April 2024 Release Radar
Albums On Deck
March was busy, and the seasonal change has me dragging, but there were several good albums already this month, and several more are still pending:
Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well
Dasha - What Happens Now?
Empress Of - For Your Consideration
Fletcher - In Search of the Antidote
Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood
Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
Caravan Palace - Gangbusters Melody Club
With the Dragonforce review out of the way, we’re returning to our regularly scheduled run of releases by women during Women’s History Month.
I expect good things from Kacey Musgraves and Fletcher. They’re both incredibly talented in very different ways, and both got Purple ratings from me in their last outings (2021 & 2022, respectively).
Dasha is a new Pop Country artist I discovered on TikTok.
I shouldn’t need to say anything about Beyonce, and I’m sure most of you have probably already listened to the album — I haven’t, though, and I’m looking forward to it. I expect it will be a solid contender.
Lastly, Caravan Palace is an Electroswing/Neoswing band I’ve been enjoying the last couple of years. I missed this album prior to March’s Release Radar, but I noticed it in prepping for April’s (below). So I’ve added it to the list, and I’m excited to review one of their albums for the first time.
April Release Radar
4/5
Khruangbin
4/19
Taylor Swift
My Dying Bride
4/26
Alien Ant Farm
Accept
April is a fairly quiet month, as there are only the above five albums on my radar at the moment — the final count for March was 17, and seven of those, as listed above, are still outstanding. So there won’t be a shortage of reviews in April. They’ll just be late.
And that’s fine.
Khruangbin is a Psychedelic/Surf Rock and Funk trio from Texas. I’ve never listened to them before, so we’re going into this one blind.
Any Taylor Swift album is going to, immediately, be the most anticipated musical release of the year, and it’s definitely near the top of my charts. Largely because I anticipate that, given Taylor’s stringent quality standards, it should likely compete for AOTY honors. Any rating below a 9 will be taken as a letdown, and if it doesn’t make Blue, it’ll be a disappointment.
My Dying Bride will be my first Doom review of the year. They’re another band that I’ve heard of, but never listened to.
Finally, we’ll close out April with a surprise album from Alien Ant Farm, best known for their cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”; and a new album from Accept, an old German Heavy Metal act originally formed in 1976.
Beyond April
The full radar is always available, and lists offerings which are still months away. Here are five things to expect in the coming months:
I already have ten albums flagged for May, starting with a bit of Pop double-trouble in releases from Sia and Dua Lipa.
Back at the start of January, I released a two-part list of my most-wanted albums for 2024, and the first of those artists to show up for me this year is Kamasi Washington, who is also releasing an album right at the start of May.
May 17th will be a good day for Alt Rock, as Cage the Elephant and Twenty One Pilots are both dropping albums that day.
The best Metal offering on my radar currently is a new one by Rhapsody of Fire, which won’t drop until May 31st, accompanied by a release from Ben Platt.
June 14th is the only day marked beyond May at the moment, but it already features three releases: Lindsay Stirling, The Decemberists, and Meghan Trainor.