Every Friday, dozens of new records are released into the wild. Some make big splashes, and others sink almost immediately. For most music consumers, it’s almost too much information, and save for those precious few who spend their hours glued to review sites and release calendars, it’s hard to know what’s coming out when. Thankfully, The A.V. Club is ready to help those struggling souls. Each month, we’ll publish a fairly comprehensive list of what’s coming to record stores and streaming services in upcoming weeks, complete with capsule previews so interested parties can know what to expect.
May 5
At The Drive-In, Inter Alia
Seventeen years after its pioneering millennial art-emo album Relationship Of Command, At The Drive-In reunites for Inter Alia. The obvious question is whether it’ll pick up where it left off—creating bruising, hyper-produced post-hardcore—or if it will opt instead to expand on the infuriating prog of The Mars Volta or the vaguely electronic alt-rock of Sparta. Offering only minor hints, the new singles “Governed By Contagions” and “Incurably Innocent” waver between self-parody and earnest revival. [Clayton Purdom]
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Best Troubador
Just over a year since Merle Haggard’s death, folk musician Bonnie “Prince” Billy, a.k.a. Will Oldham, pays tribute to the outlaw country singer with the covers album Best Troubador. Oldham—an artist who’s on pace to match Haggard’s prolific output—chose his personal favorites from a lifetime of the singer’s music, including hits like “I Always Get Lucky With You,” “The Fugitive,” and “That’s The Way Love Goes,” as well as later cuts like “Some Of Us Fly” and “I Am What I Am.” On the advance single “Mama Tried” (which won’t actually appear on the album), Oscar Parsons takes lead vocals, with flute and reeds adding color to what is otherwise a fairly faithful rendition. Still, don’t expect much in the way of karaoke from Oldham, whose previous covers of artists like The Everly Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, and Devo were all nothing if not distinct. [Laura Adamczyk]
Black Lips, Satan’s Graffiti Or God’s Art?
Never ones to shy away from embracing the more unpredictable elements of rock, Atlanta retro garage rockers Black Lips are back with a new album with the very Black Lips-esque title Satan’s Graffiti Or God’s Art? Handling producer duties this time around is Sean Lennon, who may have contributed the hint of psychedelia found in the first single, “Can’t Hold On.” But just a hint. This is still very much Black Lips, just with slightly more ambitious instrumentation. You may pine for the days of We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow, but it’s good to hear the band tackle something new, even if it comes at the cost of one or two fewer beers. [Alex McLevy]
Blondie, Pollinator
Following the poorly received electronic experimentation of Blondie’s last record, Pollinator returns to the disco-driven pop rock of the band’s heyday with the help of a few friends, a list of collaborators that includes Joan Jett, Johnny Marr, Laurie Anderson, TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek, and interestingly, even Linda Belcher himself, Bob’s Burgers’ John Roberts. For its 11th studio album, Blondie also hired a murderers’ row of contemporary songwriting talent—Sia, Charli XCX, and Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes all get credits—as well as go-to producer John Congleton. There’s definitely a modern sheen to the Hynes-written single “Long Time,” though it’s also the kind of gritty pop found in Blondie’s 1978 breakthrough, Parallel Lines. [Kelsey J. Waite]
Brother Ali, All The Beauty In This Whole Life
Brother Ali verses can seem like sermons—if not for their progressive, inspirational political content, then for the hectoring, pulpit-style of his delivery. All The Beauty In This Whole Life is Ali’s first in five years, and it’ll be a good opportunity to see if the Rhymesayers vet will update his mid-’00s backpack-rap style for something a little more contemporary or stick to his didactic guns. [Clayton Purdom]
Mac DeMarco, This Old Dog
Gap-toothed troubadour Mac DeMarco has cleaned up his act to become boho hipsterdom’s answer to James Taylor and Harry Chapin. Bearing only faint traces of the fuzziness and retro intimacy of Salad Days, This Old Dog is a largely straightforward dad-rock record whose first track finds DeMarco declaring, “Uh-oh / Looks like / I’m seeing more of my old man in me.” Still, there’s nothing wrong with being pleasant, and in addition to its consistent laid-back vibe, the album promises a few slightly funky gems. [Ignatiy Vishnevetsky]
