2022’s first quarter is flying to a close, and it feels like we’ve already been treated to an entire year’s worth of essential music. Here comes March to pile on, with new albums from Destroyer, Fly Anakin, Rosalía and more catching our ears. Check out the Paste Music team’s most-anticipated releases of the month below.
March 4
Nilüfer Yanya: PAINLESS
ATO Records
We’ve been looking forward to Nilüfer Yanya’s sophomore effort for quite a while, having hailed the London singer/songwriter as one of 2019’s best new artists on the strength of her debut album, Miss Universe. PAINLESS—as previewed via singles “stabilise,” “midnight sun,” “anotherlife” and this week’s “the dealer”—finds Yanya sharpening her sound to a piercing point. In place of the melodic art-rock, bluesy swagger and jazzy sophisti-pop that bloomed across her debut is a more tightly focused and carefully controlled sonic sensibility, defined by precise guitar work, punchy dance-pop beats, hooky vocals and atmospheric production. Yanya’s lyricism is also refreshed, leaving Miss Universe’s high-concept approach behind in favor of more direct, revelatory expression. It’s an exciting step forward from a young artist who has yet to take any other kind. —Scott Russell
Scott Hardware: Ballad of a Tryhard
Telephone Explosion Records
Recorded on a trip to Spain and described in a press release as “a reimagination of experimental adult contemporary that tweaks the limits of Y2K rock and soft rock with curiosity and appreciation,” Scott Hardware’s third album Ballad of a Tryhard sees him set his own life experiences to sweeping, cinematic choruses with lush layers of instrumentation. On singles “Summer,” “Watersnake,” “Love Through the Trees” and “Underdog,” Hardware balances accessible hooks with complex melodies and arrangements that are never content to just let you settle in.? Like the emotions described in the lyrics will often do, off-kilter details like the harsh percussive hits in “Underdog” or the time signature changes that swell and erupt with feeling on “Summer” knock you off your rhythm, delighting and confusing you all at once. It’s exciting to think about how much delightful confusion we’ll have left to dive into once the entire album arrives. —Elise Soutar
More notable March 4 releases: Babehoven: Sunk EP, Babytron: Megatron, Band of Horses: Things Are Great, Ceramic Animal : Sweet Unknown, Eades: Delusion Spree, Guided By Voices: Crystal Nuns Cathedral, Madi Diaz: Same History, New Feelings EP, Michelle: After Dinner We Talk Dreams, Peach Pit: From 2 To 3, Songs: Ohia: Live: Vanquishers, Stereophonics: Oochya!, Vein.fm: This World Is Going to Ruin You, The Weather Station: How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars
March 11
BODEGA: Broken Equipment
What’s Your Rupture?
Following up their acclaimed 2018 debut album Endless Scroll and 2019’s Shiny New Model EP, Broken Equipment sees Brooklyn band BODEGA push the boundaries of post-punk, armed only with a killer wit and sticky refrains hammered out with complete confidence. Luckily for us, we’ve already heard three great singles from the album, “Thrown,” “Doers” and “Statuette On The Console” (along with two killer b-sides), allowing time for each subsequent earworm to work its way into our systems and leave us to wait impatiently for our next adrenaline rush courtesy of BODEGA. “It’s making me bitter, harder, fatter, stressed out,” they sing of daily life in recent (constantly “unprecedented”) times on “Doers,” reflecting how a bunch of us feel right now, but thankfully doing it in a way that we can dance it all out to. —Elise Soutar
Drug Church: Hygiene
Pure Noise Records
Albany- and Los Angeles-based five-piece Drug Church—vocalist Patrick Kindlon, guitarists Nick Cogan and Cory Galusha, bassist Pat Wynne and drummer Chris Villeneuve—are back with their fourth album, the follow-up to their 2018 breakout Cheer and acclaimed 2021 Tawny EP. As previewed via singles “Million Miles of Fun,” “Detective Lieutenant,” “World Impact” and this week’s “Premium Offer,” Hygiene is heavy and hooky in equal measure, as if Cogan and Galusha’s guitars and Kindlon’s vocals are two animals locking horns with ferocity. “There are things that you see coming / Rolling like slow-moving trains,” Kindlon barks over chainsaw guitars on “World Impact”—Hygiene is one of those things, as is Drug Church’s continued presence at the crest of the melodic hardcore wave, alongside the TURNSTILEs and Fiddleheads of the world. —Scott Russell
Fly Anakin: Frank
Lex Records
Rising rapper Fly Anakin’s debut album Frank is a love letter to the soul and R&B of his childhood, adding his own flair and painting a blank canvas with his picturesque lyricism. The Richmond rapper’s unique voice rests between snarling and singing, effortlessly delivering bars with a conversational tone that draws you in. Frank is anchored by Anakin, but is kept afloat with the help of his carefully curated set of collaborators, ranging from production legend Madlib and internet celebrity-turned-producer Jay Versace to underground rap stars Pink Siifu and Nickelus F. Frank is the perfect introduction to the thrilling mind of one of rap’s brightest. —Jade Gomez
Ho99o9: SKIN
DTA Records
