Now Hear This! � January 2024

Neil Young
Before and After
Reprise

On Before And After, Young chooses favorites from his playbook like a trip into his music history and performs them mostly alone on a solo acoustic journey. Each of the songs blend into each other and morph with mesmerizing clarity into a continuous flow of music creating a 48-minute pure and intimate listening experience.

Warren Haynes
Man In Motion
Fantasy

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Before he became an Allman Brother and started Gov't Mule, this power-blues singer-guitarist was a Nashville cat, playing and writing country-soul music. Man in Motion is a swing back to that hardy romanticism, with more Memphis in the mix and a plaintive poise in Haynes' vocals and solos. It�s a veteran songwriter and legendary guitarist moving in a new direction.

Sprints
Letter To Self
City Slang

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The Dublin four-piece�s debut embodies their substantial evolution over the past 3 years. Transforming pain into truth, passion into purpose and perseverance into energetic and abrasive garage-punk, synthesizing influences ranging from early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siouxsie Sioux, IDLES and LCD Soundsystem.

The Vaccines
Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations
Super Easy

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�There are two types of people in the world � people that have had their heart broken and people that haven�t had their heart broken yet,� explains singer Justin Young. It�s a call to arms from the torchbearers of British guitar music � a reminder that in a world where too many of us feel too detached too often, facing your feelings head-on can make you feel more alive, even if it feels like the world is ending.

Ghost
Phantomime
Loma Vista

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Ghost follows last year�s opus Impera as intended from the start with Phantomime, a diverse and spellbinding sampling of the band�s musical DNA. Featuring covers of classics by Television, Genesis, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden and Tina Turner, Phantomime pays tribute to these unlikely bedfellow influences while stamping them all with Ghost�s undeniable sonic signature.

Killer Mike
Michael
Loma Vista

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Michael introduces a lifelong rap fiend whose consciousness is steeped in the sounds of community that raised him � multiple eras of southern rap flows, Sunday church service and barbershop discourse. The 14 tracks were produced by No ID features the likes of Future, Young Thug, Ty Dolla $ign, Curren$y, Andr� 3000, EL-P, Eryn Allen Kane and more!

Black Pumas
Chronicles of A Diamond
ATO Records

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On their sophomore album, Black Pumas broaden their palette to include a dazzling expanse of musical forms: heavenly hybrids of soul and symphonic pop, mind-bending excursions into jazz-funk and psychedelia, starry-eyed love songs that feel dropped from the cosmos. It�s the fullest expression yet of a frenetic creativity and limitless vision.

Various Artists
Barbie The Album
Atlantic

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The star-studded musical companion to the film features new tracks from an unprecedented lineup of artists including Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Karol G, Charli XCX, Tame Impala, Haim and more. Barbie star Ryan Gosling also joins the robust roster of soundtrack artists with his iconic original song performed as his character, Ken.

Gorillaz
Cracker Island
Warner Records

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Gorillaz� eighth studio album is an energetic, upbeat, genre-expansive collection featuring yet another stellar line-up of artist collaborators: Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Bootie Brown and Beck. Produced by Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka jr. and eight-time Grammy Award-winning producer / multi-instrumentalist / songwriter extraordinaire Greg Kurstin.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Weathervanes
Thirty Tigers

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These are songs about love, about change, about the danger of nostalgia and the interrogation of myths, about cruelty and regret and redemption. Some will make you cry alone in your car and others will make you sing along with thousands of strangers in a big summer pavilion. Featuring the rolling thunder of Isbell�s fearsome 400 Unit, who�re as powerful and essential to the storytelling as The E Street Band or the Wailers.

Janelle Mon�e
The Age of Pleasure
Atlantic

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Though shorter and lighter than 2018�s magnificent Dirty Computer, Mon�e�s fourth album delivers its full measure of pleasure. The Age of Pleasure exchanges science fiction for lusty romance, creating a rapturous Afrofuturistic sound collage for sunny days and sticky nights. A 21st century pop peak.

Allison Russell
The Returner
Fantasy

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Co-produced by Allison along with dim star (JT Nero and Drew Lindsay), it features her "Rainbow Coalition" band of female musicians along with special guests: the legendary Wendy & Lisa, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark and Hozier. The follow-up to her acclaimed debut Outside Child, The Returner is a soulful expression of liberation, love, and self-respect.

Rhiannon Giddens
You�re The One
Nonesuch

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With a blend of folk, blues, and Americana, Giddens delves into themes of love, identity, and social justice giving a masterclass in musical storytelling and cultural exploration. Each track feels like a heartfelt conversation with the past and present, showcasing Giddens' profound connection to history and her unique musical vision.

Nickel Creek
Celebrants
Thirty Tigers

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Celebrants marks a highly anticipated return for the beloved trio and explores the inherent dynamics of human connection. Across the 18 tracks, the trio addresses love, friendship and time with lyrics both poetic and plain-spoken, as they see bridges built, crossed, burned and rebuilt. Produced by longtime collaborator Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Grace Potter, Weezer).

Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan
Warner Records

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An expansive yet intimate album that explores the Grammy-nominated artist's Oklahoma roots as well as his vast and varied confluence of musical and literary influences. Written and produced by Bryan himself, his new album is a raw and unfiltered communique from the songs' creator directly to the heart of his global audience.

Paramore
This Is Why
Atlantic

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Striking a nerve with pop-punk fans once more, Paramore�s return is as surprising as their decision to shy away from the anthemic style their previous release offered. This Is Why�s dance-punk revival meets with great artistic growth on tracks full of great lyrical work, fits of biting anger found not just in its energetic wordplay but in its pacing and tone.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
City of Gold
Nonesuch

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Follow up to last year�s GRAMMY-winning Best Bluegrass Album. The album, which was produced by Bluegrass legend Jerry Douglas, and features a guest appearance from Dave Matthews, presents a band of top notch musicians, fronted by Tuttle, firing on all cylinders.� The songs are rooted in Bluegrass, but expand on Tuttle�s ability to add elements of Indie Rock, Folk and Americana.

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Sleater-Kinney
Little Rope
Loma Vista

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On the surface, Little Rope's ten songs veer from spare to anthemic, catchy to deliberately hard-turning. But beneath that are perhaps the most complex and subtle arrangements of any Sleater-Kinney record, and a lyrical and emotional compass pointed firmly in the direction of something both liberating and terrifying: the sense that only way to gain control is to let it go.

The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) is a national level organization comprised of the best independent record stores in America. CIMS was founded in 1995 with the goal of uniting like minded independent store owners, giving them a more powerful voice in the music industry. The stores that make up CIMS are all very different, but we share the same desires � to be the heart of our communities, to super-serve our customers, to support and develop artists, and to share our love of music.

For more information about CIMS and the stores in our organization, please visit cimsmusic.com or find us through social media with the #cimsmusic hashtag. And please remember to always shop local by supporting your neighborhood record store.

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Now Hear This! � January 2024