Songs You Need In Your Life This Week

Cold Gawd is shaking up the shoegaze revival scene with “Malibu Beach House.” Moving beyond just drone and distortion, the band brings some bite to the track by tossing in some crunchy low-end and aggressive post-hardcore guitar with a little prog influence. — Sandra Song

A master of channeling both everyday enigmas and larger existential ones, Jennifer Castle creates songs that shelter. The indie folk singer-songwriter’s new single has the streamlined forward motion of a swan landing on a still lake, a graceful figure splashing down with waves of propulsive guitars. — Jordan Darville

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of his club classic “Ganzfield” and the launch of his new label Kapsela, Objekt has announced an EP featuring the original track and three remixes. The first to be released is from DjRUM, who stretches the song into a 10-minute fantasia that ebbs and flows between lilting keyboard reflections, minimal dubstep, and slick breakbeat passages that pay homage to the drill ‘n’ bass core of the original. — Raphael Helfand

The new single from Winston Cook-Wilson’s sophisti-pop project is lithe and a little menacing: Cook-Wilson sings about thieves in the night and calls coming from inside the house, Alana Spanger whispers non-consecutive numbers in the background, and Scree’s Ryan El-Solh plays a hall-of-mirrors guitar. It mutates, slowly, into an ECM-style jazz-pop loop that I’ve been whistling for days already. This is the first single from a new album, Enough, out October 18, and signals a songwriter, surrounded by a wealth of creative musicians, taking exciting risks. — Alex Robert Ross

Jerry Paper’s latest single from his forthcoming (non-Weezer cover) album INBETWEEZER is all about shedding skin, literally and figuratively, and allowing yourself the chance for transformation and rebirth, no matter how late in life. “It’s gonna change everything, it’s gonna change over and over,” he sings over a syncopated, start-stop beat, a youthful whimsy coating the kitschy instrumentation. You’re never too old for a glow-up. — Cady Siregar

Los Bitchos brings some cumbia flair to a distinctly upbeat ‘80s sound on “Talkie Talkie, Charlie Charlie,” an effortlessly fun earworm that features a funky bass line, spacey keytar, and psyched-out guitar. It’s music that makes you want to buy a new power suit and strut down the street with the smiley enthusiasm of a Jane Fonda workout video. — SS

The press release that announced Night Palace, Phil Elverum’s new album as Mount Eerie, says it comprises “songs of re-surrendering to a state of wonder and abandoning the wrung-dry skepticism that this hard world can impose.” Between that and the beautifully laid-back groove of “Broom of Wind” which anchors Elverum’s perfectly contained philosophizing, I am ready to submit to the fall. — ARR

In Dreams, the surprise new album from Duster, is a warm and thick collection of songs to submerge yourself in, perfect for the transition from summer into fall. Album opener “Quiet Eyes” is a trademark effort from Clay Parton and Canaan Dove Amber, a soothing tidal wave of spacey chords and chiming guitars that build until they hiss and then wash away entirely. — DR

The closing track from Isik Kural’s forthcoming third album, Moon In Gemini, finds the Türkiye-born, Glasgow-based song-story spinner in his finest form, spreading soft-spoken, evocative imagery across a mesmeric landscape of lightly warped piano and verdant field recordings. “Moonbeams slip between their eyelashes in their sleep,” he begins, his voice tuneful but just above a whisper, “Step by careful step.” — RH

The long-awaited return from Good Sad Happy Bad (the band f.k.a. Micachu & the Shapes) picks up right where their excellent 2020 album Shades left off: in the depths of cloudy, Stereolab-inspired pop with a deadly motorik pulse. Skronky saxophone wails underneath the plush vocals, like the screams of a dying engine waking us from a perfect dream. — JD

Sax-and-drums duo Party Dozen have previously collaborated with Nick Cave and opened for fellow snotty Aussie punks Amyl and the Sniffers. “Coup De Gronk” is the new single from the upcoming Crime In Australia, a loose concept album inspired by a particularly lawless period in the 1970s. Kirsty Tickle’s saxophone leads the way, setting the scene for a groove-laden exploration of disorderly rebellion. — DR

Cami Dominguez dropped Unbearable Heat, their excellent first full-length as Slic, on Labor Day. Mid-album standout “Bloodstream” features their frequent collaborators OCTAGON, who add textured backing vocals to a track that’s already the most maximal cut on the record by a mile. With its Italo-dance treble synths, squelchy low end, and clever use of heavy, mechanical kick-snares as infrequent punctuation, it’s the perfect foil to the stark techno Slic does so well. — RH