The new releases in music this week are led by a duo who finally bring us the long-awaited sequel to their debut, a surprise TV hit with an incredible soundtrack, and more late-nite petty jams from one of Canada’s finest. Plus we’ve got new stuff like the original soundtrack from the highly-anticipated Netflix series The Get Down, of Montreal, Dillon Francis + NGHTMRE, Florence + The Machine and many more. Here are the albums you need to hear this week.
Rae Sremmurd – Sremmlife 2
In early 2015, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee took the hip hop world by storm with the release of Sremmlife, off the strength of their massive singles “No Flex Zone” and “No Type.” The LP was a burst of energy with bustling beats from Mike Will Made It that immediately put the two young rhymers on the map. Now a year and a half later — after a number of delays — we’ve finally got the follow up in Sremmlife 2.
Is it possible to live up to such a massive success right out of the gate? It’s hard to say just yet, but they are doing their damnedest to do so with early singles like “By Chance” and “Set the Roof” and guest spots from Gucci Mane, Kodak Black, and Juicy J to name a few. To live in the shadow of your own success is always a daunting concept, but Jxmmi and Swae Lee have so much exuberance, it’s hard to think they could ever be caught in a tough spot that long.
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein – Stranger Things, Vol. 1 (A Netflix Original Series Soundtrack)
If you are reading these words on the internet right now — special hello to that guy who prints out stuff from the world wide web and reads it on the bus! — you’ve probably heard of Stranger Things. The original Netflix series that centers around spooky goings-on in the early ’80s has captivated the internet with its rich storytelling, striking vintage visuals, and its incredible soundtrack.
While you may not be able to get an ’80s sweater that Barb wears, save for eBay, you can at least now have the lush, ambient synth sounds of Stranger Things in your life. Truly evocative of the eerie textures of the series, the soundtrack really makes you hope that season 2 comes sooner rather than later, at least so we can get another volume of these tracks.
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PartyNextDoor – PartyNextDoor 3
For as large of a figure that PartyNextDoor has been in hip hop/R&B in the past two years, most notably with OVO-related releases, it’s hard to believe that it’s been two whole years since he’s released a project of his very own. But now the crooner/producer has returned with PartyNextDoor 3, another round of mysterious and detached tunes that seduce despite your best judgment.
The LP features PND’s biggest solo hit yet in “Come and See Me” featuring Drake, but this isn’t an OVO come through ting (ugh, sorry); this is purely a showcase for PartyNextDoor to do what he does best. And that is moody, ice cold R&B from north of the border.
Here are the rest of the week’s new releases:
Various Artists – The Get Down (Original Soundtrack from the Netflix Original Series)
of Montreal – Innocence Reaches
Atmosphere – Fishing Blues
Florence + The Machine – Songs From Final Fantasy XV EP
Young the Giant – Home of the Strange
Brendan Canning [Broken Social Scene] – Home Wrecking Years
Dillon Francis + NGHTMRE – Need You EP
JEFF The Brotherhood – Zone
Thee Oh Sees – A Weird Exits
Blind Pilot – And Then Like Lions
Nick Cave – Hell or High Water Original Soundtrack
Pfarmers [The National, Menomena] – Our Puram
