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<\/p>\nWith releases from Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson and no less than three records from Drake, May has been a stacked month.<\/p>\n
Looking past those big names, however, was rewarding new music from Kacey Musgraves, Kneecap, and the return of electronic duo Boards of Canada. Plus, closer to home, heavy-hitting First Nations rock and genre-defying polymaths.<\/p>\n
Whatever your tastes, you’ll find something to enjoy in these 10 must-hear albums from May. And if you’d rather listen than read about it, join music reporters Al Newstead, Dan Condon, and Courtney Fry on the Shortcut podcast \u2014 listen up top or on ABC listen.<\/p>\n
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Genesis Owusu\u2019s third album was produced with Dann Hume and features spots from Ladyhawke and Duckwrth. (Supplied: Ourness)<\/p>\n
Genesis Owusu \u2014 Redstar Wu & The Worldwide Scourge<\/p>\n
Spotify<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n Genesis Owusu’s arresting third album wastes no time pulling punches.<\/p>\n Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Kanye West fans, the degrading effects of “blue check mania” \u2014 all that and more get blasted in opening salvo, Pirate Radio.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the fragility of Andrew Tate and the manosphere is dismantled in a funky slow-jam (Blessed Are The Meek), while greedy billionaires and bible-bashing politicians are skewered with wiry punk (Death Cult Zombie).\u00a0<\/p>\n Owusu has never sounded bolder. Not that the soulful punk-funk electro-rap visionary was ever lacking in confidence.<\/p>\n A born performer blessed with powerful imagination and charisma, the Ghanaian Australian established himself as an innovative force with his two ARIA Album of the Year winners: Struggler (2023) and Smiling With No Teeth (2021). He’s likely got a third in the bag.<\/p>\n Redstar Wu & The Worldwide Scourge refines Owusu’s craft, his eclectic tastes channelled into a cohesive thrust, his politically driven fury strengthening his lyrical focus.<\/p>\n He renders the paranoia and confusion of a world losing its grip, apathetic to the atrocities and absurdity of our daily social media feeds, in thrilling, hook-laden tunes that defy neat categorisation.<\/p>\n The album doesn’t just rage against the dystopia of it all, it also seeks shreds of optimism. Cuts like Stampede and Situations call for community, rallying people to overcome the oppressive forces that tear us apart.<\/p>\n “One thing about life is it just keeps going,” declares another stand-out track’s chorus. Sentimental closer ONE4ALL is even more auspicious. “It’s not forever, just for now \u2026 We gon’ be alright ’cause I got you, friend.” It’s Lean On Me-meets-Kendrick Lamar for a disenfranchised generation.<\/p>\n Offering vigour, hope and creativity in an era where those qualities can feel in short supply, Redstar Wu & The Worldwide Scourge is audacious, aspirational, and crucially, accessible. Another essential listen proving, yet again, nobody in Australian music is doing it quite like Genesis Owusu.<\/p>\n If you like: Tyler, The Creator, Prince, Tkay Maidza<\/p>\n Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s new album appeared without warning earlier this week. (Supplied: Eddy Current Suppression Ring)<\/p>\n Eddy Current Suppression Ring \u2014 In Light Of Recent Events<\/p>\n Bandcamp<\/a> | YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n The only surprising thing about Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s fifth studio album is that it exists. In Light Of Recent Events appeared without warning earlier this week, much like 2019’s All In Good Time, and once you hit play, it’s clear what you’re in for.<\/p>\n It’s another slab of post-punk with propulsive rhythms, wiry guitars and urgent vocals \u2014 the hallmarks that have made the band so endearing over the past 20 years. Scoff as they might at the description, they’re now veterans of a sound they helped define, their influence perhaps as potent as their output.<\/p>\n None of that matters here, though. What it does is give us another clear example of one of the great Australian rock bands in full flight.<\/p>\n The energy is right, the band retaining complete control of each arrangement even as it feels like the train could derail at any moment. The performances are where they need to be: Brendan Huntley is always animated but never predictable, his croon on tracks like Turtle and Empathetic every bit as gripping as the punchy turns on Bop or Swimming Hole.<\/p>\n Mikey Young’s guitar lines do a lot of melodic heavy lifting, while the unsung rhythm section of Danny Young and Brad Barry provides the backbone that keeps everything from collapsing.<\/p>\n If you’re looking for a change of pace from Eddy Current, you might need another favourite band. The rest of us are happy to have another round of them doing what they do best.