Every week at WSUM, our Music Director, Izzi, chooses her favorite new releases to add to our music library. Here are this week's favorites, presented to you by WSUM's Music Journalism Club.

Anna Burch, If You're Dreaming

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Not So Bad,” “Tell Me What's True,” “Can't Sleep,” “Here With You”

GENRE: Indie pop, indie rock, singer-songwriter, indie folk

RIYL: Frankie Cosmos, Gabby's World, Haley Heynderickx

Everything Anna Burch does sounds like sunshine. Her songs provide the soundtrack to long walks on a sunny afternoon, cookouts with friends and summer days spent enjoying the fresh air. Her latest release, If You're Dreaming,continues to check off all of these boxes. With how much I've been stuck inside lately, this is exactly the kind of sound I needed to help brighten my day. The lightness of her voice on songs like “Can't Sleep” and “Not So Bad” almost resembles the delicacy of a Frankie Cosmos song. The instrumentation is as organic as ever, but the new found emphasis on keys in tracks like “Tell Me What's True” creates an extra layer of depth not present in Burch's previous projects. The whole album is capped off with a moment of quiet delicacy in the song “Here With You.” Burch foregoes her usual indie rock arrangements for a much greater focus on the acoustic guitar and her voice, ending the album on a beautifully optimistic note. The vibe of this whole project was exactly what I was hoping for, and fans of Burch's last album will love this one just as much. —Sean Horvath

Crisman, Crisman

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Portrait,” “Cya,” “Rock,” “Rain”

GENRE: Indie rock, Indie pop

RIYL: Chastity Belt, Frankie Cosmos, Girlpool, Boy Scouts

You know that feeling when you come home from the thrift store, new shirt in hand, just to open your closet and realize that you liked it so much because you own three other shirts that look like it? That is how I feel about Crisman's self-titled album. I like it because it's something new, but still has familiar elements of other albums that I love. From the opening track, “Portrait,” the circular guitar riffs that form the album's foundation reminded me of the work of Lydia Lund in Seattle band Chastity Belt. Maddie Boone's clouded vocal delivery evokes my Pacific Northwest punk and indie rock favorites, despite the fact that Crisman hails from Denton, Texas. The cherry on top of Crisman is the minute approach to lyrics that could rival even Frankie Cosmos, regarding everything from inanimate objects (“I am a rock / to skip and throw away / pick it back up when it's in your way”) to relationships with parents (“my mom likes to laugh real loud / my dad is light and mom is sound”) with ease.  — Zoey Knox

Yves Tumor, Heaven to a Tortured Mind

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Kerosene!”, “Strawberry Privilege”, “Gospel for a New Century”

GENRE: Hypnagogic pop, art rock, glam rock

RIYL: Blood Orange, Caroline Polachek, Arca

When I first listened to Heaven to a Tortured Mind, the sole criticism I had for the bold and often eccentric Yves Tumor was that the album wasn't weird enough. I was a huge fan of the washes of harsh noise, relentless synths and drum machines on their 2018 release Safe In the Hands of Love,and I felt like I missed those types of sounds on Heaven. But the more I listened to Heaven and the more it started to grow on me, I quickly realized how wrong I was. Rather than playing with harsh noise motifs, Yves Tumor ventures into the world of funk and R&B. This results in sensuous and lusty tracks such as “Kerosene!,” complete with weeping, guitar solos reminiscent of Prince. Similarly, I would imagine that songs like “Strawberry Privilege” would make fantastic make-out-in-the-car music, with its beguiling background vocals that beautifully complement Yves Tumor's dreamy falsetto. Despite entering new sonic territory, Yves Tumor still retains their highly idiosyncratic sound, especially in the opening track “Gospel for a New Century,” which has the kind of swagger and brashness I would expect to come off of Safe in the Hands of Love. My only parting request for Yves Tumor is to tour as soon as they can (after quarantine), because my wallet is sitting at the ready to buy a concert ticket. —Shelby Len

The Radio Dept., You Fear The Wrong Thing Baby / The Absence of Birds 

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “You Fear The Wrong Thing Baby,” “The Absence of Birds”

GENRE: Indie pop, jangle pop, dream pop 

RIYL: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Galaxie 500, Deerhunter, Atlas Sound

You Fear The Wrong Thing Baby / The Absence of Birds are the two singles that the Swedish dream pop act The Radio Dept. has released so far in 2020. Both of these songs indicate a bit of return to form for the band, returning to their more jangly roots since their last full length, Running Out Of Love, a record indebted heavily to both synthpop and dance music. “You Fear The Wrong Thing Baby” is the more urgent of the two singles, featuring a slick and passionate atmosphere backed by the yearning vocals of frontman Johan Duncansson. “The Absence of Birds,” on the other hand, is much more serene and subdued. The track is melancholic, but not without a very pronounced romanticism to its bittersweet atmosphere. Overall, both tracks should be exciting to both fans of the band's past work and fans of indie and dream pop in general, as both songs demonstrate that The Radio Dept. is still in top form, delivering well crafted shoegaze indie pop.  — M. Jarosinski

Peach Pit, You and Your Friends

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Black Licorice,” “Figure 8,” “Shampoo Bottles”

GENRE: Dream rock, indie rock, indie pop

RIYL: Wallows, The Walters, HUNNY, No Vacation

You and Your Friends, Peach Pit's sophomore record, establishes them as a household name in the indie scene. In this album they further develop the musical ideas they first laid out in Being So Normal, with catchy dreamlike guitar riffs as the highlights of their songs. The lead singles “Black Licorice” and “Shampoo Bottles” are great examples of the general vibe of the album: traditional rock songs about breakups and friendships with fun riffs and very relatable lyrics. You and Your Friends is a fun, enjoyable record and I'm really excited to see where the band goes next. The band played it safe on their second album, sticking to the formula that worked for them on their debut. But then again, you don't need to fix what isn't broken. — Arthur Machado

Berlin Taxi, In Pursuit

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Don't Go,” “Rollercoaster,” “Burned”

GENRE: Synth pop

RIYL: Chromatics, John Maus, New Order

On their new album, In Pursuit, synth pop group Berlin Taxi offer up a collection of ‘80s inspired tracks. Using analog synths and vintage sounds, the group creates a minimalist soundscape of funky basslines and soaring pads. If you're looking for some throwback tunes, look no further than In Pursuit. — Ayden Schultz

Check out our playlist for this week's adds below.