With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums from Sudan Archives, Jockstrap, Ari Lennox, Oliver Sim, the Afghan Whigs, Built to Spill, Santigold, Preoccupations, and Marlon Williams. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.)
Sudan Archives: Natural Brown Prom Queen [Stones Throw]
Natural Brown Prom Queen is the second full-length from Brittney Parks, who issued her first LP as Sudan Archives in late 2019. Still building from a foundation of synths and violin, Parks dives further into beguiling loops, memorable pop hooks, and rich electronic textures. She has said that the album is about cultivating a sense of home, nodding to both her past and present in Ohio and Los Angeles. It was led by singles including “Home Maker” and “Selfish Soul.” Revisit Pitchfork’s Rising 2017 feature “Sudan Archives: She’s Different.”
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