New Album Releases 03/31/09: PJ Harvey & John Parish, Flo-Rida, Keith Urban, Prince, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Leonard Cohen, Fly, Peter Bjorn and John & More

First off, our apologies for going M.I.A. last week — which was the result of some fairly severe computer problems, the less of which are said about, the better. The good news is we're back with a bigger than usual bundle of brand spanking new album releases.

PJ Harvey's followup to her highly lauded White Chalk is a collaboration with her occasional songwriting partner John Parish (Dance Hall at Louse Point). This would suggest a possible departure from the stark sound of White Chalk — which was itself a departure of sorts — but with an artist like PJ Harvey, one can never really be sure what to expect. But we certainly can't wait to hear it and find out.

I'm not really sure what the deal is with the new Prince releases, other than the fact that there are three of them, and that they represent the latest of those retail exclusivity deals — which means you'll only find them at your nearest Target store. LotusFlow3r is one of them, and it shows up on this week's list from AMG, which presumably means that it's out now.

Swedish pop phenoms Peter Bjorn and John have their new Living Thing out this week. Flo-Rida is back with the followup to the mega-seller Mail On Sunday, on the ambitiously titled R.O.O.T.S. (it stands for Route of Overcoming the Struggle).

Country megastar Keith Urban is Defying Gravity on his fifth album. The great Leonard Cohen's Live in London arrives just in time to get you ready for that show coming to a theatre near you on his current tour.

Mark Saleski has come out of hiding to talk about jazz saxophone trio Fly. But first, Jordan Richardson joins the ranks of the NAR team to tell you all about the dance-tastic new album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz is already generating a lot of "album of the year" type praise from those bastards in the music press. This, their third album, rumbles with infectious dancefloor grooves and pulsates with the kind of synthesizer-guided splendour that will make you sick if you don't like good music.

Join Karen O, Brian Chase, and Nick Zinner as they take some chances with keyboards and still prove that they're one of the most interesting, exhilarating bands of, well, now. Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz feels broad and epic while maintaining a remarkable spark of intimate closeness amidst all the fancy sass and precociousness. Exhibit A: "Off, off, off with your head!/Dance, dance, dance till you're dead!"

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blog The Rockologist. Glen is also the author of Neil Young FAQ, published in May 2012 by Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard Publishing.

Visit Glen Boyd's author page — Glen Boyd's Blog