Happy October! Fall is here, we’re in the home stretch of 2024, and before we get to the end of the year, we’ve put together a list of 43 albums that we’re excited to hear during this last quarter. We kept the list to albums with official release dates, and that finally includes The Cure (!), but we’re still crossing our fingers that we’ll get or learn more about long-teased albums like Joanna Newsom, My Bloody Valentine, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Cardi B, Frank Ocean, Sky Ferreira, Michael Stipe, King Diamond / Mercyful Fate, and Death Grips soon too, not to mention The Weeknd‘s recently-announced Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Read on for the list, in alphabetical order…
Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness
due 10/25 via B2B Records / Virgin Music Group
For their fourth album, and first for a new label, Aussie wildlings Amyl & The Sniffers went to L.A. to work with producer Nick Launay (Midnight Oil, IDLES, INXS) at Foo Fighters’ 606 Studios. Cartoon Darkness looks to be a level-up in every way, with more varied musicality, bigger sound and more serious themes. But as anyone who’s seen them in concert this year knows, Amyl are still a ton of fun live.
Balance and Composure – With You In Spirit
due 10/4 via Memory Music
Leaders of grungy post-hardcore during the 2010s “emo revival” era, Balance and Composure came to a bittersweet end towards the end of that decade, but now they’re back with their first album in eight years. As the singles show, it’s a culmination of everything they’ve ever done with a hint of where they might go next.
Better Lovers – Highly Irresponsible
due 10/25 via SharpTone
Born out of the ashes of two of the most beloved 2000s/2010s metalcore bands, Better Lovers features 3/5 of the final Every Time I Die lineup, former Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato, and guitarist/in-house producer Will Putney, who also helmed the last two ETID records. After debuting with an EP last year, they’ll finally put out their first album this fall, and the singles find them striking a thrilling balance between ETID and DEP.
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
due 10/4 via Century Media
In the words of Blood Incantation’s own Paul Riedl, Blood Incantation’s first proper album in five years is their “most potent audial extract/musical trip yet; like the soundtrack to a Herzog-style Sci-Fi epic about the history of/battle for human consciousness itself, via a 70s Prog album played by a 90s Death Metal band from the future.” That’s quite the promise, and we have a feeling they’re going to deliver.
Buñuel – Mansuetude
due 10/25 via SKiN GRAFT Records/Overdrive Records
Oxbow are no more, but bandleader Eugene S. Robinson is staying busy and gearing up to release the fourth album by his band Buñuel, which he formed in 2016 with Italian musicians Xabier Iriondo, Andrea Lombardini, and Franz Valente. It features some cool guests, including Jacob Bannon (Converge), Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard, Tomahawk), and Megan Osztrosits (Couch Slut), and the sludgy, noisy post-hardcore of the recent singles doesn’t fall far from Oxbow’s tree.
Caribou – Honey
due 10/4 via Merge
Dan Snaith has lived two musical lives for the last decade, with his psychedelic, subtler, more song-oriented side as Caribou (they’re also an amazing live band), and the sample-forward, pure club euphoria of Daphni. Honey, the sixth Caribou album, feels like it’s a merger of the two. The album also features a third side to Snaith as he’s used software to alter his voice to sound like another person. “I think the central thing that drew me to using this technology on this album was that if I listened closely, I could still hear myself in there when I tried on different voices,” Snaith says. “It is some kind of alchemy—changing my voice into something that is both mine and not mine.” That alchemy works: all four of the singles released from it so far are bangers.
Chat Pile – Cool World
due 10/11 via The Flenser
OKC noise rockers Chat Pile turned a lot of heads with their 2022 breakthrough album God’s Country, and all signs point to its followup Cool World being a clear step forward. “While we wanted our follow-up to God’s Country to still capture the immediate, uncompromising essence of Chat Pile, we also knew that with Cool World, we’d want to stretch the definition of our ‘sound’ to reflect our tastes beyond just noise rock territory,” said bassist Stin. “Now that we had some form of creative comfort zones in place after hitting that milestone of putting out a full-length record, album #2 felt like the perfect opportunity to challenge those limits.”
Chubby and the Gang – And Then There Was…
due 10/4 via Flatspot
Chubby and the Gang are gearing up to put out their third LP this fall, and most of the recent singles find the UK band’s punk/pub rock anthems sounding as rousing ever, while recent piano ballad “Cocaine Sunday” shows off a more sentimental side.
The Cure – Songs of a Lost World
due 11/1 via Lost Music Limited / Universal
We have had The Cure’s 14th album on our Anticipated lists since 2020 and it’s exciting to finally be able to do so with an actual title and release date. Songs of a Lost World will finally be here on November 1. The band previewed a lot of the songs on their 2022/2023 Shows of a Lost World tour, all of which sound good, and first single “Alone” is a glorious return to their Disintegration grandeur.
Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn – Quiet in a World Full of Noise
due 10/4 via Merge
Back in 2022, R&B singer Dawn Richard and composer Spencer Zahn put their heads together for the excellent ambient/jazz/soul album Pigments, and we’re very excited to hear that it wasn’t just a one-off. Their second album together drops soon, and the recent singles have captured all the same magic as the debut. Quiet in a World Full of Noise is a perfect title.
Drug Church – PRUDE
due 10/4 via Pure Noise
Drug Church’s last two records are two of the most fun hardcore/alt-rock crossovers around, and they’re going for the trifecta. PRUDE looks to be picking right up where its predecessors left off, and the band sounds as high-energy as ever. “The goal is to put out good records that sound like we do,” says vocalist Patrick Kindlon. “We’re not trying to do an OK Computer.”
Elias Rønnenfelt – Heavy Glory
due 10/25 via Escho
While Iceage frontman Elias Rønnenfelt released two albums as Marching Church in the mid-2010s, Heavy Glory is is first under his own name. Made with Iceage producer Nis Bysted, the album features Danish punk legend (and Nicolas Winding Refn collaborator) Peter Peter, and covers of Spacemen 3 and Townes Van Zandt songs in addition to Rønnenfelt originals.
ELUCID – Revelator
due 10/11 via Fat Possum
Between Armand Hammer and their solo projects, billy woods and ELUCID are constantly busy. This October, ELUCID will release his new solo album Revelator, which features woods on two tracks, along with other guests. He hasn’t missed once these past few years, and Revelator‘s already looking like another winner.
Envy – Eunoia
due 10/11 via Temporary Residence Ltd
Screamo as we know it wouldn’t be the same without Japanese legends Envy, and they’ve been there at every turn for nearly 30 years, with one breathtaking album after the next. Their upcoming album Eunoia dipped its toes into sheogaze on lead single “Beyond the Raindrops,” and then second single “Whiteout” showed they’ve still got plenty of the heavy stuff on this LP.
Father John Misty – Mahashmashana
due 11/22 via Sub Pop / Bella Union
After a dalliance with big band jazz and “classic” pop styles, Josh Tillman seems to be back on more familiar Father John Misty territory with his sixth album under his musical alias. Mahashmashana, a Sanskrit word that means “great cremation ground, all things going thither,” finds him once again working with frequent collaborators Drew Erickson and Jonathan Wilson, and the twangy disco vibes of “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All” and the widescreen “Screamland” are a good fit for Josh.
Field Music – Limits of Language
due 10/11 via Memphis Industries
Field Music are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and founding members, brothers and musical polymaths Peter & David Brewis are celebrating with the group’s ninth album. This one started with synthesizers. “We didn’t want to use the synths just as a nostalgic thumbprint,” says Peter. “I hope that the approach was more Eno-esque than that. Exploring the capabilities of the machines.” The singles released so far from Limits of Language take those synths into proggy territory (where they’ve dabbled before) and sound pretty great.
Fievel Is Glauque – Rong Weicknes
due 10/25 via Fat Possum
At the core a duo of American musician Zach Phillips and Belgian singer Ma Clément, jazzy group Fievel is Glauque made their first album for Fat Possum as an eight-piece, recorded “live in triplicate.” What does that mean? It involves “First laying down a foundational take, then a duplicate take on top of it, and finally an improvisatory, antagonistic take, the octet exclusively played live together without using a click track, so that each layer of performance features tiny rhythmic variations and imperfections, both intentional and not.” While that sounds “difficult,” first single “As Above So Below” is their most breezy, inviting song yet.
GloRilla – Glorious
due 10/11 via CMG Interscope
Memphis rapper GloRilla had a big breakout in 2022 with “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” and 2024 has arguably been an even bigger year for Glo. Her great Ehhthang Ehhthang mixtape birthed the infectious and inescapable singles “Yeah Glo!” and “Wanna Be,” the latter of which features Glo’s recent tourmate Megan Thee Stallion and has a remix that also features Cardi B. She’s keeping the momentum going and finally releasing her first official debut album, Glorious.
Geordie Greep – The New Sound
due 10/4 via Rough Trade
“With recording The New Sound, it was the first time I have had no one to answer to,” says Geordie Greep whose band black midi are currently on hiatus. “And with every impulse I had, I was able to completely follow it through to its conclusion. Being in a band (black midi), we often have this ‘we can do everything’ feeling, but you are also kind of limited in that approach, and sometimes it’s good to do something else, to let go of things.” Among those new sounds: the lascivious big band disco of lead single “Holy, Holy.”
