9 New Albums Out Now From Gracie Abrams, Lenny Kaye, Aaron Lee Tasjan & More

Singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams released her third studio album, Daughter from Hell, via Interscope Records. The follow-up to 2024’s The Secret of Us was co-written and co-produced with The National’s Aaron Dessner, with additional co-writing from Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. Recording sessions were held at Electric Lady in New York City, Long Pond in Hudson Valley and a studio in London. The album also features contributions from producer Dan Nigro and Mumford & Sons’ Marcus Mumford, who co-wrote “What If It’s Right?”

Pioneering punk and garage rock guitarist Lenny Kaye released his debut solo album, Goin’ Local, Yep Roc Records. The longest-serving member of the Patti Smith Group features 12 original songs the 79-year-old musician wrote over the course of many years. Kaye recruited Patti Smith to co-wrote the song “Solstice” for Goin’ Local. The project also includes contributions from Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone, jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield (Bob Dylan, T Bone Burnett, Lucinda Williams) and The Jayhawks’ John Jackson.

“I feel like I’m a new artist,” Kaye explained. “I think this album will surprise those who think they know me from what I’ve done previously.”

Aaron Lee Tasjan returns today with a new album, Get Over It, Underdog, through Blue Élan Records. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter produced the record with his longtime collaborator Mark Miller. Get Over It, Underdog follows Tasjan’s 2024 album, Stellar Evolution and sees ALT continuing his signature social commentary coupled with introspection by examining the archetype of the underdog. The spirit of Aaron’s friend, the late singer-songwriter Todd Snider, who passed away shortly after the LP was completed, also permeates the record and comes to the fore on their co-write “The Real.”

Compton singer, songwriter and producer Steve Lacy released his third solo studio album, Oh yeah?, via RCA Records. The follow-up to his Grammy-winning 2022 album Gemini Rights features SZA on “is it cool?,” Erykah Badu on “pure colour” and Cecile Believe on “lovesexdrugbomb.” The The Internet member self-produced and largely recorded the album in Paris.

“I just love it,” Lacy said of Paris. “I love the color of all the beiges and the lights and how old everything is. It’s just the vibe. I think it inspires me based on the clarity that I have being here.”

Japanese soul artist Nao Yoshioka issued a new album, self, via Sweet Soul Records. self is a guest-filled effort dubbed a “World Soul Collective,” featuring contributions from Bilal, Jamila Woods, Mỹ Anh, Keyon Harrold, Khari Mateen, Peter CottonTale, Devin Morrison, Raphael Devante, MXXWLL, Sam Wills, Bnnyhunna, Misha and Chien Chien Lu.

“This album is the sound of me finally facing and accepting every part of myself—the hopeful side that chased the light and the hidden side that felt weak or ‘never enough,’” Nao stated. “It is about turning that honesty and gratitude toward the people who carried me here into music, without holding anything back.”

Nashville-based improvisational quartet Slow Accordion — guitarist Oliver Wood of The Wood Brothers, multi-instrumentalist Matt Glassmeyer (Lambchop), bassist Ted Pecchio (Tedeschi Trucks Band) and drummer Mark Raudabaugh (Sierra Hull) — released their self-titled debut album via Royal Potato Family/RPF Records. Recorded live to a four-track reel-to-reel at Glassmeyer’s Nashville home studio over three sessions, the seven tracks were completely improvised with no preconceived ideas, right down to the tape running out halfway through the closing track.

“We’ve all experienced how most modern music is meticulously recorded, so we pulled that drawer out, dumped it, and stomped on it,” Glassmeyer said. “We want people to hear the spirit of the music moving us, exposing us, and being improvised in real time.”

Helado Negro and Reyna Tropical released their debut collaborative album, Helado Tropical, via Psychic Hotline. The two first met in June 2024 in North Carolina, brought together by a mutual friend and a loose invitation to spend time in the studio. What began as a brief session stretched into a three-day creative exchange. Recorded across multiple sessions in North Carolina, Portland and the Midwest, with ideas passed back and forth between sessions in a long-distance dialogue. The resulting nine-track album was built from guitars, drum machines and synthesizers.

“There was never a moment where we felt super stuck,” Helado Negro said. “It was just like ‘ok what’s next?’ and even within the songs, trying to create these micro worlds — we just felt excited about each moment.”

Singer, songwriter, producer and engineer Syd (co-founder of The Internet) released her third solo album, Beard, via Free Lunch/Warner Records. The follow-up to 2022’s Broken Hearts Club was co-produced by Syd alongside Nova Wav and features contributions from Raphael Saadiq, Big Sean, James Fauntleroy, Van Hunt, Jordan Ward and others. Syd provided the following statement regarding the new LP:

“Beard is a coming of age album for me. It’s a snapshot of what my life looks like right now. The title was inspired by the peach fuzz on my upper lip that society has always taught me to hate. I fell in love with my peach fuzz and it made me rethink everything that was supposed to make me feel insecure. It allowed me to take my confidence into my own hands, and own everything that I am and everything I love about myself, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

“The title also represents the way I see myself in relation to my peers, especially in music. ‘The bearded lady.’ Not so much a spectacle in my case, but an anomaly and an outlier. Hard to compare.”

Leeds post-punk quartet Yard Act, comprising vocalist James Smith, bassist Ryan Needham, guitarist Sam Shipstone and drummer Jay Russell, released their third studio album, You’re Gonna Need A Little Music, via Island Records. The follow-up to 2024’s Where’s My Utopia? was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen and recorded between Leeds and Los Angeles. Sessions marked the first time the band made an album together as a live band in the same room, tracking simultaneously across an uninterrupted five-month writing period at their Leeds studio.

“I think most bands’ best stuff comes around the third or fourth album where they really outgrow their influences and become their own thing,” Smith said.

“It’s like Blur,” Needham added. “This is Parklife. The first album they were doing the genre-y thing; the second one was a kick against that but they didn’t really know what they were doing, and then they made Parklife, which was the perfect distillation of it all.”