I know I say a variation of the following every month, but this month is SERIOUSLY stacked with an insane amount of new albums to listen to: I’ve heard maybe 1/3 of the albums listed below, so the TLDR is I have an insane backlog of albums to check out, and they can’t get in the way of all the music that’s to come in September!
Noteworthy album & EP releases:
Gold Star Baby, The Aces
The Provocateur, ADÉLA
BLACK STAR, Amaarae
Who’s the Clown?, Audrey Hobart
No Hard Feelings, The Beaches
Straight Line Was A Lie, The Beths
WOW!, Between Friends
Essex Honey, Blood Orange
Star Line, Chance the Rapper
EURO-COUNTRY, Cmat
Wishbone, Conan Gray
The Starr of the Queen of Life, Debby Friday
private music, Deftones
Baby, Dijon
Rocket, Dominic Fike
Live Laugh Love, Earl Sweatshirt
DUMB, Emma Louise, Flume
Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, Ethel Cain
Motel Du Cap, Good Charlotte
Like Plasticine, Gordi
Cedar’s Tape, Greek
Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, Hayley Williams
A Sensitive Subject, Jack Rabbit
CRYSALIS, Jenevieve
Garden State, Jeremy Zucker
Greetings From Your Hometown, Jonas Brothers
Miss Black America, Kirby
A Matter of Time, Laufey
Parody of Pleasure, Lydia Night
Don’t Take It To Heart, merci, mercy
The Passionate Ones, Nourished by Time
puffette, pami
BITE ME, Renee Rapp
hickey, Royel Otis
Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter
Chrysalis, She’s Green
Swallow the Knife, Sir Chloe
I Barely Know Her, sombr
Bury the Key, TOPS
ENEMY, Twice
people stories, UMI
It’s a Beautiful Place, Water From Your Eyes
If Not Winter, Wisp
The Clearing, Wolf Alice
In chronological order:
“Thirst Trap” – Audrey Hobert
Release date – August 15
I can write a dissertation on how much I’m obsessed with newcomer Audrey Hobert, previously known for her collaboration with bestie and fellow singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams: she’s co-written songs like “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “That’s So True,” and others, all from Abrams’ most recent album, The Secret Of Us.
To me, Hobert’s talent shines brightest through her own work, her debut Who’s the Clown?, released August 15, is full of hilarious streams of consciousness about imposter syndrome, the turmoils of growing up, and of course, dating in your 20s. I could definitely pick multiple songs from this project to highlight as my favorite, and went back and forth several times, but decided to land on “Thirst Trap.”
“But now I listen to my playlist and pretend I’m you, look at what I post and then pretend I’m you,” has to be one of the most relatable lines in pop music released in the past ten years, primarily for the digital generation: if you’re under 35 and tell me you haven’t posted something on social media and envisioned your crush looking at it, you’re just flat out lying. In a world where we’re hyper-focused on curating the ideal versions of ourselves online, you have to applaud Hobert for unabashedly embracing the embarrassing. – Kristin
“Man I Need” – Olivia Dean
Release date – August 15
Everyone’s “new” favorite it girl, Olivia Dean, is back at it again with her newest banger of a song, “Man I Need,” the latest single to be released ahead of her sophomore album, The Art of Living, which drops on September 25. I say “new” in quotations because Dean has been around for a few years at this point, but something in her new singles, including “Nice To Each Other, (which I wrote about in June), is resonating with music fans: “Man I Need” has been out for approximately 16 days and has already racked up 26 million streams on Spotify.
Co-written with Tobias Jesso Jr.—who just co-wrote several songs on Justin Bieber’s Swag—and Zach Nahome (also the producer), it’s easy to see that these new collaborators are giving new life to Dean’s music: neither of these artists were involved in Olivia’s first album, Messy.
“Man I Need” is a sickly sweet love song about seeing the promise of a romantic interest and simply asking for what you need from a partner: to stop “making me read between the lines.” Who wouldn’t swoon for being called “wonderful?”
“‘Man I Need’ is a song about knowing how you deserve to be loved and not being afraid to ask for it. It’s forward, sexy, fun! It’s made for dancing!” Dean says of the song. With three singles already released, I know that Dean’s new album is going to be filled with even more bangers, and I can’t wait to hear it in its entirety.
