First Listen: New Releases for 10 October 2025

Artist: Weakened Friends
Album: Feels Like Hell
Quick Thoughts: Sometimes I listen to an album from a band I love and wonder why they aren't huge. Weakened Friends is a regional act that keeps putting out great music that speaks to the alt-rock of its influences while still keeping a finger on the pulse of modern indie, and their new album should be the thing that propels them upward and outward if there's any justice left in the world. Yes, it has the Natalie Imbruglia cover of "Torn" (although it really borrows more from the original Ednaswap version), but it also has "Tough Luck" which is their best song since "Tunnels" snf NPC with a random Buckethead appearance, so... I mean, there are few bands doing quite as much as well as Weakened Friends are, and they deserve to be huge. A great listen.
Songs of Note: "Tough Luck (Bleed Me Out)," "Nosebleed," "NPC," "Smoke and Mirrors," "Great Expectations," "Torn," "Queen of Town"

Artist: Princess Nokia
Album: GIRLS
Quick Thoughts: I am definitely not the target audience for Princess Nokia, but something about her has kept me interested for close to a decade now. She's always lingered more on the nontraditional side of rap music and GIRLS definitely leans in a little harder than most, but it's really impossible to listen to this and not be enthralled. "Blue Velvet" is a Lynchian-drenched musical affair, "Drop Dead Gorgeous" a heavy-beat empowerment anthem, and each song just has its own feel that works incredibly well. This might not be your typical thing, but it's worth your time if you like rap music or stuff a little off the beaten path.
Songs of Note: "Blue Velvet," "Drop Dead Gorgeous," "Period Blood," "Pink Bronco," "Phoebe Philo"

Artist: Great Lake Swimmers
Album: Caught Light
Quick Thoughts: Great Lake Swimmers are fairly popular in Canada, but feel underappreciated in the States. Caught Light is one of their better recent efforts, with a lot of gorgeous folk-adjacent songs alongside the unique-sounding instrumentation that drew me to the band in the first place. Plenty of room on the bandwagon south of the border.
Songs of Note: "One More Dance Around the Sun," "Endless Detours," "Wrong, Wrong, Wrong," "A Distant Star"

Artist: Madi Diaz
Album: Fatal Optimist
Quick Thoughts: Another artist that I feel is constantly underappreciated, Madi Diaz's latest, roughly 18 months after Weird Faith, has her giving us another series of heart-wrenching confessionals that do it better than most anyone else. Noteworthy is the stripped-down approach: often, it's just Madi and a guitar; if additional instrumentation shows up at all, it's subtle. As someone who has loved how expansive a lot of her songs have been, this was a surprise that I loved by the end. She's amazing, give this a listen if I haven't convinced you over the years.
Songs of Note: "Feel Something," "Lone Wolf," "Why'd You Have to Bring Me Flowers," "Heavy Metal"

Artist: Dragon Inn 3
Album: Full Disclosure
Quick Thoughts: The latest from the Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin spinoff is another lovely slice of indie pop. I'm always finding myself angry that I don't listen to them more, and then they come around with a Fountains of Wayne cover just to make sure I know, specifically, what I could be listening to regularly. Love love love this.
Songs of Note: "Send Your Love," "Be On My Side," "Clock Machine," "Sink to the Bottom"

Of note:

* Long Fling - Long Fling (Collab between Pip Blom and Willem Smit (Personal Trainer).)
* The Autumn Defense - Here and Nowhere (Great alt-country.)
* The Fool's Agenda - Fool's Gold
* Elysian Fields - Swirling Flame
* Madison Cunningham - Ace
* Gab Ferrieira - Carrossel
* Eefje de Visser - Vlijmscherp
* Robert Finley - Hallelujah! Don't Let the Devil Fool Ya
* Joker's Republic - The Hand You've Been Dealt
* Blawan - SickElixer
* The Antlers - Blight
* Flock of Dimes - The Life You Save
* Harvey Sutherland - Debt
* Giant Day - Alarm
* The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation
* Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe - Liminal / Lateral / Luminal
* Emily A. Sprague - Cloud Time
* St. Paul and the Broken Bones - St. Paul and the Broken Bones
* NoSo - When Are You Leaving?
* Nightbus - Passenger
* Jay Som - Belong
* The Orb - Buddhist Hipsters
* Rhett Miller - A Lifetime of Riding By Night
* Mobb Deep - Infinite
* Hannah Frances - Nestled in Tangles
* HAAi - Humanize
* Vatican Shadow - 20th Hijacker

EPs:

* Lilith - Romance is Homicide
* Catie Turner - Grow Out of You
* Goat and Human Language - The Human Language 'Goat' Tape
* Lauren Ruth Ward - Medicine

Live albums/Compilations/Reissues:

* Steve Roden - Six Sound Installations
* Laura Veirs - Laura Veirs and The Choir Who Couldn't Say - Live in Angouleme
* Public Service Broadcasting - Night Flight - The Last Flight Remixes
* It's All Her Fault: A Tribute to Cindy Walker

Also out:

* Richard Ashcroft - Lovin' You
* dot Dev - There Was a Wind, But No Chime