What have you been listening to this week?

Beth Gibbons (Portishead) has a new album out. It's a lot more experimental and less dance-y than what you may know of Portishead, and it's lovely. "Reaching Out" is a standout for me.

A friend put me on to Josh Ritter, specifically "Getting Ready to Get Down"

The whole album, Sermon in the Rocks has a kind of Christian deconstruction vibe that I resonates with me. I haven't gotten into a lot of his other stuff, but "Girl in the War" hits pretty hard.

Been enjoying Tortured Poets Department. Taylor Swift's collab with Florence Welch, Florida!!! is super fun, and I love hearing them together. Florence has such a unique sound. Her latest release Under Heaven Over Hell / uhoh has a nice collection of her best work. I have a playlist called "Uhoh tortured poets" with the two albums which has gotten a lot of play lately.

Although Florence + The Machine uses a lot of Christian language and imagery, I don't think of it as deconstructionist per se. OTOH, Tortured Poets Department seems to have its share, like Daddy I Love Him and Guilty as Sin.

I'm wondering if anyone knows of other things in a similar deconstruction vein? I tend to be more attached to lyrics than musical style, as long as it is not too plodding.

I'd been listening to a lot of Phoebe Bridgers, and then I saw that she was in a band, Boygenius, with two other indie pop artists. So I've been listening to them a lot. Favorite songs of theirs so far:

Julien Baker - Faith Healer

Lucy Dacus - VBS

It looks like my multi month King Diamond fest is starting to wind down. I've still been listening mainly to the Voodoo and House Of God albums in the last week, but with the recent release of It Beckons Us All by Darkthrone I'm on that train now.
Darkthrone has put out yet another banger. For me they're one of those few bands with a large catalog that I can put on album after album and not get sick of it.

Sorry... really dropping the ball and didn't create the last (couple?) of New Music Fridays or whatnot... just now even getting around to picking my favorites, so I'm just going to add them to this thread.

Non-metal

Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft
More solid pop from Billie that covers a range from very solemn, almost singer-songwriter/synth/acoustic-inspired vibes (like tracks WILDFLOWER and SKINNY) to more typical dance pop (LUNCH) with her signature solemn vocal style throughout.

One Step Closer - All You Embrace
A nice mix of emo, hardcore, and punk. Sounds of a particular era, but modernized. It might be nostalgia but this works for me. Stays harsh enough to avoid the shiny overproduced pop-punk feel but is very rich and full sounding, and catchy to boot. A mix of cleans and harsh vocals that works well. Even the harsh vocals I wouldn't consider too overly harsh- they fit the music in a way that would appeal to music fans that don't normally like harsh stuff.
 

Metal (primarily clean-ish / non-scream vocals or instrumental)

none this week
 

Metal (primarily harsh vocals)

Tzompantli - Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force
Probably my top of the week. So crushingly heavy, as is everything Big O))) (of Mortuary Punishment and Xibalba) is involved in. Big stomping, crushing death/doom with themes of reveling in the death of empire.

BAT - Under the Crooked Claw
Richmond, Virginia's BAT play a punky, speedy thrash that kicks ass. Wild and fun guitar solos, constant driving riff section, and a nice dirty speed/thrash vocal.

Gatecreeper - Dark Superstition
Gatecreeper takes their HM-2, Swe-Death influence and broadens their scope on this one leaning more melo-death in some parts and more typical Gatecreeper in others.

Altar of Gore - Litanies of the Unceasing Agonies
Filthy, raw blackened death metal. Intentionality in the minimalism of instrumentation and pursuit of a raw production. All of it contributes to the violent atmosphere of the release.

Hemotoxin - When Time Becomes Loss
Progressive/technical thrash in the vein of Atheist. Stays fast and complex but not overly so. Great guitar and drum parts.

Strychnos - Armageddon Patronage
Blackened death metal with a sinister feel throughout. Varied and strained vocals worming all over these tracks. Something like a more raw, sharp, biting version of Behemoth. Still has the sinister and majestic melodies but without the unnecessary overproduction and theatrics.

Akvan - Savushun
Iranian black metal that takes its concepts from an Iranian novel that "tells the story of an Iranian family in Shiraz living under the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran during WWII." Note: the use of the term Aryan here simply denotes the meaning 'person from Iran', not the corrupted co-opted version of the term later used by Nazis.
 

Bonus Record (can be any genre from any time, simply a recommendation)

Lo Tom - LP2
A straight-forward rock act, fronted by David Bazan and featuring long-time collaborator TW Walsh along with Trey and Jason of Starflyer 59. Highly recommend both releases from this project. Nice big rock riffs with heavy, rich instrumentation. Still the reflective and solemn Bazan vocal and lyrical delivery as a fan of his other work would expect.
 

I've almost exclusively listened to power metal and related genres for 15 years, but Spotify did a funny and threw "Murder in my Mind" by Kordhell into my playlist, and so for two weeks now I've been listening almost exclusively to phonk music.

Aside from the above, I think my other two favorites at the moment are RAVE by Dxrk and DYNAMIC by SHADXWBXRN.

You Blew It! announced a short reunion tour. Listening to a lot of their stuff.

They're touring with Carly Cosgrove who I finally checked them out and really enjoy.

From Indian Lakes - Head Void is really great as well. A lot different than their previous album and way different than their earliest stuff but I'm enjoying it.

I haven't really listened to a rap album since RiTchie's 112 so if anyone has any recommendations, I'd certainly welcome it. Mainstream stuff doesn't usually hit too much with me but I'm more than happy to give anything a go at this point