Check out these new release gift ideas for the music lover!

As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. This 21-track collection gathers material from The National’s career, which started 25 years ago and has featured ten studio albums.

The double live album was recorded on June 3 this year at Rome’s Auditorium Parco della Musica. It’s real, it’s raw, and it captures the great American band in full flight. No overdubs.

The earliest single to be featured on Rome is Lit Up, which The National originally released in 2005. The album also includes 2008’s Fake Empire. Sixteen years later, this song still resonates. Singer Matt Berninger says it’s about “where you can’t deal with the reality of what’s really going on, so let’s just pretend that the world’s full of bluebirds and ice skating”

Rome by The National drops via 4AD.

It’s been a big year for Adelaide electro duo Electric Fields. After representing Australia at Eurovision, they won a couple of big awards – the ‘Indigenous Language Award’ at the National Indigenous Music Awards, and ‘Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island Artist’ at the South Australian Music Awards.

And now they’ve issued this compelling live album. Backed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross deliver a stunning set of songs, many in Fielding’s traditional languages of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people.

No other Aussie act sounds quite like Electric Fields. They’re doing something very special.

Live in Concert by Electric Fields drops via ABC.

English electronic artist Actress’ real name is Darren J. Cunningham. He turned to music when his soccer career, at West Bromwich Albion, was curtailed by injury.

Apeh Kahhihrem, his 11th studio album, is his second release for 2024, following Statik, which dropped in June.

Apeh Kahhihrem by Actress drops via Smalltown Supersound/Rocket.

André Rieu, the Dutch virtuoso of the violin, is a sales powerhouse, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, including an astonishing three million in Australia.

The Waltz King’s latest release shows that he remains a masterful song interpreter, putting his classic spin on melodies from musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, and West Side Story, as well as movies such as Star Wars and Titanic.

The Sound of Heaven by André Rieu drops via Rocket.

Melbourne songstress Claire Birchall goes deep and dark on her new solo album, which follows 2020’s similarly impressive Running in Slow Motion.

The songs were inspired by nightmares, fairy tales, and ghost stories, and confront fear, loss, grief, sadness and anxiety. A gothic synth-pop treat.

The Haunting by Claire Birchall drops via IT/MGM.

Canadian country singer Cory Marquardt records under the name Cory Marks, and this is his third album. It includes the classic country cut Drunk When I’m High, as well as (Make My) Country Rock, which features country star Travis Tritt, Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars, and Godsmack singer Sully Erna.

It’s one of 2024’s craziest country collaborations, but it works. And it’s a defiant mission statement: “I’ve been behind both kinds of bars,” Marks declares. “I broke some hearts and crashed some cars/I’m on the edge, but I’ll always walk the line… I’m gonna make my country rock.”

Sorry for Nothing by Cory Marks drops via Better Noise/MGM.

Canadian punk band Counterparts took their name from the Alexisonfire song Counterparts and Number Them.

After releasing their first live album, Live in Toronto, earlier this year, this six-track EP maintains the metalcore momentum.

Singer Brendan Murphy says: “This EP is the most authentic representation of Counterparts to date – honest, harsh, and without restraint. Heaven Let Them Die is Counterparts at our most aggressive.”

Heaven Let Them Die by Counterparts drops via Pure Noise/Rocket.

Nigeria’s Fireboy DML (real name: Adedamola Adefolahan) moved to Lagos to pursue his music career.

He called his fourth album Adedamola because he says it’s “so personal and feels nostalgic, like a call to home”. He describes his smooth romantic sound as “Afro-Lite”.

Adedamola by Fireboy DML drops via Empire/Inertia.

Vicious Creature is the debut solo album for Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry. When she released her first solo single, Are You Awake?, the Scottish singer said she was “flip-flopping between excitement and abject terror”.

But the album is an unqualified success, though Mayberry is adamant it doesn’t spell the end of the band. “We are all confident that the Chvrches story has many more pages yet to be written,” she says.

Vicious Creature by Lauren Mayberry drops via EMI/Universal.

Lucinda Williams is one of the greats of the alt country world. It was no surprise when she did an album of Tom Petty songs. And then an album of Dylan songs. But The Beatles?

Williams ventured to the legendary Abbey Road studios in London to record Vol 7 of her Lu’s Jukebox series. The result? It sounds as if these songs were written for her. Check out the aching version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Superb.

Sings The Beatles from Abbey Road by Lucinda Williams drops via Highway 20/Rocket.

Nanowar of Steel are like an Italian Spinal Tap. They take the mickey out of metal, with the band name inspired by Manowar and Rhapsody of Fire.

This live album follows previous titles Dislike to False Metal, Stairway to Valhalla, and A Knight at the Opera. It’s wonderfully OTT, with one indulgent guitar solo after another. Just check out The Power of Imodium. All killer, loads of filler.

