This Week's Top 10 New Releases

Fresh stack, fresh Friday. Here's what dropped this week, the tracklists, and what we think of each one.

1. Ravyn Lenae — Blue Island

Label: Atlantic  |  Critics: 76  vs  Fans: 76

Her third album, and the one where she finally sounds like she's not trying to prove anything to anybody. Named after the Chicago neighborhood she's from, it swings from grunge-tinged rock to sleek pop to full-on nostalgia trip, with a genuinely touching phone call to her grandpa tucked into the outro of one track. Doechii and Dominic Fike both stop by. This is the sound of an artist relaxing into her own weirdness, and it works.

Tracklist: 1. Handle · 2. Familiar Dreams · 3. Never Let Me Go · 4. In & Out · 5. Potential · 6. Sew Me Back Together · 7. Reputation (feat. Dominic Fike) · 8. Saturday Night · 9. Babygirl (feat. Doechii) · 10. Barriers · 11. Wish You Well · 12. Bobby · 13. Find It One Day · 14. Let Us In

2. Man/Woman/Chainsaw — Cannonball

Label: Fiction Records  |  Critics: 80  vs  Fans: 75

London six-piece, violin and all, finally dropping their debut after years of buzz on the live circuit. This thing is theatrical without being cheesy about it — think unconventional song structures, sudden shifts from gentle folk into full throttle, vocals that go somewhere genuinely eerie. A real "so that's what all the fuss was about" moment.

Tracklist: 1. Only Girl · 2. Canyons · 3. Goddamn, Lizard Man! · 4. Lighter · 5. Nosedive · 6. Get Up and Dance · 7. Snakebite · 8. Flick of the Wrist · 9. The Thing · 10. Still Angry · 11. Something Else to Give

3. FLO — THERAPY AT THE CLUB

Label: Island / EMI  |  Critics: 68  vs  Fans: 71

Sixteen tracks of the UK trio treating the club like a confessional booth — pre-game to morning after, heartbreak to healing, all set to 2000s-gloss R&B and pop. Harmonies are as sharp as ever. Not every idea lands across sixteen tracks, but when it clicks (the Christina Aguilera-brassy "Remedied," for one) it really clicks.

Tracklist: 1. Side Effects · 2. Small Doses · 3. Cry Ugly · 4. Leak It · 5. Touché · 6. I Can't Be High Around You Anymore · 7. Sober · 8. Therapy at the Club · 9. Remedied · 10. Pose · 11. Call Me · 12. Sex In Peace · 13. Floating · 14. Miss U Missing Me · 15. Don't Break Her Heart · 16. Haterbooth

4. twenty one pilots — More Than We Ever Imagined (Live in Mexico City)

Fans: 89 (no critic score yet)

A full live document from their Mexico City run, and the fan score alone tells you what you need to know. If you've ever wanted the arena experience without leaving your living room (or your turntable), this is the one to grab. Not for tracklist deep-diving, more for reliving the energy of the room.

5. Citizen — Halcyon Blues

Label: Run For Cover Records  |  Critics: 80  vs  Fans: 76

Seventeen years in and these Toledo emo lifers still refuse to make the same record twice. Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge (the guy behind U2 and Weezer records), Halcyon Blues takes the raw urgency of their early stuff and stretches it out to anthemic scale without losing the emotional gut-punch. Youthful frustration, grown-up perspective. Great one for the emo revival crowd.

Tracklist: 1. Good Fortune · 2. I Can See You From Here · 3. Halcyon Blues · 4. Is It In My Brain? · 5. Always the Last One to Leave · 6. Either Way · 7. Matador · 8. Ether · 9. Smooth Talker · 10. Highs and Lows · 11. Anne

6. The Mountain Goats — Days

Label: Cadmean Dawn  |  Critics: 80  vs  Fans: 71

John Darnielle doing what John Darnielle does — oddly specific song titles ("Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds" might be the title of the year), loosely stitched together around growing older and looking back at the 70s, 80s and 90s. Recorded in a quick two-week session in Manhattan. Warm, wry, and quietly devastating in that Mountain Goats way.

