever dream, an act that embraced a beachy indie rock vibe has transformed into a full on disco daydream. If you dig the music, check out their podcast, the latest episode features Chicago’s own Divino Niño.

Thank You Thank You (Philadelphia)
NEXT TO NOTHING
Self Released

A couple of really evocative singles drew our attention to this Philly act, who are making their debut with this four track EP that promises to give all the feels. We’re really hoping to get more from Tyler Bussey in the future, including a show in our good ol’ town when this shit is over.

Viagra Boys (Stockholm)
Welfare Jazz
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We weren’t going to include this here but the singles are just so f’ing good, we couldn’t help ourselves. This Swedish five piece post punk parade made a splash with their debut Street Worms in 2019, and this most anticipated followup may be even better!

That’s it for this week. Some other great finds from overseas include Swedish singer/songwriter Henrick Appel, and UK visionary Hilang Child. We’ll see you next week with more outstanding picks.   

It bears repeating, we want to cover Chicago music, so if you have something coming out, please submit it!