Don’t Miss New Albums From Portugal. The Man, Rosalía, Mavis Staples, Danny Brown & More

Portugal. The Man released SISH, their 10th studio album and first release on frontman John Gourley’s independent label KNIK. Recorded in Gourley’s handicap-accessible home studio in Oregon, the album was produced with Kane Ritchotte — a former fill-in drummer for the band — and played almost entirely by the duo with minimal additional contributions. SISH arrives four years after PTM completed work on 2023’s Chris Black Changed My Life. The new album’s lyrical content draws heavily from Gourley’s Alaskan upbringing and his experiences raising his daughter Frances, who was diagnosed with one of the world’s rarest genetic disorders four years ago.

Lux is the fourth studio album from Spanish singer and songwriter Rosalía, released today through Columbia Records. Björk, Yves Tumor and the London Symphony Orchestra were among those who contributed to Lux. The follow-up to 2022’s Motomami was informed by Rosalía’s deep study of female saints and martyrs from various cultures, religions and regions, who are represented by 14 different languages she sings in across the record.

“Where did they come from?” Rosalía said. “What was the language that would be spoken there? There were a lot of women that were extremely interesting to me that were nuns, they were poets. And I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to read what they actually wrote. I’m going to try to explain these stories.’”

Mavis Staples released a new solo studio album entitled Sad and Beautiful World through ANTI- Records. The 86-year-old Staples is joined on the follow-up to 2019’sWe Get By by Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy, Derek Trucks, MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. The 10-track album was produced by Brad Cook, which features a mix of originals and covers spanning seven decades of the American songbook.

“I just have to deliver the compassion I feel,” Staples said of the process. “I want to share the song the way I feel it.”

Danny Brown released a new album, Starburst, through Warp. The Detroit rapper’s new album includes contributions by several producers, including Underscores and femtanyl, who will join the Detroit rapper on his Fall Tour 2025. The 14-track Starburst includes additional production from Quadeca, JOHNNASCUS, 8485, Frost Children, IssBrokie, Nnamdi, Ta Ukrainka, Zheani and Jane Remover.

“I wanted this record to be vulnerable, honest, and free with no crutches,” Brown explained. “This music has way more white girl hair twists than hip-hop head nods.”

Whitney put out their fourth album, Small Talk, via AWAL. The duo from Chicago, Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek, self-produced the album on the advice of Brad Cook, who produced their third album, 2022’s Spark. Ehrlich and Kakacek spent the summer of 2024 working on Small Talk, at a barn in Newberg, Oregon, where Ehrlich’s dad, a drummer, had collected recording equipment. Along with a “few pals,” including Madison Cunningham, the pair recorded what became the 11-track effort with touring bandmate Ziyad Asrar engineering.

In 2015, guitarist Neal Casal was selected to compose set break music for the “Fare Thee Well” Grateful Dead 50th anniversary concerts. Casal recruited keyboardist Adam MacDougall, bassist Dan Horne and drummer Mark Levy to write and record over five hours of instrumental jams under the moniker Circles Around The Sun and the reaction was so positive the band went on to release highlights later that year as the album Interludes For The Dead.

Circles Around The Sun’s new album, Interludes For The Dead: Volume 2, was played this summer at Dead & Company’s Golden Gate Park concerts in San Francisco celebrating the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary. CATS, who moved forward with the band after the tragic death of Casal in 2019 to honor Neal’s wishes, officially released the new seven-song collection recorded with guitarist John Lee Shannon today.

“It felt important to make a 10 years later companion piece, and share it for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary, 10 years from the ‘Fare Thee Well’ shows that we were commissioned to do the house music for, that our friend Neal Casal brought us all together for, and keep carrying that torch,” Horne said. “We spent four days together at my UHF Studio, writing and recording it all on the spot, to capture that spirit of improvisation and spontaneity.”

The Mountain Goats released an ambitious new album, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan, via the band’s own Cadmean Dawn Records. The “full-on musical” album features guest spots from towering musical theatre figure Lin-Manuel Miranda as well as The Replacements‘ Tommy Stinson and harpist Mikaela Davis. Peter Balkan also sees contributions from new The Mountain Goats bassist Cameron Ralston along with the band’s core three — primary songwriter/founder John Darnielle, drummer Jon Wurster and multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, with the latter handling production on the album. Darnielle detailed the 12-track LP’s subject matter:

“There were 16 men on a fishing boat but only three survived the storm, and one of those went missing, and is presumed dead. That leaves me & Peter Balkan, whose health is failing as his apocalyptic visions dissipate in the spray at the shore. The Mountain Goats are proud to announce Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan, a story of momentary visions away from the world …”

Armand Hammer — the duo of rappers E L U C I D and billy woods — reunited with producer The Alchemist for their newly released album, Mercy. The new record marks Armand Hammer and The Alchemist’s second LP together following 2021’s Haram. The 14-track Mercy sees guest spots from Earl Sweatshirt, Quelle Chris, Cleo Reed, Pink Siifu, Kapwani and Silka.

Jordana (Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jordana Nye) released a new EP, Jordanaland, via Grand Jury. For the upcoming seven-track effort, Jordanaland, Nye enlisted her friends Charlie Kilgore and Julian Kaufman of pop group MICHELLE. The record was mixed by Olli Jacobs and David Pizzimenti. Jordanaland follows Nye’s 2024 LP, Lively Premonition. The prolific, 25-year-old artist has released four albums and two EPs in the past six years, each with a distinct sound and genre focus.

“It does feel liberating,” Jordana said of being a genre chameleon. “There’s no expectation for me, or at least no expectation I’m paying attention to. I get to try new things all the time. It’s kind of like going to a theme park and seeing a bunch of your favorite rides and running over to each of them in excitement — each ride offers so many different feelings and experiences, that it’s so hard to choose only one to ride for the rest of the day.”

Mihali issued a new solo album, Yestermorrow, through Ineffable Records. The album marks the singer-songwriter/guitarist’s second LP of 2025 following Before The Dream. Yestermorrow marks Mihali’s first solo album recorded with a live band. Contributors include Mihali’s former Twiddle bandmates bassist Zdenek Gubb and drummer Adrian Tramontano, along with keyboardist Scott Hannay. Scott Walker (pedal steel guitar), Will Phillips (percussion), Mike DeGuzman (piano), Kyle Jerome (saxophone), Delroy Hamilton (bass) and Tim Snider (violin) rounded out the ensemble. Mihali enlisted producer Johnny Cosmic to produce Yestermorrow.

“This record is all about being in the now, somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow,” Mihali stated. “I’ve known Johnny for a long time now, and am so excited to have an entire record with him helping to make my sonic ideas come to life.”

Singer-songwriter/guitarist Steve Gunn shared his second album of 2025 and seventh overall, Daylight Daylight, today through No Quarter. The quickly released follow-up to Music For Writers was recorded in Chicago with producerJames Elkington at his Nada Studio. Elkington also produced Gunn’s 2019 album, The Unseen In Between and arranged strings and woodwinds on Daylight Daylight. The seven-track album out today also saw contributions from Macie Stewart (violins/viola), Ben Whiteley (cellos), Nick Macri (upright bass) and Hunter Diamond (woodwinds).

Hot Buttered Rum released their ninth studio album, Uphill Highway. The San Francisco-based outfit employed several special guests across the album’s 10 tracks. Contributions came from Allie Kral, Elliott Peck, Kyle Ledson, Sam Chase, Audio Angel, Leif Karlstrom and Wally Ingram.

“Getting so many Bay Area folks on board was joy upon joy,” Hot Buttered Rum’s Erik Yates said.