Music
Preview
14 albums you need to hear in June
Featuring new records from Bob Dylan, Janelle Monae, Christine And The Queens, Dream Wife, Maisie Peters, Queens Of The Stone Age and more
Pride Month. Glastonbury. Download. Ascot. Father’s Day. National Doughnut Day… There’s a lot going on in June, and our weekends are filling up fast with easy excuses to wheel the BBQ out. But it’s not all about sausages and six-packs. The (proper) start of festival season also means everyone’s got new music to debut, and this month squeezes in albums from a lot of the year’s heavy hitters.
Here’s our pick of the best new records releasing in June.
2 June
Bob Dylan – Shadow Kingdom
“Remember when Dylan played that live-stream gig from the Bon Bon Club in Marseille back in May 2021? Yeah, that never actually happened. If you paid the $25 to watch it you actually saw Alma Har’el’s arthouse project that had Dylan and his band (including Big Thief guitarist, Buck Meek) miming along to pre-recorded tracks featuring entirely different musicians, all on a Californian soundstage. Or maybe not. The liner notes are just as cryptic as the film, so no one really knows – but the soundtrack is now getting an album release as a celebration of what we are sure Shadow Kingdom represented: Dylan’s beautifully stripped-back dive-bar reworkings of 14 of his own classics.” Paul
The Aces – I’ve Loved You For So Long
“It’s been a joy to hear The Aces slowly become more explicitly celebratory of queer love and experiences over the last five years. Lead single ‘Girls Make Me Wanna Die’ from their upcoming third album feels like we’ve broken new ground – it’s an excellent piece of indie pop with none of the quartet’s old coyness concerning pronouns. With four singles out so far, we’re seeing shades of Haim, Caroline Polachek, Christine and the Queens and Muna in their latest record – as well as the infectious joy listeners can always expect from an Aces release.” Caitlin
Beach Fossils – Bunny
“The New York trio seemed to have wandered off the grid for a while, but a turn on HBO’s Vinyl thankfully reignited things. Bunny, their first album of new material since 2017, adds a little more momentum to their swaying dream pop, particularly on the sprightly ‘Sleeping On My Own’ and ‘Don’t Fade’. As swooning and drenched in reverb as a consumptive Southern belle lost in a cave. Nobody does hazy C86 pop better than Beach Fossils.” Mark
9 June
Janelle Monae – The Age Of Pleasure
![Janelle Monáe - Lipstick Lover (CLEAN) [Official Music Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RY9u1kYvdjU/0.jpg)
“The last time you saw Janelle Monae it was probably from a turkey-induced stupor as you watched Glass Onion over the Christmas period. The Kansas City polymath returns in 2023 with more indulgence in musical form with The Age Of Pleasure – her first album in five years. Expect a characteristically eclectic mix of sounds, though singles ‘Lipstick Lover’ and ‘FLOAT’ hint at a particularly blissed-out reggae influence.” John
Christine and the Queens – Paranoïa, Angels, True Love
““And I’ve been through so much that sometimes it feels far/It is like a movie played by another star,” sings Héloïse Letissier in ‘To Be honest’, the dreamy, prayer-like lead single of his latest album. If this is a goodbye to Redcar, the suave protagonist of 2022’s Redcar Les Adorables Étoiles, then at least the alternative pop beginnings of Paranoïa, Angels, True Love promise excellent things to come.” Caitlin
Dream Wife – Social Lubrication
“I’m cheating here because I’ve already heard the whole record – but there’s so much to love between the tracks that have already been teased out. ‘Hot (Don’t Date A Musician)’ is scuzzed up new rave with a better sense of humour, ‘Leech’ bleeds righteous anger and ‘Orbit’ nods to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs – but the rest of the album lifts Dreamwife further above their labels and influences than ever before. Deliberately scrapping the polish off their older sound for something that feels more alive (and now self-produced), Social Lubrication feels like the record that might just get the band where they deserved to be at least five years ago.” Paul
Youth Lagoon – Heaven Is A Junkyard
