8 Albums Out Today to Listen To: Cass McCombs, Dijon, Pile, and More – Our Culture

In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on August 15, 2025:

Cass McCombs, Interior Live Oak

Cass McCombs has returned with his first solo studio album in three years, Interior Live Oak. The wondrously contemplative follow-up to 2022’s Heartmind finds the singer-songwriter returning to his longtime label home of Domino, following a series of albums with ANTI-, and was previewed by the singles ‘Priestess’, ‘Peace’, and ‘I Never Dream About Trains’. Inspired by his return to the label as well as last year’s reissue campaign, McCombs revisited the economical approach of his earlier songwriting, working with past collaborators such as Jason Quever (Papercuts) and Chris Cohen.

Dijon, Baby

Dijon’s bold, fiery, buoyant new album Baby has arrived, just a week after it was announced. It’s his first album in nearly four years, following Absolutely, though he’s recently contributed to a streams of records including Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE, Justin Bieber’s Swag, and Mk.gee’s Two Star & the Dream Police. The record was mostly made at home, in isolation with Dijon’s new family, with help from Andrew Sarlo, Henry Kwapis, and Michael Gordon.

Pile, Sunshine and Balance Beams

Pile waste no time charging into their ninth album, Sunshine and Balance Beams, their first with Sooper Records. Relentlessly foreboding and epic in scope, the record journeys towards acceptance: “of oneself, one’s environment, and one’s limits,” per a press release. Founder Rick Maguire elaborated: “I’ve used ambition and daydreaming as a motivator for as long as I can remember, and I still do. The fulfillment I receive from pursuing art has been a guiding force for me, but it can be damaging when that pursuit teases capitalist expectations of where you might be able to go and then doesn’t square with the reality that follows. I tried to write this as a story.”

Chance the Rapper, Star Line

Chance the Rapper has self-released his first LP since 2019’s The Big Day. Crafted with longtime producer DexLvL, Star Line features guest spots from Lil Wayne and Smino (on the early single ‘Tree’), Vic Mensa, Jamila Woods, BJ the Chicago Kid, Joey Bada$$, Jazmine Sullivan, Young Thug, and TiaCorine. It was informed by the rapper’s travels to Ghana, Jamaica, and art fairs around the world.

Pool Kids, Easier Said Than Done

Anxiety-ridden yet breezy, mathy yet melodic, Easier Said Than Done is Pool Kids’ most ambitiously pop-leaning effort to date. The Tallahassee band’s third album follows their 2022 self-titled LP and features the advance tracks ‘Leona Street’, ‘Sorry Not Sorry’, and the title track. “There’s a lot of Florida imagery and a lot of really specific glimpses from tour on this album,” Christine Goodwyne said of her lyrical approach. “By letting myself get specific, I feel a lot more emotionally connected to the songs. It’s a very personal record for me and for the whole band, too. I was writing about what life has been like for all of us over the last few years. I feel like all of us can relate to a lot of the songs.”

Marissa Nadler, New Radiations

There’s nothing quite like Marissa Nadler’s dreamlike, darkly enchanting songs, and her new album New Radiations is no exception. Here, the singer-songwriter takes its hauntedness to the next level by enlisting mixing engineer Randall Dunn for an entirely percussionless, droning kind of Americana. “Psychic vibrations and new radiations have taken their toll on me,” Nadler sings on the title track, yet compels you to stay attuned. Along with ‘New Radiations’, the record was preceded by ‘Hatchet Man’ and ‘Light Years’.

Kaytranada, Ain’t No Damn Way!

Kaytranada has dropped a new album, Ain’t No Damn Way!. Marking the Canadian DJ and producer’s first new original music since 2024’s Timeless, the record is billed as “an intentional return to his dance music roots.” In an Instagram story earlier this week, Kaytranada said, “Letting y’all know that this album is strictly for workouts, dancing and studying and for my people that love beats.” He also shared the single ‘Space Invader’.

Racing Mount Pleasant, Racing Mount Pleasant

Fans of Black Country, New Road will find a lot to like on Racing Mount Pleasant, the self-titled debut album by the Michigan seven-piece formerly known as Kingfisher. It opens with ‘Your New Place’, a 7-minute track that swells and shapeshifts in vivid, heart-wrenching fashion. The song previewed the album along with the previously unveiled ‘Call It Easy’ and the title track, and there are a lot more gems to be found in it.

Other albums out today:

Steve Gunn, Music For Writers; Alison Goldfrapp, Flux; Black Honey, Soak; Conan Gray, Wishbone; Molly Tuttle, So Long Little Miss Sunshine; Maroon 5, Love is Like; Rise Against, Ricochet; Joseph Decosimo, Fiery Gizzard; Babyface Ray, Codeine Cowboy; Protect, 500 Days of Summer; Ganser, Animal Hospital; Audrey Hobart, Who’s the Clown?; Hit Boy, Software Update; Evidence, Unlearning Vol. 2; Fletcher Tucker, Kin; ROSIE, City Woman; Recoechi, Flavaz; Hussain Bokhari, Possessions; The Crabs, Years at the Unknown; Garage Sale, Any Day Now; Jordan Davis, Learn the Hard Way; Christina Carter, Like a Bayou to Its Gulf.