the crowd's
week

Queens of the Stone Age
— Perfecth

album

LP · 30 Oct 2026

Ninth album, a concept record about the unglamorous side of love. Cinema and trains at the start, Kyuss in the middle and Dave Grohl on drums at the end. No ballads, and still intimate.

The ninth Queens of the Stone Age album, and one of the strangest and most interesting in their catalogue. Perfecth is a concept record about the less glamorous side of love, with no conventional ballads, opening cinematically with train sounds and strings before moving into the heavy territory Josh Homme has taught us to expect. "From The Cliff" recalls early Kyuss, "Sunday" has a Bowie air and is a song Iggy Pop recorded in 2016, and "Where The Goth Girls At?" is the closest the record gets to straight rock. Jon Theodore is on drums and Dave Grohl appears just once, on the closing track, "Run Away From The Mob", a comment on mob mentality and self-destruction. For Clash, "Mono" is the most unusual track in the band's catalogue, and "Insignificant Other" the most addictive, despite running almost six minutes. Critics and listeners are a little divided, which is always a good sign for a conversation.

critics 80 · users 70

Radio Free Alice
— What's In Between

album

LP · 30 Oct 2026 · Atlantic

Debut from the Australians: new wave produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National), with Rachel Brown of Water From Your Eyes on "Big Ideas". They have already opened for Geese. Catch them early.

Radio Free Alice are an Australian new wave band who have already opened for Geese and now arrive with their debut album, What's In Between, 11 tracks with Atlantic Records behind them. Producing is Peter Katis, a name tied to records by Interpol and The National, with Ewan Pearson and Finn Billingham joining the team. Rachel Brown of Water From Your Eyes guests on "Big Ideas", and before that the band trailed the album with singles such as "Rule 31", "Kick in the Shins", "Lunch Money" and "Crying With You". Singer Noah Learmonth says releasing the album is "incredibly cathartic". For the Crowdmusic community it is the discovery pick of the week: still a little-known name here, but with high scores from critics and listeners.

critics 79 · users 74

featured

PISS
— you made me / skin on linen

album

LP · 30 Oct 2026 · Sub Pop

A Vancouver four-piece, debuting on Sub Pop. Punk with the density of grindcore, samples of Andrea Dworkin and Toni Morrison and uncompromising rage. One of the best-rated records of the week.

PISS are a Vancouver four-piece, Taylor Zantingh (vocals and lyrics), Tyler Patterson, Gavin Moya and Garreth Roberts, and you made me / skin on linen is their Sub Pop debut, at just over 30 minutes. The record grew out of a set the band played for two years, and it sounds like it: punk that borrows the density of grindcore, with crushing guitars, dry drums and screamed vocals. The subjects are hard, sexual violence, misogyny and autonomy, and the record refuses the story of overcoming to put rage at the centre. Samples of feminist thinkers such as Andrea Dworkin, Toni Morrison and Manon Garcia give it intellectual weight. "i wanted to be a singer", "time loop at hot slit" and "blocking a scene you can't remember" are the tracks to hear first. It is the best-rated record of the week, by critics (88) and by listeners (87), and one Crowdmusic wants to put in front of anyone who likes music without a filter.

critics 88 · users 87

Ex:Re
— Save As

album

LP · 30 Oct 2026 · 4AD

Elena Tonra of Daughter returns to her solo project eight years on. Memory, overthinking and the places we run to. Fabian Prynn producing, 4AD releasing. "Radio Station" is the way in.

Elena Tonra, the voice of Daughter, returns to Ex:Re eight years after the 2018 debut. She had not planned another one, but in 2023 she took song sketches into the studio with Fabian Prynn, the producer of the first album, and Save As grew from there. There is no concept or narrative: the record turns around memory, overthinking and the places we go when we want to escape. Josephine Stephenson (cello), Hinako Omori (synths), Ben Reed (bass) and Jethro Fox (electric guitar) are among the collaborators. "Radio Station", built from fragments of memory and overheard conversations, uses a radio dial as a metaphor for emotions coming and going, and "Sleep" and "Healing (Slow)" carry that intimacy on. Out on 4AD, it is a nine-song record for anyone who follows Daughter and anyone looking for chamber pop with its feet on the ground.

users 81

Andy Stott
— Late Loop

album

LP · 30 Oct 2026 · Modern Love

No bass, no reverb, just a delay. The Manchester producer set himself limits and wrote songs, with the voices of Alison Skidmore and Elaine Howley. His first album since 2021.

Andy Stott, the Manchester producer Modern Love turned into a reference point for dark electronic music, returns with Late Loop, his first album since 2021's Never The Right Time. To restart the process, he set himself strict rules: no basslines, no reverb and no effects other than a single delay unit. The aim was to write songs, not just textures. The result is more structured than usual, with hazy trip-hop on "Something In Mind" and two voices, Elaine Howley, a new collaborator, and Alison Skidmore, a long-standing presence. Tracks such as "Cold Welcome", "Mirror Signal" and the title track round out an eight-track record. It is a natural pick for the more experimental side of the Crowdmusic community, and a good way in for anyone who does not yet know his work.

users 75

midwest, post death
— past curfew

album

LP · 31 Oct 2026 · RIV Editions

From Seattle: 13 tracks, more than 20 collaborators and six months of writing across several countries. Emo, folk and experimentation on a record that gathers stories from childhood to adulthood. Heavy, but worth the time.

The best listener score of the week (92) goes to a Seattle band you may never have heard of. midwest, post death call themselves an internet band, made up of Sophia, Winter and Dominik, and past curfew gathers 13 tracks and around 52 minutes of emo, folk, noise rock and experimental electronics. It was written and recorded over six months, in several countries, with more than 20 collaborators, among them a string of guest players on piano, violin, cello and saxophone. Sophia describes the record as a collection of stories from childhood to adult life, and the subjects are hard: abuse, addiction and loss. "trainspotting", "letch", "past curfew" and "akhet" are the tracks listeners point to most. The vinyl edition is on RIV Editions. It is not an easy record, but it is exactly the kind of discovery worth bringing to this community.

users 92