3 new songs and 3 new albums to check out this weekend

“A Fragile Thing” is the second single from the Cure’s upcoming album Songs Of A Lost World, their first new full-length release in 15 years. Even well into the fourth decade of their career, the Cure is still giving an everlasting mood. Maybe it’s that they always sounded ethereal, both ahead of and out of step with time. But if “A Fragile Thing” is evidence of anything, it’s that the Cure hasn’t missed a single step over the years. The wise-beyond-their-years lyrics of their early days are matched now with lived experience, adding a new depth that only enhances their sound.

Over the years, former Pixies bassist and current Breeders vocalist Kim Deal has released some singles, but never a full solo album. That’s about to change next month with Nobody Loves You More, and the tracks released so far are enticing. “A Good Time Pushed” is the album’s closer. The track’s sparse, desperate lyrics, coupled with heavy guitar reverb, stand well enough on their own, but imagining what led to this point is what’s really piqued my curiosity. The track was engineered by the late, great Steve Albini, lending an it an even more melancholic vibe.

New Zealand musician Fazerdaze, a.k.a. Amelia Murray, took a hiatus from music after her 2017 full-length debut. Her sophomore album is finally coming out next month, and “A Thousand Years” shows off a more electronic sound than her dream pop-leaning previous work. It feels more like an evolution than a sharp left turn, though; it helps that Murray directed the deeply personal music video, and both the song and the video show a clarity of vision that’s rare to find.

We didn’t cover Charli xcx’s brat remix in our October album preview because we wanted to focus on new music. Plus, at the time, we were still a little unsure about what brat and it’s completely different but also still brat even was. We have a bit more insight now than the official track list has dropped, and what we’ve seen so far looks intriguing. In short, it does what it says on the tin: it’s just brat, remixed with some features from artists like Lorde, Julian Casablanca, Bon Iver, Billie Eilish, and Caroline Polachek. The lineup is honestly impressive.

French modern psych band La Femme is switching things up for their sixth album, Rock Machine: it’s the first one they’ve recorded in English. It’s also a bit of a departure in terms of genre; though it’s rooted in synth overall, the album explores many different corners of the rock genre. Less “cohesive album” and more “weird sonic journey that we’re absolutely here for,” Rock Machine is a singular album from a band that has consistently defined categorization.

Punk prodigies the Linda Lindas are back with their second album, No Obligation. They’ve been steadily building a following since their single “Racist, Sexist Boy” went viral in 2021. Much of the conversation around the band centers on their ages: the oldest member, guitarist Bela Salazar, is 20 years old, while the youngest, drummer Mila de la Garza, is just 14. Their 2022 debut record, Growing Up, was a jolt of power punk that infused the genre with some desperately needed youthful energy, and No Obligation continues that trend with twelve more vibrant songs clocking in at a svelte 35 minutes.