2016 started out strong as far as album releases go.
Hymns – Bloc Party 
First of all, BLOC PARTY IS BACK. This just came out this week so I haven’t gotten a chance to listen to it a lot, but loving it on the initial listen. It’s definitely different for them which has some old fans disappointed, but I’m okay with this type of different.
Weem – De Rosa
Another band who has been away even longer is De Rosa. They broke up back in 2009, but reunited recently and now we get this album!
Six Day Hurricane – Johnny Gallagher
People know Johnny Gallagher, Jr. from Spring Awakening and The Newsroom, but before he was making his name as an actor, he was in a band called Old Springs Pike. They’re from around where I live, but seemed to always play 21+ shows when I was still young so I never got to see them before Johnny left and they became The Spring Standards (who are still awesome!). He continued on as a solo artist though. I saw him play about 7/8 years ago and now he finally has an album! Some of the songs have been around a while and it’s great to hear the studio versions and I’m loving the new songs as well.
Not to Disappear – Daughter
I was somewhere on the fence with Daughter before this album. Now I can say I am definitely a fan. They’ve grown a lot with Not to Disappear so I think seeing them when they come to Philly in March is going to happen.
Love + War – KWABS
This has been out in the UK so I’ve been listening to it for months now, but the US release is here at last. Get into it.
Holy Esque is taking their good ol’ time in releasing a full album and anytime they release a song I’m a little frantic. Tear and Strange are two of the most recent.
I’m a big fan of Mahogany Sessions for videos they do of old favorites as well as how they often introduce me to new artists. I’ve added both Tor Miller and Mahalia onto my radar because of them. They’ve also launched a new project called Distiller which has gotten me into New Carnival. There’s also videos of some other bands I adore such as Bear’s Den, Luke Sital-Singh, and Marika Hackman. Definitely subscribe to both Youtube channels.
Speaking of Marika, I’ve added her albums back into rotation as well as Wild Belle’s who announced they’re coming back to Philly soon.
All the music mentioned in this post have been put into a Spotify playlist.