Melody on Music is Pop Heist's regular roundup of new releases from across the spectrum of recorded sound. Here, music critic Melody Esme singles out the most noteworthy drops, from major releases to hidden gems. Consider adding these to your rotation — and if you give them a spin, let us know what you think on Bluesky.
Tunde Adebimpe: Thee Black Boltz [Sub Pop]
"Get down to basics/We're gonna crash your matrix," sings the TV on the Radio frontman who's long possessed indie rock's finest falsetto. His band never really left their peak era, the 11 years without a new album since 2014's Seeds make it impossible to judge whether they would still be churning out fire in the 2020s were they to put out new work. Thankfully, Adebimpe's first solo set is his best collection of songs since TVOTR's 2008 magnum opus Dear Science, finding a satisfying middle ground between universality on "The Most" ("I know it's natural to change/It's like the shifting of the seasons/But while I thought we had it made/You were out committing acts of treason") and present relevance on "Blue" ("Earth's talking retribution/Know it's coming soon"). The two are one and the same at this point — yearning for a better world and for the kind of love that can bring it about as never-ending as the march of time each inevitably reminds us of. The romantic and pulsating "Somebody New" is the clear highlight. But also check out the synthpop jam "The Most" and "God Knows," as spiritual in its orchestral arrangement as "Shout Me Out." A
Oklou: Choke Enough [True Panther]
From an opener that ponders "Is the endless still unbound?" to the uncharacteristic acoustic guitar-driven closing number, Marylou Mayniel's debut is possibly the mellowest album A. G. Cook and Danny L Harle have ever had production credits on. Muted and minimalist, with its boldest touches kept in the background, you may find it too withholding—by design—for its own good. But it keeps calling me back, something I can't say for most of her avant-pop brethren. Be patient, and it'll reward you with "harvest sky," an Underscores collab that fuses eurodance nonsense and hyperpop nonsense, à la Ruby Bell's masterpiece "Internet bf" from last year. A trend? Let's hope. A-
Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful [Columbia]
Miley makes albums the way a movie star like Robert Pattinson makes movies—occasionally doing a conventional pop album to show she can still do it and fund the genre experiments you can tell she has more passion for. If Endless Summer Vacation was her The Batman, this is her Lighthouse. It's wildly different from Plastic Hearts (her Good Time, duh), finding a new but just as appropriate context for her unmistakable smokey voice, a sort of symphonic prog-pop that reminds me of Lana as often as it does Björk. But to prove she's not Lana, she mixes in some disco, with "Reborn," and europop, with "End of the World." The latter even steals its melody from "Mamma Mia" like she's subtly auditioning for the third film. Take it up with Molly Rankin and Alec O'Hanley of Alvvays, who co-wrote it. B+
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