New Music Friday: Stream projects from Orion Sun, Spresso, and more

Discussing her then-new EP Getaway with The FADER in 2022, Orion Sun called it a “stepping stone” to where she wanted to take her polysonic songwriting in the future. Two years later, her new full-length Orion shows us what that looks like. The new record nods at the contemporary sound of post-Frank Ocean R&B (melodies coated in lysergic-neon trails, starkly personal lyrics, and a holistic approach to genre) without getting lost in it. Orion Sun’s ambition is grander, her identity more confident on Orion: on “Mary Jane,” she crafts a blues-via-Liz Phair’s Girlysound era ode to herb, the scattered plunderphonic-reminscent production of the lovelorn “Nights Like This.” “These Days,” another personal favorite, glides on bossa nova guitar and cinematic strings as Orion Sun sings of surrender and the myth of Icarus. It’s the song where she sings of struggling to “keep my head above water,” the same losing battle depicted on the album’s cover. Orion Sun is consistently looking for escape throughout the project: from her circumstances, from her state of mind, from herself. The songs themselves feel like keys she’s crafted in a desperate attempt to escape some prison; they may not unlock that door, but they have helped release one of the year’s most engaging R&B projects. — Jordan Darville

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Pretty Penny Slur is easily Spresso’s most fully realized universe yet, but it provides little in the way of resolution. It can feel at times like an incomplete thought or a half-baked plan, one that comes tantalizingly close to locking into place but never quite gets there. In the context of Mica Levi’s oeuvre, though, this frustrating effect feels less like the result of laziness or light trolling than the machinations of a master sculptor, one whose steps are illegible to anyone outside their mind, but whose final work will be unmistakable in the end. — Raphael Helfand. Read our full review here.

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London band Honeyglaze's second album is a lively and spiky collection of songs that hang off Anouska Sokolow's fevered vocals. She is coiled and seething on "Don't," laying down the law to an unruly partner and making space for herself by force ("I'm a person too you know I've got things to say I've got fucking feelings" she sings with venom on her tongue). This energy can be found elsewhere on the album, released via Fat Possum, with her bandmates putting muscle behind "Hide"'s fierce jabs and ensuring the swooning back half of the record soars in melancholy fashion. Real Deal sits comfortably alongside similarly thoughtful and punchy recent albums by fellow Brits English Teacher and The Last Dinner Party, but Honeyglaze stand out from the pack with their sharply-drawn character studies. The loneliness epidemic is explored through the role of a telemarketer on "Cold Caller," while "Pretty Girls" is a painfully accurate reconstruction of feeling awkward at a party. Sokolow's attention to detail, alongside her vulnerability, make for a jolting and thought-provoking listen. — David Renshaw

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Conor Oberst released his first Bright Eyes record at 15, writing and recording contemplative songs about adolescent yearning, teenage heartbreak, and suburban angst from his parents’ basement in Omaha. Some of the songs were performed on a guitar with a palpable fury, while others used sweeping cinematic samples to convey a sense of urgency and melodrama. Far from the melancholy Americana indie he’d become famous for in his twenties, his debut was a curiosity-driven experiment inspired by Omaha’s indie scene and the rambunctious ‘80s pop-punk of bands like The Replacements. And with the help of The So So Glos’ Alex Orange Drink, Oberst has returned to his hooky, garage punk roots with the raw and raucous Five Dice, All Threes, an earnest and fun-loving album that pays homage to his lesser-known past. — Sandra Song

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Lutalo’s debut record, The Academy, finds the Minnesota-raised, Vermont-based singer-songwriter searching for peace through songwriting and auto-fiction, set to fuzzy post-punk and folk. Combining elements of truth with their imagination as they process the memories of their family losing their house during the 2008 financial crash, The Academy is their way of processing what they couldn't understand as a kid. It's full of Bloc Party-era indie rock and some weirder experimental post-punk and Scott Pilgrim-influenced slacker; "3," which evokes the image of being asphyxiated by a noose as they lament about being "all tied up," is an album standout. — Cady Siregar. Read our full profile with the musician.

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For the past two decades, Joan Wasser has released music that is sophisticated in tone and sturdy in its craft. Lemons, Limes, and Orchids, the tenth Joan As Policewoman album, continues this impressive body of work with a collection of late-night songs that begins with sparkly jazz-funk ("Back Again") before slowly dissolving into ambient textures ("Safe To Say"). Lyrically, Wasser zooms in and out of subjects close to her heart. On "Remember the Voice" she gets personal, rubbing blurry-eyed memories of New York until they take shape. "Long For Ruin," meanwhile, is a bird's eye view of an isolationist society slowly separating itself from compassion. In recent years, Wasser has worked largely in collaboration with others, releasing music with afrobeat drummer Tony Allen and joining Iggy Pop's live band. Lemons, Limes, and Orchids is the sound of her returning to a more direct form of communication, it's a comforting and soulful homecoming. — DR

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp