The new Ruptured World album is some amazing spacey dark ambient with some feels. Like a mashup of Sabled Sun and God Body Disconnect, two of the best projects to come out of Cryo Chamber.

https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/interplanetary

Run the Jewels' new album is out... listening now and it sounds as attitude-filled as ever. Good stuff.

Ayy thanks for that, can't ever pass down a free Run The Jewels album

The new Choir Boy and Strokes album are both top ten albums for me this year.

I still need to check out the new RTJ

Not an album but, Ripship - Greebles EP. Sci-fi influenced psychedelic rock:

https://ripship.bandcamp.com/album/greebles-ep

Mandy Moore's new record is a pretty nice one, if you like pop rock with a bit of a folk-y element to it.

Just came across this stellar psychedelic rock band and it's stellar!

Sarah Jarosz and Sierra Hull have both put out good records in recent weeks / months, if you're into Americana / bluegrass sort of stuff.

It's a good day for old white guy folk as Bob Dylan has released a completely new album in Rough and Rowdy Ways while Neil Young has released Homegrown, an album that he originally recorded in the 70s. They're both pretty great.

New Hum album "Inlet", was released unannounced last night.

I wasn't with Hum at the beginning. I found out about them somewhere around the early 2000s.

I've went through pretty massive phases with them in my life, though and I'm pretty excited for a new album after 22 years of radio silence.

Eh, it hasn’t exactly been radio silence with Hum-they’ve been a sporadic live/touring entity since around 2003 and have confirmed new music was in the works via their official channels as far back as 2016 (and are known to have played new material at their recent shows).

Be that as it may, the unannounced release of this album did come as a surprise, and I got my vinyl preorder in immediately. I sampled the new tunes via their bandcamp and was impressed by the snippets I heard. I am waiting for the vinyl to arrive for my first full listen, and I’m pretty excited. What others have been saying about this leads me to believe this is a serious AOTY contender.

Just wondering what it means that it's already July and this thread isn't even a complete 2 pages? Has it been a bad year for genres outside of heavy metal? Or do most ppl just listen to metal exclusively?

The new Hum album is a landmark. Its super dupe good. I too wasn't clued into them until early 2000s with the album Downward Is Heavenward. It grew to be a certified fave. The new one really takes that to next level.

A few other things I see in my collection that Ive enjoyed in a non-metal way.

False Brother - Uncanny Valley (Ice cold post punk in the vein of Diat and Total Control)

Coriky - s/t (Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina and Joe Lally come closer to Fugazi than they have in years)

Westerman - Your Hero Is Not Dead (Shiny prog pop in league with the greats like Genesis, The Police and Peter Gabriels early solo stuff.

Hallas - Conundrum (Amazing and corny prog rock)

Peel Dream Magazine - Agitprop Alterna (Manages to sound like Stereolab and My Bloody Valentine at the same time.)

Khruangbin - Mordechai (More lovely sounds from this hard to pin down group.)

Couple days late, but my favs from June:

Katie Malco - Failures
Female singer-songwriter that borders on Emo sometimes. If you like Snail Mail, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus etc, you'll probably find something on this you like. Fav tracks: Animal, Creatures, Let's Go To War

Shred Kelly - Like A Rising Sun
Canadian Indie Rock band. Very banjo/vocal harmony heavy. I've seen them live a couple times, and they are much more enjoyable live than on record, but this new one has a few great songs. Favs are Rising Sun,, Roman Candle Eyes and Dead Leaves

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
Speaking of female singer-songwriters, emo and indie, Phoebe finally released her sophomore record. I'm still on the fence about it vs. her debut. I feel like the debut has better highlights, but this one is better as a full piece. Favourite tracks: Kyoto, Moon Song, I Know The End

The Other - Haunted
This is borderline stuff. It lives more in The Misfits world than anything metal, but it has a few songs that could have been on a Walpyrgus or Magick Touch or album or some other NWOTHM album. It's all very catchy and fun, even if some of it is gimmicky as heck. Favourite songs: Mark Of The Devil, Turn It Louder, Vampire Girl

Run The Jewels - RTJ4
If you've heard any of the first 3 records and liked them, you'll love this. If you didn't dig them, you probably won't now. But I think this is their best one so far. Very timely release for everything going on in the US right now. This is an AOTY contender so picking favourite tracks is tough but I'll go with: Out Of Sight, never look back, walking in the snow

Evening Hymns - Heavy Nights
Another indie from record from Canada. Mostly sad stuff, but the whole thing is a late night vibe. I think it'll be getting a lot of spins during hot, humid summer night walks. He used to be pretty much a strict acoustic guitar folk singer, but now over the last couple albums he has grown into a fuller sound with different instruments. The sax playing on this is a really tasteful and the keys all sound great. Favourite tracks: Pyreness, You In Dreams, My Drugs My Dreams

Jehnny Beth - To Love Is To Live
Lead singer of the band Savages. This album sounds nothing like anything she could explore with her band. This is a fantastic album, I'm not even truly sure of the genre. I'm tempted to say experimental indie, but I don't even know. It's pretty dynamic and diverse. Her lyrics are amazing, she's a fascinating human. Favourite songs: Innocence, French Countryside, Humans

HONOURABLE MENTION for the new HAIM record. I think it's way too fucking long, and has a lot of clunkers on it, but it has some absolute bops. The Steps, Don't Wanna, Now I'm In It.

I've been enjoying The Lemonade Stand from Tenille Townes the past week or so. Really catchy pop / country.

Volkor X's This Is Our Planet Now is definitely going to be one of my favorite albums of this year. It's a creative rendition of dark-synth with excellent synth solos, and just like their '16 album This Means War, he recruited Sylvain Coudret of Soilwork and Scarve for some guitar work. I know there are fans of stuff like Perturbator and Carpenter Brut here, and it's in that vein.

Yeah, the new (Dixie) Chicks record is phenomenal.

Wait... they still exist???

First album since 2006 released last week under the new name The Chicks.

And it’s a tremendous listen.

I don't see it mentioned - I'm currently really enjoying the new Hexvessel record - I'd loved everything they've put out so far, and the new one doesn't disappoint - has anyone else had the pleasure ?

I loved the new Hexvessel, one of my favorites of the year for sure, for metal and non-metal both. It was my first experience with them, since then I've also checked out their last album before this one, All Tree, which I thought was significantly weaker. Still excited to check out the rest of their stuff though.

The new Protomartyr album is great.

I would have never, ever, thought I would say this............ Taylor Swift - Folklore.

Its a combination of HAIM, Ximena Sarinana, Lana Del Ray, Kacey Musgraves, Du Blonde and there are many other artists this albums reminds me of. Its not like anything she released before. Its far away from the typical pop album. Its atmospheric, its slow, its deep, light, sad. It has everything. The lyrics are personal, mature. No more bubble gum feel. Covid allowed her push the inner self, a blank page. 16 tracks, I maybe didn't care for 3. You can put it in a shuffle, there is no sound continuity in the overall album. Each track stands alone.

Memorable Tracks: Betty, Seven, The Last Great American Dynasty, The 1, Cardigan

This reminds me of when people said that Carly Rae Jepsen's E-MO-TION was good, and I was underwhelmed. I may have to check it out from sheer curiosity. I've liked a handful of her songs over the years, but not enough to make a whole solid album.

