New Music Friday: Stream new projects from Eliza McLamb, PACKS, ericdoa, and more

As a podcaster and Substack author as well as a promising singer-songwriter, Eliza McLamb is used to putting her voice out into the world. Across all mediums she is open and honest, offering up her most candid memories and experiences and finding community in those who share similar moments that, if they can't forget, are grateful someone else has similar war stories of navigating life. This conversational approach lends itself well to Going Through It, an album of bittersweet songs that chart a journey of self-discovery that remains a defiant work in progress. McLamb can switch from writing about buying clothes on Instagram or feeling tired after lunch ("Modern Woman") to substance abuse and self-harm ("16") without either extreme feeling like a try-hard grab for humor or sorrow. That comfort in her own voice is felt throughout the album, dynamically produced by Sarah Tudzin of illuminati hotties to ebb and flow between bare-bones folk songs like the self-eviscerating "Crybaby" and the more striking and crunchy pop-rock moments ("Glitter"). It's McLamb's writing that makes Going Through It stand out amid a sea of similarly confessional songwriters operating in the same mode, though. "All of the suffering I thought, maybe one day I'll use this in a good way," she sings on "Mythologize Me," a song about struggling to find validation outside of romantic scenarios.Going Through Itis McLamb doing just that, moving from one stage of life to another and putting to use the feelings of discomfort that defined those character building adjustments. — David Renshaw

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Although ericdoa has racked up millions of streams and thousands of followers with high-octane hyperpop, his newest album DOA is refreshingly relaxed. It's not that ericdoa has suddenly figured it all out — his love life remains torturous, his chemical imbalances unsolvable by pharmaceutical means. But a little restraint goes a long way: slightly slowed down and a touch less loud, ericdoa's amorous agonies feel understandable rather than self-centered. That self-assurance helps finesse melodramatic meltdown "crisis actor" and the pop-punkish "lastjune." DOA includes more straightforward dance tracks ("imcoolimgoodimstraight") and softer psych rock ("bigassbearman"), but ericdoa is at his best rapping over the wonky "kickstand," scoffing "I been making hits while you boys make songs." — Vivian Medithi

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music

PACKS’ off-kilter, scrappy brand of indie rock conjures up the likes of ’90s DIY giants Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, Built to Spill, Guided By Voices, et al., but it’s the dry wit of their wry lyricism and wordplay that make them an ever-fresh voice within the realm of “guitar music.” The Toronto band’s third album, Melt the Honey, is full of fuzzed-out slacker anthems that celebrate, and mourn, existential dread and melancholy — among other things. Across the record, they reference quotidien commodities as part of a wider, more philosophical commentary; the literary-influenced “Paige Machine'' was inspired by Mark Twain’s investment in the Paige Machine printing device, which would have been a revolutionary invention for the printing press, but ultimately stopped working permanently after inventor James W. Paige took it apart in an ultimately disastrous attempt to tweak it. An otherwise humdrum historical nugget transforms into something abstract and existential, asking questions about betterment and the seductive nature of self-criticism. Bandleader Madeline Link deadpans over a pedal steel guitar: “It'll only work once now 'cause you took it apart / And it this new configuration fucked up, now you gotta restart / Gotta restart, gotta restart Gotta restart, gotta restart.” On the woozy “HFCS,” Link interrogates the invisible belief system that causes people to take leaps of faith, take chances, and subscribe to the unknown; in the song, she relies on high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as her guiding light. The punky, repeated, and increasingly energizing refrains of “HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!!!” are enough to make anyone believe in anything. — Cady Siregar

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

For her Amaryllis sextet’s newest excursion into the margins of jazz, Mary Halverson found inspiration in the sky — more specifically, air travel. Cloudward, she explains, was mostly written in 2022, when her life “felt like a creaky machine starting up again” and the world around her began to slowly assume some approximation of its previous form. Given her state of mind while composing the album, its eight songs sound appropriately optimistic, though not without a hint of trepidation. Opener “The Gate,” for instance, centers the bright harmonies of Jacob Garchik’s trombone and Adam O’Farrill’s trumpet. But the next track, “The Tower,” begins with 90 seconds of Halvorson’s nervy, pitch-bent guitar scrambling for footing in a void. The remaining instruments enter tentatively, finding firmer ground but never laying down roots. Throughout the record, Halverson’s arrangements seem to welcome uncertainty, thriving in the amorphous zones between rhythmic and tonal centers. Other standouts include “Ultramarine,” “Unscrolling,” and “Incarnadine,” which features hair-raising violin passages from Laurie Anderson. — Raphael Helfand

Hear it: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Xaviersobased might wear a jester’s cap, but his sincerity shouldn’t be in doubt. Throughout 2023, the young N.Y.C. rapper was able to consistently capture the jerk-adjacent, Lil B-indebted energy that made him a star of the post-hyperpop and digicore scenes. With melodies and a vocal presence more suited for deep ambient music than SoundCloud rap, xaviersobased spun an ethereal take on the burgeoning Milwaukee rap scene (“Pop Trunk” with AyooLii, produced by Evilgiane), created his own Atlanta-influenced rave (“fuck the city up” from the Stash Muzik EP) and teamed up with the internet-breaking Nettspend for some catchy, tongue-in-cheek flexing. Keep It Going Xav, his first full-length tape of 2024, is framed around a fake talk show chaired by the tape’s host, DJ Rennessy. Between songs, the two offer their thoughts on genre, what their influence will look like a decade from now, and loving the world unconditionally — it’s a poignant addition to a tracklist that lurches through harsh noise Milwaukee beats (“On My Own”), rage jerk (“This Far” featuring Nettspend, who sounds a bit like Lil Tracy here), and at least one Take Care-era beat that’s given both a chopped and screwed treatment and a hypersonic boost within 3 minutes (“FanOut”). Keep It Up Xav doesn’t try to win over any naysayers, but it does make Xaviersobased’s talents feel increasingly undeniable — Jordan Darville

Hear it: SoundCloud