XX Years of Steel by Nanowar of Steel drops via Nuclear Blast/Rocket.

The Nefilim was a UK studio metal project formed by Carl McCoy in 1992. They released their debut album, Zoon, in 1996. And then they broke up.

Twenty-eight years later, Zoon has been reissued on red vinyl. The title is a Greek word meaning “living creature” or “beast”, which seems appropriate.

Zoon by The Nefilim drops via Banquet/Inertia.

The Remains are a legendary garage rock band that formed at Boston University 60 years ago. Their big break – supporting The Beatles on their final tour in 1966 – didn’t go well after their drummer exited the band just before the tour, and they broke up soon after.

Thirty-two years later, The Remains reformed. But this record takes us time-travelling back to 1966 when the band auditioned for Capitol Records, recording a blazing set live-to-tape, including covers of Johnny B. Goode, Walkin’ the Dog, and Like a Rolling Stone.

A Session with the Remains by The Remains drops via Sundazed/MGM.

Rosé has been one of 2024’s breakout solo stars. The Blackpink singer – who was born in New Zealand and grew up in Melbourne – topped the Australian charts with her collaboration with Bruno Mars, Apt., the lead single from her first solo album, Rosie.

“I have poured my blood and tears into this album,” she explains. “Rosie is the name I allow my friends and family to call me. With this album, I hope you all feel that much closer to me.”

Rosie by Rosé drops via Warner/Inertia.

In a genre not noted for longevity, rap legend Snoop Dogg has made it to his 20th studio album. He says he called the record Missionary because it’s the 30th anniversary of his debut, Doggystyle.

Produced by Snoop and Dr Dre, the album features a roll call of big names, including Eminem, 50 Cent, Sting, Method Man, Jelly Roll, and the late-great Tom Petty.

Missionary by Snoop Dogg drops via Universal.

Following the release of their fifth album, I Want to Disappear, earlier this year, the story continues for American pop-punk band The Story So Far with the vinyl release of their second album, What You Don’t See, which was the band’s first Top 50 hit in the US when it was initially issued in 2013.

What You Don't See by The Story So Far drops via Pure Noise/Rocket.

A dozen years after they formed, American soul band St. Paul and The Broken Bones return to where it all began, re-releasing their 2014 debut, Half the City.

Capturing their live vibe, this record shows why they quickly became a much-loved band.

Half the City by St. Paul and the Broken Bones drops via Oasis Pizza/Rocket.

12 is the 12th album for White Denim, one of the most popular bands in one of the greatest music cities in the world – Austin, Texas.

They’re psychedelic, funky, and experimental. As the name suggests, White Denim might not be fashionable, but they’re definitely fun.

12 by White Denim drops via Rocket.

Wilco celebrate their 30th anniversary with this EP, which is perfect for long, hot summer days. Indeed, singer Jeff Tweedy explains that it has a “summertime-after-dark kind of feeling”.

Check out the glorious closing cut, Say You Love Me, where Tweedy sings, “Once you’re gone, you shine on in your friends and then everyone you love hears your voice within.” Beautiful.

Hot Sun Cool Shade by Wilco drops via Sony.

BILLY PINNELL'S PICK

Neil Young has maintained a large following since the early ’70s by refusing to musically compromise. His body of work has included albums of solo acoustic ballads, sweet country rock, and lumbering guitar-driven rock.

Following the success of his 1972 album Harvest, which reached number one and spawned two Top 5 singles, Young backed away from stardom, stating “the album’s success put me in the middle of the road; travelling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch, a tougher ride but I saw more interesting people”.

Fast forward to 1974.

His fifth album, the remarkable On the Beach, is among his most primal.

Vampire Blues is an attack on the oil industry.

For the Turnstiles is a critique of the exploitation present within the music industry.

Revolution Blues, a satire, was born of a meeting Young had with Charles Manson prior to the murders, told from Manson’s perspective. And Motion Pictures is a tribute to Young’s actress wife Carrie Snodgress.

The vinyl release included only three songs on side two. On the title track, Young refers to the nature of fame and the ever-present insecurities that were impacting on his mental state. Musically, Young relied on members of his long-time backing band Crazy Horse and a number of multi-instrumentalists, with Young’s guitar up front.

The album closes with Ambulance Blues, an examination of Young’s career. He sets the scene with “back in the old folky days the air was magic when we played”.

Young’s guitar on this track was heavily influenced by Scottish guitarist Bert Jansch, founder of English folk/rock band Pentangle, who Young once said “was an acoustic guitarist on the same level as Jimi Hendrix”.

On the Beach by Neil Young drops via Warner/Inertia.