The Great Maxim Fall Music Preview
Here’s everything you should keep an ear out for this fall.
It could be argued that fall is the most comfortable season. Everything about it — from the weather to the cozy clothing options to the heightened desire to snack — instills an urge to take it easy and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. In order to really round it all off to perfection though, you’ll need the perfect soundtrack. We can help with that.
Over the next couple months we’ll see highly awaited new albums from Fetty Wap, Janet Jackson, Kurt Vile, and David Gilmour. Not to mention albums that didn’t even make the list because the artists are keeping the info a big secret (looking at you Kanye, Drake, Rihanna, and Frank Ocean). Those surprises could drop anywhere in between pumpkin spice now-ish or Grandma got into the mulled wine and fell down in the snow then-ish. There’s plenty of great stuff to hold us over — which you’re about to get an ear full of.
Here is, without a doubt, the best possible round-up of everything you should be listening to while you take long drives over leaf-strewn streets, have friends over for turkey and beer, or spend the afternoon under a pile of blankets…hopefully not alone.
Gary Clark Jr. — The Story of Sonny Boy Slim (Warner Brothers, September 11)
Clark put his all into this follow-up to his 2012 debut album, Blak and Blue. He wrote, produced, arranged, and played the majority of the instruments on the whole damn thing. That alone is impressive. Once you hit play, you’ll be even more impressed.
The Hollywood Vampires — S/T (Varvatos/Republic/UMe, September 11)
This star-studded supergroup has Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Joe Perry, Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, and many others paying homage to the original vamps, who were big in the seventies. The album is primarily covers of popular songs from that time (like Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”) but also contains a few new tracks written by Cooper.
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Low — Ones & Sixes (Sub Pop, September 11)
The band’s 11th album tackles heavy subjects like spiritual and emotional unease, and is the perfect thing to put on when you want to put your body to rest while letting your brain do all the heavy lifting. You can go deep with this one, or just let it play and enjoy it for what it is at face value, a solidly impressive album.
Slayer — Repentless (Nuclear Blast America, September 11)
There is a time and a place for Slayer. You’re probably not gonna want to lay on the couch and listen to this on headphones, but if you wanna get yourself revved up for any reason, or encourage yourself to blast through something seemingly unblastable, this will do the trick.
Keith Richards — Crosseyed Heart (Republic, September 18)
While his primary strength lies in providing guitar for the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards does just fine on his own. His third solo album, and first since 1992’s Main Offender, puts his Marlboro Man-esque gravely voice to good use. The album will be accompanied by a documentary called Under the Influence, which will air on Netflix the same day the album comes out.
Metric — Pagans in Vegas (Metric Music International, September 18)
These Canadian indie rockers went from being underground favorites to opening for the Rolling Stones and Arcade Fire over the past few years. This is their sixth album and they hit such a stride with it that they’ve almost got enough material for their NEXT album already.
Mac Miller — GO:OD am. (Warner Brothers, September 18)
This is the first major label release for Miller, and a major departure from Faces, his 2014 self-released mixtape that was primarily about depression and heavy drug use. His sense of humor shines through in his raps here, and the whole album has a much lighter feel to it.
Chris Cornell — Higher Truth (UMe, September 18)
A full circle of sorts, as this solo album was produced by Brendan O’Brien, who mixed Soundgarden’s
Superunknown,
Cornell still sounds great, and not just nostalgically so. This fall will be a busy one for him with an extensive tour that starts shortly after the album comes out, all the way up to November.
David Gilmour — Rattle That Lock (Columbia, September 18)
The Legendary Pink Floyd guitarist is back with his first solo album since 2006’s On an Island. The lyrics for this were primarily written by Gilmour’s novelist wife, Polly Samson and Phil Manzanera, guitarist for Roxy Music, makes an appearance.
Los Lobos — Gates of Gold (429 Records, September 25)
Filled with mandolin, acoustic guitar, and plenty of heady, existential thoughts, this is anything other than background music. If you’ve got a good pair of headphones, test them out on this album for sure. Click here to check out the album’s title track.
Kurt Vile – b’lieve i’m goin down (Matador, September 25)
Kurt Vile makes everything look and sound cool. His long, rock star hair is a thing of envy, and his music comes across as effortless, though every bit of effort was put into it. He even got Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth to contribute a statement for his album announce press release. He’s basically that guy from high school who would just hang out in the parking lot smoking pot in his car for six hours, yet still somehow landed on the honor roll.
New Order — Music Complete (Mute, September 25)
This is New Order’s first album without Peter Hook. While on the surface that seems terrifying, this is still a fantastic album for fans of the band’s previous releases.