<\/p>\n For fans of: Devo, Royal Headache, The Saints<\/p>\n Ecca Vandal\u2019s second album follows buzz-worthy performances at Coachella and opening for Limp Bizkit and Deftones. (Supplied: Loma Vista Recordings)<\/p>\n Ecca Vandal \u2014 Looking For People To Unfollow<\/p>\n Spotify<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n Convention is the enemy of Ecca Vandal. Instead of logically following up her kinetic, underrated self-titled debut album swiftly, there’s been a nearly decade-long gap. It was not time wasted.<\/p>\n Brandishing metal, neo-soul, pop, hip hop, punk, R&B \u2014 you name it \u2014 Vandal refuses to be boxed in, showcasing her versatility to dizzying effect without forgetting the hooks.<\/p>\n She’ll growl with a rapper’s ferocity over distorted riffs one moment, soar to a candy-coated refrain the next, sounding like Gwen Stefani fronting Violent Soho.<\/p>\n That omnivorous attitude extends to her inventive, co-directed videos<\/a> and fashion<\/a>, delighting in fusing unpredictable combinations into a highly stylised whole.<\/p>\n There’s substance, too, in songs espousing resilience (Bleed But Never Die), frustration (Eyes Shut) and her intersectional identity as a Sri Lankan Australian polymath born in South Africa.<\/p>\n “We’ll tear down the statues made of stone\/We’re living facts that brown and black is gold,” goes Ghosts, tackling historical whitewashing over dynamic beats.<\/p>\n Vandal took herself offline for four years while recording Looking For People To Unfollow in the childhood bedroom of co-producer and bassist Richie ‘Kidnot’ Buxton.<\/p>\n Running on instinct and unfazed by trends, she’s developed a distinctive voice and her own musical universe, with her the compelling star-in-waiting at its centre.<\/p>\n If you like: Genesis Owusu, Santigold, Nova Twins<\/p>\n Kacey Musgraves leans heavily into her country roots on her seventh album. (Supplied: Lost Highway)<\/p>\n Kacey Musgraves \u2014 Middle Of Nowhere<\/p>\n Spotify<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a> | YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n Kacey Musgraves was a country star before she crossed over into indie and pop on recent records. Anyone claiming her return to the genre on album number seven is a trend-chasing cash-in might want to revisit 2013’s excellent Same Trailer Different Park, where her credentials are clear.<\/p>\n Middle Of Nowhere proves country is an especially comfortable space for the singer-songwriter. Her voice and perspective make her a natural bridge between the genre’s evolving sound and the idea that we don’t need to abandon the past to make something that feels current.<\/p>\n It’s not a perfect album: the opening title track sounds a little too much like Somethin’ Stupid, Dry Spell is a little too horny and a little too clever, and Willie Nelson’s appearance on Uncertain, TX suggests the 91-year-old master would rather be anywhere else.<\/p>\n But these imperfections are easily forgotten. While she might not win a Pulitzer anytime soon, Musgraves’s vignettes are straightforward and compelling \u2014 tales of men struggling with addiction, women needing to skip town \u2014 and she even puts to bed a long-rumoured feud with Miranda Lambert on the cute Horses and Divorces.<\/p>\n None of her high-profile guests stand taller than the uncredited players who make the record sparkle. Paul Franklin’s weeping pedal steel is a highlight, while longstanding collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk create the right sonic environment to elevate everything Musgraves does. The arrangements are spacious, the sounds sleek where they need to be.<\/p>\n It may not be groundbreaking, but a conscious return to the music that made Musgraves is an easy win. These songs don’t demand much, but they’re absorbing on the surface, with enough substance to land in the way great, emotive country so often does.<\/p>\n For fans of: Ella Langley, Dolly Parton, Maggie Rogers<\/p>\n The title of Kneecap’s new album reclaims a once-derogatory word, Fenian, to its original term for warriors in Irish folklore.\u00a0 (Supplied: Heavenly Recordings)<\/p>\n Kneecap \u2013 Fenian<\/p>\n Spotify<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n Spitting anti-imperialist sentiments in English and Gaelic, Kneecap’s rave-rap has made them Northern Ireland’s most notorious band. Firstly, with an acclaimed biopic<\/a> and then as controversy-baiting<\/a> agitators, outraging politicians<\/a> and facing prosecution over terrorist charges<\/a> (that were thrown out of court).<\/p>\n Fenian<\/a> capitalises on that confrontational momentum; a ferocious, irreverent, politically charged record that beefs up their winning formula of Public Enemy meets The Prodigy.<\/p>\n They blast PMs Keir Starmer and Benjamin Netanyahu on Liars Tale, savage British colonialism on An Ra, and condemn the conflict in Gaza on a claustrophobic, grimy joint featuring Palestinian rapper Fawzi.