THE BLACK CROWES – A POUND OF FEATHERS
The guitar is screaming, the guitars are muted and fuzzy, high hat is sharp and tight for The Black Crowes return. A Pound of Feathers has that Southern‑rock swagger they’ve always worn well, and Chris Robinson sounding like he’s lived every lyric twice. It takes you to a new bar that’s made to look like a dive bar, a clean kind of dirty. “Profane Prophecy” is loose and the band feels like they’re playing for the joy of it again, leaning into a glossed-out groove. If you want to slow it down, “Pharmacy Chronicles” is warm, ragged in the right places. It’s an album that sounds like a well-worn pair of jeans, comfortable and familiar.
Stream • Silver Arrow • Connect: @theblackcrowes
KIM GORDON – PLAY ME
Kim Gordon continues her late‑career renaissance with an album that feels fearless, frayed, and completely her own. PLAY ME is all jagged edges and discordant pulsing electronics. Gordon loves playing with tension – in the beats, in the bass, in the way she leans into dissonance like it’s oxygen. It’s a dancefloor at the apocalypse, with a hypnotic quality to the record, a confidence in its chaos when each song feels like it’s on the edge of falling apart.
Stream • Matador • Connect: @kimgordonofficial
MICHAEL STIPE – “I PLAYED THE FOOL”
It’s been three years since Michael Stipe released music, even longer since he left R.E.M. behind, but he must have missed that trio feeling because he teamed up with Josh Klinghoffer (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam) and Travis Barker (Blink-182) for a new song, “I Played the Fool.” The song could have been pulled straight out of Stipe’s ’80s songbook: thoughtful, tender, and quietly devastating in the best way.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – PRETTY IN PINK 40TH ANNIVERSARY VINYL REISSUE
For its 40th birthday, Pretty in Pink gets the deluxe vinyl treatment it absolutely deserves. This soundtrack has always been a snapshot of mid‑’80s alternative cool: Psychedelic Furs, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Smiths, Suzanne Vega, New Order and on (pretty pink) vinyl, everything feels warmer, punchier, and more alive.
Stream • Interscope/UMe
