King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, “Flight b741.” Rock and roll is, above all, supposed to be fun. On the latest from King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard, the Australian psych band leans in on having fun by harkening back to the glory days of the ‘70s. On Flight b741,…

NIKI, “Buzz.” The days of performing acoustic covers on YouTube as a high schooler while growing up in Jakarta are long gone for Nicole Zefanya, better known as NIKI. Now living in Los Angeles, the burgeoning singer-songwriter is set to release her third album, Buzz, a work that solidifies her…

The Smashing Pumpkins, “Aghori Mhori Mei.” Billy Corgan’s Smashing Pumpkins have reached the level of cultural wallpaper. The band’s ’90s hits like “Today” and “Cherub Rock” are as well known as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and Bachmann Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business.” But over the band’s nearly…

Khalid, “Sincere.” It doesn’t take much time at all for R&B superstar Khalid to find the vibe on his third album, Sincere. The 16-track record is filled with moments of quiet intimacy and a casual, relaxed delivery. Khalid is carrying a momentum streak. He’s the youngest artist ever to…

Orville Peck, “Stampede.” Vol. 1 was just the introduction. Queer country troubadour Orville Peck introduced a new direction with his first EP on Warner Records in May, duetting with artists as varied as Willie Nelson, Bu Cuaron and Elton John back in May. We say Peck experimented with pop, Banda…

Empire of the Sun, “Ask That God.” Australian electro-pop duo Empire of the Sun enjoyed its fair share of success in the electronic scene across. That’s despite releasing just three albums over 17 years. Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore spent the majority of the past eight years, since 2016’s Two…

Jack White, “No Name.” Capitalism makes a product out of everything. We don’t just purchase clothing, food and all of the other stuff we need to survive. Capitalism also sells us notions about who we are, what we want, and — ironically — even how to resist the system.…

Childish Gambino, “Bando Stone and The New World.” The shapeshifter or body snatcher able to invade and occupy people and objects is a recurring character type in science fiction and fantasy. From John Carpenter’s arctic horror film “The Thing” to science fiction legend Philip K. Dick’s early short story…

Glass Animals, “I Love You So F***ing Much.” Riding on the high of their 2021 mega-hit “Heat Waves,” British pop band Glass Animals have big shoes to fill with their newest album. Can the group achieve another chart-topper while also satisfying their longtime fans, many whom generally prefer the…

Deep Purple, “=1.” For a band that’s been around for more than 55 years, Deep Purple has been on a bit of a hot streak for the past decade. Its three albums of original material over that span—-2013’s Now WHAT?!, 2017’s inFinite and 2020’s Whoosh!—weren’t just artistic achievements for…