Welcome to our round up of the most eagerly anticipated new releases scheduled for release in April, including new music from Fontaines DC, Beirut, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Jack White and Wet Leg and reissues by Daft Punk, The Streets and Pink Floyd.
Beirut - Artifacts
Due 1st April 2022
Artifacts began humbly as a means of compiling a few early Beirut EPs for a proper physical release. However, as Zach Condon explains in album’s excellent liner notes, reconnecting with old recordings through fresh ears turned a simple re-issue project into something much more expansive. “When the decision came to re-release this collection, I found myself digging through hard drives looking for something extra to add to the compilation. What started as a few extra unreleased tracks from my formative recording years quickly grew into an entire extra records-worth of music from my past, and a larger project of remixing and remastering everything I found for good measure.”
Artifacts is a phylogenetic tree. A double-LP’s worth music that traces the evolution of Beirut from a 14-year old Condon’s first attempts at bringing the music he heard in his mind to life, to the fully formed Beirut we know today.
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Red Hot Chili Peppers - Unlimited Love
Due 1st April 2022
Red Hot Chili Peppers unveil their twelfth full-length offering, Unlimited Love, marking their first recording with guitarist John Frusciante since 2006 and first with producer and longtime collaborator Rick Rubin since 2011. On lead track “Black Summer,” ethereal guitar underlines introspective lyrics as the rhythm unlocks a hypnotic drum groove highlighted by evocative bass. It quietly inhales only to exhale with a massive refrain, “It’s been a long time since I made a new friend, waiting on another black summer to end,” before a guitar solo echoes to the heavens and back. Unlimited Love resumes a three-decade partnership with Rick Rubin [Johnny Cash, Adele]. Their creative collaboration spans legendary albums, including the diamond-selling Blood Sugar Sex Magik[1991], Californication [1999], By The Way [2002], and Stadium Arcadium [2006]. The interplay between the band borders on intergalactic once again—yet elevated to another stratosphere altogether. Unlimited Love represents the united spirit of four individual souls still fearlessly exploring the future of their eternal friendship and musical congregation.
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Can - Soundtracks
Due 1st April 2022
Following the release of the first two parts of CAN's live series, Mute and Spoon Records reissue a limited edition run of Soundtracks on clear purple vinyl.
Soundtracks, a compilation of songs Can had composed for different movies, was released in 1970 before the band started work on their second album. This record said goodbye to the band's original vocalist Malcolm Mooney, who features on ‘Soul Desert’ and ‘She Brings The Rain’, to be replaced by Japanese singer Damo Suzuki. Bridging the gap between the improvisatory rock jams of their earlier recordings, Monster Movie and Delay 1968, Soundtracks also laid the foundations for their more electronic and experimental sounding work, such as Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi.
“Intricate and subtle” All Music
“Often overlooked… A good sampling of their more straightforward experiments” Pitchfork
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Can - Monster Movie
Due 1st April 2022
Following the release of the first two parts of CAN’s live series, Mute and Spoon Records reissue a limited edition run of Monster Movie on blue vinyl. With the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart and The Velvet Underground ringing in their ears, Holger Czukay and Irmin Schmidt left behind their careers in academia to form the influential group in the late 60s. Together with Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit and American singer Malcolm Mooney, they recorded their debut album Monster Movie in a castle near Cologne in 1968. The record was then remastered in 2004 from the original master tape for a CD release. It was overseen by Holger, Irmin and Jono Podmore to refine it to how it was always intended to be heard. - “Monster Movie is an amazing debut” Pitchfork - “Monster Movie, sounds like nothing else released in 1969 - and still acts as a template for the future” Sound Affects - “Had Can’s debut album, Monster Movie, been their only one, it would have assured their place in the history of German music and of rock as a whole” Shindig Magazine Available on Limited Edition Mother Sky Blue Vinyl.