Forest Swords, Compassion
With 2013’s Engravings, Forest Swords’ Matthew Barnes released one of the most singular records of the decade—a knotty tangle of dub rhythms, Middle Eastern exoticism, and fractured R&B sway. Compassion, his first album since that breakthrough, follows a recent spate of scoring work for films, dance recitals, and even Assassin’s Creed, and there’s a similarly cinematic sweep to its composition that’s embodied in lead single “The Highest Flood.” Building over a clattering percussion track, Barnes layers in portentous synth tones, gamelan chimes, wordless female chants, and bursts of splayed digital noise, creating a propulsive mood piece that bristles with more international tension than your average episode of Homeland. Compassion is likely to be one of the year’s best electronic albums, from one of the genre’s most innovative artists. [Sean O’Neal]
Full Of Hell, Trumpeting Ecstasy
Even for a grindcore band, Full Of Hell makes a lot of noise: Lead vocalist Dylan Walker shifts on a dime from a guttural, death-metal bark to a black-metal banshee scream, while his bandmates perform their best imitation of a construction site, jackhammering away. But like Nails or Code Orange, to name two like-minded groups with which they’ve shared a split, Full Of Hell tempers its tantrums with the occasional infectious riff, eye-of-the-storm interlude, or glimmer of melody. For their whopping 18th record in seven years—an extensive catalog that includes seven EPs, six splits, and two full-length collaborations (one with Merzbow, the other with The Body)—these prolific hell-raisers have commissioned Converge guitarist and go-to hardcore producer Kurt Ballou to work the boards, meaning that Trumpeting Ecstasy is sure to sound tight and crisp. They’ve also recruited a few guest vocalists, including the busiest bellower in post-metal, former Isis frontman Aaron Turner. [A.A. Dowd]
Logic, Everybody
Logic’s best tracks have been good enough to earn the emcee cosigns from people as varied as Big Daddy Kane and Pusha T. He’s got endless bars of spiraling autobiography and coy wordplay, but for all the overarching conceptual bents of his albums, he’s never pieced together a truly compelling long-player. The new Everybody hopes to break that streak. It continues the sci-fi saga begun on 2015’s The Incredible True Story, with lead-off single “Black SpiderMan” featuring the sort of swooning production and autobiographical introspection he’s made his name on. [Clayton Purdom]
Nite Jewel, Real High
2016 was a busy year for Ramona “Nite Jewel” Gonzalez. Besides collaborating with Dâm-Funk on the exceptional Nite-Funk EP, the L.A.-based singer released her third full-length, Liquid Cool, which marked a return to her unique style of ethereal R&B after One Second To Love’s detour into straight-ahead synthpop. Nite Jewel’s new Real High mostly sticks to that soulful territory, but glossy early singles like “2 Good 2 Be True” show Gonzalez has also learned to clear away some of the haze. [Matt Gerardi]
Amanda Palmer And Edward Ka-Spel, I Can Spin A Rainbow
Call it a meeting of the acquired tastes: erstwhile Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer cutting a record with one of her musical heroes, Edward Ka-Spel, the insanely prolific frontman of The Legendary Pink Dots. This is a for-fans-only twofer, as Palmer and Ka-Spel both possess singing voices and lyric styles that can err on the side of preciousness, while the production is a mix of randomly moaning strings and dated electronics. If you order the vinyl, you get two extra tracks that feature no singing whatsoever. [Ignatiy Vishnevetsky]
Perfume Genius, No Shape
The reign of Kate Bush as one of the dominant artistic influences of mid- to late-2010s indie continues. On his fourth outing as Perfume Genius, singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas comes across as more sonically confident than ever before, swapping the glam-rock attitudes of his breakthrough, Too Bright, for the stylings of Bush-esque art pop. No Shape is the first Perfume Genius album that isn’t chiefly piano-driven, but no one would mistake it for a stab at the mainstream. [Ignatiy Vishnevetsky]
Slowdive, Slowdive
