Stream every standout album released this Friday with The FADER’s weekly roundup.
Every Friday, The FADER’s writers dive into the most exciting new projects released that week. Today, read our thoughts on Dijon’s Baby, Kaytranada’s Ain’t No Damn Way, Steve Gunn’s Music For Writers, and more.
Dijon: Baby
Dijon’s debut album Absolutely arrived like a benevolent UFO: here was a Black artist dressed like a gentle crust punk on the record’s cover, while singing genre-spanning avant-soul with the vigor of a frontman at a tent revival. Not long after, Dijon and his partner welcomed a son, and he settled into his new life as a father. His new album Baby consciously seeks to push back on the idea of domesticity as a stifling trap for artists and casts family as a liberating force of self-discovery and empowerment. Songs shift and alter with their own logic, dotted with noisy rushes of electronic tumult while drawing from ‘80s hits (“Yamaha,” “Kindalove”), club music (“FIRE!”) and of course, every other corner of the Black popular pantheon. If Prince had a more gracious view of sampling, you might imagine some of his Paisley Park demos sounding like Baby, but you wouldn’t mistake Dijon’s new record for anyone else’s. It’s the most original, spiritually edifying pop record of the year so far. — Jordan Darville
Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music
KAYTRANADA: Ain’t No Damn Way!
As one of music’s most prolific DJs, Kaytranada’s done everything with everyone. 2023 saw a collab album with Aminé; records in 2020 and 2024 saw him working with everyone from PinkPantheress to Tinashe, Pharrell, Kali Uchis and more; in a few months he’ll be on tour with Justice. But sometimes, a guy just has to go in the kitchen alone and remind everyone what’s what. That’s his new album, Ain’t No Damn Way!, a spirited 30 minutes of pure, solo Kaytranada magicking behind the decks to summon wavy-hearted dance music that’s as good as any summer anthem. The samples are classy — like a hypnotic TLC setting the mood on the record’s closer “DO IT! (AGAIN!),” or Kelis’ smolder from Latrelle’s “My Life” popping in on the prismatic disco cut “Space Invaders” — the transitions are delicious. Ain’t no damn way I’m not going to be rinsing this out this weekend. —Steffanee Wang
Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music
Steve Gunn: Music for Writers
I’ve always enjoyed Gunn’s singer-songwriter projects, but Music For Writers shows a side of his thoughtful playing that those albums can’t — untethered to any formal structure and thus open to infinite possibilities. Gunn’s characteristic acoustic guitar style, consonant but subtly complex, is complemented here by drones that sweep across the tracks like ocean breezes. Added to these elements are faint field recordings and the tangible tones of the rooms in which these songs were recorded. Music For Writers is a consummate ambient guitar album — it’s great music to write to, good music to meditate to, and at times inspiring in and of itself. Its most stimulating tracks are mainly clustered around its midpoint, giving the full project an elegant arc. And while that arc doesn’t quite reach the height needed to significantly separate Music For Writers from the many other very good ambient albums out this year, it’s a gorgeous record nonetheless, peaceful and wistful and infinite. — Raphael Helfand
Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Racing Mount Pleasant: Racing Mount Pleasant
The discourse may have recently dredged up the cursed “stomp-clap” era but Racing Mount Pleasant’s music makes a case for the revival of an adjacent indie rock phenomenon: the communal epic. Released via R&R, the label the band shares with Mk.Gee and Dijon, Racing Mount Pleasant’s album is the product of a shuttered environment; all seven members of the band have shared the same home in Ann Arbor and bring a pleasing sense of cohesion to “Your New Place,” a sprawling and explorative seven-minute folk tale that begins with an isolated saxophone and ends with guitars intertwining with clarinet, like a garage rock band swapping the dive bar for an orchestra pit. Fans of early period Bon Iver or Arcade Fire (a more modern comparison may be Black Country New Road’s playful take on a virtuoso skills) will find much to enjoy in the gang vocals and brass-steeped songs such as “Call It Easy” and “Tendspeed (Shallows).” Like much of Racing Mount Pleasant, they start out small and build into grand crescendos fit for cavernous arenas. The band will be able to put them to the test when they open for Geese later this year. — David Renshaw
Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
Other projects out today that you should listen to
1300SAINT: NewDrug EP
Alison Goldfrapp: Flux
Audrey Hobert: Who’s the Clown?
Babyface Ray: Codeine Cowboy
Bret McKenzie: Freak Out City
Cass McCombs: Interior Live Oak
Chance the Rapper: Star Line
Danny L Harle & Torus: Starlight Divergence
Kevin Gates: Luca Brasi 4
Mahalia: Luvergirl
Marissa Nadler: New Radiations
Pile: Sunshine and Balance Beams
Pool Kids: Easier Said Than Done
Protect: 500 Days of Summer
Various Artists: Highest 2 Lowest (Original Soundtrack)
Wassermann: The Palace