“Survive until 2025” was the phrase echoing through business, entertainment, and, of course, politics over the past year. Yet music continues to be a dynamic force, capturing the essence of our times, sometimes predicting what’s to come, and often revisiting the classics when need. As we step into a new year, we have a blank slate ahead of us—12 months ripe for fresh releases. We can already look back at the Best of 2024 lists and celebrate our favorite new albums. (Don’t forget, André 3000 has announced new music on the horizon, which might, or might not, surprise fans—it’s won’t be hip-hop.) So, I encourage you to welcome these new albums as they arrive. The choice is yours to explore and enjoy what’s next!
JANUARY 17: THE WEATHER STATION, HUMANHOOD (FAT POSSUM RECORDS)
Tamara Lindeman returns with her Weather Station moniker. “I’ve gotten used to feeling like I’m crazy—or just lazy,” she sings at the start of “Neon Signs.” But she’s neither. I’d argue she’s rather actively astute in reading the human condition through a skew of indie rock and melodic arrangements. This Toronto-based artist wrings out stress, and desolation, in portraying how cities can push anybody over the edge with the telling lead single.
JANUARY 31: AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE, HONEY FROM A WINTER STONE (NONESUCH RECORDS)
Oakland’s own Ambrose Akinmusire, who approaches his music and trumpet from a spiritual angle and trusts in his inner weathervane, returns this year with an album he calls “a self-portrait.” It features improvisational vocalist Kokayi, pianist Sam Harris, Chiquitamagic on synthesizer, drummer Justin Brown, and the Mivos Quartet (violinist Olivia Deprato and Maya Bennardo, violist Victor Lowrie Tafoya, cellist Tyler Borden).
Akinmusire says, “In many respects, this entire work is inspired by and is an homage to the work of the composer Julius Eastman and his organic music concept. This album is about the fears and struggles I personally face, as well as those many Black men endure: colorism, erasure, and the question of who gets to speak for my community, and why.” Noted by the New York Times as “arguably the most technically gifted trumpeter of his generation” and last year named Artistic Director of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance (formerly known as the Monk Institute), this release feels quite extensive.
JANUARY 31: EDDIE CHACON, LAY LOW (STONES THROW)
When vocalist and “low key R&B legend” Eddie Chacon came through The Chapel a couple of years ago with the sought-after jazz keyboardist John Carroll Kirby, he brought grace and quirky electricity to one of SF’s finest independent venues. The crowd—not annoying hipsters nor obnoxious techies but more of a “let’s grab a beer after capoeira class” assemblage, dressed in knitted hats fashioned into bizarre configurations—lapped up all the trippy boogie. Chacon’s new album Lay Low feels and hits a bit more forward. This time linking up with producer Nick Hakim, who makes soul music that remains fluid from project to project but remains always on time, Chacon has added a bit more burst to his flame this time. It’s a groove.
JANUARY 31: DAMON LOCKS, LIST OF DEMANDS (INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM)
Chicago-based visual artist, educator, musician, DJ, and vocalist Damon Locks has been pushing varied projects in Chicago’s underground music and art scenes for decades, starting in the late 1980s with the punk band Trenchmouth. He’s been influential in the resurgence of Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra and has pursued collaborations with Nicole Mitchell, Ben LaMar Gay, and many others.
New solo album titled List of Demands marks Locks’ first attempt at creating an entire album based on his poetry and texts. It’s been described as laying out a vision of Black liberation and transmitting it outward as a song cycle of bite-sized MF DOOM-meets-Nikki Giovanni rhythm experiments, yet the message, delivery system, and transient audio—vibing and flowing throughout the track “Click,” for example—signals a project operating at several high-frequency interlocking bandwidths.
FEBRUARY 7: JAMES BRANDON LEWIS TRIO, APPLE CORES (ANTI-)
Busy. Diverse, scattered. Vibrant. Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis can be called all of those names and more—he’s an artist whose creativity can’t stay put. He bounces, sorry, burns through one project that involves collaborating with D.C. punk group The Messthetics, featuring former members of Fugazi. Next, he’s making improvised albums with his core band—right, he has two bands—collaborators Chad Taylor on drums and mbira and Josh Werner on bass guitar.
“If you don’t spend time with your band, you’re not going to really trust that moment,” Lewis said in a statement. “I think we’ve spent enough time together to where we can do that. I’ve been playing with Chad for like ten years, so that’s like water right there, and me and Josh have been playing together since 2018.”
The upcoming album is called Apple Cores and is out February 7.
Watching James Brandon Lewis and The Messthetics light up Rickshaw Stop amidst a leaky roof situation and also transform SF Jazz’s Joe Henderson Lab a couple of years ago? En fuego.
Dynamic shows. His new single “Five Spots to Caravan” is a roiling vamp and upticking meditation with Lewis setting to flight, dunking on this sinewy pogoing quagmire.
FEBRUARY 14: HORSEGIRL, PHONETICS ON AND ON (MATADOR)
This New York-via-Chicago trio of best friends—Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece–had their lead single “2468” produced by the brilliant Cate Le Bon. Their sophomore release, “Phonetics On and On,” is believed to be a foray intertwining elements from “pop, minimalism, and playful experimentation.” Talented far beyond their very young years, Horsegirl brings a specialness to every project they design.