The unexpected (though not unwelcome) shoegaze revival continues, with recent comebacks from My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and The Jesus And Mary Chain being joined by a new album from Slowdive, one of the genre’s dreamiest, most painstaking practitioners. “Star Roving,” the first new song from the group’s self-titled fourth full-length, feels very much born out of the live reunion shows it’s been playing since 2014, its heavy swirls of quiet-storm guitars harkening back to an earlier sound the band had moved away from by the time of its minimalist masterpiece Pygmalion. But other tracks reveal an attempt to square those two sides of Slowdive’s luminescent pop watercolors with the confidence of age and the benefit of distance—and the result is as beautiful and stilling as ever. [Sean O’Neal]
Chris Stapleton, From A Room: Vol. 1
Chris Stapleton has risen quickly through Nashville’s musical ranks, but he still has a sense of his scene’s roots. His new From A Room: Vol. 1 was recorded in the city’s historic RCA Studio A, which was built by Chet Atkins in 1964 and has hosted everyone from Dolly Parton to Tony Bennett and Kacey Musgraves. The sounds of the record pay tribute to that legacy, with Stapleton covering “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning,” a track that was originally made famous by Willie Nelson, while also harnessing Nelson’s outlaw-country sound for his eight original cuts. [Marah Eakin]
The Afghan Whigs, In Spades
Do To The Beast marked The Afghan Whigs’ first album in 16 years, and the positive reception to that 2014 comeback suggested the elegantly sleazy alt-rockers were welcome to stick around a while. It does just that with the new In Spades, whose first single, “Demon In Profile”—featuring a video starring Har Mar Superstar—is right in the band’s sweet spot, and already sounds more vital than most of Beast, hopefully portends better things to come. The good thing about being an alt-soul rock band is that age tends to sharpen the grain in your voice, and Greg Dulli’s still sounds like it could cut glass. [Alex McLevy]
May 12
B.o.B., Ether
For a long time, B.o.B. was best known for his debut album, a survey of circa-2010 pop-rap that spawned a few obnoxiously omnipresent singles. Then he became one of the early outspoken proponents of the totally insane flat-Earth theory, spending last year slowly releasing a quadruple album that covered seemingly every conspiracy theory ever. His new Ether seems very much in the same mold, featuring an elephant wearing a gas mask or something on the cover. Although, its lead single “4 Lit” at no point mentions invisible anti-moons or the “no forests” theory, so maybe he’s growing up after all? [Clayton Purdom]
Dreamcar, Dreamcar
With the announcement that AFI’s Davey Havok would be teaming up with all the members of No Doubt—sans Gwen Stefani—some thought this meant he would be stepping in as that band’s new lead singer. But alas, that very stupid idea was only a simple misunderstanding. Instead, Havok and the No Stefanis have formed Dreamcar, a thoroughly ’80s project laden with echoing Flock Of Seagulls guitar tones and Havok channeling the vocals of Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant (and the fashion and face stylings of Sparks’ Ron Mael). Songs like “All Of The Dead Girls” and “Kill For Candy”—were it not for those huge, mid-’00s alt-rock choruses—could easily slot into those Reagan radio years. It’s not Havok singing “Don’t Speak,” but dare we say it’s better? [Sean O’Neal]
Elf Power, Twitching In Time
Though never the most celebrated of the vaunted Elephant 6 collective, Elf Power is nevertheless one of its most enduring, with the Athens band—unlike many of its peers—releasing albums at a steady clip since the early ’90s. Its latest, Twitching In Time, adds a bit of experimental jazz arrangements and freak-folk to the mix, while lead single “Watery Hands” begins as a somber piano ballad before shifting into a (relatively) heavy guitar drone. But otherwise, the group continues to serve up more of the fuzzy, fizzy psychedelic pop that it’s reliably plied for decades. [Sean O’Neal]
Girlpool, Powerplant
It’s a bit of subtraction by addition on Girlpool’s second album, with the formerly stripped-down duo adding a drummer for the first time, as well as beefing up their own guitar sound. On the one hand, their sound is decidedly more traditional this way; on the other, it actually allows their songs a little more room to swing and move. Call it a draw, but it’s a pretty great one nonetheless, with gauzy indie-pop songs that will, if Girlpool is lucky, no longer be constantly called “folky” just because they’re minimal. [Josh Modell]
Machine Gun Kelly, Bloom
