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Morrissey has returned this week with his finest work in 20 years. Some of the songs, on I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, harken back to The Smiths, and early Moz, pre-Viva Hate. It’s an album chock-full of great songs, with barely a weak one in the bunch. His California Son album was fantastic, and though it felt original at times, it was an album full of covers. Here Moz takes on all the rumors, and racist rants, in original epitaphs. He gets crafty, and personal, never more aware than now, of the death at one’s elbows.

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This week we get a surprise return from Alkaline Trio in the form of ep.

“With the tour postponed and the current state of the world, we feel and hope that some new music will help people transcend the uncertainty and possible fear they might be feeling, if even for a few minutes,” Matt Skiba told Loudwire.com

I was shocked when I saw they had new music out, since Matt has been off galavanting with Blink-182 for the last couple of years. Not much has changed, both Matt and Dan take turns singing, and rumor has it, Derek is back.

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Mt. Joy released an EP this week as well, and I couldn’t be more excited. These guys put out one of my favorite albums a couple of years back and I wore that one out. So, I’ve been so excited to hear new material. They haven’t strayed from the path that brought them success, I’m happy to report.

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Seawolf’s full-length Through A Dark Wood materializes, and his third single, “Two Of Us,” sounds great.  The Avalanches did a song, “Running Red Lights,” with Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo? This should be interesting. After all, what would a Release Radar be without some Avalanches or Weezer in the mix?

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Mac Miller has been on my radar, and is, once again, this week. Also, Blake Mills is back. He has been either hit or miss for me, so I’m not sure what to expect?

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Felly’s new album, Mariposa is up for streaming now, and this might be his best, most complete work? I’ve dug all three of his singles from it thus far and can’t wait to pick this apart.

Snoop is back on a rap track, but it’s not significant enough to return to that often. The Radio Dept share more fuzz-pop from their latest record, and Saint Motel release a rocker called “A Good Song Never Dies.”

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The Weekend is really taking to this MJ Thriller thing, with his latest album and wardrobe. More importantly, the music sounds inspired by Michael Jackson, which is good, I think? “Blinding Lights” goes beyond Michael, and deep into the ’80s!

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This Westerns song, “Can’t Get You,” caught me by surprise, so I thought I would share. It’s worth a playlist spot.

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Your slice of smoothness this week comes from Rock Chalk Suite and their Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. This jazz meets basketball album is worth your time.

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