<\/p>\n Uncompromising about their targets, Kneecap also expand their emotional and sonic range. Irish Goodbye is a devastating ode to M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap’s mother, who died by suicide in 2020, while the vintage techno of Big Bad Mo and drum n bass shout-along Headcase form a thrilling mid-album peak.<\/p>\n You don’t need to be fluent in Irish or necessarily align with their political views to appreciate Kneecap’s athletic, bilingual bars or revolutionary spirit.<\/p>\n If you like: N.W.A, Sleaford Mods, Bob Vylan\u00a0<\/p>\n Boards of Canada teased Inferno\u2019s arrival last month with mysterious posters and VHS tapes mailed to fans. (Supplied: Warp Records)<\/p>\n Boards of Canada \u2014 Inferno<\/p>\n Spotify<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n After 13 years of radio silence, influential electronic duo Boards of Canada have flickered back to life with a new album. Their fifth, it features much of what Scottish siblings Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin do so well.<\/p>\n Blending analogue synths and hazy beats with psychedelic textures and disembodied voices sampled from obscure sources, they create enigmatic soundscapes less like songs than out-of-body experiences.<\/p>\n Take The Word Becomes Flesh, a cinematic slow-build of percussive layers toward a cut-up biological commentary about human embryo development.<\/p>\n This has been Boards of Canada’s specialty since their groundbreaking 1998 debut, Music Has The Rights To Children. Inferno, however, evolves their nostalgia-tinted ambience by holding a funhouse mirror up to our chaotic present, conveying a sense of creeping dread by obfuscating explicit meaning.<\/p>\n Case in point: The quasi-religious rant fronting All Reason Departs. Voices are warped into distorted whispers on the suitably subterranean, sitar-assisted Blood In the Labyrinth, and a lurid wash of synths and buzzing flies segues into the familiar blip of a life support system.<\/p>\n This is ambient music that lures you in with warped melodies and wafting atmospheres, only for unnerving ideas to sour the moment, leaving you wondering, ‘How did we get here?’<\/p>\n Both unsettling and soothing, and running at 70 minutes over 19 tracks, Inferno isn’t a trip for everyone. But those willing to join Boards of Canada on arguably their densest, darkest trip yet will be rewarded.<\/p>\n If you like: Aphex Twin, Matmos, Oneohtrix Point Never.<\/p>\n Mulga Bore Hard Rock deliver pure rock\u2019n\u2019roll with reverence for the past and a wholly unique perspective. (Supplied: Community Music)<\/p>\n Mulga Bore Hard Rock \u2014 Sweet Home Mulga Bore<\/p>\n YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n When it comes to rock’n’roll, adulation is a beautiful emotion \u2014 one to be fostered and cherished. Even bands bereft of talent can be compelling if their hearts are truly in it.<\/p>\n Then there are the bands with the full package: technical aptitude, undying devotion to the form, and enough lived experience injected into the work that it feels utterly honest.<\/p>\n Mulga Bore Hard Rock fall firmly into that category. Their debut album, Sweet Home Mulga Bore, captures everything good, pure and vital about rock’n’roll.<\/p>\n Across eight songs and 26 breathless minutes, the six-piece delivers big riffs, searing solos and melodies as catchy as any pub rock of the past half-century.<\/p>\n Mulga Bore’s sound is unabashedly inspired by the great bands who came before them, drawing on the chugging boogie-blues-rock of AC\/DC and the glistening guitarmonies of KISS. Songs like Young Men employ scorching Chuck Berry-style lead breaks that will never go out of fashion.<\/p>\n There’s nothing new about the sound. What sets them apart from others traversing similar territory is simple: they do it better. There’s an attention to detail across every aspect of their existence \u2014 their costuming on the live stage is as arresting as their songs \u2014 all feeding into a fully realised vision.<\/p>\n It’s lyrically that you’ll find something you’re unlikely to hear from other hard rock bands. They incorporate Anmatyerre language on tracks like Young Men and Sweet Home Mulga Bore.<\/p>\n Then, on Rocking With The Legends, they deliver a straight-down-the-line account of getting the call-up to support their heroes KISS at a Gold Coast stadium show<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n If you love rock’n’roll, you owe it to yourself to take a spot in the Mulga Bore Hard Rock fan club. Just like the band themselves, we’re loud and proud about how they make us feel.<\/p>\n For fans of: The Angels, Iron Maiden, AC\/DC<\/p>\n Would Violet Grohl\u2019s debut album still hit if you had zero idea of her parentage? Yes. Yes, it would. (Supplied: Universal Music Group)<\/p>\n Violet Grohl \u2014 Be Sweet To Me<\/p>\n Spotify<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n She’s the eldest daughter of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, first following in his sizeable footsteps at age 12, but don’t write Violet Grohl off as simply a nepo baby.<\/p>\n Be Sweet To Me, her impressive debut album, proves that the 20-year-old Grohl has clearly made the most of her genes and rock-star upbringing.