Is the new Foo Fighters the best album of April?

Double J

Topic:Music

Yes, Dave Grohl and his rocking band of Australia-bound merry men, the Foo Fighters, have a new album out. But there's much more to enjoy from April's slate of record releases.

From club-facing collaborative projects to homegrown heroes and a pair of Québécois aliens making left-field instrumental jams, these are the 10 must-hear albums from April we couldn't stop spinning.

You can hear us yak about it all, too. Music and pop culture reporter Al Newstead has dived into April's releases alongside Double J editor Dan Condon and triple j music reporter Courtney Fry — check it out on ABC listen.

Nine Inch Noize offers a fresh lick of paint for old fans and the perfect entry point for new listeners.

Nine Inch Noize — Nine Inch Noize

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Fresh from a heavily stylised, acclaimed Coachella performance, Nine Inch Noize is a new project from Nine Inch Nails (NIN) mastermind Trent Reznor with two of his closest collaborators: Oscar-winning film composer partner Atticus Ross and his vocalist wife Mariqueen Maandig, plus some fresh blood: German-Iraqi dance producer Boys Noize.

The premise is simple: raved-up renditions of Reznor's back catalogue via filthy synths and throbbing beats.

The carnal Closer and confrontational Heresy — classic cuts from The Downward Spiral — are supercharged into corrosive club bangers.

Blurring the lines between concert album, remix project and a greatest hits compilation, Nine Inch Noize is like a 4K cinematic remaster of a classic: offering fresh perspectives for long-term fans and updating NIN's scorched-earth sonics for a modern-day context.

Instead of clamouring for relevancy (like some of his 90s alt-rock peers), the 60-year-old Reznor is a visceral reminder that, like his idols Bowie and Prince, reinvention (and rage) can keep you young.

For fans of: Depeche Mode, Health, Gesaffelstein.

Dave Grohl's scream is in good shape on the 12th album for the Foo Fighters, Your Favorite Toy.

Foo Fighters — Your Favorite Toy

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There's something off about the sound of Foo Fighters' 12th studio album.

These reliable purveyors of rock turn in more than passable albums every few years thanks to Dave Grohl's endless energy and the ceaseless demand for the band's work.

Here, wild rockers like Spit Shine and Caught In The Echo allow Grohl to break out his trusty scream, which no fan will complain about.

Straight-ahead rockers like Unconventional and Window plod along pleasantly, shining examples of dependable but largely uninspiring mid-tempo rock.

Perhaps the most engaging moments come via pocket-sized epic Asking For A Friend, which combines guitar worship with a little optimism and ensures they close on a high.

This isn't the best-sounding Foo Fighters record, and it doesn't feature the best Foo Fighters songs.

For fans of: Powderfinger, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins.

Superbloom is an opulent, playful record filled with lush, vintage arrangements and intoxicating grooves.

Jessie Ware — Superbloom

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Slip into something slinky, grab some bubbly and enjoy Jessie Ware's fun, flirtatious, glamorously grown-up pop record.

Superbloom loosely concludes a trilogy that began in 2020 with What's Your Pleasure? and continued with 2023's That! Feels Good!, which reinvented the British artist as a powerhouse vocalist hosting a confident, campy after-hours dancefloor.

There's more of the 1970s disco and house vintage of those records (think Chic, Evelyn 'Champagne' King, Chaka Khan) but Superbloom's influences go broader and deeper.

ABBA, Grace Jones, Minnie Riperton's Le Fleurs, musical theatre melodrama and an obscure Pet Shop Boys and Liza Minnelli collaboration are all embedded in the DNA of these songs.

From the opulent euphoria of I Could Get Used To This to Don't You Know Who I Am?, which sounds like Barbara Streisand doing a James Bond theme in Studio 54, the lush grooves and orchestral palette hearken back to a more sophisticated era of pop songwriting.

Ware's vocals — exquisitely simmering, crooning or soaring for the rafters — are a treat.

'I need a stallion who can go all night,' goes Ride, which interpolates Ennio Morricone's iconic The Good, The Bad and the Ugly theme for a ride in an Italo disco saddle.

But the 41-year-old singer, hit podcaster and mother-of-three also finds space for sentimentality.

For fans of: Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Kylie Minogue, Jamiroquai

You might have seen Angine de Poitrine on your social media feeds this month.

Angine de Poitrine — Vol. II

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You may have seen videos of the anonymous Canadian duo Angine de Poitrine in your feeds in recent months.

They're a compelling package: their costumes, their anonymity, and their peculiar, microtonal take on groove-driven rock all perfectly geared to drive intrigue.

Interestingly, much of what makes this duo's latest album good — and it is genuinely good — is the meat and potatoes of rock 'n' roll: their deft musicality, intuitive chemistry, and covertly catchy melodies.

Anyone on board for the gimmick will tire quickly.

Mata Zyklek sounds like an especially irrational bumblebee, and the taut album opener, Fabienk, apparently uses two time signatures at once, which hurts to think about but sounds pretty great.

Their differences draw us in, but their similarities to rock and jazz keep us hooked.

For fans of: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Primus, Battles

Matt Corby cements his DIY auteur status on his fourth album, Tragic Magic.

Matt Corby — Tragic Magic

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On his fourth album, Tragic Magic, Matt Corby's voice continues to dazzle.

Burn It Down struts along an athletic bassline and stabbing disco strings, while the minimalist, springy riff of Big Ideas could be mistaken for 60s desert freak-folk.

Time spent producing other acts (Budjerah, The Dreggs, Tash Sultan et al.) has enhanced his already auspicious ear for creativity on a smorgasbord of styles.