Machine Gun Kelly’s habit of yelling rapid-fire shit talk over glossy, expensive beats that have no relation to each other looks to continue on the upcoming Bloom. The mawkish balladry explored on 2015 mixtape General Admission gets a follow-up on the new project’s lead-off single, “Bad Things.” It’s sure to be a banger at the high school dance. [Clayton Purdom]
PWR BTTM, Pageant
In the two years since the release of its debut, Ugly Cherries, garage-punk duo PWR BTTM has exploded from DIY artspace regulars to the leaders of a new queercore movement. But rather than go glossy in search of even more mainstream success, band members Liv Bruce and Ben Hopkins double down on vulnerability on their follow-up, Pageant. Named in honor of the duo’s love of gender-bending performance, Pageant veers from earnest longing to fist-pumping empowerment anthems, sometimes over the course of a single song. Advance single “Answer My Text” turns a uniquely postmodern anxiety into a crashing, cathartic sing-along chorus: “Answer my text, you dick!” [Katie Rife]
Todd Rundgren, White Knight
For his 25th studio album, Todd Rundgren draws on his extensive contacts list, teaming up with Dâm-Funk, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, Daryl Hall, Joes Satriani and Walsh, and even pop star Robyn, who appears on the record’s first single, “That Could Have Been Me.” If nothing else, White Knight should serve as a reminder that, though he may be best known for his work in the ’70s, Rundgren has at least one foot in today. [Marah Eakin]
Harry Styles, Harry Styles
Harry Styles always came off as the star of Brit boy band One Direction, the one most easily identified if you didn’t happen to be a member of its fervent fan base. Now his attempt to transition that considerable charm into a successful solo act begins. Some maturation is always expected in these cases, and Styles has decided to channel the fact that he resembles a certain Rolling Stone on first single, “Sign Of The Times,” a slow-burning, sweeping ballad with both pop hooks and vintage rock vibes. Meanwhile, he debuted the guitar-driven “Ever Since New York” on Saturday Night Live. Add in a Cameron Crowe profile, and Styles is being positioned as 2017’s good-hearted golden god, who shouldn’t be written off as a guilty pleasure. [Esther Zuckerman]
Paul Weller, A Kind Revolution
The title of Paul Weller’s 13th solo record, A Kind Revolution, suggests he’s anxious for change, though the former frontman of The Jam and The Style Council has maintained an incredible consistency (as anyone who’s caught him live lately can attest). Weller’s blue-eyed soul colors gospel-tinged cuts like “A Long Long Road,” augmented with some martial percussion and inspired church organ, while “Nova” adds some space-age synths to score Weller’s fervent desire to get his message out “Till my day is over / Till my time is through.” After several decades and as many transformations, that day still seems far off. [Gwen Ihnat]
May 19
!!!, Shake The Shudder
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) returns with another record detailing the group’s steady evolution into a group more comfortable with sampling, soul vocals, and a sense of contemporary funk that wasn’t immediately present during its dance-punk heyday. Shake The Shudder looks to continue that trend with contributions from a rotating cast of singers including Lea Lea, Meah Pace, Nicole Fayu, Cameron Mesirow, and Molly Schnickas. Lead single “The One 2” wouldn’t sound out of place in a late-’90s nightclub. [Alex McLevy]
Demen, Nektyr
A few years ago, Chicago’s Kranky Records got an anonymous email linking to three tracks, with a simple message attached: “Hi, maybe you would be interested in this music.” Indeed, the label was, and with only a bit of information—that this was a woman named Irma Ohm working very slowly but steadily in Sweden—it waited to hear more. Then in 2016, Kranky was informed the record was complete. Nektyr, Ohm’s debut under the moniker Demen, is a marvel of ambient doom pop that conjures the lush, transportive arrangements of Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, or more recently, Tropic Of Cancer. “Niorum” and “Ambur” give us a lot to look forward to—or to try to make out among all the billowing reverb. [Kelsey J. Waite]
Dragonforce, Reaching Into Infinity
From the Tolkien-worthy subject matter to the Nintendo-style arpeggios, power metal doesn’t get much nerdier than Dragonforce. Or much faster: The British six-piece delivers more mountains of cheese at lightning speed than a campus Culver’s. If the recently released “Curse Of Darkness” is any indication, seventh album Reaching Into Infinity won’t stray far from the goofy, virtuosic sound that’s made Dragonforce guitar heroes for the Guitar Hero crowd. It should be fun enough, too, to help fans continue to ignore the inconveniently questionable shit some of these guys used to sing about. [A.A. Dowd]