FEBRUARY 14: BARTEES STRANGE, HORROR (4AD)
Bartees Strange is on his own… shit. Sorry, that was blunt. But, I meant it with the highest regard. Sometimes being blunt is the only thing that gets your voice heard.
So many times, Black rock acts get cornered in the ghetto of comparison to other Black rock acts, which sound dissimilar. Through a series of advanced visuals in anticipation of his upcoming album Horror, Strange tells us he was brought up on a broad diet of sonic influences that runs the gamut from Parliament Funkadelic and Fleetwood Mac to Teddy Pendergrass and Neil Young; his ear has bumped through hip-hop, country, indie rock, and house.
Horror, named after the everyday house of mirrors existence Brown folks deal with—boring ass Tuesdays included—puts all those influences through their paces by way of smart songwriting and big-toned guitar riffs.
FEBRUARY 21: THE YOUNG MOTHERS, BETTER IF YOU LET IT (SONIC TRANSMISSIONS RECORDS)
Combine the classic basslines from Weather Report’s Sweetnighter with free funk and the most experimental sounds of Ronald Shannon Jackson, along with snippets of John Zorn and influences from James “Blood” Ulmer, and you’ll only begin to explore the vast soundscapes of The Young Mothers. Discovered in Austin, TX, but for sure broadcasting live and direct from Mars, the outfit retools and new-schools avant-jazz. This maximalist band holds nothing back, incorporating afrobeat, hip hop, punk attitude, indie rock method, and everything else they can get their hands on, and deserves full attention. What a dynamic future this collective possesses.
MARCH 21: GREENTEA PENG, TELL DEM IT’S SUNNY (AWAL RECORDINGS)
Listen, personally for me, there is a list of artists that every year I wonder if THIS will be that breakthrough watershed moment. I’ve been following Greentea Peng for a minute. She’s a throwback, in the greatest manner, to Neneh Cherry, with bits and snippets of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Miss Dynamite, and Lily Allen wrapped up in that musical vocabulary of sorts. Plus, she’s got this whole street style that is off the charts, schmaart.
But music is the first thing and that vibe carries her voice, look, stature, and approach. Yes, she has an album dropping later this year, but that presence. Mang. Keep an eye and ear out for her.
APRIL 4: DJ KOZE, MUSIC CAN HEAR US (PAPMA RECORDS)
Dude swings for the fences. It can be overcooked disco house, weird pop, slow and steady beats, or even (according to some critics) delivering Roisin Murphy’s best album to date with Hit Parade. The point is, DJ KOZE gives specific attention to each project he handles. That makes him a rare bird in the electronic music department and a sought-after creator who’s never afraid of failure. By the mighty swings he takes with each project, one could say he courts failure so he can overcome it and get to the next wild concoction. That’s swag.
So don’t be surprised by the slow-cooking arrangement called “Pure Love” featuring the inimitable Damon Albarn on his upcoming project due out in April. It’s just another unexpected journey from the ultimate craftsman.
MARCH 28? SPELLLING, PORTRAIT OF MY HEART
There isn’t very much info available about the new album, but the experimental pop artist from Oakland will begin the “Portrait of My Heart” tour this spring, so we know it’s coming soon. The tour kicks off show at the Great American Music Hall on April 4 and ends in Reno on May 19. It’s reportedly built for new material and will include stops in Los Angeles, Austin, Houston, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, NYC, Detroit, and Chicago.
Go here for updated info.
D’ANGELO????
Homeboy hasn’t put out an album since 2014, so I really should not give any type of hope or faith in the possibility of this dude actually following through on a project within the parameters he established. But hey Mang, it’s freaking D’Angelo, you know?
Raphael Saadiq, local musician and master producer—y’all remember Tony! Toni! Toné!, right?—gave up some deets of D’Angelo’s new album on an episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast last year. “D’s in a good space,” Saadiq told Rolling Stone. “He’s excited. He’s like, ‘You gotta play bass. I’ve got this track. I’m telling you, you got to get on it. It’s got your name all over it.’ … He’s working on six pieces right now and he seems super excited.”
In addition, Saadiq confirmed that one track in the mix is an old arrangement from Linwood Rose, a short-lived supergroup featuring D’Angelo, Saadiq, and the emcee and super producer Q-Tip. That’s all the info I got, but if it happens in 2025, it’s worth all the potential heartbreak of non-delivery.
DRY CLEANING????
Sometimes a band breaks out so powerfully, introducing innovative ideas about how post-punk should sound, that even when they don’t have an album set to release until early 2026—according to their publicists at 4AD, their label—people online continue to talk incessantly about this art band that made waves during the pandemic, and if we’ll get an early release.
Dry Cleaning has released two official albums along with a series of EPs: Fans are consistently impressed by their unique exploration of quirky soundscapes, particularly focusing on Florence Shaw’s distinctively dry tone poems. She is the same artist who penned the memorable line, “I’ve been thinking of eating that hotdog for hours.”
This sentiment captures that character she’s perfected “the musings of an occasionally unhinged introvert,” set against a backdrop of divey guitar riffs and laid-back rhythmic grooves reminiscent of 1980s dollar bin records. Despite being a four-piece from South London, Dry Cleaning has garnered a loyal fanbase eagerly awaiting their unconventional style, which has propelled the band into the international spotlight. Check their site for updates.
