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First Listen Enjoy select, upcoming albums, in their entirety.
First Listen

First Listen

Hear upcoming albums in their entirety

Sunday

First Listen: Sharon Van Etten, 'Tramp'

Sharon Van Etten's new album, Tramp, comes out Feb. 7 Dusdin Condren/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dusdin Condren/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Sharon Van Etten, 'Tramp'

There's no artifice to Van Etten: With refreshing, unmistakable directness, she sings like a human being who wants more from herself. On Tramp, she finds what she's looking for.

Listen To 'Tramp' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Heartless Bastards, 'Arrow'

Heartless Bastards' new album, Arrow, comes out Feb. 14. Nathan Presley hide caption

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Nathan Presley

First Listen: Heartless Bastards, 'Arrow'

Erika Wennerstrom's booming, throaty, commanding presence dominates the sound of Arrow, out Feb. 14.

Listen To 'Arrow' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Leonard Cohen, 'Old Ideas'

Leonard Cohen's new album, Old Ideas, comes out Jan. 31. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Leonard Cohen, 'Old Ideas'

Old Ideas contemplates mortality in the bitter light of failed romance. It fearlessly broaches emotional extremes while still dropping the wisdom of an elder who should know better.

Listen To 'Old Ideas' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Gotye, 'Making Mirrors'

Gotye's breakthrough album, Making Mirrors, comes out Jan. 31. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Gotye, 'Making Mirrors'

Making Mirrors, out Jan. 31, finds Gotye making the most of a canny notion: that the pop sounds of the '80s didn't fall out of fashion so much as fall victim to dated production.

Hear 'Making Mirrors' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Ana Tijoux, 'La Bala'

Ana Tijoux's new album, La Bala, comes out Jan. 31. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Ana Tijoux, 'La Bala'

On her follow-up to the stunning 1977, the Chilean MC shifts her focus from the personal to the political, with an eye toward the current unrest in her home country.

Hear 'La Bala' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Kayhan Kalhor, 'I Will Not Stand Alone'

Kayhan Kalhor's new album, I Will Not Stand Alone, comes out Feb. 14. Saleh Rozati hide caption

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Saleh Rozati

First Listen: Kayhan Kalhor, 'I Will Not Stand Alone'

A soulful and insightful album from one of Iran's musical innovators, who looks both back and firmly ahead.

Hear ' I Will Not Stand Alone' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Adam Arcuragi, 'Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It...'

Adam Arcuragi's third album, Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It..., comes out Jan. 31. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Adam Arcuragi, 'Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It...'

With his fiery rock and rousing choruses, Arcuragi crafts songs of community, with music that binds. It's all so full of soul, so unadorned; it's a sound that always feels as if it's reaching toward the sky.

Hear 'Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It...' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Rodrigo y Gabriela, 'Area 52'

Rodrigo y Gabriela's new album, Area 52, comes out Jan. 24. Tina Korhonen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Tina Korhonen/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Rodrigo y Gabriela, 'Area 52'

With the aid of a relentlessly proficient 13-piece Cuban orchestra, the duo reinvents its sound on Area 52, out Jan. 24. It utterly reconstructs the Rodrigo y Gabriela template, and morphs it into something worldlier, bigger, less formulaic and more surprising.

Hear 'Area 52' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Nada Surf, 'The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy'

Nada Surf's new album, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, comes out Jan. 24. José del Río Mons/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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José del Río Mons/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Nada Surf, 'The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy'

Now seven albums into a 20-year career, Nada Surf relies on familiar ingredients throughout The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, out Jan. 24: big guitars, beautiful vocal harmonies, generous affirmations.

Listen To 'The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: First Aid Kit, 'The Lion's Roar'

First Aid Kit's new album, The Lion's Roar, comes out Jan. 24. Neil Krug/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Neil Krug/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: First Aid Kit, 'The Lion's Roar'

Sure, the Swedish sisters behind First Aid Kit exercise their love of Fleet Foxes on The Lion's Roar. But they also find room for the charming lilt of "Emmylou" and a ramshackle, clap-along rouser in "King of the World."

Hear 'The Lion's Roar' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Tim McGraw, 'Emotional Traffic'

Tim McGraw's new album, Emotional Traffic, comes out Jan. 24. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Tim McGraw, 'Emotional Traffic'

An impeccably chosen set of ballads and booty-shakers shows range and honors country's paradigms.

Hear 'Emotional Traffic' In Its Entirety

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Sunday