May New Album Releases

May is a month of interesting releases, although few "must have" albums. I'll be checking reviews on these to decide whether I want to get them.

Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, Volume 3: Showstoppers (May 18). Coming at the end of its first season run is the third full-length soundtrack album from Glee, featuring songs from 8 of the season's last 9 episodes (except for "The Power of Madonna" songs, which were released separately as an EP, currently sitting at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart). Highlights include "Gives You Hell," the Burt Bacharach numbers from last week's episode, and a couple of Lady GaGa tunes from the season finale.

Keane - Night Train EP (May 10). Testing the waters a bit after their underperforming third album Perfect Symmetry, Keane releases an EP of new songs, including current single "Stop for a Minute," which features Canadian rapper K'naan. Tim Rice-Oxley, the keyboardist and principal songwriter, takes a turn at lead vocals on "Your Love."

Diana Vickers - Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree (May 3). Step forward Diana Vickers, the third major act emerge from The X Factor's fifth season (the one that's already produced major stars in Alexandra Burke and JLS). Vickers hit #1 last week with her debut single, "Once," and although reviews for this first album appear to be mixed, I'm still interested.

Court Yard Hounds (May 4). Four years after releasing their Grammy Award-winning Taking the Long Way, two of three Dixie Chicks (minus Natalie Maines) have spun off this side project, named after a fictional book from David Benioff's City of Thieves (a pretty fun read, actually). "It Didn't Make a Sound" and first single "The Coast" are already available.

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (May 17). LCD Soundsystem, the acclaimed Dance/punk project by New Yorker James Murphy, has announced that this third disc will be its last. Considering that the first two albums were widely praised by critics and nominated for the dance/electronic album Grammy, expect similar buzz from this as well. First single "Drunk Girls" is already out.

The New Pornographers - Together (May 4). Canadian rock band returns with their fifth album, first since 2007's game-changing Challengers. Listen for free at NPR.

The National - High Violet (May 10). Brooklyn-based indie rockers release their fifth album.

The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever (May 3/4). The fifth album from the American rock band--first without their keyboardist Franz Nicolay.

Stone Temple Pilots (May 25). It's been 9 years since the last STP album. The band, who broke up in 2003 but reunited in 2008, are releasing their sixth album, including recent US alternative #1 hit "Between the Lines."

The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards (May 11). Jack White's third band released their first album last year, and it's follow-up comes less than a year later.

Against Me! - White Crosses (May 4). Alternative rockers release their fifth album, including current single "I Was a Teenage Anarchist."

Agnes - Dance Love Pop (UK Edition) (May 24). Agnes had a major UK hit last summer with "Release Me," and now finally sees her 2008 album released there. Also features "I Need You Now" and new single "On and On." It's been pushed back several times, with the tracklist getting reshuffled a bit. The UK version still includes new track "You Rain" but "Secret Love" is now missing, and the the set omits "Look at Me Now" (a shame, for it's a highlight), "Don't Pull Your Love Out" and "Open Up Your Eyes."