Music headlines in April are always dominated by Record Store Day, and 2019 is no different. This year's edition is jam-packed with special releases from the likes of Queen, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Pearl Jam, John Lennon, Roxy Music and more.
Four times a year, we round up a list of albums that the Pitchfork staff is looking forward to in the upcoming season. These 22 releases, by everyone from Vampire Weekend to Lizzo to Holly Herndon, are either officially scheduled to come out between this Friday, March 22 and the end of June, or are likely to arrive at some point over the course of the next three months. (Please note that release dates may change.) Here are 22 albums worth waiting for this spring. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our Amazon or Vinyl Me, Please links, however, Pitchfork may earn an affiliate commission.)
Fennesz: Agora [March 29, Touch]
Agora is Austrian guitarist and producer
Christian Fennesz’s first solo studio album in five years, following 2014’s
Bécs. The LP was recorded during a time when the musician had “lost a proper studio workspace,” forcing him to create with “very minimal equipment.” Fennesz’s last release was the 2016
Jim O’Rourke collaboration
It’s Hard for Me to Say I’m Sorry. –Braudie Blais-Billie
Priests: The Seduction of Kansas [April 5, Sister Polygon]
D.C. trio
Priests’
The Seduction of Kansas was produced by John Congleton and features contributions from cellist Janel Leppin and the band’s new touring bassist Alexandra Tyson. Priests’ last record was 2017’s
Nothing Feels Natural. Read Pitchfork’s new feature “
Priests on What It Means to Be an American Rock Band Right Now.” –Braudie Blais-Billie
Weyes Blood: Titanic Rising [April 5, Sub Pop]
Titanic Rising is Natalie Mering’s first
Weyes Blood full-length for
Sub Pop Records. Inspired by everything from climate change to surreal comedy, the singer-songwriter has described the new LP as “the Kinks meet WWII or Bob Seger meets Enya.” To date, she’s shared “
Andromeda,” “
Everyday,” and “
Movies.” Read the new interview “
Weyes Blood Finds Hope in a World That’s Going to Hell.” –Noah Yoo
Anderson .Paak: Ventura [April 12, Aftermath/12 Tone]
Less than six months after the release of
Oxnard,
Anderson .Paak has returned with another record named after another California town.
Ventura was recorded around the same time as
Oxnard and was also executive-produced by
Dr. Dre. It features André 3000, Smokey Robinson, Brandy, the late Nate Dogg, and others. He’s taking both albums on the road with a
massive tour that includes
Thundercat,
Earl Sweatshirt, and others. –Noah Yoo
BTS: MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA [April 12, Big Hit]
Inarguably the most famous Korean pop group in the world,
BTS, will release a new full-length record this year.
MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA follows last year’s
LOVE YOURSELF 轉 ‘Tear’, which became the first Korean-language album
to top the Billboard 200 chart in America. BTS are
set to perform shows in the United States and Europe this year. Plus, they’ll make their “
Saturday Night Live” debut in April. –Noah Yoo
Lizzo: CUZ I LOVE YOU [April 19, Nice Life/Atlantic]
Lizzo’s
CUZ I LOVE YOU is her third record and major label full-length debut. It arrives after her 2016 EP
Coconut Oil and her last full-length release, 2015’s
Big GRRRL Small World. The LP features the previously released “
Juice,” “
Cuz I Love You,” and the Missy Elliott collab “
Tempo.” –Braudie Blais-Billie
Kevin Morby: Oh My God [April 26, Dead Oceans]
Oh My God—it’s a new album from
Kevin Morby. The singer-songwriter’s follow-up to 2017’s
City Music is the fifth solo album of his career, his “most realized record yet,” he has said. His first concept album,
OMG is “not about an actual god but a perceived one, and it’s an outsider’s view of the human experience in terms of religion.” He’s released one single, “
No Halo.” –Noah Yoo
