New Yorkers LCD Soundsystem have come out of retirement to release a new song for a soundtrack, while the Smashing Pumpkins reveal the first track for an epic rock opera album they’ve got in the works. Hear the latest from Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs and from Minnesota artist Ber, and discover the sounds of California’s Jean Dawson and of U.K. band Sorry.

LCD Soundsystem - new body rhumba

A new song from LCD Soundsystem — who retired a few years ago — “new body rhumba” is their first new song in five years. Don’t get too excited; it doesn’t necessarily signal more to come from the New York group. The song is a one-off for the soundtrack to a Noah Baumbach film called White Noise. It sounds exactly like an LCD Soundsystem song should: a post punk, self-referential thumper. With the release of the song, the band also announced a 20-night (!!) residency at Brooklyn Steel in November and December.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Beguiled

Apparently, Billy Corgan has spent the last four years working away on a three-act rock opera. The 12th album, from Billy as The Smashing Pumpkins, will be called ATUM (pronounced Autumn) and it’ll come out in April next year. The epic album will feature 33 tracks and is a sequel to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina/The Machines of God. The first offering from the huge album is a heavy and thunderous song with a gentle title, “Beguiled.”

Jean Dawson - Pirate Radio*

An artist who straddles genres the same way he straddled his half-Mexican and half-Black cultures as a child with a daily five-hour trek across the Mexico-U.S. border to attend school in the United States, Jean Dawson is an uncompromising artist who has been described “xan-rap, ‘90s grunge, and nu-rave.” His latest album, CHAOS NOW*, expands those genre expectations further with songs like “Pirate Radio*”, a song that goes full Bon Iver with emo and Americana influences.

Freddie Gibbs - Dark Hearted feat. James Blake

“That’s the blueprint to a lot of this rap s**t. The ‘Superflys,’ the ‘Scarfaces,’ the ‘Black Caesars’ — those films and those soundtracks and those themes fuel a lot of the street culture we see in rap. I’m always looking back at that s**t for inspiration.” In a recent conversation with Variety, Freddie Gibbs explained his new album, $oul $old $eperately, as an album embracing excess. The Grammy-nominated artist, whose 13 years in the music industry have seen him growing in acclaim, pulls in a wide variety of producers (Kaytranada, DJ Paul, and James Blake to name a few) to help his gruff-voiced rapping delve into new directions.

Ber - Boys Who Kiss You In Their Car

The gentle voice of Minnesota artist Ber has an exasperation that clings to every phrase in her latest single, "Boys Who Kiss You In Their Car." She's sick of boys in beanies and the ones in bands, and her distorted guitar helps get that frustration across.

Sorry - Closer

U.K. band Sorry sing like they are in the back alley behind the venue, sharing a story and a smoke with you. There’s a gritty, sleazy quality to everything they do. Their new album, Anywhere But Here, is out on October 7.

Playlist