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Hannah Peel & Paraorchestra - The Unfolding
Due 1st April 2022
There are pieces of music that seek to tell us deeper stories. Others harness the talents of the players at their disposal in adventurous ways. Then there are the rare, generous works that make us think back to our roots as human beings and to our shared beginnings in the universe, that lift us in their melodies, rhythms and textures, that carry us with them. The Unfolding is all of these things. An extraordinary eight-part collaboration between composer Hannah Peel (Mercury Prize and Emmy nominee) and Paraorchestra, it was made over three years in precious morsels of time around a global pandemic. These circumstances – unexpected when the collaboration began – add weight to its explorations in sound about who we are, where we came from, and who we could all be. The Unfolding also explores Paraorchestra’s progressive idea of what an orchestra should be, mixing analogue, digital and assistive instruments with a unique ensemble of disabled and non-disabled musicians to make magic happen, and accessible to all. On vinyl the album will be 2LP in a gatefold sleeve, with printed inner bag.
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Jack White - Fear of the Dawn
Due 8th April 2022
Fear of the Dawn is the fourth studio album from Jack White, founding member of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather. True to his DIY roots, this record was recorded at White's Third Man Studio throughout 2021, mastered by Third Man Mastering, pressed to vinyl at Third Man Pressing, and released by Third Man Records.
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Father John Misty - Chloe and the Next 20th Century
Due 8th April 2022
Father John Misty returns with 'Chloë and The Next 20th Century', his fifth album and first new material since the release of God’s Favorite Customer in 2018. 'Chloë and the Next 20th Century' was written and recorded August through December 2020 and features arrangements by Drew Erickson. The album sees Tillman and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Wilson resume their longtime collaboration, as well as Dave Cerminara, returning as engineer and mixer. Basic tracks were recorded at Wilson’s Five Star Studios with strings, brass and woodwinds recorded at United Recordings in a session featuring Dan Higgins and Wayne Bergeron, among others. Presented as a 2xLP gatefold pressed on blue vinyl with a poster.
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Pavement - Spit on a Stranger (EP)
Due 8th April 2022
Limited-edition first and only 12-inch version of Pavement's Spit On A Stranger EP. Issued to accompany the deluxe 23rd anniversary edition of Terror Twilight. Includes never-before-released live recording of "Harness Your Hopes," from Pavement's final shows at the Brixton Academy in 1999.
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Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Due 8th April 2022
After releasing two of the hottest singles of the year, Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers were catapulted from their confines on the Isle of Wight to sold out venues across the UK and packed-out tents at festivals causing giddy excitement wherever they went. Now, the duo is thrilled to unveil news of their debut album. Both black and yellow vinyl versions come as a spine sleeve with gold foil block and 4-page lyric insert.
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Daft Puck - Homework (2022 reissue)
Due 15th April 2022
In January 1997, Daft Punk released their critically acclaimed debut album multi -platinum Homework, featuring the hit singles Around the World, Burning and Revolution 909 plus Da Funk. Lauded as Album of 1997 by many in the music press, the record is now being reissued on double LP following the band's split last year.
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King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - Made in Timeland
Due 15th April 2022
Timeland is a long-lost King Gizzard record mysteriously unearthed on the eve of 2022.
It will not appear on any Digital Service Providers anywhere, making the physical product a highly coveted collector's item.
All LPs are housed in a brown paper bag to help combat the environmental impact of vinyl manufacturing.
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Inspiral Carpets - Revenge of the Goldfish
Due 15th April 2022
Originally released on October 5th 1992, Revenge of the Goldfish was Inspiral Carpets’ third studio record, featuring the singles ‘Dragging Me Down, ‘Bitches Brew’, Generations’ and ‘Two Worlds Collide’. Regarded as one of the main components of the Madchester movement in the early 90s, the Inspirals released a further three albums on Cow Records (via Mute Records) before disbanding in 1995.
