Paste Magazine has unveiled its picks for the best new albums to stream, featuring releases from Auratus, DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ, and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. These selections offer a mix of dream-pop, expansive dance sampling, and contemplative ambient music amid the holiday season. The roundup emphasizes fresh sounds for listeners seeking new obsessions.
Paste Magazine's latest New Music Friday feature spotlights three standout albums released this week, providing a diverse array of listening options as 2024 draws to a close. The publication, known for its weekly roundups, prioritizes compelling records that blend innovation with accessibility.
Leading the list is Auratus's debut album Fever Dream, a self-released effort from the Red Hook-based duo Liz Louie and Jesse Rolfe, with contributions from Cooper Ferris, Miles Taylour, and Jesse Lessner. Recorded at Red Hook’s Community Music Space, the record delivers unpretentious dream-pop reminiscent of Blonde Redhead and Pretty Sick. Highlights include the hazy “Graham’s Dream,” the acoustic “Kiss Me Now (Or Don’t),” the early-2000s alternative-infused lead single “Gold Dust,” the building slow jam “Forgive/Forget,” the guitar-driven “Oh (And Also Kay),” and the six-minute cathartic closer “Nothing.” Reviewer Matt Mitchell praises it as an "impressive and exciting first step" for the new band.
DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ's Fantasy, also self-released, arrives as a massive four-hour collection of dance samples, described as a "behemoth" saving the year's end. Released just after the previous column, it features tracks like “Not There Yet,” “Hideaway,” “Will My Love,” “Sunset Years,” and the 11-minute “Rainfalls,” which layers 100 samples including emotive vocals over piano reminiscent of Bruce Hornsby's “Changes.” Mitchell draws on Sabrina's past interview quote about The Avalanches' “Since I Left You,” noting its "uncanny feeling" of resurrecting sounds, capturing the album's hypnotic techno and house elements.
Rounding out the priorities is Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's EP Thoughts On the Future on Nettwerk, a 22-minute ambient set following her album GUSH. The LA-based producer explores grief's impact through three piano- and synth-driven compositions with chamber effects. Smith describes it as a “contemplative body of work that examines what grief does to the body and the mind—the necessary disembodiment & cocooning—how it suspends us, how it empties us, and how it quietly begins to rebuild us in its own time.” She adds, “This music is meant to feel private—a private world for you,” and clarifies, “This is not an album about healing. It is an album about truth—about the reconstruction that follows when life has been irrevocably altered.” Fans of Max Richter may appreciate the track “Dying Is A Normal Part Of Life,” which Mitchell calls one of the month's most fascinating releases.
The next roundup is slated for January 9, with Paste wishing readers happy holidays.
