Lorde, Liars, and the other must-hear albums of August 2021
Plus, exciting new releases from Angel Olsen, Deafheaven, Chvrches, Pink Siifu, and more
Music News Liars
Clockwise from top left: binki (Photo: Aiden Cullen); Lorde (Photo: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images); Tinashe (Photo: Emma McIntyre); Angel Olsen (Photo: Robin Little/Getty Images); Deafheaven (Photo: Ethan Miller) Graphic: Natalie Peeples
The dog days of summer may be rolling in, but they’re no match for a bevy of great new releases coming out this month. From the expansive rock of Deafheaven to the electronic pop of Halsey, the restless hip-hop of Pink Siifu to the caffeine-rush pop-punk of Meet Me @ The Altar, the following list showcases the artists and albums we’re most excited to hear in August. All this, plus the return of live music? It’s an exciting time, indeed.
Note to desktop users: If you’d like to read this in a scrolling format, simply narrow your browser window.
29 Comments
My only problem with Stoned at the Nail Salon is that you famously DON’T grow out of he music you liked when you were 16. Whatever you listened to in your formative years you’ll still listen to in your forties.
..depends on what you were in to , I mean I listened to a lot of Iron Maiden and Metallica when I was a teenager , and while I like some of their stuff now , I’d rarely listen to them day to day..
I’m 51 and I still listen to both (although with Metallica, it’s pretty much solely 80’s material)
Genre-wise I think this can be true. I came of age during a time of extremely shitty rock, like the rap-metal, pop-punk era. So while I most certainly don’t listen to those bands anymore, I will seek out rock music from new bands in the hopes that I can recapture that feeling without the attendant bad vibes.
Maybe you don’t but I hardly listen to anything I listened to when I was 16 now that I’m over 40.
Thank god the internet allows me to find new music/old music I’ve never heard or I’d be really bored.
Well, the crux of the song is that she isn’t quite sure if everything she is thinking is deep or bullshit but I assumed that she was talking about the stylistic changes that she has gone through.
I mean she was about 16 when Pure Heroine came out and this album seems like a large shift away from that earlier sound, yeah?
I definitely did grow out of everything I listened to at 16, which was the emo-pop and cheesy piano rock that infested mid-2000’s alternative radio. Those probably paved the way to the more tasteful music I got into in college (I didn’t take a hard swerve into country or turn into a raver, for instance), but I wince when I look back at my high school self and interests.
I would say the 20’s are much more formative for your musical (and really overall tastes) than your teens. I’d say my tastes keep changing as I get older and genres gradually shift – I can draw pretty clear lines between the kinds of music I enjoyed at different periods in my life. I don’t have any desire to listen to music from my teen years for any reason other than nostalgia.
I see some people in denial responding to this post. I am shortly turning 51 and I still listen to new stuff (I was unaware of Foxing until this post, but will be listening to more of them), but I still love all the NWOBHM, Power Metal, Thrash, and even some of the “hair bands” from the 80’s I used to listen to in my teens.
I still like the music I listened to in my teens but I don’t really listen to it anymore. I’m much more likely to throw on something made pre 1980(ish) or post 2000 than I am to throw on something made between those two years, which basically cover ages 1-20 for me. For example, I think Vitology and Yield are both great albums, but I never listen to them. I’ve had Youngblood Brass Band, Cut Copy, Lord Huron, Adam Ant and Goose in heavy rotation lately though. Listened to a bunch of ‘70s progressive jazz over my work from home Covid year too, that’s good shit!
If I listen to Jazz, it’s usually funky, like Donald Byrd, Deodato, Kashmere stage band, etc.
I got into Nucleus, Camel, Masayoshi Takanaka…all kinds of stuff I hadn’t heard before that just kept popping up on my Youtube recommendations.
I will say this, in my 20’s, I actually did not listen to much of what I listened to in high school, and then I eventually incorporated all that stuff back into my listening rotation
I feel like everyone replying to this post are obligated to state their age along with their opinion.
Man, I honestly feel sorry for anyone whose music tastes haven’t grown since they were sixteen. I’ve moved past a ton of stuff I was engaged with back then. But I guess nostalgia is a drug!
Really into Angel Olsen but wish she would pick up the pace and make some songs with a little more pace and beat
Yam Yam has a new album out, I was at their release party over the weekend:
Just came down here to say that Joy Formidable track is fantastic. Looking forward to the album.
I haven’t listened to The Joy Formidable in years, but I always felt like they were ahead of their time. They deserved the career that Wolf Alice currently have.
I tell anybody that will listen to me, how good The Joy Formidable is. Their live show is even better, probably one of the best I’ve seen. Already have my tickets for November!
That is some album cover, Lorde
2-3 of the bands/artists listed are anything other than mildly successful…yet these are must hear albums of the month? 31 of them?! Fucking insane nonsense from someone clearly just trying to fill a content quota for AV Club.
The LoneLady album from last month is probably going to be my fave of the year, but the CHVRCHES/Robert Smith track is really, really good.Very curious how the NIN produced Halsey album would be. Never been a huge fan of them, but there must be something there that would have given NIN a reason to produce it.
Definitely like the CHVRCHES tracks I’ve heard, especially the Robert Smith one. I’m quietly optimistic.Agreed on the Halsey. The Saul Williams album Reznor produced years back was pretty great.
Between Lorde, the Killers, and CHVCHES, it’s a very good month for artists whose music I actually buy.
Could have gone with “Lorde, Liars, and Lunatics” and included Kanye.
I hope Deafheaven can pull off the transformation. I saw them open for Gojira in 2019 and wasn’t a huge fan of the singer, but the band had a couple of instrumental passages that blew me away. I will have to check the new one out.
I have no complaint about McLevy’s thoughts, but 18 out of 30… is there really no one else wants to write/talk about music on this pop-culture site? I miss Loud and Metal Box.I like the Deafheaven but that’s to be expected; Wednesday’s all right but reminds me of being 20 years old 20 years ago; Binki I like, makes me think of Sleaford Mods; The Clams are pretty fun, never heard of them; Joy Formidable also unknown to me but seems pretty cool; Wolves… I guess I like their older stuff more; Halsey — I thought this was about music? I like the sound of Madi Diaz, might check it out; it’s not right to use a remix to represent an album (New Order sucks anyway).