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JON SPENCER & The HITmakers - Spencer Gets It Lit
Due 15th April 2022
The indelible Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion, Boss Hog, Pussy Galore, Heavy Trash etc) is back with JON SPENCER & the HITmakers. The forthcoming long-layer SPENCER GETS IT LIT is out April 1st on Bronzerat Records. Spencer Gets It Lit delivers friction, excitement, and post-modern depravity in a gonzo retaliation against idiocy that is as good a balm for our collective PTSD as any. Across layers of big beats, fuzz guitar, and fat synths he spits, croons, rhapsodises, and seduces. Spencer Gets It Lit is his most complex, groovy, and fun record in years; a dark and danceable odyssey – both a studied take-down of the early 21st century, and a celebration of the place where electricity meets the mind. ‘The Worst Facts’ has the HITmakers chanting “It's called a fact!” over a uniquely Spencer lesson in humility. ‘Strike 3’ has Spencer exchange anxieties with HITmaker (and one half of Quasi) Sam Coomes (Jon: “This world! Make me feel bad!”, Sam: “I'm grindin' my teeth! Grindin' 'em out!” ) before they jointly erupt into the chorus of “Hot dogs! Baseball!...We're gonna die!!". Forthcoming single ‘Worm Town’ (with its gambit “Twinkle twinkle little star, tried to run but didn't get far”) is country-synth-funk that you didn't know you needed til you needed it. In ‘Get It Right Now’, Spencer mixes hitmaking with troublemaking, calling out Zuckerberg, Bezos, and, er, Jagger (“You got nothin' on me!!”). Spencer Gets It Lit is classic Jon Spencer taken to the extremis – electro-boogie, constructivist art pop, a cocktail of industrial sleaze and futurist elegance. Says Spencer, "Send out the Hit Signal! This is the most uncompromising album I've ever made!"
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Kurt Vile - (watch my moves)
Due 15th April 2022
On his major label debut album, Kurt Vile pulls his talents as a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer in unexpected directions — and the result is a vibrant, yet meditative record propelled by laid-back charm and curious spirit. Ravenously creative songwriter Kurt Vile broke through to mainstream success after years of steadily working on his craft. His laidback and drifting guitar rock took notes from masters like Neil Young, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr., exploring inventive guitar tones on meditative and often self-reflective songs. He co-founded the War on Drugs with friend Adam Granduciel in 2005, but quit shortly after the band got off the ground to focus more on his own music. After several albums on various indie labels, Vile signed with Matador in 2009 and would find increasing success with each new album. His 2013 album, Walkin' on a Pretty Daze, broke through bigger than anything before it, taking Vile's blurry-eyed musings and signature songwriting style to a worldwide audience. He would continue frequent collaborations, working with a multitude of special guests on his own records as well as co-creating albums with Steve Gunn and Courtney Barnett.
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M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (10th Anniversary)
Due 15th April 2022
Ten years ago, M83 released the outstanding "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming", the sixth studio album by French electronic music outfit led by Anthony Gonzales, driven by the global hit 'Midnight City' (certified 4x diamond). For this 10th Anniversary, the album has been repressed on a double coloured limited edition vinyl, with a new alternative cover!
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The Waterboys - All Souls Hill
Due 22nd April 2022
After blazing a trail with 2020’s critically acclaimed Good Luck Seeker, The Waterboys waste no time in delivering their brand new record All Souls Hill on Cooking Vinyl. First track The Liar is a creeping, groove-laden masterpiece, taking a powerful, descriptive swipe at Trump and the lies and deceit that infest those in power. All Souls Hill is nine tracks of Waterboys brilliance, all mixed by Scott himself. All Souls Hillis current, on the money social commentary, but with an air of hope. "All Souls Hill is mysterious, otherworldly, tune-banging and emotional.” comments Mike. “I made it with Waterboys old and new and my co-producer, brilliant sonic guru Simon Dine. Its nine songs tell stories, explore dreamscapes, and cast a cold but hopeful eye on the human drama."
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Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
Due 22nd April 2022
Pedestrian Verse is the fourth studio album by the Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit, originally released on 4 February 2013 on Atlantic Records. Produced by Leo Abrahams and the band itself, it is the only studio album to feature guitarist and keyboardist Gordon Skene, who departed from Frightened Rabbit following the album's accompanying tour. Partly inspired by a break-up, the album features increased song writing contributions from each member of the band.