Ho99o9 have enjoyed underground success for many years thanks to their exhilarating blend of hip-hop and punk. It sounds familiar, but the group bends the rules in their favor. Their forthcoming album SKIN, produced by legendary drummer Travis Barker, is the group at their peak. Lead singles “BATTERY NOT INCLUDED” and “NUGE SNIGHT” hit like closed-fist punches to the jaw, with dizzying transitions into trap beats and thrash-inspired instrumentation. It sounds like a lot, and it is—that’s the best part about Ho99o9. —Jade Gomez
More notable March 11 releases: Alex Cameron: Oxy Music, BOYO: Echoes Like Memories, Bryan Adams: So Happy It Hurts, The Districts: Great American Painting, Franz Ferdinand: Hits To The Head, Ghost: Impera, Jenny Hval: Classic Objects, Junk Drawer: The Dust Has Come To Stay EP, Lil Durk: 7220, Maneka: Dark Matters, PJ Harvey: The Hope Six Demolition Project – Demos, Rex Orange County: Who Cares?, Widowspeak: The Jacket, Young Guv: GUV III
March 18
Charli XCX: CRASH
Atlantic Records
If Charli XCX’s 2020 album how i’m feeling now was an exploration of isolation, then 2022’s CRASH is about the exact opposite, written through the eyes of someone being blinded by the spotlight. Her highly anticipated album revolves around the “evil pop star” who has made a deal with the devil, and the singles have been nothing but pure pop gold. Whether borrowing from the ’80s synth-pop playbook for “New Shapes” or from early ’00s electronica for “Beg For You,” Charli XCX explores a thrilling narrative that’s unique and darkly funny while taking cues from the pop that made her. —Jade Gomez
Rosalía: MOTOMAMI
Columbia Records
Spanish pop superstar Rosalía set the bar high with her Grammy-winning 2018 album El Mal Querer, and the follow-up has been hotly anticipated ever since. A rumored early-2021 release failed to materialize, with Rosalía later admitting she struggled to get her album over the finish line on time. All’s well that end’s well, as she officially announced MOTOMAMI on El Mal Querer’s third anniversary in November 2021, and has since shared three singles from the LP, show-stopping The Weeknd collaboration “La Fama,” the avant-pop slink of “Saoko” and last week’s carefree banger “Chicken Teriyaki.” The artist has described MOTOMAMI as the “most personal and confessional album that I’ve made so far,” with themes of “transformation, sexuality, heartbreak, celebration [and] spirituality.” —Scott Russell
More notable March 18 releases: Babeheaven: Sink Into Me, Blanck Mass: Ted K (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Blue States: World Contact Day, Colin Hay: Now And The Evermore, Hailey Whitters: Raised, Mattiel: Georgia Gothic, Midlake: For The Sake Of Bethel Woods, Peter Doherty & Frédéric Lo: The Fantasy Life of Poetry & Crime, Sonic Youth: In/Out/In, Yumi Zouma: Present Tense
March 25
Destroyer: LABYRINTHITIS
Merge Records
“I don’t know / Where I’m going,” Dan Bejar sings on second LABYRINTHITIS single “Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread,” observing, “It’s insane in here, it’s a lunacy out there.” Destroyer’s 13th studio album is, indeed, a document of topsy-turvy times, written mostly in 2020 and recorded the following spring, with Bejar and John Collins working virtually from Vancouver and the remote Galiano Island, respectively. But then again, when has a Destroyer record operated according to any logic but its own? On LABYRINTHITIS, the band take disco, Art of Noise and New Order as their muses, disappearing further down the dance-pop rabbit hole they skirted on 2017’s ken and dove headfirst into on 2020’s Have We Met. Bejar and company are still indulging their quirks and seeking new horizons in their fourth decade as a band, and the result on LABYRINTHITIS is well-worth getting lost in. —Scott Russell
Soul Glo: Diaspora Problems
Epitaph Records
Philadelphia hardcore staples Soul Glo’s fourth album Diaspora Problems refuses to step off the gas, driving full speed ahead into another chapter of the band’s seething commentary and brutal riffs. The outfit take many cues from punk essentials like Black Flag and Bad Brains, combining speed with sharp, accessible lyricism. Lead single “Jump!! (Or Get Jumped!!!)((by the future))” is a perfect thesis for Soul Glo’s never-ending exploration of how far they can take their sound while also finding new angles from which to tackle deeper issues of social justice without sounding ham-fisted. Soul Glo are sincere, scathing and just what the world needs. —Jade Gomez
More notable March 25 releases: Aldous Harding: Warm Chris, Barrie: Barbara, Bellows: Next of Kin, Buddy: Superghetto, Camp Cope: Running With The Hurricane, Coin: Uncanny Valley, Cowboy Junkies: Songs Of The Recollection, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat: Nightclub Daydreaming, Fana Hues: flora + fana, Fucked Up: Do All Words Can Do, Guerilla Toss: Famously Alive, Ibibio Sound Machine: Electricity, Kavinsky: Reborn, Kevin Devine: Nothing’s Real, So Nothing’s Wrong, Leon Vynehall: Fabric Presents Leon Vynehall, LSDXOXO: Dedicated 2 Disrespect: The Remixes EP, Maren Morris: Circles Around This Town, Placebo: Never Let Me Go, Wallows: Tell Me That It’s Over, Walter Martin: The Bear, Young Prisms: Drifter