July had a few decent things for me:

Julianna Barwick - Healing Is A Miracle
If you've ever listened to her, you know her ambient style doesn't change much from album to album. This one is really pretty and features Jonsi from Sigur Ros. As much as I like this, it does tend to end up being background music. (very good background music, at least). Favourite tracks: In Light, Healing Is A Miracle

Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today
I really liked Under Color Of Official Right and LOVED The Agent Intellect. I wasn't big on the stuff after, but this new one is my favourite album they've done since Intellect. A nice 40 minutes of post-punk. Great lyrics, and their seems to be more prominent hooks than the last couple. Favourite tracks: Michigan Hammers, Proceeded by The Boys

David Ramirez - My Love Is A Hurricane
Indie singer-songwriter type stuff. Not his BEST work (We're Not Going Anywhere is my favourite album of his) but there are still some really nice songs on this. I feel like it's missing that one big corner-piece song, but it's worth checking out if you like people like Matthew Logan Vasquez, Andrew Combs, Drew Holcomb. Favourite tracks: I wanna Live in your Bedroom, Hallelujah! Love Is Real

Executioner's Mask - Despair Anthems
I don't listen to as much goth as I should, because I always end up really enjoying it when I do. Having said that, I don't have much to compare this to, but it does sound like really good goth rock to me. Favourite tracks: No Funeral, The Defilers

Alanis Morrissette - Such Pretty Forks In The Road
So this just came out yesterday, and I've only heard it twice so I can't accurately judge it yet, but I think it's good. I've always liked her. This album is a BIG SAD TIME mostly. Her voice is pretty iconic, and the players on this are really good (don't know who performed on it. I don't have a physical copy/haven't looked at the credits yet.) Favourite tracks: Reasons I Drink, Nemesis

I second this. The music itself sorta sounds like something that Coldplay might do, Viva La Vida era. I like the mature lyrical direction too. She moved away from first person/broken heart/can't-live-without-you recycled sludge and put more depressing stuff in there. "Betty" is probably the most interesting song on the record - it has a freakin' HARMONICA of all instruments (not that I mind) and we get to hear her say the word "fuck" for the first time ever in a song. The lyrics sort of bring back her old high-school drama/crush themes, but it quickly becomes depressing again as you realize that this time, it's homosexual love she's talking about. Oh, and there's actual songwriting involved, not just copying and pasting.

I'm really impressed that it hasn't even been a year since her last album and she managed to come up with something this original. I like her old country stuff and still spin Fearless and Speak Now occasionally, but this is my favorite thing that she's released yet.

Sorry, I couldn't resist this juxtaposition. And it felt forced on the album to me. It's probably significantly better on average than a lot of her older material (not that I've heard all of it), but now it's more of a blander version of someone like Sara Bareilles.

Definitely hearing Lana Del Rey vibes on the new Swift album. I think sixteen tracks was definitely too much for such a samey style, but the songs also get better as it goes along. It's certainly one way to get me to check out an album of hers in full.

I haven't heard it (as a matter of fact, I haven't heard a single Taylor Swift song since her country days), but considering the same dude that writes all the Lana songs with her wrote almost all of these songs, as well, that doesn't surprise me. Also doesn't surprise me because the last Lana album got such universal acclaim, it seems like a lot of people will try to latch on to that sound/vibe.

Bohren & Der Club of Gore's Patchouli Blue is superb. I hadn't liked their last few albums nearly as much since their peak of Black Earth, but this one is a step back in the right direction. I'm very picky about minimalistic works, but their brand of dark ambient-steeped jazz is intoxicating.

So here's a doozy.

https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ons

I, Voidhanger Records have been dabbling with non-metal stuff for a good bit recently, but Eons by Neptunian Maximalism takes it to the next level. On one hand, it's three discs worth of stuff and over two hours long, but on the other hand it's weirdo ritual free jazz with some drone guitars thrown in occasionally and it's real enthralling.

That artwork is incredible

This album is par excellence. Major, major step up from Havoc & Bright Lights. Sounds amazing on vinyl. Tremendous drumming too.

