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

First Listen

Hear upcoming albums in their entirety

Wednesday

First Listen: The Avett Brothers, 'The Carpenter'

The Avett Brothers' new album, The Carpenter, will be released on Sept. 11. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: The Avett Brothers, 'The Carpenter'

The Carpenter dispenses hook-filled anthems amid introspective looks at mortality and devotion. As always, the Avetts' music aims for something bigger than itself, and damned if it doesn't find it.

Hear 'The Carpenter' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Cat Power, 'Sun'

Cat Power's new album, Sun, comes out Sept. 4. Stefano Giovannini/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Stefano Giovannini/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Cat Power, 'Sun'

With her first collection of all-new songs in more than six years, Chan Marshall has crafted her most joyful, sonically adventurous album to date.

Hear 'Sun' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Stars, 'The North'

Stars new album, The North, comes out Sept. 4. Norman Wong/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Norman Wong/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Stars, 'The North'

The band's sixth album rewards exploration with moments that alternately swoon, seethe, swing and paralyze. Any Stars fan should find something to like here, as the group swings from springy pop-rock to gorgeous balladry to grandiose mission statements.

Hear 'The North' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Animal Collective, 'Centipede Hz'

Animal Collective's new album, Centipede Hz, comes out Sept. 4. Adriano Fegundes/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Adriano Fegundes/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Animal Collective, 'Centipede Hz'

Centipede Hz is jagged and assertive; it snarls and heaves, supported by electric musculature. The album captures the sound of studio wizards who are once again ready to unleash some sweaty savagery on the live stage.

Hear 'Centipede Hz' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Deerhoof, 'Breakup Song'

Deerhoof's new album, Breakup Song, comes out Sept. 4. Deron Pulley/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Deron Pulley/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Deerhoof, 'Breakup Song'

Deerhoof's music has evolved to the point where it reliably conveys an endearing mix of adorability and eccentricity, with just enough noisy, discordant menace to hold the cuteness in check. On its 12th album, the band honks and shimmies down some appealing side roads.

Hear 'Breakup Song' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Dan Deacon, 'America'

Dan Deacon Shawn Brackbill/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Shawn Brackbill/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Dan Deacon, 'America'

The new album America is packed with melody and noise, minimalism and excess, harshness and beauty — sometimes all at the same time.

Hear 'America' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Swans, 'The Seer'

Swans' new album The Seer comes out Aug. 28. Jennifer Church hide caption

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Jennifer Church

First Listen: Swans, 'The Seer'

The noise-rock band's 12th album is a cacophonous vault into the sublime. Yet for all its Wagnerian bombast, for all its incredible power, The Seer is a nuanced work.

Hear 'The Seer' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Gaby Moreno, 'Postales'

Gaby Moreno's new album Postales comes out Sept. 4. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Gaby Moreno, 'Postales'

Whether she's sounding like a ranchera singer or a New Orleans blues siren, whether she's talking about immigrating or simply falling in love, Guatemala's Gaby Moreno refuses to cater to any marketable stereotype and sings about nothing other than what she wants to. It pays off.

Hear 'Postales' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Sean Rowe, 'The Salesman And The Shark'

Sean Rowe's new album, The Salesman and the Shark, comes out August 28. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Sean Rowe, 'The Salesman And The Shark'

Rowe's bass-baritone rattles the soul. His latest album is a masterwork of song, production and voice.

Hear 'The Salesman And The Shark' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Divine Fits, 'A Thing Called Divine Fits'

Divine Fits' debut album, A Thing Called Divine Fits, comes out August 28. Marina Chavez hide caption

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Marina Chavez

First Listen: Divine Fits, 'A Thing Called Divine Fits'

Spoon's Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs, and New Bomb Turks' Sam Brown know exactly what they want from the music they make together: namely, to explore a bit of a new-wave streak while still operating in their wheelhouse of slick, sharp, smart pop-rock.

Hear 'A Thing Called Divine Fits' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Yeasayer, 'Fragrant World'

Yeasayer's new album, Fragrant World, comes out August 21. Anna Palma hide caption

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Anna Palma

First Listen: Yeasayer, 'Fragrant World'

Even when its subject matter plunges into otherworldly thickets of doom, Yeasayer stays sprightly. On Fragrant World, it makes playful party music for worried minds and uncertain futures.

Hear 'Fragrant World' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, 'Mature Themes'

The new album by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Mature Themes, comes out August 21. Piper Ferguson hide caption

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Piper Ferguson

First Listen: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, 'Mature Themes'

For the man known as Ariel Pink, albums aren't so much collections of songs so much as dump trucks full of ideas: some good, some bad, some ridiculous, some stupid, some disarmingly good-natured, all smashed together in an unpredictable mosaic.

Hear 'Mature Themes' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Teengirl Fantasy, 'Tracer'

Teengirl Fantasy's new album, Tracer, comes out August 21. Erez Avissar hide caption

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Erez Avissar

First Listen: Teengirl Fantasy, 'Tracer'

Nick Weiss and Logan Takahashi make electronic music with the capacity to take chances and surprise. No two adjacent bars sound exactly alike, so it's easy to envision the two huddled over their hardware, listening closely and constantly tweaking the direction of each song.

Hear 'Tracer' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Django Django, 'Django Django'

Django Django's self-titled debut comes out digitally on August 14. Couresty of the artist hide caption

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Couresty of the artist

First Listen: Django Django, 'Django Django'

The Scottish band's debut mixes surf-rock, Motown, blues, cosmic space-pop and even Egyptian music. The result sounds like '80s music reconfigured for the 21st century — and one of the year's most thrilling, endlessly refreshing surprises.

Hear 'Django Django' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: 'Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac'

Fleetwood Mac's 1976, Rumours-era lineup featured John McVie, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

First Listen: 'Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac'

Hear 17 Fleetwood Mac covers by an impressive cross-section of talent, including The New Pornographers, Antony Hegarty, Best Coast, Lykke Li, Washed Out, MGMT, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, St. Vincent, The Kills, Tame Impala and more.

Hear 'Just Tell Me That You Want Me' In Its Entirety

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