Tracklist: 1. Song for Layne Staley · 2. Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds · 3. Shallow Grave · 4. Candlebox · 5. Annie Haslam Imperial Phase · 6. Crying on Eddie Nash's Grave · 7. Days · 8. Best Hard Rock Albums 2013 · 9. Going to Fennario · 10. Woodstock '99 · 11. Hidden Majesty of Later Venom Albums · 12. Last Day

7. KAROL G — NO ME ARREPIENTO DE SENTIR TANTO

Label: Bichota Records / Interscope  |  Critics: 82  vs  Fans: 61

After the glitzy showgirl era of Tropicoqueta, Karol strips it back to something moodier and way more vulnerable, written partly on a solo trip through Hawaii. Drake and Bruno Mars both show up, but the real story is Karol leaning all the way into heartbreak instead of dancing through it. Critics are loving the pivot more than some longtime fans are, which tends to happen with these left-turn records.

Tracklist: 1. Te Llevas To · 2. Maybe · 3. Bebiendo Lágrimas · 4. Ahí (feat. Drake) · 5. Final Feliz · 6. Still (feat. Bruno Mars) · 7. Alguien Que Te Amaba · 8. Matadora · 9. For U My Lova · 10. Si Lo Ven · 11. Bby Wow (feat. Judeline & Rusowsky) · 12. ¿Con Quién Andará? · 13. Eclipse · 14. Después de Ti (feat. Greg Gonzalez)

8. ROLE MODEL — Chuck Timely & The Hourglass

Label: Interscope  |  Critics: 62  vs  Fans: 70

Tucker Pillsbury invents an alter ego (Chuck Timely, big yacht-rock guy, allegedly single and looking) to work through a very public breakup, and somehow it doesn't feel gimmicky. Piano-forward, warm, a little Fleetwood Mac-indebted. The bookend tracks lean hardest into the concept, the middle stretch feels more like classic Role Model. A likeable record even when it plays it safe.

Tracklist: 1. Chuck's Mantra · 2. High Hopes 3000 · 3. Song Is All You Get · 4. Love I You · 5. Chasing Midnight · 6. Good Thing · 7. Joy · 8. Service Receipt · 9. Honeydew · 10. Stain · 11. The Wedding · 12. Harmony

9. Overmono — Pure Devotion

Label: XL Recordings  |  Critics: 77  vs  Fans: 65

The Russell brothers recorded this one chasing physical space — Northern Spain, then Iceland, then their own Bristol studio — hunting down vintage synths the whole way. Pummelling low end, surprisingly tender chords underneath. If you caught one of their Pure Devotion club nights, this is basically that feeling pressed to wax.

Tracklist: 1. Lockup · 2. Knight In Shining Prada (feat. John Joseph Holt) · 3. Slowmotion · 4. Even Angels Ghost (feat. Kindora) · 5. Barum · 6. Mialon · 7. Laxbrook · 8. Gem Lingo (ovr now) (feat. Ruthven) · 9. Adre · 10. Ballad (feat. Kindora & Rock Floyd) · 11. After The Rain

10. ARTMS — Hyper-Ego

Label: MODHAUS  |  Fans: 69 (no critic score yet)

Second mini-album from the LOONA-adjacent quartet, minus HaSeul who's still on hiatus. Six tracks of bold, hyperreal K-pop that keeps pushing the group's "what's even real anymore" concept further. A little less immediate than their last two releases, but "Pixel Memory" alone is worth the price of admission.

Tracklist: 1. From Wings To Soul · 2. Born Stunner · 3. Blue Blood · 4. Icarus Gang · 5. Hyper Crush · 6. Pixel Memory

That's the stack for this week. Grab whatever's calling to you and we'll see you next Friday.