Out Today

Soul singer Leon Bridges follows a string of collaborations including the excellent Khruangbin EP 'Texas Sun' with his third solo record 'Gold-Diggers Sound'. Boasting features from jazz heavyweights Robert Glasper and Terrace Martin, it continues Bridges' move away from retro soul to a contemporary R&B sound. Available on CD and vinyl, with gold foil variant sleeve exclusive to bricks and mortar shops.

There's a debut full-length for composer, musician, producer and star of the Soul Jazz 'Kaleidoscope' and Blue Note Re:Imagined compilations Emma-Jean Thackray. 'Yellow' is a heady fusion of cosmic jazz and dancefloor production from a singular talent in the UK's burgeoning jazz scene, available on CD, LP and indies exclusive clear vinyl.

Having made her name with throwback torch songs, chanteuse Molly Burch enlists Alaina Moore and Patrick Ripley of Tennis for 'Romantic Images' an album of glam disco gems. Vinyl is pretty scarce on this but amazingly we still have a couple of copies of the beautiful Dinked Edition pressed on hot pink wax with limited edition tarot cards.

'McCartney III Imagined' sees reworkings of Paul McCartney's most recent album from the likes of Beck, St Vincent and Damon Albarn on CD and LP. While Paul Weller's 'Cosmic Fringes' 12" features remixes from the Pet Shop Boys, Andrew Innes and Jagz Kooner of this parish. 'Bills & Aches & Blues' celebrates 40 years of the venerable 4AD label with covers of classic tracks from contemporary signings.

Two Laurel Canyon legends have new albums out on CD today with vinyl to follow at a later date. Jackson Browne's 'Downhill From Everywhere' sees the singer-songwriter enlist session greats like Russ Kunkel and Greg Leisz as he balances the personal and the political on an album which takes in the folk-rock of his 70s heyday, Stonesy stompers and tasteful Latin and Caribbean influences, while Elvis Costello's Attractions rhythm section drives catchy single 'My Cleveland Heart'. Meanwhile, David Crosby's 'For Free' continues the former Byrd's late career renaissance and features collaborations with fellow smooth dons Michael McDonald and Donald Fagen. He teams with Americana artist Sarah Jarosz for the title track, retooling Joni Mitchell's 'Ladies of the Canyon'-era song into a critique of the streaming-dominated environment which has resulted in diminishing outcomes for musicians themselves- as Croz says with customary wry humour in the liner notes, "it is still a joy to make this music for you even though we no longer get paid for it".

Also on CD, Brixton rapper Dave releases 'We're All Alone In This Together', the much anticipated follow-up to his Mercury Prizewinning debut 'Psychodrama' (no word on the vinyl yet but we'll let you know when it's available for pre-order), and prolific psych outfit King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard find more new ground to break on their 18th studio album 'Butterfly 3000' (vinyl due in August). Following the vinyl issue for RSD there's a CD release of the expanded edition of Conor Oberst's ace solo album 'Ruminations'. Plus there are new albums from Nicolas Jaar/Dave Harrington duo Darkside, shoegaze/Britpop supergroup Piroshka, popstar Anne-Marie and Erin Birgy's expansive Mega Bog.