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Pip Blom - Welcome Break
Due 22nd April 2022
Following an extensive touring schedule, which saw the Dutch four-piece roam over field, oceans and Glastonbury’s John Peel stage following the release of ‘Boat’, Pip Blom immediately began to gather all her soaked- up inspirations taken from the road, cosy down in a room of her parents’ house (which she shares with her brother and fellow bandmate Tender Blom) and over three months wrote twenty songs - sixteen of which were to become demos for the band to structure and flesh out, once in the studio together. The result, ‘Welcome Break’ (and yes, the title is inspired by the ubiquitous services dotted along Britain’s motorways) resonates with about as much decisive allure as their previous album ‘Boat’ but this time with a bit more contemporary chaos to boot. Where ‘Boat’ reckoned as a fresh-faced, yet gloriously fearless game changer, ‘Welcome Break’ is the self-assured older sibling who, with an additional year or two behind themselves, isn’t afraid to speak out, take lead, and instigate a liberated revolution-come-bliss-out. “A very important thing of all the tracks is the dynamic between Tender’s and my vocals. I feel like we really complement each other's tones. Maybe it’s because we’re siblings, but whatever it is, I love it. In the chorus of ‘Keep It Together’ we sing two completely different bits, but it works really well. Tender did a lot of singing for this record, mainly for the choruses and bridges. I really like how with this bridge you’ve got this whole choir of the two of us singing in different keys. It gives it a very dreamy vibe that is nice after the powerful chorus.” - Pip Blom Yet another masterclass in effortless song-writing and feel-good-chorus, as Pip explains, the secret behind the continuing run of form on ‘Welcome Break’ is fairly simple: “I just really like catchy songs and I feel like that’s something we do well. It’s not sugar-coated-happy Pop... they’re more like ‘Titanic’ pop songs...” 140g vinyl LP in 300gsm board with matt lamination die cut sleeve and digital download code.
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Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia
Due 22nd April 2022
2020’s A Hero’s Death saw Fontaines D.C. land a #2 album in the UK, receive nominations at the GRAMMYs, BRITs and Ivor Novello Awards, and sell out London’s iconic Alexandra Palace.
Now the band return with their third record in as many years: Skinty Fia. Used colloquially as an expletive, the title roughly translates from the Irish language into English as “the damnation of the deer”; the spelling crassly anglicized, and its meaning diluted through generations. Part bittersweet romance, part darkly political triumph - the songs ultimately form a long-distance love letter, one that laments an increasingly privatized culture in danger of going the way of the extinct Irish giant deer.
Available on standard black, limited yellow and limited red vinyl. Also as a deluxe format which comes as a double-LP on 45rpm, 180gm black vinyl, housed in a gatefold jacket with printed inner sleeves. Alternate cover artwork & 20 page lyric book.
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Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful
Due 22nd April 2022
During lockdown last year, J Spaceman would walk through an empty ‘Roman London’ where the world was “full of birdsong and strangeness,” trying to make sense of all the music playing in his head at the time. The mixers and mixes of his new record weren’t working out yet. Spaceman plays 16 different instruments on ‘Everything Was Beautiful’, which was put down at 11 different studios, as well as at his home. He also employed more than 30 musicians and singers, including his daughter Poppy, long-time collaborator and friend John Coxon, string and brass sections, choirs and finger bells and chimes from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Eventually the mixes got there, and ‘Everything Was Beautiful’ was achieved. The result is some of the most ‘live’ sounding recordings that Spiritualized have released since the ‘Live At The Albert Hall’ record of 1998, around the time of ‘Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space’. Available to independent retailers as a deluxe LP format featuring 140g pink coloured vinyl, 350gsm 3mm spined outer sleeve printed on high gloss UV finish with matt spot varnish print, embossed dots, removable pill box, gold foil, 300gsm inner sleeve. Also available to independent retailers as a ‘Japanese Version’, featuring sleeve and lyrics translated fully into Japanese, with 140g vinyl LP, 350gsm 3mm spined outer sleeve printed on high gloss UV finish with matt spot varnish print, embossed dots, gold foil, 300gsm inner sleeve. Standard LP format includes 140g vinyl LP, 350gsm 3mm spined outer sleeve printed on high gloss UV finish with matt spot varnish print, embossed dots, gold foil, 300gsm inner sleeve.
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Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets (Mono)
Due 29th April 2022
Released as a limited edition for Record Store Day in 2019, the original mono mix of Pink Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets has been remastered by James Guthrie, Joel Plante, and Bernie Grundman from the 1968 analog tapes. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl, it will be presented inside a reproduction of the original LP sleeve. With classics like "Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", "Remember a Day" and "Jugband Blues", A Saucerful Of Secrets is the only album to feature the five band members: Roger Waters on bass and vocals, Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals, Nick Mason on drums, Syd Barrett and David Gilmour on guitar and vocals.
