The directorial debut from actor, writer and comedian Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade is a moving and candid portrait of adolescent girlhood in our modern world. The widely acclaimed film, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year, stars newcomer Elsie Fisher as Kayla, an introverted and awkward teenage girl attempting to navigate the dramatic highs and lows of her last week of eighth grade with the help of her devoted yet guileless single father, played by Josh Hamilton.(A24)

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New Orleans musician and visual artist Lindsey Baker, who performs under the moniker Guts Club, followed up the piercing emotional intensity of her debut The Arm Wrestling Tournament (2015) and sophomore album Shit Bug (2016) with the self-released Trench Foot her first fully electric album, which finds her taking unprecedented command over her songwriting, honing in on dark narrative undertones and a unique brand of cosmic gloom.

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“The best critique is self-critique” is the mantra of Brooklyn-based Bodega, whose debut LP Endless Scroll is out now. Influenced by everything from contemporary pop to post-punk to folk-based narrative songwriting, their energetic brand of self-aware art rock functions as a minimalist yet witty dialogue between the machine and the public. (What’s Your Rupture)

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UK singer/songwriter Lucy Rose releases a new remix album entitled Something’s Changing (Remixes), a collection of reworked songs from her 2017 album Something’s Changing. She invited her close musical friends or friends she met while touring, such as Chartreuse frontman Mike Wagstaff and JAWS frontman Connor Schofield, to take a track from the original album and rework it in their own unique style, resulting in a multi-faceted collection that celebrates variety and collaboration. (Arts & Crafts)

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›› ISSUE Feature: Live Performance & Interview with Lucy Rose

Directed by Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone), and featuring impressive performances from Ben Foster (Hell or High Water) and newcomer Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace, adapted from Peter Rock’s novel of the same name, is a haunting and intelligent drama about a father-daughter duo who are wrenched from their idyllic and isolated existence living off the grid in a vast urban park in Portland, Oregon. (Bleecker Street)

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›› ISSUE Feature: Interview with Thomasin McKenzie

Singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly was raised between Wales and the suburbs of Western Australia, where she currently lives. In 2017 she won BigSound’s inaugural Levi’s Music Prize. Her debut EP, Thrush Metal, delivers a biting brand of low-fi folk-pop that tackles taboo topics while maintaining defiantly feminist tone.

›› ISSUE Feature: Live performance and interview with Stella Donnelly

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Melbourne’s beloved Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever release their highly anticipated debut album Hope Downs. The charming and confident debut features passionate guitar pop spattered with hints of punk and country, and announces a band on the verge of finding their voice. The album title, inspired by the name of an open cut mine in the middle of Australia, refers to the feeling of “standing at the edge of the void of the big unknown, and finding something to hold on to.” (Sub Pop)

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Sun June, the Austin-based regret pop project that came to life after members Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury spent long hours together in director Terrence Malick’s editing room, release their highly anticipated debut album. The quintet’s debut looks back at a failed relationship from a distance, utilizing warm melodies, simple structures, and layered guitar to evoke a gentle sound that blurs folk and guitar pop. (Keeled Scales)

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