New This Week: J. Cole, Neil Young, Post Malone, and More

Wendy Geller
·Writer, Yahoo Entertainment

Searching for something to listen to this weekend? Yahoo Music has you covered with a rundown of some of this week’s biggest/buzzing releases, including new music from J. Cole, Neil Young, Post Malone, and more. Check back every Friday for a fresh list of albums to help fuel your weekend playlists.

J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only (Dreamville/Roc Nation/Interscope). Rapper J. Cole is notorious for keeping his private life to himself—he managed to even keep getting married a secret (for some time anyway, it was revealed inadvertently in January during an interview). Apparently, he’s also kept another life milestone private—that of becoming a father. Cole chooses to reveal his latest role on his new album via the two-part track “She’s Mine” which is reportedly about his baby daughter. The new set—which, true to form, he didn’t give a lot of pre-publicity to, choosing instead to spring it on fans following a documentary titled simply Eyez–follows up his double-platinum 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which was released two years ago.

Neil Young: Peace Trail (Reprise). The 71-year-old Young is, to say the least, no stranger to protest music, a genre he continues to cultivate with his latest release. The year 2016 is rife with political issues for Young to choose from; and he does his best to touch as many as possible, starting with the hotbed of the Standing Rock Reservation protests and moving along to such topics as police brutality. As for the music itself, Young sticks to a spare delivery that hearkens back to some of his earliest work.


Post Malone: Stoney (Republic). Post Malone dropped like a thunderstorm out of nowhere with 2015’s “White Iverson,” a hit which earned him a flock of interest from record labels as well as high-profile new friends such as Justin Bieber, 50 Cent, Kanye West, and others. Malone’s first full-length project was the mixtape August 26, released earlier this year and named for his proposed debut album date. Stoney is a bit late (which he apologized for), but fans will find it worth the wait, as banging production from DJ Mustard, FKi, Illangelo, Pharrell, and more moves the set nicely along.

Various Artists: Sing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Republic). This soundtrack accompanies the animated film detailing animals entering a singing competition—and the wealth of talent here is immense. Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande pair up for a track, while actors/singers Jennifer Hudson, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, and more get in on the fun as well.

The Last Shadow Puppets: The Dream Synopsis EP (Domino). The Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner & Miles Kane decided to follow up this year’s studio album Everything You’ve Come To Expect with a little holiday treat—an EP compiling studio recordings of new versions of their tracks “Aviation” and “The Dream Synopsis” as well as covers of Leonard Cohen, Jacques Dutronc, the Fall, and more.


Tech N9ne: The Storm (Strange Music). Kansas City MC Tech N9ne returns with his 11th studio album, which is broken into three separate sections exploring different sides of his personality—titled “Kingdom,” “Clown Town” and “G.Zone.” Fans will no doubt be happy to see this emerge, as its initial release date was pushed due to deeply personal issues (including divorce and death) in the MC’s life.