Gaga returns to her roots, Jason Isbell is uprooted, and Ichiko Aoba swims with jellyfish.

Album of the Week

The new album from Rotterdam's Nagasaki Swim evokes the first warm day of the year (by Dutch standards); a gentle nudge to truly hit the road; a car ride where the golden hour turns to night. The View From Up There is quietly adventurous. A daydream of a rock album. Jasper Boogaard sings a bit like John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, albeit cautiously, but the musical touchstones on this third album (his second with Excelsior Recordings) demonstrate bravado. We hear The Band, Bruce Springsteen, The War On Drugs, and Crazy Horse on songs like "crocuses." Nervous saxophones, atmospheric auto-tune, and a whole lot of lap steel. Take it on the road, you won't be bored. LP

New in

	More than twelve years after the heartbreaking Southeastern, southern rocker Jason Isbell once again leaves his band The 400 Unit on Foxes in the Snow . Isbell performs entirely acoustically for the first time, and it gives the songs all the more impact. This is an album about divorce, and so "lack" is his most powerful weapon. Dramatic anti-drama. CD / LP
	Fame briefly gripped Lady Gaga : how do you stay creative when everyone expects something different from you? Solved. Fifteen years after her breakthrough, Gaga is returning to her roots: pure, energetic, confusing, eclectic pop hits. Mayhem is full of them. A new "Bad Romance"? A new "Just Dance." Judge for yourself. The fact is, Gaga is having fun again. CD / LP
	Our favorite jazz eccentric from Manchester (who the hell calls himself Alabaster dePlume ?) delivers balm for the soul. While making A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, dePlume says he was "thinking about Palestine all the time." But drowning in misery isn't an option for him: his unique saxophone playing and orchestral arrangements guide you to a better world. CD / LP
	Anyone who's ever swum with luminous jellyfish in the blue waters of the Ryukyu Archipelago simply has to make an ambient folk album about it. Especially if your name is Ichiko Aoba . The Japanese whispering singer expands her silky-smooth oeuvre with Luminescent Creatures . "Rippling" has rarely been such a high praise. A head under water between harp and flute. CD / LP

 

Even more new releases this week: new country adventures from the archives of Neil Young , Oceanside Countryside ( LP ); and Shards , a soundtrack compilation from ambient veteran Tim Hecker ( CD / LP ).

Pre-orders

	Ghost promises to go on an introspective tour with Skeletá (April 25). We'll see. CD / LP
	Little Simz! The British rapper imagines herself as a Lotus (May 9) on her new album and explores new sounds and new collaborations. CD / LP