<\/p>\n The hot-wired riffage of THUM and Often Others suggests Queens of the Stone Age and Nirvana are a bigger influence than her old man’s band. And she’s more than comfortable fronting a racket.<\/p>\n Her presence and way with a melody naturally invite comparisons to The Breeders and Hole. Particularly on the anthemic Bug In The Cake and grungy 595 \u2014 its provocative refrain inspired by an old T-shirt advertising a sex phone-line: “I’ll be your 1-900-G spot, baby \/ 595 I’m on the line \/ you won’t last.”<\/p>\n The quiet-loud thrashing of Cool Buzz confidently skewers the performative allyship of male contemporaries in the rock scene, while the record provides a dreamy detour into shoegaze-y textures on Pool of My Dreams and the moody, melodic Mobile Star.<\/p>\n Written and recorded with producer Justin Raisen in his L.A. home studio (without her Dave Grohl’s help), Be Sweet To Me is regularly as good as the varied ’90s alt-rock touchstones that influenced it.<\/p>\n As an older generation of rock gods age out, it’s thrilling to know someone like Violet Grohl can not only pick up the torch and keep that lineage burning but draw a whole new generation of fans to the flame.<\/p>\n If you like: Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey, The Breeders<\/p>\n It’s Been Awful marks another cult classic from TDE’s sole Southern USA representative. (Supplied: Top Dawg Entertainment)<\/p>\n Isaiah Rashad \u2013 It’s Been Awful<\/p>\n Spotify<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n Tennessee MC Isaiah Rashad may be the textbook example of an “if you know, you know” artist.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bursting onto the scene in 2013 at the tail end of the blog era, Rashad, alongside soon-to-be R&B superstar SZA, was among the new signees to LA label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) whose roster at the time featured rap heavyweights like Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and Jay Rock. But Rashad brought a distinctly Southern twang to the West Coast label.<\/p>\n It’s Been Awful marks ‘Zay’s fourth TDE project since signing, a modest output for someone of his ability. Since his 2014 debut, Cilvia Demo, his music has carried a depressive melancholy that resonates deeply with listeners, though not without consequence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rehab stints for substance abuse have punctuated each release cycle, and in the years leading to It’s Been Awful, Rashad was also publicly outed as bisexual. Themes of addiction, masculinity, and sexuality sit at the forefront of It’s Been Awful.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fellow Southern rappers Outkast loom large as his most direct influence, with nods to their unimpeachable catalogue scattered throughout his own. There’s a funk swing to the bombastic M.O.M (Man on a Mission), where ‘Zay flows like a man possessed (reminiscent of Andr\u00e9 3000 on Bombs Over Baghdad).\u00a0<\/p>\n Boy In Red, featuring longtime collaborator SZA, pivots into bedroom pop territory, where he tenderly sings, “I could be your boyfriend, and if that doesn’t work, then I’ll just be your girlfriend”.<\/p>\n It’s Been Awful lands as an adrenaline shot of catharsis, balancing heaviness with flashes of joy and optimism, often disguising its darker undercurrents beneath warm, inviting production.<\/p>\n If you like: Outkast, Kendrick Lamar, SZA<\/p>\n Aldous Harding’s musical world is well established and still wholly engrossing. (Supplied: 4AD)<\/p>\n Aldous Harding \u2013 Train on the Island<\/p>\n Spotify<\/a> | YouTube<\/a> | Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n Aldous Harding has a litany of impressive talents. Perhaps the most potent is her ability to create magic with a very basic toolkit.<\/p>\n Take the title track from her fifth album Train On The Island: it features little more than a gentle beat, a three-note bass run and a simple piano motif, yet in the hands of Harding and longtime producer John Parish, it becomes an engrossing world of sound and emotion.<\/p>\n This latest LP isn’t really a departure \u2014 Harding’s approach feels firmly established after a stellar run of revered albums. That’s good news because one of her defining traits is unpredictability.<\/p>\n The flowery psych-pop of Venus in the Zinnia, shared with Welsh singer H. Hawkline, shares little sonic DNA with the plaintive Riding That Symbol, which in turn occupies a different space to the dripping early single One Stop.<\/p>\n It’s a testament to the potency of Harding’s voice and her trusting relationship with Parish that this breadth of ideas adds to the album. Their playful, open-minded, singular take on folk-infused indie pop makes a strong case for repeated listening.<\/p>\n For fans of: Joanna Newsom, Angel Olsen, Joni Mitchell<\/p>\n![\"30](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/76f01611b0a25b391a774fab1c1031c5.jpeg\")
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