Release Surfer – The most interesting albums out this week – 02/10

With hundreds of new releases every week, it's becoming harder and harder to decide what to listen to and what to leave behind.
This new OndaRock column will be with you every Thursday, helping you choose which waves to ride in the sea of albums coming out the following day.

Meshell Ndegeocello – Synonym (soul, jazz, funk, rock, hip-hop, and beyond) – New covers album for Blue Note packed with collaborations for the extraordinary bassist Meshell, joined by Cynthia Erivo, Chaka Khan, Cat Power, Robert Glasper, Brandi Carlile, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, WILLOW, ANOHNI, Chris Thile, Bill Callahan, Laura Lee (Khruangbin), Emily King, Lizz Wright, Madison Cunningham.

Emily A. Sprague – Cyano (Synth-pop) – The new solo album from the Florist frontwoman. A dreamlike meditation on the unconscious, ecology and life in a distant world whose inhabitants are trying to rebuild their capacity to express their own emotions.

KONTRAVOID – Sound Of The Void (Ebm) – The new album from Cameron Findlay's project, who recently toured Italy supporting A Place To Bury Strangers. More pulsing electronics here, between Ebm textures and synths that invite you to dance in the dark. 

Vanishing Twin – Archives (Neo-Psychedelia, Indietronica) – An archive isn't a warehouse: it's a grimoire. Cathy Lucas and her London disciples (now split between the French countryside and London) dig up relics that belong to no recognizable timeline. Kosmische, exotica, library music, psychedelic jazz: not instruments, but antennae. Lucas's voice migrates, dissolving the ego into a third sonic being. Archives is a séance with the future, a ritual for anyone who knows music is a technology of trance.

Johnny Marr – The Age Of Everything (britpop, jingle jangle) – The fifth solo album from the legendary Smiths guitarist promises to be a reflection on these dark times, lit up by his inimitable guitar weaves.

The Album Leaf – A Body Of Voices (post-rock, ambient) – The unstoppable Jimmy LaValle releases the new studio album from his project The Album Leaf, produced by Eastern Glow and Nettwerk. As many as nine of the eleven tracks feature guests: Twin Shadow, Aisha Badru, Black Mountain, Spencer Zahn, Raphaelle Standell, Nicole Miglis, Maiah Manser, Motherboard, Aeletan. 

Susanne Sundfør – Revelations Of Divine Love (art pop, folk) – This doesn't look like an easy listen: the Norwegian chanteuse's new record for Bella Union, rich in spoken-word passages and organ parts, draws its inspiration from the words of the medieval English mystic Julian of Norwich.

Fat Dog – Cancel Me (I Am Tired) (dance punk, new rave) – With a title like that, the London band's second record promises to be downright irreverent, and judging by the singles, the instrumentation sounds just as brash and unhinged. It could turn out to be one of the most fun records of the year.

Dead Poet Society – Monarch (alternative rock, post-grunge) – Third album time for the Boston band, who've earned comparisons to heavyweights like Muse and Nothing But Thieves through blasts of distortion, fretless-keyboard forays, and powerhouse choruses. For them, stadium-sized rock is still possible.

Cosmo Sheldrake – Digger (folktronica, soundtrack) – For the score of his upcoming dark comedy, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu ("Birdman", "The Revenant", "Bardo") has picked a name decidedly alien to Hollywood showbiz. Already praised for his score to the TV series "Galapagos", the eccentric British artist now brings his eclectic blend of birdsong, electronic tinkering and chamber arrangements to a film production worth hundreds of millions. Winning gamble or sell-out? Fans are watching closely.

Italian Bonus

Amari – Finta di niente (alt-pop) – It had really been a long time since we last heard from this Friulian band, and this new release on La Tempesta Dischi promises fresh colors and electronic nuances for their ironic, generation-defining pop sound.

Ride the wave of great music

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