– Kristin
“Jealous Type” – Doja Cat
Release date – August 21
I can’t tell you how happy I am to be writing about a new banger from Doja Cat this month. “Jealous Type” is sleek, shimmering, and rooted in an ’80s-inspired sound that pairs her with Jack Antonoff for the first time. The collaboration feels effortless, with Antonoff’s glossy production giving the track its pulse and Doja’s sharp delivery making it immediately addictive.
From the opening line, “Boy, let me know,” it comes out swinging and quickly proves itself as one of those songs you can’t help but play again. Doja Cat’s new album Vie is out September 26, and this first single sets the tone for what promises to be a major release. Her rap verse brings a playful, confident edge that cuts into the complications of modern relationships without losing any of the track’s fun. That ability to move between raw honesty and pure pop charisma is what makes “Jealous Type” so replayable.
Beyond the music, Doja has been leaning into a bold new aesthetic with French references and striking flashes of red, creating a vision that feels both fresh and tightly defined. If this song is any indication, Vie is going to be one of her strongest and most cohesive projects yet—and I could not be more excited to hear the rest. – Jesse
“SUPERMODEL” – LAUNDRY DAY
Release date – August 22
To be completely honest, I’ve been pretty bad at keeping up with NYC’s DIY boyband LAUNDRY DAY in the last year or so, (I am not counting me watching their unhinged TikToks religiously) but we are SO back. Listening to “SUPERMODEL” for the first time reminded me of how much I love LAUNDRY DAY but also just how much I love music. It’s such a feel-good song, and I can just picture myself singing and dancing to it while driving if only I still had a car.
The LD boys have always been good at experimenting and going the extra mile to make something unexpected and straight up weird sometimes, so I’m sure their next release will be completely different, but I am glad this one caught my attention now so that I don’t miss the next one. I love this band so much and I hope “SUPERMODEL” gives them some momentum as they continue to make music and tour around the U.S. later this year. – Javi
“space” – joan
Release date – August 28
As a long time fan of Alan Benjamin and Steven Rutherford’s indie-pop duo joan, one of the things I always appreciate about them is the consistency and commitment to their 90s-inspired sound. This time around though, what made me love “space” is how different it sounds from the rest of their discography, while maintaining that old-school, vintagey style. It’s less bubbly than usual, and –for lack of a better and less cringy word– it just feels a bit more edgy, taking a bigger jump than they have in the past to experiment with a slightly more aching sound melodically (positive aching, of course).
On the latest single from their upcoming album this won’t last forever, (September 25), the joan boys keep bragging in our faces about the pure, unconditional, devoted love that they both have and feel in their lives. I have always loved the infinite ways they’ve found to talk about the mundane and beautiful parts of falling and being in love, and this is just another great example of their simple but heartfelt songwriting, through a metaphor of their loved ones being their own universe, their own “space”. this won’t last forever comes out in less than a month and I’m really hoping there’ll be more songs like this one in it! – Javi
“Sideways” – Balu Brigada
Release date – August 29
Breaking news: I have found another indie-pop boyband to obsess over. The lucky white boys this time around are New Zealander brothers Balu Brigada, who just released their debut album Portal this past Friday, “Sideways” being the last promotional single. Henry and Pierre Beasley’s project is actually almost ten years old, and having released a handful of singles, two EPs and a compilation album by now, they’ve had plenty of time to find their sound and create a dopamine-filled record from start to beginning.
The release of Portal follows the success of their 2024 single “So Cold,” and I think “Sideways” has a similar exciting energy, but with a more kind of beachy sound. The upbeat and bright melodies contrast the idea in the lyrics that talk about being so done with a relationship: “I wasn’t looking for a way to win, I was just waiting for the plot to end,” “we’d save a lot of time if you said it right to my face.” I’ve had this song on repeat while writing this and somehow having it on loop is not exhausting, which I personally believe shows how good the track is. I am so so so excited to see Balu Brigada’s journey now that they finally have a full-length record out; please join me on jumping on this amazing bandwagon. – Javi
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