The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.

NEW ALBUMS

Metric, “Formentera” (Metric Music)

The eighth album from the Toronto rockers is named after a picturesque island off the Spanish coast. The idea behind “Formentera” is to make music that serves as a physical destination in our minds amid the chaos of our increasingly digital lives.

“What Feels Like an Eternity” is a signature Metric song, with up-tempo drums, melodic guitars and Emily Haines’ uncanny vocals firmly in the driver’s seat. “All Comes Crashing” is the album’s most anthemic offering, with Haines and a guitar on parallel trajectories into oblivion. But it’s on “Doomscroller” that Metric puts a bow on the album’s overarching statement. It’s a sweeping 10-minute ode to internet-age paranoia thatthe band said on Twitteris like “a high speed chase through the wild terrain of modern life.”

San Francisco is a regular tour stop for Metric, and this year you can catch the band at the Masonic on Oct. 7.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, “Toast” (Reprise)

The seemingly endless treasure trove of the Neil Young Archives vault of albums and live recordings has delivered once again, and this one has a San Francisco connection. Named after the erstwhileToast Studiosin the South of Market neighborhood, where it was recorded in 2000 and 2001, the album’s cover art is a present-day photo of the Toast building at 1340 Mission St.

This new seven-track release with Crazy Horse, known by many as a “long lost” Neil Young album that he’s teased numerous times in the past, features three previously unreleased tracks. “Standing in the Light of Love” has wild guitar riffs, breakneck drums and Young making sense of circumstances gone awry.

“The music of Toast is about a relationship,” Young said in his digital newspaper-style blog, the Daily Contrarian. “There is a time in many relationships that go bad, a time long before the breakup, where it dawns on one of the people, maybe both, that it’s over. This was that time.”

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Lil Nas X and NBA YoungBoy, “Late to Da Party” (RCA)

Lil Nas X has proved himself to be a master of internet-age marketing. In the lead-up to “Late to Da Party,” he not only teased the song in fake collaborations with Grindr and Chick-Fil-A but also reiterated his beef with the BET Awards for failing to give his music any 2022 nominations. In sincedeleted tweets, the rapper said, “Just feel like black gay ppl have to fight to be seen in this world and even when we make it to the top mfs try to pretend we are invisible.”

On the track itself, he and NBA YoungBoy let it all out, singing, “F— BET, F— BET!” on the opening bars. Suffice to say, they’re pissed.

Lil Nas X delivers the canorous hook with a bit more eloquence, rapping, “Don’t try me, you better save that s— for somebody else. Don’t try me, cause I can’t be late to the party.”

Warning: The following video contains explicit language

Taylor Swift, “Carolina” (Republic)

虽然已经释放烟道和泰勒·斯威夫特rerecorded versions of her music as of late, “Carolina” is the first original song from the pop singer since “Evermore” came out in December 2020.

From the soundtrack to the Reese Witherspoon-produced film adaptation of Delia Owens’ novel “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Swift channels the distinct tones of Appalachian folk on the tune. Teaming up again with producer Aaron Dessner of the National, the pared-down arrangement is held up by a somber acoustic guitar as Swift’s hushed vocals are stylistically reminiscent of Lana Del Rey, adding another wrinkle to her mighty arsenal.

Appearing in the film’s end credits, “Carolina” is an ode to the North Carolina marsh where it takes place, all the way down to the sounds of frogs and cicadas.

LOCALLY MINDED

Guap, “GUAP” (Twnshp)

When Guapdad 4000 released thecollaborative album “1176”with producer Illmind last year, little did we know that it would be his final one under his extended moniker. The Grammy-nominated West Oakland rapper is now known simply as “Guap,” and the title of his new EP bears his new name for good.

“I found myself doing too much and not enough of it for myself,” he said in a statement. “With this name shed, it’s time to be me again. It’s time to just be cool again.”

The EP sees Guap operating at his most G-funked out yet. It’s filled with beats made for cruising and pompous, cheeky flows, like “Can’t afford the life, bitch, the quote don’t exist,” on “Pose,” where Bay Area producer Drew Banga lays a woozy thump down for him to spit alongside Wiz Khalifa and Currensy.

Warning: The following video contains explicit language