The surprise companion to the National's April release, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, is the band's most freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck album in years. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20-plus years together, the vibrant, exploratory album is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Reveling in the license to radically upend its creative process, the National honed most of this...

The Swedish sister duo Klara and Johanna Soderberg follow up their critically acclaimed 2012 release Lion's Roar with their ambitious ten-song collection of originals.

The album began its life as many albums by the Mountain Goats do, with John Darnielle playing the piano until a lyric emerged. That lyric became Jenny III, a song which laid down a challenge he'd never taken up before: writing a sequel to one of his most beloved albums: All Hail West Texas. Recorded at Tulsa, Oklahoma's legendary Church Studio with Grammy-winning producer/engineer Trina Shoemaker, this is a lush collection of showtunes, pushing Darnielle...

The first new full-length record since Beirut's 2019 release, "Gallipoli," and the first on Zach Condon's own label, Pompeii Records. Recorded in the Norwegian island of Hadsel shortly after a physical and mental break forced Condon to cancel is 2019 tour, Condon was looking for a place to recover after being left in a state of shock and self-doubt. The resulting collection of songs beautifully reflect that vulnerability, sense of self-determination...