The music industry is bracing itself for the summer. You can feel it in the slightly shorter Rolling Stone articles, the hasty pre-release campaigns, the frequent crashes of ticket-vending websites… Summer is coming. That is a way bigger threat than the coming of winter if you are an avid lisztomaniac. While you await the season of festivals and hoard each work hour worth 38.5 dirhams for your upcoming bankruptcy, I am here to offer you some free entertainment. Do not shy away from canceling your Spotify subscriptions, at least for a while. Open the browser version and listen to some of the best albums out there, ad- and shuffle-free.

COWBOY CARTER by Beyonce

I am not one to go for the obvious usually, but I simply must this time. The most notable new release is indeed Beyonce’s latest record, COWBOY CARTER. Nobody expected it to be a country album, and it actually is not. It is just a Beyonce album meeting all the standards that she keeps creating for herself and the music industry overall. The new renditions of “Jolene” and “Blackbird” are really what prove that she is in a lane and league of her own by reimagining and modernizing classics not only in terms of their melodies, but also of their social commentaries. She just did it again.

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell (Released March 9, 2010)

Theaterheads, this one's for you. Hadestown is definitely one of the best contemporary musicals that interprets the tale of Eurydice and Orpheus in such a way that it critiques capitalism and labor exploitation and building walls to keep the Other, with capital O, out. It also critiques other systems that further the environmental crisis to the point where even human life becomes meaningless to ourselves… In around an hour, Anais Mitchell says a lot about the human condition without even attempting to be smart, insightful, or quirky. She is nothing but real, raw, and courageously hopeful about a future that has never been imagined and dreamt of. Treat yourselves to an incredible musical experience and a thought-provoking story.

April 5th will see several new releases by some of the greats. Look out for Khruangbin’s A La Sala for some chill in vibe but complex in musicality album, Found Heaven by Conan Gray for all the YA and coming-of-age romance feels, Ohio Players by The Black Keys for some classic indie rock, and Vampire Weekend’s Only God Was Above Us for some chaos and energy-boosting modern punk. There is something for everyone's taste this breezy summer.