Stream: New albums from SASAMI, Lo Moon, Night Talks and Livingmore

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From left: SASAMI (Photo by Angela Ricciardi), Lo Moon, Night Talks, Livingmore (Photo by Joseph Cultice)

Catching up with new albums that were released Friday: Check out the latest from SASAMI, Lo Moon, Night Talks and Livingmore …

SASAMI, “Squeeze”

Both pretty and vicious, “Squeeze,” the second album from Sasami Ashworth, marks a bold feat of derring-do. Over 11 tracks, it forays into metal, folk-rock and ’90s alternative — all capably enough that SASAMI could have run with any one style and made a memorable record. On one record, though, it makes for a wild but engrossing ride. Singles such as “Say It,” “Make It Right,” “Skin a Rat” and “The Greatest” foreshadowed the album’s scope. Even if you’ve bought into “Squeeze’s” conceit, transitions like the one from “Need It to Work” to “Tried to Understand” are pure whiplash. So stiffen your spine and catch her at the Teragram Ballroom on April 13 (tickets).

LO MOON, “A Modern Life”

The “Dream Never Dies” for fans of sweeping Britpop and falsetto paeans to hope. “A Modern Life” is the follow-up to the quartet’s equally widescreen self-titled debut, released in 2018. Wrestling with existential questions with typical earnestness, the quartet — Matt Lowell, Crisanta Baker, Sam Stewart and Sterling Laws — imbue those internal wrestling matches with ornate arrangements. Besides “Dream Never Dies,” “Stop” and “Raincoats” were singles that preceded the release, but “Modern Life” and “Expectations” also count as rushes of blood to the head. Lo Moon plays the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever on June 16 (tickets).

NIGHT TALKS, “Same Time Tomorrow”

Night Talks, the trio of Soraya Sebghati, Jacob Butler and Josh Arteaga, left their sophomore album on the shelf for almost two years because of the pandemic, reasoning it was a fool’s errand to release a record without being able to tour behind it. Bookended by the singles “Overcome” and “On and On,” “Same Time Tomorrow” offers up 10 tracks of center-lane pop-rock.

LIVINGMORE, “Look”

Owing to the COVID-19 lockdown, Livingmore’s core couple, Alex Moore and Spencer Livingston, went for it by themselves for the band’s third album, “Look,” the follow-up to 2021’s “Take Me.” The result is a taut, affecting album that most certainly does not sound as if it was recorded in their living room. We discussed the album at length here. Recommended.