Record Store Day 2024: 10 new releases for your haul
Saturday 20th April is Record Store Day! A chance to champion the many brilliant record stores that can be found in towns and cities across the country. From Aberdeen to Andover, independent vinyl stores of all shapes and sizes will be participating by hosting special events, live music, and showcasing new and exclusive presses.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to support your local music retailers, and we at Vertere have been long-time advocates of this brilliant event. Last year, we celebrated with a featured roundup of Vertere CEO Touraj Moghaddam’s top ten favourite vinyl - you can check that out here.
This year, we thought we’d offer something a bit different, by turning our attention to some of the best new releases of 2024. We’ve picked out ten of our favourite new LPs released in the last few weeks and months - all of which we feel are thoroughly worthy of your time and attention. Keep your eyes peeled for them whilst browsing the aisles of your local record store this weekend.
We hope you enjoy Record Store Day 2024, and embrace the opportunity to support exciting, emerging artists and the incredible retailers that amplify their music. Let’s get started!
Bright Future, Adrianne Lenker (Released on 4AD)
Adrianne Lenker’s sixth studio album, Bright Future, only dropped a few weeks ago, yet it's already being lauded as one of the year’s best releases. It’s no exaggeration to call it truly original - the kind of career defining record that comfortably elevates an artist above the relentless maw of a noisy and crowded market. Its intimacy is, at times, almost unsettling, like you’re party to thoughts too personal and painful to be aired this openly. But Lenker seems to understand that great art should push even the most casual listener out of their comfort zone. This is a shimmering triumph of a record. Don’t miss it.
Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace, Shabaka (Released on Impulse!)
Shabaka Hutchings, one of Jazz music’s most exciting talents, returned earlier this month with his invigorating new record, ‘Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace’. Performing primarily on the clarinet and the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute (Shabaka announced an indefinite break from Saxophone last year), this release finds him drawing from a deep well of African influences, European folk music, 70s avant-garde jazz, neoclassicism, and more. That explosion of genres may sound potentially frenetic and jarring, but this album reveals itself slowly, and like all great jazz, guards its best kept musical secrets for further listens.
Honestly, Kat Eaton
(Released on Rhythm & Rhyme)
Sheffield-born soul songwriter Kat Eaton first came onto our radar with her 2020 album ‘Talk To Me’; a sumptuous and endlessly listenable mix of blue eyed soul and old school RnB. Following tour dates with Jools Holland and The Teskey Bros, Eaton returns with ‘Honestly’, a noticeably poppier offering featuring flashy horn arrangements and plenty of big, fun chorus’ for listeners to get their teeth into. Eaton’s voice is a gift for this kind of songwriting and production - she has arguably one of the most effortless soul voices in contemporary pop. This is near-perfect Sunday morning listening.
HOME, Caezar
(Released on Vertere Records)
Vertere Records’ very own Caezar released their highly anticipated follow-up to ‘TIME’ in February, after a five year hiatus. And boy, was it worth the wait. Joe and JJ ventured to Black Bay Studio on the Isle of Lewis to cut this new release - a deeply personal love letter to their musical origins - delivered through powerful songwriting and complex, yet anthemic musical arrangements. You can pick up your copy, half speed mastered by the legendary Miles Showell, now. And you can find out more about this incredible new album in our dedicated, in-depth interview with the band.
Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee
(Released on Anti-Epitaph)
Up until around 2019, singer Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) was probably best classed as a middle-of-the-pack indie rock artist. That changed with 2020’s ‘Saint Cloud’, which represented a hard pivot into a much rootsier, Americana sound. Huge critical acclaim followed. For the 2024 followup to Saint Cloud, the mission statement was presumably ‘why mess with a good thing?’. Tigers Blood is ‘Americana’ at its absolute best - simple, no-nonsense songwriting, performed with heart and heft. Crutchfield is a lightning rod at the heart of it all, imbibing each track with a coursing, infectious energy.
All That Was East Is West Of Me Now, Glen Hansard (Released on Anti-Epitaph)
You’ll know Glen Hansard in one of two ways, depending on your vintage. He’s either the skinny, dweebish guitarist from 1991’s The Commitments, or the dog-eared Dublin busker from Once (for which he won an Oscar for Best Song). In and around these two career landmarks, Hansard has been diligently releasing record after record of grown up indie folk, and garnering a big, dedicated following in the process. His latest release ‘All That Was East Is West Of Me Now’, carries the unmistakable tread of an artist revelling in the freedom of having absolutely nothing to prove. It’s dark, and thoughtful, and some of the best work of his illustrious career.
A La Sala, Khruangbin
(Released on Dead Oceans)
Khruangbin, the long-time darlings of the indie funk scene, return with their first studio album in some time, following a slew of bootleg-style live releases. This new album finds them in predictably fine form - a mostly instrumental affair featuring a significantly stripped back sound and simplified, core lineup. It’s what you might call a ‘lean back’ record - one that doesn’t ask too much of the listener either sonically or thematically. Instead, ‘A La Sala’ just invites you to relax into a beautifully made bed of sundrenched, psychedelic rock.
Underdressed At The Symphony, Faye Webster (Released on Secretly Canadian)
What happens when you cross Phoebe Bridgers with Andy Shauf, and sprinkle in a bit of Steely Dan for good measure? You get Faye Webster’s deliriously good new record, Underdressed At The Symphony. Webster rose to prominence in 2021 when her previous release ‘I Know I’m Funny Ha Ha’ was praised by Barack Obama in his influential annual cultural roundup. This new album, however, feels much more assured and individual than that earlier offering. Webster really grows into her unique brand of slacker-rock here. There’s so much to enjoy in its ten tracks - it’s a record that really creeps up and takes hold of you.
Slow Burn, Baby Rose
(Released on Secretly Canadian)
Soul singer Baby Rose teamed up with jazz/funk pioneers BADBADNOTGOOD for this exciting new EP, Slow Burn, released in early March. Oftentimes, records that hark back to revered genres of music will stray into pastiche, and end up feeling like a pale imitation of the original recordings (see the ‘big band’ revival of the early 00s). This selection of old school Detroit soul could have done exactly that. But instead, it absolutely soars. Baby Rose’s voice feels like it's been pulled straight from a lost Motown record, and it elevates this small collection of superbly produced songs to something exciting and fresh and intoxicatingly listenable.
The Past Is Still Alive, Hurray For The Riff Raff (Released on Nonesuch)
Alynda Segarra (better known as Hurray For The Riff Raff) is back with her ninth studio album, and arguably her very best to date. Pleasingly, it’s a record that feels like it’s been made by an artist who knows exactly what they’re doing. Its sound regularly shifts gears between acoustic-driven country folk and grungy, electric indie rock with a deftness that’s deeply enjoyable to experience. Enjoy it as a surface listen, or dive deeper into Segarra’s beautifully poignant lyrics covering death, addiction, forgiveness, and a whole lot more in between. This is proper, grown up songwriting that delivers a little more joy with every additional spin.
So there you have it! We hope you find something to pique your interest on this list, and at the very least it inspires you to venture out and discover new artists and albums this weekend. Be sure to check out local independent record stores and events in your city ahead of Record Store Day.
If you decide to pick up any of the albums, tag us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and let us know. We can’t wait to see what you picked out!
Article written by Lee Broderick
