New Release Tuesday Preview

Every Monday, Alex Young of Consequence of Sound delivers a sneak preview of the top albums being released for the week...

Finally, a week of music that’s actually worth getting excited about! Sure, the week of January 13th might not feature as many noteworthy new music releases as the weeks that follow, but after Tuesday after Tuesday of stretching to find anything worthwhile, this week sure does bring welcome relief.

Leading the charge this week will be the long-awaited U.S. release of Late of the Pier’s debut studio, Fantasy Black Channel. First released in the U.K. last August to critical acclaim, the four-piece British outfit has quickly rose the ranks of indie stardom and currently appears poised to take over the U.S. in the coming weeks and months ahead. In addition to the release of its 13-track debut, headed by Bathroom Gurgle and The Bears Are Coming, Late of the Pier will look to captivate Americans with a spring tour, which will include stops at both South by Southwest and Coachella.

We’re still a week away from the release of Bruce Springsteen’s brand new studio album, Walking on a Dream, but that hasn’t stopped the Boss & his E Street bandmates from making an early appearance in the new music section. The catch? You’ll have to head to Walmart to pick it up. An exclusive release to the mega store, the aptly titled Greatest Hits will mark Springsteen’s fifth compilation album and consists of the New Jersey native’s more popular singles, such as Born to Run, Thunder Road, and The Rising. All in all, the album will do little for diehards, unless you’re very OCD about having every single release in your grasp, but should serve as a nice introduction for those music fans still unfortunate enough never to have gotten into the man, the myth, the legend that is Bruce Springsteen.

Some four years after the release of his critically-acclaimed fifth studio album, Songlines, the Derek Truck Band will return Tuesday with Already Free. Described as completely organic, the 12-track effort is the result of the band’s collaboration with the Allman Brothers’ Warren Hayes and Doyle Bramhall II over the last two years. “We had no expectations. We just came down and started writing. Then one thing led to the next. I had all this time off, so I just started calling up friends,” Trucks explained, going on to note, “And once the process started rolling and once we realized that we were on to something, we were writing tunes and all the sounds we were getting were amazing and it was starting to feel great. It felt like something was happening, and we wanted to keep throwing musicians on the fire.” All in all, the result is an album described by Rolling Stone as binding his greased-lightning slide guitar and encyclopedic loves of blues, R&B and Indian music in funky, cohesive songwriting. 

On the indie electro front, My Dear Disco will use Tuesday to make its full-length debut with the release of Dancethink. After making a name for themselves at American Eagles’s North American Music Union this past summer, the Michigan natives recently teamed up with Grammy-nominated producer Matt Saunders for the nine-track effort, which has been described as everything from a pop aesthetic to something a trace-like experience. Needless to say, it certainly appears to say My Dear Disco’s debut will be the type of work that reaches across multiple music tastes and ear waves. 

Think we missed something? Add your previews in the comments below...