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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: Tame Impala, 'Lonerism'

Tame Impala's new album, Lonerism, comes out Oct. 9. Maciek Pozoga/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Maciek Pozoga/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Tame Impala, 'Lonerism'

Not a collection of psychedelic freakouts so much as a collection of controlled psychedelic slow-burns, Lonerism makes alienation and introversion sound both alluring and, ironically, inviting.

Hear 'Lonerism' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Lord Huron, 'Lonesome Dreams'

Lord Huron's new album, Lonesome Dreams, comes out Oct. 9. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Lord Huron, 'Lonesome Dreams'

Lonesome Dreams comes along at just the right time of year, meeting as it does between the beachy lightness of summer and the bittersweet plaintiveness of autumn. It straddles the seasons with disarming deftness — sunny enough to distract, sweet enough to comfort.

Lord Huron, 'Lonesome Dreams'

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First Listen: Freelance Whales, 'Diluvia'

Freelance Whales' new album, Diluvia, comes out Oct. 9. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Freelance Whales, 'Diluvia'

Diluvia's songs practically glow with multi-part vocal harmonies, banjos, strings, horns and other mad manmade clatter. Even the synthesizers sound warm, loose and light.

Freelance Whales, 'Diluvia'

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First Listen: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, 'The Heist'

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' new album, The Heist, comes out Oct. 9. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, 'The Heist'

The Heist, a new album from the versatile Seattle duo, has layers of humor, emotion and hooks. It's a record full of articulate message songs, put together in a way that comes off as loving and warm, not didactic.

Hear 'The Heist' In Its Entirety

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Wednesday

First Listen: Ultraísta, 'Ultraísta'

Ultraísta's self-titled debut comes out Oct. 2. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Ultraísta, 'Ultraísta'

The latest project from producer Nigel Godrich takes its inspiration from a group of writers in the early 20th century who favored a surreal variation on minimalism over more opulent, ornamental styles.

Ultraísta, 'Ultraísta'

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Sunday

First Listen: Flying Lotus, 'Until The Quiet Comes'

Flying Lotus' new album, Until The Quiet Comes, comes out Oct 2. Timothy Saccenti/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Timothy Saccenti/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Flying Lotus, 'Until The Quiet Comes'

For nearly a decade, the electronic composer has churned out living, breathing collages of hip-hop, dubstep, jazz and blues. Out Oct. 2, Flying Lotus' new album beats with a heart unique to its creator: adventurous but never muddled.

Flying Lotus, 'Until The Quiet Comes'

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First Listen: Beth Orton, 'Sugaring Season'

Beth Orton's new album, Sugaring Season, comes out Oct. 2. Jo Metson Scott/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jo Metson Scott/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Beth Orton, 'Sugaring Season'

Orton's sixth album eschews electric instrumentation, instead recasting its star as a modern practitioner of classic English folk a la Pentangle. Ornate but not wispy, these songs aren't merely pretty; they also convey power that builds subtly.

Beth Orton, 'Sugaring Season'

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First Listen: Cecilia Bartoli, 'Mission'
Uli Weber/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Cecilia Bartoli, 'Mission'

The celebrated mezzo-soprano unearths music from a mysterious Baroque composer who doubled as a diplomat. Mission stands as another fascinating success in Bartoli's keen and continuing musical archeology.

Hear 'Mission' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Efterklang, 'Piramida'

Efterklang's new album, Piramida, comes out Sept. 25. Rasmus Weng Karlsen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Rasmus Weng Karlsen/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Efterklang, 'Piramida'

The Danish band explores a lost world, literally, and captures its sounds in the pursuit of graceful prettiness. Piramida is sculpted to maximize its beauty, and Efterklang draws from the biggest toolkit imaginable.

Efterklang, 'Piramida'

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Review: Melody's Echo Chamber, 'Melody's Echo Chamber'

Melody's Echo Chamber's self-titled debut album comes out Sept. 25. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review

Review: Melody's Echo Chamber, 'Melody's Echo Chamber'

The self-titled debut album by Paris-based musician Melody Prochet nods to many traditions (glam, hard rock, psychedelic rock, folk) without ever adhering to one.

Hear 'Melody's Echo Chamber' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Sera Cahoone, 'Deer Creek Canyon'

Sera Cahoone's new album, Deer Creek Canyon, comes out Sept. 25. Hilary Harris/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Hilary Harris/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Sera Cahoone, 'Deer Creek Canyon'

Like the two tremendous and mystifyingly little-heard albums that precede it, Deer Creek Canyon adds up to one long, calm, welcome pep talk — a perfectly warm and warming supplement to hot cider on a chilly fall day.

Sera Cahoone, 'Deer Creek Canyon'

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First Listen: Ricardo Villalobos, 'Dependent And Happy'

Dependent and Happy, the latest full-length album from electronic producer Ricardo Villalobos, comes out Sept. 25. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Ricardo Villalobos, 'Dependent And Happy'

Constructed to be absorbed in a single sitting, the album chugs along for 79 minutes without interruption at 128 bpm, picking up depth instead of speed as it unfurls toward oblivion.

Ricardo Villalobos, 'Dependent And Happy'

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Sunday

First Listen: Grizzly Bear, 'Shields'

Grizzly Bear's new album, Shields, comes out Sept. 18. Barbara Anastacio/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Barbara Anastacio/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Grizzly Bear, 'Shields'

The band's fourth album rewards listeners with strange surprises and a few hooky, expansive ringers. Along the way, it showcases the considerable gifts of four guys willing to hover patiently through the detours, without sacrificing the beauty that makes the journey worthwhile.

Grizzly Bear's 'Shields'

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First Listen: Aimee Mann, 'Charmer'

Aimee Mann's new album, Charmer, comes out Sept. 18. Sheryl Nields/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Sheryl Nields/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Aimee Mann, 'Charmer'

Mann has never been a mere bummer, and her eighth solo record unfurls with a springy zinginess that makes it hard to resist. Charmer is the work of a sharp, confident veteran who's never strayed far from the top of her game.

Hear 'Charmer' In Its Entirety

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