Hello and welcome to the latest installment of Five Albums, the weekly feature for paid Hearing Things subscribers in which we recommend you the new records that you need to hear. As music journalists, the question we get most often from friends is how to stay on top of what’s new and cool. This is our attempt to provide a practical answer.
Music is awesome, right? So awesome, in fact, that sometimes it’s hard not to slap a Must Hear sticker on every album we adore, in an effort to get more ears on it. We have a rule for this, though: each Hearing Things staffer can sound the Must Hear alarm twice a month within our weekly newsletters—once in Five Albums, and once in Five Songs. With the end of June drawing near, three of us pulled the trigger on Must Hear albums this week—and they’re kinda blowing our minds? Reworking tradition is a common thread, whether it’s gruesome Irish folklore set to fuzzy beats or a guitar whiz who makes his Telecaster sound as dainty as a music box. Elsewhere, we find the platonic ideal of Zoomer jungle music, and ask the ever-timely question: what if Oz had weed shops? Let’s get into it, and hey! If you’re in NYC this week, come out for our summer party on Thursday.