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD”
due 10/4 via Constellation
Godspeed You! Black Emperor are masters of conveying emotion and meaning without lyrics, and their latest album was inspired by the ongoing mass tragedy in Gaza. Its title (or lack thereof) refers to the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, 2023, as of February 13, 2024, and as for having “no title,” the band says, “what gestures make sense while tiny bodies fall?”
The Hard Quartet – The Hard Quartet
due 10/4 via Matador
“This is not a project—it’s a band,” Stephen Malkmus told GQ of his new group with seasoned players Matt Sweeney (Chavez), Jim White (The Dirty Three), and Emmett Kelly (Ty Segall, Cairo Gang). “We’re all jazzed.” While all four had previously collaborated with other members of the group, The Hard Quartet marked the first time they’d all played together. There was instant chemistry, resulting in nearly an album’s worth of songs written in the first week and their self-titled debut is a double. Malkmus, Sweeney and Kelly all take turns singing lead for what promises to be a truly collaborative affair.
High Vis – Guided Tour
due 10/18 via Dais
High Vis seem like they’re taking a leap with their third album, Guided Tour. One single finds them at their punkiest. Another incorporates elements of house music. The possibilities seem endless.
The Innocence Mission – Midwinter Swimmers
due 11/29 via Therese / Bella Union
Pennsylvania group The Innocence Mission have come along way since their late-’80s start as hazy major label alt-rockers, having transformed at the turn of the century into a more intimate, spare and affecting duo who continue to mesmerize, if now more quietly. Midwinter Swimmers is their 13th album and first in four years. 2020’s See You Tomorrow was fantastic and we have little doubt this will cast a similar spell.
Japandroids – Fate & Alcohol
due 10/18 via ANTI-
Japandroids’ first album was written with the mindset that it may very well be their last, but the album’s surprise success ended up giving the band a career that’s lasted for 15 years (with some quiet gaps in between). Now though, they say they’re putting Japandroids to rest for good, and the upcoming Fate & Alcohol will be their final album. By the sound of songs like the explosive lead single “Chicago,” it looks like they’re going out with a bang.
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – Live From The Ryman Vol. 2
due 10/4 via Southeastern
Live albums are a bit of a dying art, but Jason Isbell’s 2018 live album Live From The Ryman is up there with any of the classic live albums of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. It’s as crucial to his catalog as any of his studio albums, so it’s a very exciting prospect that he’s now releasing a second volume that includes material from the two great studio albums he released since 2018, 2020’s Reunions and 2023’s Weathervanes.
Karate – Make It Fit
due 10/18 via Numero Group
Jazzy post-hardcore/post-rock/emo/indie vets Karate reunited for their first shows in 17 years in 2022, and now they’re releasing their first album in 20 years. The new album is said to reflect who the band is today, and the recent singles sound like Karate without sounding like they’re trying to recapture the past.
Katie Gavin – What a Relief
due 10/25 via Saddest Factory
Katie Gavin veers off from MUNA’s catchy alt-pop on her solo debut, which she describes as “Lilith Fair-core.” From the singles so far, she’s definitely doing the sound justice, especially on the fiddle and harmony-warmed most recent preview, “Inconsolable.”
Kelly Lee Owens – Dreamstate
due 10/18 via dh2
Dreamstate is Kelly Lee Owens’ first album for dh2, the new electronic subsidiary of Dirty Hit, the label run by The 1975’s George Daniel. He’s also one of the collaborators on the record, as is The Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands. The album’s singles so far find Owens embracing pop more than ever before while still appealing to serious Berghain-type techno-heads. Sounds like a best of both worlds situation.
Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More
due 11/28 via 4AD
One of the coolest people in indie rock from the last 40 years, Kim Deal has always been a team player but now steps into the spotlight on her first solo album. Nobody Loves You More was made primarily with the late Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, and Kim does get some help on the album from her twin sister Kelley Deal, their Breeders bandmate Jim MacPherson, as well as Josh Klinghoffer, Savages‘ rhythm section (drummer Faye Milton and bassist Ayşe Hassan), Teenage Fanclub‘s Raymond McGinley. The two songs shared from it so far couldn’t be more different — one folky, one dancey — so we’re anxious to find out where the whole thing goes.
La Femme – Rock Machine
due 10/11 via Disque Pointu
After nearly a decade and a half of tres chic Francophone electopop, Parisian band La Femme are boldly going where they have never gone before: singing songs in English. Bluntly named Rock Machine, the album features song titles that are just as subtle, including “Yeah Baby,” “I Believe in Rock N’ Roll” and “My Generation” (not a Who cover). There’s always a French twist, though, and singles “Clover Paradise” and “Ciao Paris!” still have that La Femme je ne sais quoi.
Laura Marling – Patterns in Repeat
due 10/25 via Chrysalis/Partisan
Laura Marling’s experiences as a new mother inspired her new album, but you don’t need to be a parent, or a baby, to appreciate the tender folk songs and lullabies she’s shared from it so far. They have timeless appeal, and Laura’s eighth album is shaping up to be another great one.
