The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Carly Rae Jepsen, “The Loneliest Time” (Interscope)
Make no mistake: Carly Rae Jepsen is a bona fide pop star.
Sure, the Canadian’s first brush with fame put her at risk of being labeled a one-hit wonder, but Jepsen has since proved that the viral success of her 2012 hit “Call Me Maybe” was no accident. Over the subsequent decade, she’s released two critically acclaimed albums (2015’s “Emotion” and 2019’s “Dedicated”) and established herself as a major draw on the touring circuit.
With her sixth studio album, Jepsen continues an evolution that’s seen her graduate from bubblegum pop to a more electronic, synth-anchored sound. “The Loneliest Time” is also bolstered by a stacked list of collaborators. Lead single “Western Wind” — a rhythm-rich, blissful ode to California in spring — features former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij as producer and co-writer, while the title track finds Jepsen paired with Rufus Wainwright for a dynamic disco love duet.
Recorded over the pandemic, Jepsen’s new album feels destined to bring people back together for her upcoming tour, which includes a stop at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre on Friday, Oct. 21.
M.I.A., “Mata” (Island)
Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. has teased her sixth album, “Mata,” for months now. Reportedly held up waiting for guest verses from Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj, the artist responsible for the 2007 smash-hit “Paper Planes” is clearly anxious to get her follow-up to 2016’s “Aim” out into the world.
In May, M.I.A. teamed with co-producers Rex Kudo and T-Minus to drop slow-burn lead single “The One.” By August, The Chronicle sampled follow-up “Popular,” noting that the Boaz van de Beatz and Diplo co-produced track’s “exotic thump and gun-cocking effects cast an ominous shadow over lyrics that seem celebratory.” Last month, the pair were joined by “Beep,” a short, bass-driven affirmation to claiming your own space and being heard. “Yeah, I’m tryna come through, beep-beep,” she states with authority.
Despite the bangers on the 13-track album, buzz around her new work may be overshadowed by controversy. In aseries of tweets仅仅两天前发出的“马塔”10月下降。14, M.I.A. drew parallels between misinformation about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines to the verdict in the defamation lawsuit against Infowars host Alex Jones, prompting fans to immediately call for the rapper to take a social media break.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
液晶Soundsystem,“New Body Rhumba” (Columbia/DFA)
Fresh off an eight-night residency split across San Francisco’s Warfield and Oakland’s Fox Theater in August, LCD Soundsystem is back with its first new song in five years.
What got the infamously on-again, off-again band back in the studio again following its 2017 Grammy-winning album “American Dream”? The chance to appear as part of the soundtrack for director Noah Baumbach’s upcoming adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel “White Noise,” of course.
“New Body Rhumba” is a jittery dance track that finds singer James Murphy lamenting, “I need a new lover, I need a new body,” over electronic whirls and a healthy dose of cowbell. In typical LCD Soundsystem fashion, the track runs nearly eight minutes, culminating in a frenetic crescendo.
LOCALLY MINDED
Spacemoth, “No Past No Future” (Wax Nine)
Oakland singer-songwriter, producer and studio engineer Maryam Qudus has gone through quite a metamorphosis since being a sound engineer for local hot spots like Women’s Audio Mission and the now-defunct Tiny Telephone recording studios.
Under the moniker Spacemoth, Qudus conjures astral soundscapes on her debut album, “No Past No Future.” Aided by her past work as an engineer for like-minded Bay Area acts like Toro y Moi andTune-Yards, Qudus proves herself to be their peer with tracks like the dazed yet dazzling “UFObird.”
Whirring with strange sounds and soothing melodies, Spacemoth’s journey toward the spotlight appears one destined not to end in flames. See for yourself when Spacemoth opens in support of Spellling on Oct. 31, at the Independent in San Francisco.
Matt Jaffe, “White Roses in the Snow” (self-released)
You may not hear Talking Heads when you listen to San Francisco’s Matt Jaffe, but it was keyboardist Jerry Harrison who discovered the singer-songwriter when Jaffe was just 16. Together, they collaborated on the young Jaffe’s first album, 2018’s “Blast Off,” which was subsequently followed by four more. Now 27, Jaffe is readying for the release of his sixth studio album, “White Roses in the Snow.”
Out Dec. 9, an extensive tease of the record has yielded six advance tracks. The latest, premiering Oct. 28, is piano ballad “Slow Apocalypse.” Singing over a sparse arrangement, Jaffe warns of a light that’s “fading fast” before wallops of bass hammer home bleak visions of worse days yet to come. They are contrasted by ethereal harmonies and a surge of guitar, which makes “Slow Apocalypse” equal parts beauty and dread.
Jaffe is scheduled to appear at numerous venues across the Bay Area in early November, with his first show set for Nov. 3 at Sausalito’s No Name Bar before heading to San Francisco for three hometown shows. Seewww.mattjaffee.comfor details.