OFM New Music: June
This month’s must-catch new music releases from the artists you already love and the musicians you need to know. Look no further for queer music releases.
Poliça
Madness
The indietronica outfit’s sixth album, Madness, sees the band creating gorgeous, dark bops such as the lead single “Alive.” As always, there is something potently sensual in the churning rhythms and gloomy vocal delivery of singer Channy Leaneagh, who explores themes of identity, perception, representation, reality, commodification, and destruction through the music in this companion piece to 2020’s When We Stay Alive.
Releases June 3
Petrol Girls
Baby
On the follow-up to 2019’s Cut & Stitch, the four-person punk band is as electric and politically potent as ever. Drawing from the early records of Sleater-Kinney, and specifically Carrie Brownstein’s angular delivery, the group tackles everything from abortion rights to candidates-as-political-shills. In an era where 90s nostalgia is in full bloom, Petrol Girls evokes the acidic anger and concise cultural gripes that wouldn’t be out of place in the songs of Kathleen Hanna and others.
Releases June 24
MUNA
Muna
On opening track and lead single “Silk Chiffon,” the band, along with guest singer Phoebe Bridgers, churns out a breezy, Cranberries-esque pop gem that sets the tone for the rest of the album. Incorporating elements from HAIM like heartbreak harmonies, to “bad” sounding keyboards that wouldn’t be out of place on a Duran Duran release, MUNA is effortlessly fun. Whether it’s another Hot Girl Summer or another season spent in lockdown, this can soundtrack the brightest days before sweater weather.
Releases June 24
Hercules and Love Affair
In Amber
Flitting between the deep romanticism and vulnerability of Antony and the Johnsons, and the carnal prowl of Greg Dulli, the latest effort from the electronic auteurs creates a rich, sophisticated palette to immerse yourself in. These songs are carved from the stuff of life’s greatest questions, and listening is like swimming in an empty lake on a starlit evening. When it’s time to come down, but not go home, give this a spin until you’re ready for the promise of tomorrow.
Releases June 17
Perfume Genius
Ugly Season
Michael Alden Hadreas’s star continues to ascend on his sixth release, and third since the breakthrough track “Sip Away.” Here, the musician expands his sonic textures, incorporating Brazilian dance rhythms, Afrobeat, Euro swing, and calypso into his arsenal. The effect is not unlike time traveling through the past and present of club bangers, with Hadreas at the helm of a sound both familiar and distinctly his own.
Releases June 17
Regina Spektor
Home, before and after
After six years, the indie darling returns with a meditation on marriage, life, cultural identity, heritage, and what it means to be of a place/have a home. There’s nothing new in Spektor’s sound on her eighth album, but it’s also not sad or disappointing to hear these songs. Aging gracefully is hard, but Spektor has found a way to make it feel like there’s potential for a great new chapter, even as she ruminates on the failures and sliding doors of the past.
Releases June 24
