New Releases: Billy Talent Get Sequelled

In a few short years, Billy Talent have done it all (in Canada, anyway). They've become one of the most popular bands in the country, won Juno Awards and become one of the country's most sought-after acts abroad. The only thing they haven't done is release a sophomore album.

After a long, long wait, the sequel to the band's full-length debut is finally here. The appropriately titled Billy Talent II hits stores on Tuesday.

A little while ago, there was a two-horse race between R&B singers Indie.Arie and Alicia Keys. Everyone thought the competition would end in an upset after Arie swept the Grammys in the year both their debuts were released. But Keys was the one who ended up shooting to stardom while Arie maintained a respectable level of fame. In an effort to catch Keys on the backstretch, Arie is releasing Testimony Vol. 1 this week.

Another long-delayed release hitting shelves in the last week of June is Dashboard Confessional's Dusk And Summer. Emo mope Chris Carrabba went through the motions about 90 times during the production of this album, writing full records and scrapping them, recording full records and then scrapping them — basically anything he could do to annoy his inexplicable legions of fans. Hopefully they'll be satisfied with the new record, which is out Tuesday.

Here are some of this week's other releases:

AK'SENT International (Capitol/EMI)
B.B. KING Gold (Geffen/Universal)
FOUR TET DJ-Kicks (!K7/Outside)
GOOD RIDDANCE My Republic (Fat Wreck/FAB)
THE KNIFE Silent Shout (Mute/EMI)
LOSTPROPHETS Liberation Transmission (Columbia/Sony BMG)
GRANT LEE PHILLIPS Nighteeneighties (Rounder/Universal)
STARFIELD Beauty In The Broken (Sparrow/EMI)
THA DOGG POUND Cali Iz Active (KOCH)