Don’t Miss New Albums From The Black Keys, Charley Crockett, Ethel Cain, T. Hardy Morris & More

The Black Keys released their 13th studio album, No Rain, No Flowers, today through Easy Eye Sound/Warner Records. Guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney recorded the follow-up to 2024’s Ohio Players last summer and fall at their Easy Eye Studios facility. The new album comes after Auerbach and Carney canceled a 2024 North American arena tour and fired their management. No Rain, No Flowers saw the duo working with songwriters including Rick Nowels, Daniel Tashian and Scott Storch.

“It totally kind of fucked our plans,” Carney told Apple Music. “We took the time that we were going to be on tour, and we went back into Dan’s studio, and we just recorded a bunch of music.”

“Ohio Players was a deeply collaborative album we made with other musicians—I guess rock stars. Beck and Noel Gallagher. Heroes of ours, you know? And guys who’ve helped us out throughout the years in different ways, For this new album, we just went one step further and we wanted to do some more collaborations, and we looked at some people who had worked with artists that we liked.”

Charley Crockett’s second album of 2025 Dollar A Day, was issued today by Island Records. The 15-song collection arrives five months after Lonesome Drifter, which like Dollar A Day, was co-produced by Shooter Jennings. Lonesome Drifter and Dollar A Day are the first two installments of Charley Crockett’s The Sagebrush Trilogy of albums. Both LPs were recorded at the historic Sunset Sound Studio 3 facility in Hollywood, California.

“With Shooter, I’ve never felt more like myself in the studio,” stated Crockett. “I don’t feel judged. At all. It’s truly a partnership. Hell, I’d say he’s my best friend, and you can’t aspire to greatness without that kind of trust. With Lonesome Drifter, it felt like we opened the portal. With Dollar A Day, we stepped through and came out the other side.”

Ethel Cain — the project formed by Florida native Hayden Anhedönia — released their sophomore album, Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love You. Ethel Cain’s debut album, Preacher’s Daughter, was released in 2022. Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love You is the prequel to Preacher’s Daughter and follows Cain’s experimental drone project Perverts that came out in January. Anhedönia produced and recorded Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You over the past year at studios in Daleville, Alabama; Caropolis, Pennsylvania and Tallahassee, Florida.

T. Hardy Morris returns with a new album, Artificial Tears, arriving today via the New West Records imprint Normaltown Records. The 12-track LP was produced by My Morning Jacket guitarist Carl Broemel, who also contributed heavily to the album. T. Hardy Morris — who began his career with the band Dead Confederate and also co-founded the super group Diamond Rugs — detailed Artificial Tears:

“I’ve spent a lot of time parsing the difference between art and entertainment. Not just for myself, but for society at large. What does it mean to be an artist? How do we measure creative success? Where are the boundaries between audience and performer when everyone’s broadcasting their lives 24/7? When you focus on entertainment over art, you start reaching for your lowest impulses, for the lowest forms of security and status. When you let go of the stuff that doesn’t matter and stop being so overly concerned with material things, you can appreciate the real stuff that’s all around you. I’ll always be writing music, no matter who’s listening. Day in and day out, one phrase to the next. This has always been more than a dream. It’s been a calling.”

New Orleans bounce icon Big Freedia today released her debut gospel album, Pressing Onward. Freedia began singing in her church choir at age 10. The album, whose title comes from NOLA’s Pressing Onward Baptist Church, features guest appearances by Billy Porter, K. Michelle, Dawn Richard and Tamar Braxton. The new gospel album follows the untimely death in May of Freedia’s partner Devon Hurst.

“I’ve been waiting my whole career to make this album,” Big Freedia stated. “The church always spoke to me: the drama, the choir, and the attire. We are in uncertain times, I’m hoping fans can get some faith and hope– from this album.

“Losing my partner Devon so suddenly changed everything. This album started as a message of healing for the world—but now, it’s me who’s holding on to the music for strength. I’m pourin’ my heart into every beat, every word, and leaning on the love of my family, friends, and fans to keep me movin’ forward. ‘Pressing Onward’ means more than ever now.”

Hayes Carll released his new album, We’re Only Human, via Thirty Tigers. The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter has built his acclaimed career on the art of sharp storytelling — songs that hold up a mirror to the human experience in all its beauty, flaws and absurdities. On the follow-up to 2021’s You Get It All, Carll turns that mirror inward, delivering what is described as his most personal and introspective work yet.

“This record came from a place of wanting to stop running from my inner voice and start really listening to it,” Carll explained of an album featuring guest appearances from Nicole Atkins, Shovels & Rope, Ray Wylie Hubbard and more. “These songs are my way of capturing the lessons I’ve learned—not because I’ve figured it all out, but because I need the reminder that we’re all just human.”

Black Star is Ghanaian-American musician Amaarae’s third studio album, which was released today through Interscope Records/Golden Child. The follow-up to 2023’s Fountain Baby see contributions from PinkPantheress, Bree Runway, Starkillers, Charlie Wilson and Naomi Campbell.

“Black Star to me is the genesis of me feeling sure and confident in myself as a grown woman, number one, and knowing exactly what my message is, how I want to tell it to the world,” Amaarae told Rolling Stone. “I’m taking my culture and I’m synthesizing it in a way that feels unique and fresh to me… I wanted to take a genre that needs to go back home to its roots and merge that with my African roots and hip-hop and create a new world.”

The new mgk album, Lost Americana, was released today through EST 19XX/Interscope Records. The follow-up to his 2022 album, Mainstream Sellout, was recorded with mgk’s frequent collaborators recorded with long-time collaborators Brandon Allen, Stephen Basil and Nick Long. Lost Americana was heralded by a trailer narrated by Bob Dylan. The legendary singer-songwriter’s voice-over stated:

“Lost Americana is a personal excavation of the American dream, a journey to find what’s been lost. This album is a love letter to those who seek to rediscover: the dreamers, the drifters, the defiant. It’s a sonic map of forgotten places, a tribute to the spirit of reinvention, and a quest to reclaim the authentic essence of American freedom.”

BABYMETAL shared their fifth studio album, Metal Forth, which is the Japanese metal band’s first full length for Capitol Records. The follow-up to 2023’s The Other One is also the first since vocalist Momoko Okazaki joined the lineup. The new 10-track LP was produced by the band’s creator Kobametal and Bring Me the Horizon’s Jordan Fish. Metal Forth outside contributors include Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Polyphia, Poppy, Spiritbox, Electric Callboy, Bloodywood and Slaughter to Prevail.