Stream: New albums from Night Shop, Moonchild and Half•Alive

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From left: Night Shop (Photo by Kimberly Corday); Moonchild (Photo by Taryn Dudley); Half•Alive (Photo by Leo Lovely)

Rounding up three of today’s album releases — from Night Shop, Moonchild and Half•Alive …

NIGHT SHOP, “Forever Night”

“Forever Night,” the sophomore album from Justin Sullivan’s Night Shop, sounds like it could have been made in any era, but not by just anybody. Sullivan, the drummer for Kevin Morby who also played with Flat Worms and the Babies, gets some notable assists on the record — vocal backing from Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Jess Williamson and Anna St. Louis, as well as co-production from Jarvis Taveniere (Woods). But it is his vivid songwriting, at turns triumphant and melancholic, that carries the day. He’s capable of sifting through world-weary Americana to find kernels of truth or bringing a barroom to its feet, as with “Let Me Let It Go” and the title track. Whether waltzing through the Duffy-backed “Just to Get Home” or “Slow Dancing at the Wax Museum” or on the way home from seeing some “dumb hardcore band” in “Let Me Begin,” Sullivan plays the troubadour who’s seen a lot (but not everything), knows a lot (but not everything) and turns the differences into things that tug the heartstrings. Night Shop celebrates his album release with a show Saturday night at Zebulon (tickets).

MOONCHILD, “Starfruit”

L.A. trio Moonchild’s fifth album “Starfruit” is a mélange of neo-soul, funk and rap baked in production so warm there should be no such thing as a cold winter night. Following up their 2019 album “Little Ghost,” the trio of Amber Navran, Andris Mattson and Max Bryk pulled out all the stops, welcoming an estimable cast of guests including Lalah Hathaway (on “Tell Him”), Alex Isley (on “You Got One”), Tank and The Bangas, Rapsody (on “Love I Need”), Ill Camille, Mumu Fresh, Chantae Cann and Josh Johnson. The singles aside, Moonchild saved some of the best parts for the full-length release — the fever dream that is “Need That,” featuring Ill Camille, and, especially, “Get By,” which features Grammy-nominated Tank and the Bangas. Groove to that. Moonchild headlines the Fonda Theatre on May 11 (tickets).

HALF•ALIVE, “Give Me Your Shoulders, Pt. 1”

The new seven-song release from the Long Beach trio of Josh Taylor, Brett Kramer and J Tyler Johnson (who render their name lowercase, half•alive) is a springy thing. It just doesn’t bounce very high. Absent the struck-in-your-head-for-days melodies of their 2019 album “Now, Not Yet,” “Shoulders” arrives with a new video for “Move Me” and the best of intentions (here’s what Taylor has to say about it). But like the song “What’s Wrong,” its beat-driven songs thrum into pop-rap monotony. The trio’s March 30 date at the Observatory is sold out; there’s no current L.A. date on their touring slate.