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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: Thundercat, 'Apocalypse'

Thundercat's new album, Apocalypse, comes out June 4. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Thundercat, 'Apocalypse'

As Thundercat, Stephen Bruner digs into astral soul music that's often both funky and heartbreaking. Co-produced and co-written by Flying Lotus and Mono/Poly, Apocalypse was written after the death of keyboardist Austin Peralta. It can be bittersweet, as if it's an attempt to smile and dance the pain away.

Thundercat, 'Apocalypse'

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First Listen: Eleanor Friedberger, 'Personal Record'

Eleanor Friedberger's new album, Personal Record, comes out June 4. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Eleanor Friedberger, 'Personal Record'

As a solo artist, the Fiery Furnaces singer is the epitome of subtle, un-showy cool. On Personal Record, her palette expands to include a wider array of themes and perspectives, while she maintains a minimalist-cool sound that's sweet, simple and timeless.

Eleanor Friedberger, 'Personal Record'

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First Listen: Buika, 'La Noche Más Larga'

Buika's new album, La Noche Más Larga, comes out June 4. Javi Rojo/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Javi Rojo/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Buika, 'La Noche Más Larga'

The Spanish singer digs deep on an album that functions as a near-perfect statement of artistic purpose. Buika's dark, husky, intriguing voice mixes the Moorish roots of flamenco with the dexterity of great jazz singers.

Buika, 'La Noche Más Larga'

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First Listen: Jon Hopkins, 'Immunity'

Jon Hopkins new album, Immunity, comes out June 4. Steve Gullick/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Steve Gullick/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Jon Hopkins, 'Immunity'

Immunity is intended to mirror the feel of a night out, and it captures both highs and lows. In Hopkins' living, breathing world of sound, beauty and beats are always free to commingle in ways that move, in every sense of the word.

Jon Hopkins, 'Immunity'

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First Listen: Camera Obscura, 'Desire Lines'

Camera Obscura's new album, Desire Lines, comes out June 4. Anna Isola Crolla/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Anna Isola Crolla/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Camera Obscura, 'Desire Lines'

The Scottish band further refines its grab-bag of arm-swinging brunette soul, swaying country and lite disco. Desire Lines is more confident and direct than anything in the group's catalog.

Camera Obscura, 'Desire Lines'

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Sunday

First Listen: Laura Marling, 'Once I Was An Eagle'

Laura Marling's new album, Once I Was an Eagle, comes out May 28. Justin Tyler Close/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Justin Tyler Close/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Laura Marling, 'Once I Was An Eagle'

Marling's songs dig well beyond the everyday, with each sung in a wise, dusky, brooding voice that always seems in control of its surroundings. The U.K. folksinger's fourth album, Once I Was an Eagle, takes a remarkable journey over the course of 16 hypnotic, subtly inventive songs.

Laura Marling, 'Once I Was An Eagle'

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First Listen: Tricky, 'False Idols'

Tricky's new album, False Idols, comes out May 28. Tricky/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Tricky/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Tricky, 'False Idols'

The producer's best album since the mid-'90s, False Idols is one of 2013's biggest surprises so far. His signature mix of menace and seduction still sounds contemporary after Tricky's more than 20 years in (and out of) the spotlight.

Tricky, 'False Idols'

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First Listen: Mount Kimbie, 'Cold Spring Fault Less Youth'

Mount Kimbie's new album, Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, comes out May 28. Chris Rhodes/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Chris Rhodes/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Mount Kimbie, 'Cold Spring Fault Less Youth'

The British beat-makers shed their electronics in pursuit of a sound designed to translate live. For their second album, Mount Kimbie's Dominic Maker and Kai Campos even trot out languid vocal performances and a real live drum kit, while still sounding like themselves in the process.

Mount Kimbie, 'Cold Spring Fault Less Youth'

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First Listen: Sean Nelson, 'Make Good Choices'

Sean Nelson's new album, Make Good Choices, comes out June 4. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Sean Nelson, 'Make Good Choices'

Eight years after his last album with Harvey Danger, Nelson returns with a wonderfully catchy and quotable solo record. True to virtually every piece of music the singer-songwriter has ever written, Make Good Choices is fueled by a cocktail of quotability and charm.

Sean Nelson, 'Make Good Choices'

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Sunday

First Listen: G&D, 'The Lighthouse'

Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins' new album as G&D, The Lighthouse, comes out May 21. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: G&D, 'The Lighthouse'

On The Lighthouse, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins engineer an overstuffed, idea-packed collision of funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz, psychedelic space-rock, spoken-word poetry, protest music and more. Along the way, they examine innumerable intersections of love, politics, spirituality, healthy living, parenthood and world citizenship.

G&D, 'The Lighthouse'

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First Listen: The Handsome Family, 'Wilderness'

The Handsome Family's new album, Wilderness, comes out May 14. Jason Creps/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jason Creps/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: The Handsome Family, 'Wilderness'

The duo returns with a concept album about wildlife, with an emphasis on nature's capacity for destruction. Animals may burrow in and out of each of these songs, but they're merely helping humanity forge a pathway to madness.

The Handsome Family, 'Wilderness'

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First Listen: Piñata Protest, 'El Valiente'

Piñata Protest's new album, El Valiente, comes out May 21. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Piñata Protest, 'El Valiente'

The band embraces the century-old traditions of Mexican music its members encountered while growing up in south Texas. But it also freshens classic sounds with an ear toward punk energy and reckless, intense power.

Piñata Protest, 'El Valiente'

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Sunday

First Listen: Glenn Jones, 'My Garden State'

Glenn Jones' new album, My Garden State, comes out May 14. Jesse Sheppard/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jesse Sheppard/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Glenn Jones, 'My Garden State'

The American Primitive-style guitarist wrote My Garden State while caring for his mother in New Jersey. A bittersweet record, it reminds us that our roots are stronger than we remember — and that wherever you end up, it's about the home you make.

Glenn Jones, 'My Garden State'

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First Listen: Classixx, 'Hanging Gardens'

Classixx's new album, Hanging Gardens, comes out May 14. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Classixx, 'Hanging Gardens'

All at once, Hanging Gardens feels vibrant and vintage, unmistakably young and inexplicably nostalgic. Classixx's Michael David and Tyler Blake may be known as DJs, but they're pop stars at heart, with melody reigning over rhythm and simple chord progressions carrying the day.

Classixx, 'Hanging Gardens'

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First Listen: Eluvium, 'Nightmare Ending'

Eluvium's new album, Nightmare Ending, comes out May 14. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Eluvium, 'Nightmare Ending'

Often amorphous and mostly instrumental, Matthew Cooper's songs suggest a sea of emotions: joy, sorrow, fear, love, awe. Nightmare Ending is a double album of hymns celebrating the majesty and wonder of life.

Eluvium, 'Nightmare Ending'

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