Erasure, World Be Gone
Erasure has been making reliably chipper synthpop records for more than 30 years, peaking near the beginning of that run with unstoppable singles like “A Little Respect” and “Stop!” But even with their chart-topping days pretty far in the rearview, the duo is still at it, with a sound only lightly updated for the times. (Synthpop is frozen in time, as it should be.) World Be Gone is Vince Clarke and Andy Bell’s 17th full-length, so give them credit for longevity, if nothing else. (Though there’s plenty else.) [Josh Modell]
Aldous Harding, Party
For her sophomore album, Party, Aldous Harding teams with producer John Parish (P.J. Harvey, Sparklehorse) and Perfume Genius’ Mike Hadreas on a collection of spare, moody arrangements that elevate the 27-year-old New Zelander’s stark, razor-sharp folk songs, which Harding delivers with her usual captivating intensity and incredible range. “Imagining My Man” is an intimate exploration of a lover’s idiosyncrasies that’s aching, almost dirgelike, but a closer listen reveals a subtle playfulness and charming wit. Her first for 4AD, Party promises to be a breakthrough moment. [Kelsey J. Waite]
Land Of Talk, Life After Youth
Elizabeth Powell’s arty, angular Land Of Talk nearly became one of the many “whatever happened to…?” casualties of mid-’00s blog rock, though it was certainly through no fault of her own. After her 2006 Applause Cheer Boo Hiss EP earned accolades for its propulsive melodies and Powell’s impressive guitar chops, the trio expanded on its Montreal power-pop roots (and its loose Broken Social Scene connections) with the slightly more anthemic albums Some Are Lakes and Cloak And Cipher, but tour weariness—and a polyp that robbed Powell of her voice—sidelined Land Of Talk for years. Powell returns with the new Life After Youth, a tellingly titled album that finds her in a more reflective mood, with songs like “Loving,” featuring harmonies from co-writer Sharon Van Etten, displaying a new sense of patience, but with results that are no less arresting. [Sean O’Neal]
Linkin Park, One More Light
Though still best known for the singles on their first album, which hit the radio and MTV way back in summer 2002, these Californian titans of Clear Channel-era rap-rock have steadily released albums of varying quantities of overproduced aggression ever since. Their new album, One More Light, is tipped off by an overwrought new single featuring a female guest vocalist, who adds a touch of he-said-she-said melodrama to the otherwise frozen-in-’02 sound. Whether or not the play toward an expanded emotional range will nudge the group’s career Metascore upward from a dispiriting total of 59 remains to be seen. [Clayton Purdom]
Papa Roach, Crooked Teeth
Though still best known for the singles on their first album, which hit the radio and MTV way back in summer 2002, these Californian titans of Clear Channel-era rap-rock have steadily released albums of varying quantities of overproduced aggression ever since. Their new album, Crooked Teeth, is tipped off by an overwrought new single featuring a female guest vocalist, who adds a touch of he-said-she-said melodrama to the otherwise frozen-in-’02 sound. Whether or not the play toward an expanded emotional range will nudge the group’s career Metascore upward from a dispiriting total of 59 remains to be seen. [Clayton Purdom]
The Mountain Goats, Goths
After spending the two years between albums releasing politically infused tracks, The Mountain Goats return for number (sweet) 16 with Goths. As on 2015’s Beat The Champ, the title sums up the album’s concept, which pays visits to somberly dressed individuals in Leeds and Portugal. John Darnielle and company keep it playful on “We Do It Different On The West Coast” and “Unicorn Tolerance,” but slow things down for the album closer “Abandoned Flesh.” Goths doesn’t immediately seem like the most apt title or material for a Mountain Goats album, but as bassist Peter Hughes points out, the identity is one that is both “associated with youth” yet “inescapably adult,” which is squarely in their wheelhouse. [Danette Chavez]
Wavves, You’re Welcome