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Neil Young - Official Release Series Vol. 4 (Discs 13, 14, 20 & 21) Due 29th April 2022
Neil Young announces the release of the fourth installment in his Official Release Series (ORS): a box set that includes his classic ‘80s records Hawks & Doves, Re•ac•tor, and This Note’s for You, as well as his Eldorado EP, previously released only in Japan and Australia. Both vinyl and CD box sets will be available for pre-order today and out on April 29th. The ORS Vol 4 collects an eclectic set of decade-spanning sounds. Hawks & Doves (1980) revisits his folk roots and explores some of his most country-leaning offerings; the blistering Re•ac•tor (1981) showcases a stomping set of heavy, overdriven rock with Crazy Horse; and This Note’s for You (1988) casts Young as a big band leader, belting out intricately arranged blues. The Eldorado EP (1989) is full of feral distortion and earthy crunch featuring Young backed by The Restless (Chad Cromwell and Rick Rosas). It includes two thundering tracks — “Cocaine Eyes” and “Heavy Love”— not available on any other album. ORS Vol 4 collects a large swath of his diverse and compelling ‘80s work, testifying to the legendary songwriter’s gift for sonic shape-shifting.
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Blossoms - Ribbon Around The Bomb
Due 29th April 2022
Ribbon Around The Bomb is the first new music from Blossoms since their ‘vibrant single’ (NME) Care For, which was released in 2021. Care For gained great support from radio, with the track being playlisted and made the ‘Hottest Record’ by Radio 1, as well as getting on the B-List with Radio 2. The track was also added to key streaming playlists, including Spotify’s ‘New Music Friday’, ‘All New All Now’ and ‘The Indie List’. Speaking about the new album and single, Blossoms’ Tom Ogden says: ‘While on tour in 2019 in Mexico, I visited Frida Kahlo’s house. Looking at her paintings on show, someone had described one of them as being like a ‘ribbon around a bomb’. I immediately thought that it was a great title for a song and album because of the imagery that it evoked in my mind. I thought about how lots of things in life could be described as being a ribbon around a bomb in the sense that as people we often dress things up which have a darkness lying beneath them’. The band’s new album is produced by their consistent and renowned collaborators James Skelly and Rich Turvey and revolves around a central character ‘The Writer’. Tom Ogden explains: ‘The more songs I wrote, the more I realised that the writer referenced in the songs was in fact me. Having been so busy for the past eight years I and the band have never really had the chance to step back and reflect on what we’ve achieved. You’re so focused on the future; write the next album then tour. Your life is usually mapped out at least two years in advance’. Standout tracks on the record include Ode To NYC, described by Tom as ‘a love letter to my favourite city, as well as my wife’, The Writer which deals with the fear of and frustration associated with writers block and Everything About You, one of the album’s only love songs, which Tom says is ‘as honest as they come’. Visions meanwhile contains one of the album’s key lyrics ‘Was I complete at 23’, as Tom explains. ’At 23 I had just had a number 1 album and begun my relationship with my now wife Katie. Reflecting on what I’d achieved at such a young age left me wondering, what now?’ Blossoms are playing a series of live shows in the UK this summer, including headline appearances at Y Not? and Truck Festival, as well as a run of support dates with The Killers. Full details on Blossoms live dates in 2022 are here. Since forming in 2013, Blossoms have enjoyed widespread success and acclaim. Their 2016 debut Blossomstopped the album charts for two consecutive weeks and went on to earn the band BRIT Award and Mercury Prize nominations, while 2018’s Cool Like You charted at Number 4 in the UK album chart, spawning the anthemic singles I Can’t Stand It, There’s A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls) and How Long Will This Last? Their third studio album, 2020’s Foolish Loving Spaces was the band’s second UK Number 1 album and following the release of In Isolation/Live From The Plaza Theatre, Stockport in 2020, the band have now had four top 5 albums in the UK.
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Phew! And as if that wasn't enough, we've not even mentioned Record Store Day. Don't forget to join us in store on 23rd April for our first RSD event where you can pick up exclusive and limited titles. It's going to be a good one so get there early!
You can find out more about our plans here.
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