Peaches — Rub (I U She, September 25)
Peaches is one of the only artists out there who can make you dance, make you laugh, and get you laid all with the same album. She rap-talks her way through this release, same as all the others, yet still manages to keep her whole “thing” fresh.
Fetty Wap — S/T ( RGF Productions/300/Atlantic, September 25)
The way people have been talking about Fetty Wap all summer, it feels like he should already have twenty albums out, but nope, this is his first. Our favorite one-eyed rapper’s debut has been well worth the wait.
Disclosure —Caracal (Capitol, September 25)
The title for this album came about when Howard Lawrence (half of the brothers Lawrence that populate this band) became fascinated with the unusual cat of the same name while on tour. The album is fun from beginning to end and Nao, Lion Babe, and Kwabs make appearances throughout.
Janet Jackson — Unbreakable (BMG, October 2)
Word on the street is that Janet reveals some stuff about her childhood, and the death of her brother Michael on this much-awaited album, so you know it’s gonna be juicy. J. Cole and Missy Elliot make appearances as well, which is bound to be good.
Wavves — V (Warner Brothers, October 2)
Do you have a longboard in your closet, or a collection of whimsical figurines on your office desk? Then you’ll love this album. You’ll love it (most likely) even if you don’t have those things. It’s fun.
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Selena Gomez — Revival (Interscope, October 9th)
Selena Gomez is definitely growing up. She ditched Disney for Interscope and is airing pent-up grievances towards growing up under such scrutiny by putting out the steamiest piece of work we’ve seen from her young career.
Chris Hadfield — Space Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can (Warner Music Canada, October 9)
Chris Hadfield is an astronaut AND a musician. The majority of this album was recorded in actual space aboard the International Space Station, and there’s literally nothing more that needs to be said. This could just be 45 minutes of muffled screams and it would still be the coolest thing ever.
Protomartyr — The Agent Intellect (Hardly Art, October 9)
Protomartyr put out music for the angry intellectual, and if you’re like “well wait, I wouldn’t necessarily think of myself as an intellectual,” that’s okay too. There are new things to learn every day, and you can start with this band!
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The Game — Documentary 2 ( Blood Money/eOne, October 9)
This follow up to 2005’s Documentary features collaborations with Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Drake, among others. A protege of Dre’s, Game was one of only two artists to have his own track on the highly anticipated new project, Compton: The Soundtrack, so you know he’s something special.
Princess Century — Progress (Paper Bag, October 16)
Princess Century is the side project of Maya Postepski, drummer for Austra. This debut full-length follows the release of her Lossy EP, which came out over the Summer. It’s very synth-y, drum machine-y without coming across as cold.
Neon Indian — VEGA INTL. Night School (Mom+Pop, October 16)
Alan Palomo is the sole force behind Neon Indian. Palomo’s inspiration for this album revolved around his thoughts about nighttime, and how a person can learn the most about another person at night, as opposed to the day. You can dance to this, while also thinking some pretty deep stuff.
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Coheed and Cambria — The Color Before the Sun (300 Entertainment, October 16)
Known for their brainy concept albums, which stretched the same sci-fi story across seven studio releases, this strays from the norm as it tackles a variety of subjects, including fatherhood. No backstory is needed for this one though, you can just dive right in.
Small Black — Best Blues (Jagjaguwar, October 16)
This is the Brooklyn band’s third album and it was written and recorded at their Brooklyn home studio. The album deals a lot with loss and is a beautiful heartbreaker.
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Joanna Newsom — Divers (Drag City, October 23)
This album, much like all of her others, is a foolproof way to diffuse any sort of argument, or bad day in general. This is like musical Epsom salt.
Rod Stewart — Another Country (Capitol, October 23)
This is Rod Stewart’s twenty-ninth studio album. Can you even imagine?
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell — So Familiar (Rounder, October 30)
This is the pair’s second studio album together and further showcases just how well Martin’s banjo goes with Brickell’s unique vocals. The two good friends have fun doing this, and you can hear it in the songs.
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LE1F — Riot Boi (Terrible/XL, October 30)
Whether he’s giving it away or selling it, LE1F’s music is like no other. Poppy like a spitty, stretched-out bubblegum bubble, or dark and mumbly, he’s got talent up the wazoo.
Jeezy — (CTE/Def Jam, November 13)
As of the time of this post, no title for this has been announced yet for Jeezy’s sixth album, which is hauntingly powerful. The inspiration for the album seems to primarily come from community struggles, intolerance, and making good come from chaos.