Orville Peck: Queen of the Rodeo

Using two tracks—”Queen of the Rodeo” and a brief rendition of “Roses Are Falling”—off his 2019 debut album, Pony, Orville Peck weaves together a tale of rodeo woes conveyed by a cast of drag performers and cowboys. A few dramatic bull rides are set to the former, and a bit of western pageantry is backed by the latter. Peck (known for his deep vocals, fringed mask …

Jaga Jazzist: Spiral Era

With “Spiral Era,” Norwegian eight-piece Jaga Jazzist weave together a psychedelic, experimental—and science-fiction-like—jazz track. The eight-minute-long cosmic journey is only one part of the band’s forthcoming album Pyramid (out 24 April), their first LP since 2015’s Starfire and ninth overall in a career that now spans four decades. It’s also the first they’ve self-produced—and they’ve done so with symphonic success.

Sufjan Stevens + Lowell Brams: The Runaround

Drawn from Sufjan Stevens’ forthcoming instrumental/new-age/ambient album, Aporia—made in collaboration with his stepfather and Asthmatic Kitty record label co-owner, Lowell Brams—”The Runaround” veers sharply from the artist’s more bombastic works (as well as his quietly devastating ones). Though Stevens’ (modified) voice appears toward the track’s end, the focus here is on the melody and its electronic power. Equally mesmerizing, the music video from abutta492 (aka …