Pre-sale of the week: The National – Laugh Track, out 17 November

The surprise companion to The National’s April release First Two Pages of Frankenstein, Laugh Track is the band’s most freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck album in years. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20+ years together, the vibrant, exploratory Laugh Track is both the product of that faith and a new statement of…

Pre-sale of the week: Sarah Jarosz – Polaroid Lovers, out 26 January

Polaroid Lovers is the seventh studio album from four-time Grammy-winner Sarah Jarosz. Produced by Daniel Tashian, Polaroid Lovers is a bold creative statement that sees Jarosz exploring new sonic territory. The 11 songs on the album, all co-written by Jarosz with songwriters including Tashian, Jon Randall, Ruston Kelly and Natalie Hemby, touch on themes both…

Pre-sale of the week: Joni Mitchell – Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975), out 6 October

The Asylum Years (1972–1975) is the latest entry in Rhino’s ongoing, Grammy-winning series exploring the vast untapped archives of rare recordings by Joni Mitchell – a project guided intimately by Mitchell’s own vision and personal touch. The collection begins with an early cut of ‘Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire’, one of two songs (along…

Pre-sale of the week: The Streets – The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light, out 20 October

The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light is a classic Streets album – filled with Mike Skinner’s trademark lyrical wizardry and beats honed over a decade of building his other career as a legitimate bass/rap DJ in clubs. All the songs on the album were written by Skinner but feature vocal contributions from longtime…