Stream: New albums from Lavender Diamond, Grandson, Magic Wands

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Lavender Diamond (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

Highlighting three notable new albums released Friday: Lavender Diamond, Grandson and Magic Wands …

LAVENDER DIAMOND, “Now Is the Time”

The first album in eight years from the L.A. chamber-pop ensemble is that blooming rose bush you find in a yard full of weeds. We’ve said it before: Becky Stark’s voice could chase clouds from the sky, and backed by Steve Gregoropoulos and Ron Regé, Jr. (along with collaborators such as Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes), “Now Is the Time” elevates hope beyond some amorphous, Pollyanna notion and gives it startling clarity. Start with the singles “Look Through the Window,” “This Is How We Rise” and “In the Garden,” and go deep for tracks such as “Calling on My Nation.”

GRANDSON, “Death of an Optimist”

On the other hand, there is Grandson — born Jordan Edward Benjamin — who pops the top on a well-shaken bottle of vitriol and aims it all the right targets. The polyglot pop/alt-rock/rap on “Death of an Optimist” addresses whether “I can continue to preach agency and change in a time where there is so much fear-mongering and doom scrolling to suggest it could all be for nothing, ultimately,” he says. The album plays out as a battle between his not-dead-yet positive self and an antagonist named X. As on the single “Dirty,” it hits hard and leaves a mark. Catch his live-streamed show on Dec. 17.

MAGIC WANDS, “Illuminate”

The long-running duo of Chris and Dexy Valentine return with an album of languid, dark dream-pop that’s closer to their 2012 debut “Aloha Moon” than their heavier 2018 full-length “Abrakadabra.” Children of the ’80s and ’90s, your dream is alive. Wear black, BYO spaceship and have “Illuminate” with a “Blue Cherry “ on top.