New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: February 28, 2025
It never stops! New Music Friday rears its ugly head once more, closing out February with new releases by Foley, The Chills, Panda Bear and more!
The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda picks these five new releases for your consideration:
- Foley – That’s Life, Baby! (Self) Aotearoa’s hottest alt-pop duo Foley have just revealed their phenomenal second album, That’s Life, Baby! which, “sums up our approach to life in a nutshell; we go through highs and lows, love, loss, trauma, but at the end of the day we are positive, light-hearted and optimistic because we have each other through it all,” explain Ash and Gabe. “The album is a collection of stories and experiences from the last year, each track describing an interaction with those around us, or a realisation within ourselves, that has had a lasting impact on us as people; each one a little slice of our lives.”
2. The Chills – Springboard (Fire) And if Foley isn’t Kiwi enough for you, well, how about The Chills? Sadly, Martin Phillipps is no longer with us, but he did leave behind some great songs. Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs is a Martin Phillipps passion project. A dedicated reimagining of his earlier unreleased songs that became his artistic farewell, a lasting legacy, and a reminder of his huge talent.
The album has been finalised for release with the love and support of his band, family and friends. Look for an interview with one of those bandmates soon on The 13th Floor.
3. Panda Bear – Sinister Grift (Domino) Panda Bear is Animal Collective drummer Noah Lennox and On Sinister Grift, Lennox’s first solo album in five years, he has returned with another statement that feels equally cumulative and unprecedented in his catalog. While his solo records have ranged from starkly intimate expressions of grief to colorful, electronic opuses, his music has never before sounded so warm and immediate.
“Working on this record felt like a sacred and warm return. Noah and I first started putting music down to multitrack cassette in 1991. 32 years later and working in the same fashion, two friends alone in a room searching for sounds and feelings that move us, I am very proud of what we created together. Sinister Grift feels like the songwriter I've known for over 30 years but also feels like some sort of new chapter for Noah. Couldn’t be more proud of the result.” says longtime friend and collaborator Josh “Deakin” Dibb. Watch for a 13th Floor MusicTalk interview with Panda Bear very soon.
4. Aloe Blacc – Stand Together (Grand Scheme) Stand Together is an immaculate demonstration of an artist using his art to inspire collaboration and positive change and showcases Aloe’s unparalleled ability to blend meaningful storytelling with genre-defying music.
Says Aloe, “This album is a celebration of what we can achieve when we come together to support one another. Whether it’s in our relationships or as a society, we’re stronger and better when we stand together.”
5. Deep Sea Diver – Billboard Heart (Sub Pop) Deep Sea Diver’s Billboard Heart immediately puts the band in the company of St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, and Flock of Dimes, bands that have found newly ornate and magnetic ways to make indie rock by discarding notions of how it must sound or what it must say. Billboard Heart was written and performed by primary songwriter and guitar player Jessica Dobson, and her partner, drummer and band co-writer Peter Mansen, and synth player Elliot Jackson.
The album also features Dobson’s duet with Madison Cunningham (on “Let Me Go”), with additional contributions from former The Shins’ bandmate Yuuki Matthews, Caroline Rose, and Greg Leisz. Click here to read the 13th Floor Album Review.
