The regularity of Beyoncéing–the act of artists releasing new material out of seemingly nowhere–often makes the compilation of This Week In Records a bit of a frantic rush from the strike of midnight to locate, charge through, and draw highlights from the week’s output. Fortunately, today is a bit different: partially due to friendly secret tips though mostly down to artists adhering to the age-old strategy of announcing things before they happen, we pulled everything together last night.
And then it became clear that Ellie Goulding was going to ruin it all by holding off her new release until 8am.
And then Frank Ocean actually did a thing.
If there’s anything we’ve missed or you’d like to see your upcoming release featured on this page, let us know by emailing us at [email protected]!
Frank Ocean – Endless
Well, this is something. After days/weeks/months/years of speculation, Frank Ocean’s adventures in woodworking appear to have led to a visual album titled Endless. It’s 45 minutes long and it does indeed have music–one bit seems to be Ocean singing over Daft Punk’s ‘Contact’–but with an Apple Music spokesperson telling Pitchfork to “keep an eye out this weekend for more from Frank,” this palaver is only just beginning to unravel.
Craig David & Sigala – ‘Ain’t Giving Up’
Hardwell feat. Craig David – ‘No Holding Back’
Craig David tracks are like buses: you wait half a decade for one and then a whole avalanche of them come along at once. So far, his near year-long comeback trail has been filled with festival appearances, an Ibiza residency, and a tremendous bunch of garage-tinged Capital-friendly singles, and he’s released two more of the latter to celebrate Following My Intuition becoming replete with a release date (September 30th) and two forms of cover art. ‘No Holding Back’ shows a deep house flair from Dutch star Hardwell, who was named the world’s top DJ by DJ Mag in 2013 and 2014, and Norfolk’s purveyor of summery, dancey pop brings his usual energy to ‘Ain’t Giving Up.’
SG Lewis – Yours EP
With sleepy electronic lullabies appearing very much to be in fashion, you can’t really do much better than spending time immersed in the music of 20-year-old SG Lewis of Reading. Yours is his second EP, following on from 2015’s HONNE-endorsed Shivers, and its four track span features slumbering soul in vocal turns from RAYE (‘Yours’), Gallant (‘Holding Back’), and Lewis himself on new single ‘Meant To Be,’ written with The Neptunes’ Chad Hugo, thanks to some coaxing from PMR label-mate Howard Lawrence of Disclosure.
De La Soul feat. Usher – ‘Greyhounds’
And The Anonymous Nobody…, released in a week’s time, is the ninth record from influential hip hop trio De La Soul, though fans may have had cause for concern just a month ago when ‘Action!’ premiered with a cover draped in pigs from Angry Birds as tie-in to an update for the game. That particular track, however, doesn’t feature on the album–expect more sombre cuts along the lines of ‘Greyhounds,’ a tale of bus journeys towards harsh pursuits of fame.
Crystal Castles – Amnesty (I)
Since the release of (III) late in 2012, things have been more than a little turbulent in the land of Crystal Castles. The experimental electro duo from Canada looked to have reached the end once singer Alice Glass departed, labelling producer Ethan Kath as “manipulative,” though Kath’s new recruit Edith Frances has given the band a new life. Read Harley James Mitford’s five-star review of Amnesty (I), which comes prefaced by typically abrasive singles ‘Concrete’ and ‘Char,’ right here.
Metallica – ‘Hardwired’
Six years removed from the platinum-certified Death Magnetic, Metallica will return with Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, an 80-minute double album, on November 18th. “It’s so fucked / Shit out of luck / Hardwired to self-destruct,” growls James Hetfield on the refrain of its thrashy lead single, perhaps foretelling the ultimate continuation of 2016’s stretch of misery.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – After The Rain
Type “Benjamin F” into Google and the second result (behind a former US/Us. president) is Yorkshire-born acoustic guitar-wielder Benjamin Francis Leftwich. His 2011 debut Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm planted him as a prominent face in the field of gentle folk tracks, and its long-awaited successor maintains the breathy, fragile aura with hints of optimism in the darkest of moments.
Selected Other Releases
Albums
Black Foxxes – I’m Not Well
Brasstracks – Good Love EP
David Brent & Foregone Conclusion – Life On The Road
Dolly Parton – Pure & Simple
French Montana – MC4
Lindsey Stirling – Brave Enough
Pitbull – Climate Change
Salute – My Heart EP
Slow Club – One Day All Of This Won’t Matter Anymore
The Rifles – Big Life
Tory Lanez – I Told You
Singles
Anna Of The North – ‘Us’
BANKS – ‘Mind Games’
Cadenza feat. Jorja Smith & Dre Talent – ‘People’
Chet Porter feat. Chelsea Cutler – ‘Stay’
Deap Vally – ‘Gonnawanna’
Ellie Goulding – ‘Still Falling For You’
Goldwash – ‘Honest’
James Vincent McMorrow – ‘Get Low’
Kaiser Chiefs – ‘Hole In My Soul’
KLOE – ‘Liability’
Lower Than Atlantis – ‘Work For It’
Loyle Carner feat. Rebel Kleff – ‘NO CD’
Mac Miller feat. CeeLo Green – ‘We’
Michael Bublé – ‘Nobody But Me’
Mollie King – ‘Back To You’
Mr. Oizo feat. Skrillex – ‘End Of The World’
No Way Back feat. Le Youth – ‘Back2Life’
Petite Meller – ‘The Flute’
Pixies – ‘Talent’
Say Lou Lou – ‘Stayin’ Alive’
Tchami – ‘SIAW’
The Magic Gang – ‘All This Way’
The 1975 – ‘Somebody Else’
Tom Odell – ‘Concrete’
Tough Love feat. Karen Harding – ‘Like I Can’
Wretch 32 feat. Emeli Sandé – ‘I.O.U.’
Youngr – ‘Out Of My System’ (Galantis Remix)
