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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Calpurnia’s story may as well be a teenage rock dream come to life. The Vancouver-based best friend foursome, which includes Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard, release their energetic debut Scout. The debut, which was produced by Twin Peaks’ Lake James, showcases rough and tumble indie-rock songs imbued with an effortless and infectious youthful enthusiasm. (Royal Mountain Records)

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Florida born Yuno releases his debut album Moodie and claims his eclectic genre-bending sound comes from exposure to a diverse range of music and his preference for a DIY vibe that allows him to stay true to himself. He creates all of his music alone at home, self-producing, engineering and playing all the instruments. The result is a debut that feels fresh and multicultural, marrying the summertime sounds of low-fi pop with atmospheric R&B across a variety of tracks that span the emotional range of a relationship ending. (Sub Pop)

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From director Brett Haley (The Hero, I’ll See You in My Dreams), Hearts Beat Loud is a drama with a light and summery touch, telling the story of a father (Nick Offerman) and daughter (Kiersey Clemons) duo writing songs together before she moves away to college and moving through their shared grief about the wife and mother they lost years earlier. A soundtrack by musician Keegan DeWitt adds warmth and depth, as do supporting roles from Ted Danson and Toni Collette. In theaters now. (Gunpowder & Sky)

›› ISSUE Feature: Kiersey Clemons interview by James Franco + Fashion shoot

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New York City-based and self-described “genre queer” band Sons of An Illustrious Father follow their evocative 2016 debut with the thoughtfully titled Deus Sex Machina; or, Moving Slowly Beyond Nikola Tesla. The visceral and prismatic sophomore album deftly approaches topics such as feminism, the environment and the layered relationship between inspiration, man, and machine. (Big Picnic Records)

›› ISSUE Feature: Interview with Sons of an Illustrious Father

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