The melancholy cloud that hung over their last album, 2015’s V, seems to have lifted, and the sloppy surf-punks in Wavves are once again ready to have fun on You’re Welcome, the band’s sixth full-length and first back on lead singer-songwriter Nathan Williams’ own Ghost Ramp label after a miserable two-album stint with Warner Bros. Lead single “Million Enemies” buries its stripped-down ’70s stadium-rock melody under layers of distortion and echo as thick as Williams’ eyeliner in the accompanying video, with handclaps and a bouncy drum beat to complete the hazy SoCal vibe. [Katie Rife]
Christopher Willits, Horizon
Ambient artist Christopher Willits creates patient, spacious music that could more accurately be described as “environments,” where his warm guitar and synth tones billow and undulate like slowly rolling cloud formations. Willits doesn’t shy away from new-age trappings—he intends his music to be used for meditation and expanding your consciousness—but an intense focus on tonality and composition saves it from being just yoga-studio wallpaper. His new Horizon also boasts technological innovation in its being the first 3-D spatial release for Ghostly International, with Willits designing an unusually immersive headphone experience that weaves around and through the listener from all sides. [Sean O’Neal]
May 26
Danzig, Black Laden Crown
Metal’s most durable cornball hasn’t released a new album in seven years, keeping busy with a brief Misfits reunion, the covers record Skeletons, and bench presses, probably. But Black Laden Crown, as heralded by its lead single “Devil On Hwy 9,” promises all the hallmarks of latter-day Danzig: chunky riffs overlaid with piercing widdly-widdly squeals; barked lyrics about cool stuff like fast cars and devils and shit; bloody, big-boobed album art; tinny, garage-demo production values; and everything else fans have come to buy indiscriminately before returning to his first three records. [Sean O’Neal]
Justin Townes Earle, Kids In The Street
Justin Townes Earle’s intimate songwriting has long encompassed a lot more than guitar-strumming folk-rock, and even more than labels like “Americana” or “alt-country” can accurately describe. The cheeky single “Champagne Corolla” is a promising look at the upcoming Kids In The Street, its healthy twang paired with a funky groove that challenges the norms of both country- and folk-rock. What we’ve heard of the album recalls both the country-western roots of Merle Haggard and the early honky tonk of Dwight Yoakam, with sad-sack country songs backgrounded by soulful horns and gorgeous minor-key shifts. Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis produced the album, centering Earle’s direct, candid voice. [Laura M. Browning]
Martin Rev, Demolition 9
With the death of Alan Vega in 2016, the pioneering post-punk band Suicide was officially laid to rest. Fortunately, Martin Rev is still with us and still putting his influential skills to work on a new album, Demolition 9, his first since 2009’s Stigmata. Boasting an overwhelming 34 tracks—though most clock in well under three minutes—Demolition promises “a lifetime’s worth of moods and musings, encompassing fragments of Rev’s varied passions accrued across his nearly half-century-long career.” That diversity is represented across its two preview tracks, the symphonic synth piece “Now” and “In Our Name,” whose clattering industrial churn and regretful lyrics feel like a tribute to his lost bandmate. [Sean O’Neal]
The Charlatans UK, Different Days
Entering three decades of producing solid, soulful British dance-rock, Madchester veterans The Charlatans UK have endured some terrible losses (keyboardist Rob Collins died in a 1996 car crash; founding drummer Jon Brookes died from brain cancer in 2013), but have soldiered on, even as their contemporaries have long since disbanded or slipped into nostalgia-circuit idleness. The group’s 13th album, Different Days, features a lot of guests, even for a band that seems to have employed half the British music scene at one point: Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, New Order’s Stephen Morris, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe all appear—along with, weirdly, Catastrophe actress Sharon Horgan—giving it the feel of a living tribute. [Sean O’Neal]
Lil Yachty, Teenage Emotions
Endlessly contentious “bubblegum trap” emcee Lil Yachty is releasing his studio debut, and the cover—featuring a diverse array of teenagers hanging out, making out, and goofing off—probably tells you all you need to know. (The back cover is a slice of pizza, because, again, teenagers.) Two early singles show both of Yachty’s sides: The ominous “Peek A Boo” ropes Migos in for a play for rap radio, while “Harley” shows the chintzy, caterwauling pop melodies for which the emcee is reviled by purists. [Clayton Purdom]