The best albums out Aug. 30 : All Songs Considered : NPR

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ epic new album, Wild God, is among the most exciting new albums out August 30.

Megan Cullen/Courtesy of the artist

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Megan Cullen/Courtesy of the artist

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ epic new album, Wild God, is among the most exciting new albums out August 30.

Megan Cullen/Courtesy of the artist

You know that mind-expanding feeling when an album — even one that fits solidly in a familiar genre — gives you something that feels brand new? This week on New Music Friday from All Songs Considered, NPR Music’s Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Ann Powers find an abundance of brand new records that push boundaries.

These ambitious albums, all out on August 30, 2024, represent a range of styles, energies and motivations, from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ sweeping rock epic Wild God (you can also read Ann’s interview with Nick Cave) to the irrepressible bounce of Doechii’s shape-shifting Alligator Bites Never Heal to Laurie Anderson’s Amelia, obsessed with the minutia of flight mechanics but capable of inducing swooning emotions as it puts the listener in the cockpit for the final flight of the album’s namesake aviation pioneer.

Plus: In the face of all these huge artistic swings, Ann and Daoud consider the state of art-rock, a musical category that has meant many different things to many different listeners over the years.

Featured Albums:
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wild God
• Doechii, Alligator Bites Never Heal
• Enumclaw, Home In Another Life
• Ellen Reid, Big Majestic
• Laurie Anderson, Amelia
• Jon Hopkins, Ritual

Other notable albums out August 30:
• Emily D’Angelo, Freezing
• AWOLNATION, The Phantom Five
• Big Sean, Better Me Than You
• Shemekia Copeland, Blame It on Eve
• Tycho, Infinite Health
• Zedd, Telos
• Chelsea Wolfe, Undone EP
• Tank & the Bangas, The Heart, The Mind, The Soul
• The Cactus Blossoms, Every Time I Think About You
• Caleb Caudle, Sweet Critters
• Amy Rigby, Hang in There With Me
• Noah Kahan, Stick Season (Live From Fenway Park)