Surface Noise Weekly: Warpaint, Pins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, CHVRCHES, BETHLEHEM & More

13 FEATURED RELEASES + 34 MORE BELOW

5 new releases · 1 reissue · 7 pre-orders

BETHLEHEM بيت لحم (Lawrence Sammour, Sary Moussa, Abed Kobeissy)

BETHLEHEM بيت لحم

Originally commissioned after the Church of the Nativity cancelled its Christmas celebrations in 2023, this is Lawrence Sammour, who has led the Nativity choir for over fifty years, working with Beirut experimental musicians Sary Moussa and Abed Kobeissy. The original 20-minute piece was broadcast on Radio AlHara on Christmas Eve 2023 and picked up by more than 50 stations worldwide. What ended up on this record is the expanded version, recorded following a residency at Dar El Nimer. Mixed at Hotel2Tango. One of the more important records Constellation has put out in years.

Warpaint

Artifact

Sixteen tracks, live recordings from 2022 to 2024, spanning Houston, London, Porto, Dallas, Phoenix, Brussels, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and New York. This is Warpaint returning to Rough Trade, the label they started on, for a record that documents the band across their most recent touring cycle. The indie exclusive Clear/White Marble 2LP is the one to go for if you want something distinct to sit alongside the studio records.

PINS

If I'm Alive Now, Then I Was Dead

First PINS record since 2020’s Hot Slick, and they’ve gone back to their instincts, analogue constraints, The Stooges and Joy Division as touchstones, garage rock that hits harder for not overthinking it. Self-released on their own label. The Dinked Edition is on white vinyl with red splatter and comes with a Riso-printed zine, capped at 400 copies.

Soft Science

Sand

Fifth album from the Northern California quintet, building on their dreampop foundations with post-punk and darkwave that adds real edge without losing the melodic instinct that’s always been at the centre of their sound. If you’ve followed Soft Science for any length of time, this is the record where they widen the frame in interesting directions. Rooted in atmosphere and emotional depth.

Wolves in the Throne Room

Estuary

Atmospheric black metal, gothic production, tremolo riffing and the kind of pummelling percussion that makes the quiet moments land harder. Wolves in the Throne Room have been one of the most consistent acts in this space for two decades and Estuary is them doing what they do with full command. Multiple vinyl variants available, the Sea Wolf band exclusive is the standout pressing if you want the most limited edition.

Bibio & Dorian Concept

Answers

A debut collaboration fifteen years in the making, this is Stephen Wilkinson and Oliver Thomas Johnson building something from a creative relationship that stretches back to 2011. The process was one of listening, altering and responding, each working on what the other sent back. On Warp, so the pressing will be looked after. A natural record for anyone who follows either artist already.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Hidden in Pieces Live at the Royal Albert Hall

25 years of Yeah Yeah Yeahs stripped back and rearranged for strings, piano and double bass, recorded live over two nights at the Royal Albert Hall with extra performances pulled in from San Diego, Chicago, New York and Mexico City. Jherek Bischoff’s arrangements take the band through every era, from “Maps” and “Zero” to newer tracks like “Blacktop,” without flattening what made them work in the first place. Pressed as a bullseye splatter 2LP, this is one for people who already know every word of the originals.

¡Forward Russia!

Give Me a Wall (20th Anniversary Edition)

20 years on, Give Me a Wall gets a limited clear vinyl repress with a new lyric sheet and sleeve notes written by Steve Lamacq. This was an amazing debut from the Leeds, UK based math-rock indie band. There’s also a companion rarities and B sides CD, A Fearless Guide to Communication, for anyone chasing the deep cuts.

Queens Of The Stone Age

Perfecth (HalloQueen Edition)

A genuinely limited picture disc pressing of Perfecth, sold only in person on Halloween itself as part of Matador’s HalloQueen retail events. No lingering preorder window, just a one day, while supplies last drop at participating stores, costumes encouraged. If you can get to a shop that day, this is worth the trip rather than waiting for it to turn up online.

CHVRCHES

All The King's Men

5th album from the trio, arriving after a brief hiatus. If you’ve followed them this long you probably already know whether you want this one, but it’s being pitched as their most fully realized record yet. Two colour options here if you care about that sort of thing.

Pulled Apart By Horses

Dopamine Hits

Album six, nearly 20 years in, and this one’s self released with old dead weight cut loose. Expect the abrasive stuff they’re known for: punk, 80s goth and post punk,  fuzzed up guitars. Producer James Kenosha worked on their earliest material too, so there’s a sense of them going back to something rather than reinventing it.

Slate

The Grandfather Clock

Follow up to their debut EP Deathless, this one leans on R.S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas as reference points, woven through with childhood, kin and Welsh identity. They’ve been opening for Manic Street Preachers, The Horrors and Chalk, so the live reputation is real. If The Cure, Sonic Youth, Cranes, Blonde Redhead, My Bloody Valentine.. means anything to you, this is worth a look.

LoneLady

Hinterland Home Recordings

The bedroom demos behind Hinterland, recorded by Julie Campbell alone in a Manchester tower block between 2011 and 2013, moving from a Tascam 4 track up through GarageBand to Pro Tools. If you know the finished album, this is the chance to hear how fully formed it already was before anyone else touched it.

THIS WEEK’S SOUNDTRACK

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