Best New Releases, April 17: Tunde Adebimpe, Beirut, and more

It’s another Coachella weekend, but us? We’re chilling in some air conditioned spaces, listening to the best new records hitting shelves today. Among those are the solo debut of a celebrated indie rock vocalist, the latest incarnation of a constantly moving sludge metal institution, the return of a powerviolence powerhouse, a couple of great collabs, a psych supergroup, and more. These are our picks for this week’s Best New Releases.

Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.

Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz

Six years after TV on the Radio went on hiatus (though they’ve since returned), singer Tunde Adebimpe makes his solo debut with Thee Black Boltz, a dynamic reintroduction from a singular artist taking both a more personal tack as well as more stylistic experimentation. Steeped in personal grief yet showcasing a wider breadth of sounds, Thee Black Boltz offers a broad spectrum of Adebimpe’s stylistic capabilities, from songs reminiscent of his famed band (“Magnetic”), gentle folk (“ILY”), buzzing electronics (“Ate the Moon”), and New Order gone digital dub (“The Most”). An outstanding debut from an old favorite. We’ll have more on this one soon. – Jeff Terich

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)

Beirut – A Study of Losses

Compared to Zac Condon’s earlier work, this album might feel like the musings of a severely bummed Wayne Newton, especially when held up against the more grandiose Eastern European textures that grace Gulag Orkestar. Yet something can be said for the more intimate introspection this album gazes into, creating a dubbier folk feel that shows how age has warmed Condon’s mellowed voice. Fans of this project will find that the tapestry of brass instrumentation and atmospheric touches delivers a mood that still holds a great deal in common with Beirut’s classic work. – Wil Lewellyn

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)

Melvins 1983 – Thunderball

There have been umpteen glorious iterations of avant-metal institution Melvins, far too many to recount in this small space. Melvins 1983 is, arguably, the greatest Melvins version there is—at least until the next album drops with some other insane lineup. Melvins 1983 is rooted all the way back in the pre-Dale Crover era when drummer Mike Dillard, an OG co-founder alongside godhead guitarist and vocalist Buzz Osborne, jump-started the heavy music titans towards its monumental run. Thunderball is the third official Melvins 1983 release (the first two, 2013’s Tres Carbones and ‘21’s Working with God are must-haves) and it’s classic Melvins in all their pummeling experi-metal glory with a twist. This time, King Buzzo’s king-sized riffage and Dillard’s primal drums blasts are splattered by the electronic salvos of knob-pushing sound artists Void Manes and Ni Maîtres. It’s a beastly metal-meets-electronics bacchanal only the ingenious Melvins can pull off. Read more about Thunderball and all things Melvins here in our just-published interview. – Brad Cohan    

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)

Gentle Leader XIV – Joke in the Shadow

Ohio trio Gentle Leader XIV returns after seven years with their first new album in seven years, Joke In the Shadow, a spectacular set of minimalist synth-pop that showcases its higher ambitions through the group’s deft stylistic blends. It’s our Album of the Week, and in our review of the album, we said, “Gentle Leader XIV deftly thread a needle through aesthetically seductive goth pop, minimal synth primitivism and ’80s pop grandeur, too idiosyncratic to be pastiche, yet firmly rooted in a new wave and post-punk palette.”

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp

Iron Lung – Adapting // Crawling

Seattle powerviolence duo Iron Lung return with their first new album in 12 years, an incendiary and furious set of compact but potent rippers that serve as a reminder of just how much this group utterly and absolutely destroys. There’s only three songs here that extend beyond two minutes apiece, and they showcase the band’s sludgier, more ominous side, while most of the time, they’re simply tearing through 30-second bursts of debris and shrapnel like human tornados. It’s a real motherfucker of a return, and it’s an exciting thing to hear. And while you’re at it, check out our list of our favorite albums on Iron Lung Records. – Jeff Terich

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp

Superheaven – Superheaven

“I want to say hello, but every handshake makes me feel alone,” Superheaven’s Jake Clarke sings on “The Curtain,” a somber song that underscores the frontman’s poetic brilliance. Throughout their career, the quartet from Pennsylvania have distinguished themselves by articulating the rampant affliction of social anxiety across the US. After a 10-year gap between full-lengths, they’ve improved their talents so greatly that Superheaven stands as a masterstroke. The essential record makes the case, through its lyrics and sound, that mental health struggles are far too complex and deep-seated to be cured with a pill or a trite aphorism. Like Superheaven’s rich, layered, hypnotic third record, it’s just not that simple. We’ll have more on this one soon.- Kurt Orzeck

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)