“It seemed Trevor Powers was done with his Youth Lagoon project, but seven years later, he’s returned with album number four. As with the previous three, his whispered melodies are so fragile that they seem to be evaporating as they reach your ears. Powers’ haunting psychedelic Americana recalls the gentlest moments of Sparklehorse and Mercury Rev: mournful, introverted and delicately beautiful.” Mark
16 June
Queens Of The Stone Age – In Times New Roman…
“Josh Homme and his motley cast of stoner-rock heavy-lifters, Queens Of The Stone Age, are back after six long years. Lead single ‘Emotion Sickness’ was suitably sultry and sludgy, though its chorus revealed a more melodic side to the band. Hopefully there’s more of that to come, but not without some more jagged-edged riffs and face-wincing chugs.” John
23 June
Maisie Peters – The Good Witch
![Maisie Peters - Lost The Breakup [Official Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DwoovvtYf08/0.jpg)
“Peters’ confessional pop is about to get even more revealing – and even more brutal. From image issues and crippling self-doubt on ‘Body Better’ to swaggering, self-aggrandising confidence on ‘Lost The Breakup’ and hopeless heartbreak on ‘Two Weeks Ago’, the singer-songwriter swings wildly from one emotional state to another and invites the listener to do the same. Venturing into the rest of the record will be an intimidating task.” Caitlin
The High Water Marks – Your Next Wolf
“Since ending their 13-year hibernation with 2020’s superb Ecstasy Rhymes, the Norwegian-American band have made up for lost time with a plethora of sweet, fuzzy indie pop. Their third album in three years finds Hilary Sidney and Per Ole Bratset right in the zone, packing gigantic sugary hooks into songs like the oh-so-appropriately titled ‘American Candy’. This looks like another direct hit from one of the most reliable bands out there.” Mark
Albert Hammond Jr – Melodies On Hiatus
![Albert Hammond Jr - Old Man [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2v2LjrgAOPc/0.jpg)
“2015’s Momentary Masters was inspired by Hammond’s time in rehab, its 2018 follow-up, Francis Trouble, by a lost twin – and now we get his whole life story in a double album full of hooky new wave vignettes. Cameos from GoldLink and Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders stir in new influences, but the nine (nine!) songs released so far feel like the path The Strokes almost took after Room On Fire. There’s still another ten tracks to wait for, but this already feels like the best slice of Hammond’s solo career so far.” Paul
Martin Frawley – The Wannabe
“Former Twerps frontman Frawley was all at sea on his solo debut Undone At 31, but The Wannabe finds the newly married Australian songwriter embracing positivity. Single ‘This Is Gonna Change Your Mind’ is a direct descendant of the very best Antipodean music, brimming with laidback charm and languid hooks. There’s a warm, contented glow across the whole thing, not least on ‘Lola’, Frawley’s gentle, sincere love song to his new bride.” Mark
30 June
Olivia Dean – Messy
“Honestly, we’ve deserved a full album of Olivia Dean’s stirring soul-pop for a while, and it’s about time we got it. The London singer-songwriter has been proving her chops for years and the four singles from Messy look to be some of her best work yet; from the harmonic, resonant ‘UFO’ to the upbeat, airy ‘Dive’. Latest offering ‘Carmen’ pays tribute to her grandmother, who moved to the UK as part of the Windrush generation, a story expertly conveyed by Dean. This is an exciting one.” Caitlin
Hayden Pedigo – The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored
“If you’re a fan of the sprawling and sweltering instrumental landscapes of the likes of William Tyler or Marisa Anderson, look no further than Hayden Pedigo. The 29-year-old Texan crafts acoustic guitar tales steeped in the history of the Panhandle, and songs such as ‘Elsewhere’ hint that The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored are even more intricately weaved with finger-picking wistfulness.” John
Tickets are on sale now or soon for many of the names on this month’s list at ticketmaster.co.uk, with a lot of major tours and dates still to be announced this year.
