10 new albums to listen to in May

Blondshell is poised for a breakthrough moment.

By Jen Lennon | April 30, 2025 | 9:00am

Music Features Preview

Even though most of the big summer records are holding out for June and July releases, there’s still plenty of great new music in May. Car Seat Headrest has an ambitious new rock opera, Ben Kweller is back with an emotionally charged new album, and Kali Uchis is bringing some early-summer R&B vibes. Plus, some exciting up-and-comers like Blondshell and PinkPantheress are dropping new albums, too.

Blondshell, If You Asked For A Picture (May 2)

Sabrina Teitelbaum, a.k.a. Blondshell, had the kind of auspicious debut most musicians can only dream about: Her first single, “Olympus,” premiered in Nylon in 2022, and her self-titled first album landed on multiple best-of lists in 2023. Now, she’s wasting no time following up on that hype with her second album, If You Asked For A Picture. Teitelbaum’s signature grunge-infused pop style and sharp lyrics are still front and center thanks to producer Yves Rothman, who also produced her debut album.

Car Seat Headrest, The Scholars (May 2)

After experimenting with EDM on 2020’s Making A Door Less Open, Car Seat Headrest are pivoting back to their usual lo-fi aesthetics, but with a twist: Their new LP, The Scholars, is a concept album. It creates a loose narrative out of the lives of the students and faculty at the fictional Parnassus University. The first single, “Gethsemane,” is an 11-minute epic about a medical student who brings the dead back to life, and if that’s what the band is willing to show us as a teaser, we can’t wait to see what kind of indulgent weirdness they’re holding back on the full album.

Most Popular

PUP, Who Will Look After The Dogs? (May 2)

Stefan Babcock, the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of PUP, knows he can be a little over-the-top in his self-deprecation. With the punk band’s upcoming fifth album, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, he embraced that tendency. “Within days of announcing our last album, coincidentally titled The Unraveling Of PUPTHEBAND, my life unexpectedly imploded. The title of our new record, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, is what I wrote at the top of the page, the very first thing written for this album. I think it’s devastating, but in a ‘holy shit this is overdramatic’ kinda way. That’s what makes it funny to us. That overblown stuff we all say in our dark moments can be hilarious once you’ve cooled off a bit,” Babcock said in a press release.

Kali Uchis, Sincerely, (May 9)

R&B singer Kali Uchis has been climbing the charts with each new album she releases. Red Moon In Venus, her third album, came in at number four on the Billboard 200, and her fourth, Orquídeas, hit number two. Her upcoming fifth album, Sincerely, might just be her ticket to the number one spot. The first single, “Sunshine & Rain…” has been warmly received by fans, with the music video racking up over two million views on YouTube.

PinkPantheress, Fancy That (May 9)

PinkPantheress first gained attention on TikTok for her super-short ’00s-nostalgic U.K. garage-bedroom pop tracks, but she’s headed in a more dance-centric direction on her new mixtape, Fancy That. It’s the second mixtape of her career, and it follows her debut album, Heaven Knows, which was released in 2023. PinkPantheress is expanding her horizons beyond genre, too: The mixtape’s first single, “Tonight,” clocks in at 2:58, one of her longest songs to date.

The Head And The Heart, Aperture (May 9)

For their sixth album, Aperture, indie folk band The Head And The Heart took a new approach. This is their first entirely self-produced album, and it’s also their first on the record label Verve Forecast. Plus, the band took a new approach to songwriting this time around: Each member brought their own ideas to each song, making for a more collaborative process than ever before.

Sports Team, Boys These Days (May 23)

Sports Team has been making waves in their native England for a minute now, but unfortunately their biggest U.S. headlines have been about the time they got robbed at a Starbucks in California. They’re long overdue for some crossover success, and Boys These Days might just be the album to do it. In many ways, it’s classic Sports Team, with references to British middle-class hallmarks, but the band’s signature glib lyrics are universally appealing.

Ben Kweller, Cover The Mirrors (May 30)

Cover The Mirrors is Ben Kweller’s first album since the death of his 16-year-old son, Dorian, and it deals mainly with his grief. Making the record was extraordinarily difficult, but Kweller discovered something in the process. “My soul’s purpose is to bring comfort to people through music and I’m determined now more than ever to spread it far and wide while I have the chance,” he said in a press release.

Garbage, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light (May 30)

Don’t mistake the message of “There’s No Future In Optimism,” the first single from Garbage’s upcoming eighth album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light. It’s actually a call to arms for positivity and love, a theme that extends throughout the whole album. “Going into making this record, I was determined to find a more hopeful, uplifting world to immerse myself in. The title of the album, ‘Let All That We Imagine Be The Light’, is the perfect descriptor for this new record as a whole. When things feel dark it feels imperative to seek out forces that are light, positive and beautiful in the world. It almost feels like a matter of life and death. A strategy for survival,” vocalist Shirley Manson said in a press statement.

Matt Berninger, Get Sunk (May 30)

The National frontman Matt Berninger is back with his sophomore solo album, Get Sunk. It follows his 2020 solo debut, Serpentine Prison. Get Sunk tackles a period of upheaval in Berninger’s life, after he and his family moved from their longtime Los Angeles home to Connecticut. And while Berninger says the album isn’t quite autobiographical, it does deal with questions of identity and how our experiences shape us as individuals.