This Week's Top 10 New Releases

New week, new stack. Here's what dropped, the tracklists, and what we think of each one.

1. Denzel Curry & Kenneth Blume — ii

Label: Loma Vista  |  Fans: 86 (no critic score yet)

Six years after UNLOCKED, Curry and Blume (the guy formerly known as Kenny Beats) are back, and this time they ditched the studio entirely, just an SP-404 and a cheap mic. Apparently they fought a lot making this one, and you can hear it: it's scrappier and more confrontational than their last go-round. JPEGMAFIA, Westside Gunn and Yebba all stop by.

Tracklist: 1. Gone Fishing, 2. Evil Grin (feat. JPEGMAFIA), 3. Candlelight, 4. Product, 5. Ups, 6. Benjamin, 7. Cold Night in Hell, 8. Crown (feat. Westside Gunn), 9. Difference (feat. Yebba)

2. Westside Cowboy — It Goes On

Label: Island Records  |  Critics: 86 vs Fans: 83

Debut album from a Manchester band that's been riding a serious hype wave, Glastonbury's Emerging Talent win, two acclaimed EPs, a Geese support slot. The pressure clearly didn't rattle them; this is a confident, unhurried record that trusts its own instincts instead of chasing the moment. One of the best-reviewed releases of the week.

Tracklist: 1. Kick Stones (The Boys), 2. Paperchains, 3. Dobro, 4. Well Done Kid You Did It, 5. Worried Age, 6. Big Wheels, 7. Pin Up Boys, 8. Coyote, 9. Patchwork, 10. Take My Leaving As I Love You, 11. You Could Have Died There On The Dancefloor

3. Weezer — Weezer (Gold Album)

Label: Reprise / Warner  |  Critics: 73 vs Fans: 78

Album 20 (yes, twenty), and this time all four members actually wrote together instead of it being mostly Rivers' show. Karly Hartzman of Wednesday duets on the lead single, and there's a sequel to the old Sweater Song hiding in here too. More collaborative than usual, for better and worse depending who you ask.

Tracklist: 1. Say Yes, 2. Shine Again, 3. Don't Make It Weird, 4. We Might as Well Be Strangers (feat. Wednesday), 5. C.E.O., 6. Hoops, 7. Nowhere, 8. The Show Must Go On, 9. Up In The Clouds, 10. The LA Sound

4. Julia Holter — Materia

Label: Domino  |  Critics: 74 vs Fans: 77

A short, strange companion piece to her last album, just seven tracks, two of them entirely new versions of the title song itself. Chamber-pop, hushed jazz textures, and Holter's usual knack for sounding both floaty and intimate at once. More of an addendum than a full new statement, but a lovely one.

Tracklist: 1. The Laugh Is in the Eyes, 2. My Lost One, 3. Fantasy, 4. Materia 2, 5. Clepsydra, 6. My Twin, 7. Materia 3

5. Chelsea Wolfe — The Dark

Label: Loma Vista  |  Critics: 79 vs Fans: 80

Ninth album, and by her own account written from a place of becoming the darkest thing in the woods. Heavier and more immediate than her last few records, with a genuinely stacked list of collaborators, members of Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, and Pearl Jam all show up. Produced with Jennifer Decilveo, which brings a bit more sharpness to her usual doom-folk sound.

Tracklist: 1. Cold, 2. Seethe, 3. Humours, 4. Swallower, 5. Halo, 6. The Dark, 7. Turn The Key, 8. I'm Not There, 9. Death Is Not The End, 10. Dancer in the Sky

6. Brandon Flowers — THRASHER

Label: Island Records  |  Critics: 77 vs Fans: 78

The Killers frontman's first solo record in over a decade, and a genuine swerve, full country-western, recorded at Historic RCA Studio A in Nashville with Music City heavyweights like David Rawlings and harmonica legend Charlie McCoy. Grew out of Flowers revisiting the country music his dad played growing up in Nephi, Utah. Surprisingly sincere and well-earned rather than a stunt.

Tracklist: 1. Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?, 2. One Of Us, 3. Tiger's Blood, 4. Plans, 5. Paradise, 6. Miss America, 7. Angel, 8. The Red Ground, 9. In A Heartbeat, 10. An American Dream

7. Jorja Smith — What Are The Odds

Label: FAMM  |  Critics: 80 vs Fans: 71

Third album, and Jorja goes all in on the club this time, UK garage, grime, 2-step, Afro house, produced entirely by P2J. Wizkid and grime veteran Devlin both guest. A real departure from her soul and R&B lane, and one of the better-reviewed dance-pop crossovers of the year so far.

Tracklist: 1. For Life, 2. What Are The Odds, 3. What's Done Is Done, 4. This City (feat. Devlin), 5. Pretend, 6. The Way It Was, 7. I Lied You Lied, 8. Dancing, 9. Alive (feat. Wizkid), 10. Young Heart, 11. Make It Your Home, 12. When It Gets Like That

8. prettifun — Pretti Loves U 2

Fans: 75 (no critic score yet)

A 12-track follow-up building on the internet-native, hyperpop-adjacent sound that's made prettifun a TikTok fixture. Bright, hooky, and built for short attention spans in the best way, a fun, low-stakes listen for anyone who likes their pop a little glitchy and extremely online.

9. Lambchop — Punching the Clown

Label: City Slang  |  Critics: 82 vs Fans: 82

Album seventeen from the shapeshifting Nashville institution, sparked by Kurt Wagner hearing an old lined-out singing gospel recording on the radio and chasing that feeling for a whole record. Tracked in just three days at Justin Vernon's April Base studio, with Vernon himself on banjo and a six-part choir throughout. Sparse, graceful, and quietly devastating, classic late-period Lambchop.

Tracklist: 1. Just West of Nicollet, 2. A Doctor in the House, 3. Weakened, 4. Stella, 5. Punching the Clown, 6. White People, 7. The New World Wave, 8. Andrew Jackson Asshat, 9. Afterburner, 10. Cigar, 11. To Do, 12. No Chicago

10. Sam Smith — Hazel Eyes

Label: Capitol Records  |  Critics: 75 vs Fans: 63

Fifth album, three years in the making, and Smith's most personal one yet by their own account, a love letter to New York, where they now live, partly recorded at Electric Lady Studios. Feist guests on one track. Fans are a bit more lukewarm than critics on this one, but it's a warm, unguarded listen either way.

Tracklist: 1. Everlasting Love, 2. Hazel Eyes, 3. Moondance (feat. Feist), 4. My Guy, 5. When He's Gone, 6. Thief, 7. Love Is a Stillness, 8. Sugar Rush, 9. Oh Mother (feat. The TwoCity Chorus), 10. Constant Companion, 11. Hold On, 12. To Be Free

That's the stack for this week. Grab whatever's calling to you and we'll be back next Friday with another ten.