Tribunal – In Penitence and Ruin

In Penitence and Ruin demands worship—not by kneeling for the 48-minute duration of Tribunal’s second record, but rather by slowly head-banging or swaying to and fro to its stellar compositions. The experimental metal band from Vancouver still features founding bassist/cellist/vocalist Soren Mourne front and center, who alternately channels Bruce Dickinson and Jarboe. Meanwhile, guitarist Etienne Flinn interrupts her paeans with harsh vocals in a more effective manner than he did on Tribunal’s 2023 debut, The Weight of Remembrance. But what really takes In Penitence and Ruin to the next level is the sizable expansion of the lineup with a second guitarist, drummer and keyboardist. Impressively, it took just two records for what began as a two-person project to achieve its potential as a towering ensemble. – Kurt Orzeck

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp

MIEN – MIIEN

MIEN is a kinda-sorta supergroup of psychedelic veterans whose credits include Black Angels, The Horrors and The Earlies, and that shouldn’t surprise you at all upon hearing their second album, MIIEN. Steeped in hypnotic grooves that recall everything from Silver Apples to Neu! as well as more contemporary groups like Beak>, MIEN travel through kosmische wormholes with a motorik heartbeat as their guide. There’s more than a little driving post-punk in their approach, like on the melting effects and dark tension of “Empty Sun,” but sometimes the best moments are a little harder to define, like the bad-acid surf nightmare of “Slipping Away.” An excellent second set of otherworldly pulses and dissociative grooves. – Jeff Terich

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)

RuinsZu – Jazzisdead

RuinsZu is the dream collaboration all of you prog/metal/jazz/noise devotees have been pining for and this union made up of members of these two genre-transcending groups winds up shattering any and all musical norms and expectations. The aptly titled Jazzisdead (also the name of the festival of which this live set was recorded at in 2024) pairs bassist Massimo Pupillo and saxophonist Luca T. Mai of Italian extreme-music titans Zu with drummer Yoshida Tatsuya, the founder of Japanoise legends Ruins. The result is a freaked-out sprawl rife with razor-sharp precision, ear-splitting skronk onslaughts and odd time signature insanity that will give you a case of severe whiplash. RuinsZu’s Jazzisdead makes John Zorn’s jazz/metal groups and Mr. Bungle seems tame in comparison. Plus the monolithic Pupillo/Tatsuya rhythm section unloads the sickest grooves you’re going to hear in any year. A must grip. – Brad Cohan

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp

The Convenience – Like Cartoon Vampires

New Orleans’ The Convenience first caught my attention back last fall with their single “Routiner,” and now, six months later, their sophomore full-length arrives with a tracklist loaded with infectious and taut indie rock. The songwriting is top notch throughout, from the mesmerizing opener “I Got Exactly What I Wanted” to the knotty rhythmic exercises of “Dub Vultures,” to the bass-driven grooves of “Waiting for a Train” and the intricate guitar harmonies of “Vanity Shapes.” It’s rare that a set of melodic, guitar-driven indie rock stands out to me after hearing thousands of them, but The Convenience have done just that. A must-hear for anyone who’s ever been enchanted by the sound of guitars, drums and a great melody. – Jeff Terich

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp

Little Barrie and Malcolm Catto – Electric War

Little Barrie is probably best known for creating the theme music for Better Call Saul, all 15 glorious seconds of it. But the UK group has been making groove-laden, bluesy psychedelia for more than two decades, and their latest is their third collaboration with drummer Malcolm Catto, member of the Heliocentrics, Quantic & His Combo Bárbaro and more. Their latest collab is an endlessly enjoyable set of soul-psych, overflowing with grooves and warm, analog richness, with no shortage of infectious melodies or psychedelic atmosphere. They’re at their best when easing into an extended opium-den dirge like “Creaky,” which creeps slowly into extended instrumental flourishes—guitar and violin solos, and lots and lots of percussion. Hearing a piece this tense and this rich really drives home how masterful they are at setting a mood. – Jeff Terich

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)

Blackwater Holylight – If You Only Knew EP

After nearly 10 years, Blackwater Holylight have graduated from rags to riches—in the musical sense—with If You Only Knew. The Portland band stays true to their gloomy outlook on this EP, but the listening experience is far more pleasant thanks to a crisper, cleaner sound. Blackwater Holylight bury their past affinity for dirge and dreariness, no longer obscuring their true selves with layers of grit and grime. And why should they, now that they’ve fully realized themselves as a band equally adept at rocking out and tinkering with doom metal’s constraints? Could Blackwater Holylight be on the brink of embracing optimism, even? Only time—and their next LP—will tell. But If You Only Knew sure seems to suggest that transition is on the horizon. – Kurt Orzeck

Listen/Buy: Bandcamp