MEMORIALS – Memorial Waterslides
due 10/4 via Fire Records
After releasing two terrific documentary soundtracks in 2022, duo MEMORIALS (Electrene’s Verity Susman and Wire/It Hugs Back’s Matthew Simms) are releasing their proper debut album. Susman and Simms’ styles fit together well, mixing droning keyboards, furiously strummed guitars and motorik beats. Best of all is the return of Susman’s distinctive voice which we’ve missed since Electrelane called it quits in 2007.
Mount Eerie – Night Palace
due 11/1 via P.W. Elverum & Sun
Phil Elverum is gearing up to return with his first Mount Eerie album since the 2019 Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron album Lost Wisdom pt. 2, the first non-collaborative Mount Eerie album since 2018’s Now Only, and Phil’s first album in general since he revived The Microphones moniker for 2020’s Microphones In 2020. Though this one is coming out under the Mount Eerie name, a press release calls it “a return to the beloved deep analog fuzz world of the Microphones’ the Glow pt. 2 (2001) and the many thickly embroidered Mount Eerie universes that have followed,” and you can definitely hear some Glow pt. 2 vibes coming through on the early singles.
Oranssi Pazuzu – Muuntautuja
due 10/11 via Nuclear Blast
Oranssi Pazuzu’s next album looks to be their most genre-defying yet, injecting their psychedelic black metal with krautrock, trip-hop, and shoegaze. Read Colin Dempsey’s interview with the band on Invisible Oranges for more.
Pinhead Gunpowder – Unt
due 10/18 via 1-2-3-4 Go Records
Green Day released their best album in 20 years this year, but if you wanna hear Billie Joe Armstrong at the most stripped-back, no-frills, ’90s pop punk version of himself, you’re gonna want this new Pinhead Gunpowder album in your life.
Planes Mistaken For Stars – Do You Still Love Me?
due 11/1 via Deathwish
Planes Mistaken For Stars vocalist Gared O’Donnell passed away from stage III esophageal cancer in 2021, but what we didn’t know at the time was that Gared wrote and recorded one last album with Planes amid his cancer treatment and global lockdown. On lead single “Fix Me,” Planes and Gared sound as gritty, gravelly, and uniquely great as they ever have. And maybe it’s just knowing the context, but it sounds so lively yet so haunted by Gared’s ghost all at once.
Porridge Radio – Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me
due 10/18 via Secretly Canadian
Porridge Radio bandleader and vocalist Dana Margolin says that almost all the songs on their new album, Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me, started out as poems. The cathartic lyricism of the ones we’ve heard so far really stands out, as does their intensity, and that has our hopes for this album high.
Primal Scream – Come Ahead
due 11/8 via BMG
For their 12th album, Primal Scream reteamed with producer David Holmes who also worked on their terrific 2013 album More Light and brings a funky, psychedelic soul sound to this one. “I’m very excited about this album in a way that you would be making your first record,” says frontman Bobby Gillespie. “There is a message of hope…but it’s tempered with an acceptance of the worst side of human nature.”
Soccer Mommy – Evergreen
due 10/25 via Loma Vista
After working with Daniel Lopatin on 2022’s Sometimes, Forever for an electronic-influenced sound, Evergreen has Soccer Mommy moving back in a more organic direction and sounding fantastic for it, from the gorgeous, plaintive “Lost,” to the twangy “M,” to the catchy indie rock of “Driver.”
Pre-order our opaque custard vinyl variant of ‘Evergreen’ in the BV store.
The Smile – Cutouts
due 10/4 via XL
Radiohead began taking longer and longer gaps between albums over the years (and there’s still hope that they’ll do another one), but with The Smile, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood are already more prolific than Radiohead ever were. By October, they’ll have released three albums in a two-and-a-half-year span, two of which were released this year. The singles find The Smile doing what they do best.
Thirdface – Ministerial Cafeteria
due 11/1 via Exploding In Sound
Nashville hardcore band Thirdface turned a lot of our heads (including ours) with their great 2021 debut LP Do It With A Smile, and Ministerial Cafeteria‘s shapeshifting lead single “Meander” suggests they’re only getting better.
Touché Amoré – Spiral In A Straight Line
due 10/11 via Rise
15 years and six albums in, post-hardcore trailblazers Touché Amoré still have the hunger that they did in their early years, and the pre-release singles from Spiral In A Straight Line are up there with some of their best songs to date.
Undeath – More Insane
due 10/4 via Prosthetic
You can’t call an album More Insane and not live up to the title, and we’ve got a very good feeling that Rochester death metallers Undeath won’t have any trouble doing just that. They seem to be sounding bigger, catchier, and nastier all at once.
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