Maggie spins an impromptu recording of magpie's birdsong into cinematic, psych-dipped pop.

There's also reflective musings on family, spanning grief to gratitude, stitched into a rich vein of old-school soul.

Corby has come an awfully long way since singing competitively on Australian Idol as a teenager.

For fans of: Marvin Gaye, Meg Mac, Bon Iver

TOMORA is the new project from Tom Rowland of The Chemical Brothers and Norwegian singer Aurora.

TOMORA — Come Closer

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Tom Rowland of big beat legends The Chemical Brothers teams up with otherworldly Norwegian indie pop wonder Aurora to become TOMORA, and they have no hesitation bringing their shrewd aptitude for creating left-field euphoria to this new project.

After Aurora's incredible vocals on modern Chems classics like Eve Of Destruction and Bango, there was no question as to whether this would be a good fit.

Having her on board for an entire record allows for plenty of play with what her voice can do, carrying breezy pop hooks in Somewhere Else, soaring semi-operatic passages in Come Closer, fairly straight pop balladry in Side By Side, and sultry androgyny on A Boy Like You.

There will be few spookier albums released this year.

Lock yourself in a dark room and scare yourself senseless with the glitchy, theatrical Have You Seen Me Dance Alone, the hard and hectic In A Minute, even the propulsive, dancefloor-friendly I Drink The Light throws in a couple of terrifying loops for good measure.

For fans of: Björk, Underworld, Flight Facilities

Thundercat's fifth album Distracted features a bevy of high-profile guests.

Thundercat — Distracted

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Thundercat's fifth album feels like a playpen where the 41-year-old virtuoso bassist, real name Steven Bruner, and his mates can do what they do best and have a bunch of fun doing it.

Those mates are top-tier — Tame Impala, Willow, A$AP Rocky, and the late Mac Miller among them — and every contribution feels right: they're not just there for the hang.

But it's Thundercat's easily distracted brain that we live inside across these 15 tracks.

One minute, he's delivering exquisite, tender, soulful love songs like What Is Left To Say, or grappling with a shame spiral in I Wish I Didn't Waste Your Time.

The next, he's singing, 'Maybe I should start an OnlyFans and show some feet' in You Left Without Saying Goodbye, or meowing into a microphone (fast becoming a trademark) on Great Americans.

On paper, it seems like someone goofing around, and there's surely an element of that in his intention: being playful can often render serious results.

For fans of: Hiatus Kaiyote, The Doobie Brothers, Anderson .Paak

Eight is Hermitude's first release on their own label, Heavy Weather (following the closure of Elefant Traks).

Hermitude — Eight

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Blue Mountains duo Hermitude have spent the better part of their 24-year partnership on the frontier of Australian instrumental hip hop and future beats.

On their eighth album, they've reconnected with a love of club and dance culture, putting their stamp on music designed to keep bodies moving, while using their experience to find variations on that theme.

Eight sets its four-to-the-floor agenda with the high-energy Light Up, featuring the fiery attitude of controversial UK duo Bob Vylan, while Movement steadily cranks the heat on a sampled command of 'don't stop, keep dancing.'

Strobe-lit stand-out Over You sounds ripped straight from a '90s warehouse rave, combining titanic breaks, sub-cranked acid house and pitched-up vocal flourishes.

Hermitude find sweaty renewal with up-and-coming talent like Sydney's DEVAURA, Afropop artist Adrian Dzvuke and some bumping UK garage with IsGwan.

Arguably Hermitude's most energetic, ecstatic material yet, Eight ends with the distinctive sound of a turntable slowing to a halt.

For fans of: Overmono, What So Not, Barry Can't Swim

Media Puzzle's horse-themed mix of post-punk and oddball pop is impressively infectious.

Media Puzzle — New Racehorse

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There's a new racehorse in town!

Named after the Irish steed that won the 2002 Melbourne Cup, the Lismore-bred group recently relocated to Melbourne and retooled their post-punk sound into something harder to categorise.

They nail the lo-fi aesthetic, but their songwriting is sharper, expanding out with left-field pop sensibilities, like synth squiggles and the horns adorning satirical opener Knowledge and moody Out of the Rain.

Fuzzy guitars and racing drums are further animated by archival news reports, old cartoon clips and, on Tea Time, a spoken-word account of a dream about being chased by robots.

Fusing fidgety energy with eccentric flourishes, everything is shot through with a sassy, subversive edge that's contagious.

'Got enough horses and not enough hay!' goes the sprinting My Age, In Minutes And Seconds.

New Racecourse is Media Puzzle's fourth album, but it feels like a major turning point and is worth betting on as a breakout moment.

For fans of: Devo, dust. Station Model Violence

William Crighton's latest album is a deep interrogation of the nation he loves.

William Crighton — Colonial Drift

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William Crighton doesn't shy away from the big issues, and his fourth album, Colonial Drift, is his most expansive and searching work yet.

Written with partner Julieanne Crighton, it wrestles thoughtfully with Australia's national identity, the weight of unresolved history, and the difficult work of imagining a shared future.

'I have a drive inside me to explore the tension between country, nation, our collective history and the personal relationships we have with each other as we continue to build this story of 'Australia' together,' he says.

'I love this place; it's complicated… The trap of turning against each other is real, but so is building a more hopeful future.'

Musically, the record blends rock, blues, folk and psych into a sweeping, often cinematic sound that mirrors the landscape and themes Crighton explores.

It's an album shaped by years on the road and in the studio, rich with emotional and musical density, and one that rewards close, sustained listening.

Keep up with all the best new music and relive all your favourites from the past on Double J.

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