Some already mentioned:

Caribou - Suddenly
Not sure if 'intelligent dance music' is still a thing, but probably Dan Snaith's best yet. Not immediately catchy, but rewards repeat listens - 706 scrobbles on my last.fm



The Lawrence Arms - Skeleton Coast
Literary punk, nothing you have seen before, but still good. Dualing vocalists, catchy as fuck, old-guy-core. 661 scrobbles.



Stay Inside - Viewing
Probably the best emo-adjacent punk I've heard since...??? Great production, sweet guitar tones, lyrics that cut surprisingly deep. 594 scrobbles.



Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM
Could never get into his other stuff, but I found this album to be a smooth entry into his catchy, timely folk-punk thing. 591 scrobbles.



Envy - The Fallen Crimson
I've never heard of these guys before, probably because of the Japanese connection, so I was shocked to hear that they've been around for like 25+ years. Great fucking emocore/post-hardcore. 530 scrobbles.

New album from synthwave artist Midnight Danger, "Chapter 2: Endless Nightmare", just released in full. His first album, "Malignant Force", is almost definitely my favorite synthwave album of all time. So far I'm on track 3 (EDIT: I've listened to the album like 5 bajillion times now, and it is almost definitely my AOTY, of any genre, as of now), and it is already up to par with the first album. For fans of Dance With the Dead.

https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album ... -nightmare
https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/malignant-force

So this new Bright Eyes album "Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was" is pretty damn spectacular. Beautifully orchestrated folky indie rock, as usual.

Also, I love those Jeff Rosenstock and Larry Arms albums as well.

Invent, Animate's Greyview was one of the slowest burn albums I've experienced in a long while, but the more I play it, the more I realize how good it is. Make no mistake: this is about as far as metalcore can get from both metal and hardcore and still be itself, trading not in complex riffs or grinding aggression but in thick soundscapes, astructural riffage, and a mellow mood. If any metalcore album can be said to have post-rock/post-metal vibes, or even be considered flat-out "post-metalcore", Greyview would be a top contender. The new vocalist Marcus Vik is also absolutely incredible at his job--I had no idea he did the cleans too until I looked it up, and he does both his metalcore screams and cleans perfectly. His lyrics are also that wonderful kind of insufferably verbose I unironically love, such as this snippet from beginning of my favorite track, Shapeshifter:



If I had a major critique of the album, it's that it focuses so heavily on one specific tone and mood--dark somber wistfulness--that the songs run together. There are standouts like Dark, Shapeshifter, and Fireside, but a lot of the songs don't have very distinct standout sections. They are all different, but the album is so intensely moody that it's easy to let them slip from your mind and wash over you without specifically filling your head with catchy riffs. Greyview feels as if you should listen to it in one huge listen, letting the atmospherics slide right over you, but I would have appreciated a bit more to the songs at times. The actual guitarwork is slightly de-emphasized, which is a bit of a shame, as some of the sections and riffs are quite catchy and appealing. Finally, I'm not a fan of how the final song simply...ends. It doesn't feel like a proper denouement to the album. Still, that might be the point, so I'll have to relisten to it to get a better feeling.

Greyview will not convince any metalhead to sing the praises of metalcore--indeed as I said it is about as non-metallic as metalcore can possibly get--but if you already like this kind of music it's a worthy aural journey. I always thought that IA was one step from being great--not only has this album proven that they could nail it, it's made me want to go back and re-evaluate their previous two LP's to see if I can now appreciate them better.

I'm about five months late to the new Suicide Machines album, but it's pretty fucking good. High quality ska punk that's heavy on the punk.

Huh, Voyager by Blueshift came out in 2020 too. Well there's another excellent prog/technical metalcore album in the vein of Greyview, though it trades some atmosphere for instrumentals. Even if you do not like metalcore at all, or even hate it, I feel a metalhead could enjoy exactly two things about this album. Firstly the cover art:


And secondly, the guitar solo at 3:20 of Cloak and Dagger:

Ooo that's really good. The vocals remind me of The Safety Fire quite a bit, but the instrumentation is way more melodic.