It's Friday, and that means there's a decent chance a portion of your favorite band just released a new record. Members of TV on the Radio, Carolina Chocolate Drops, boygenius, even Bon Iver's touring band all unleashed solo or duo albums at the stroke of midnight.
NPR Music's Stephen Thompson welcomed Brian Burns of North Carolina public radio staton WUNC to our New Music Friday podcast to discuss the latest from Julien Baker, Tunde Adebimpe, and a couple of famous Tar Heels: Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson.
Listen to the episode or stream our recommended albums below.
The Starting 5
Stephen and Erin give you the backstory and best songs on the following albums:
💿 Julien Baker & Torres, Send a Prayer My Way
- RIYL: boygenius
💿 Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow
- RIYL: Carolina Chocolate Drops
💿 Tunde Adebimpe, Thee Black Boltz
- RIYL: TV on the Radio
💿 Beirut, A Study of Losses
- RIYL: The Magnetic Fields, Jens Lekman
💿 Sarah Siskind, Simplify
- RIYL: Alison Krauss, Bon Iver
New Music Friday is a feature of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast! Hear the discussion on the , , or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Lightning Round
Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:
💿 Davido, 5ive
💿 Adrian Younge, Something About April III
💿 Avery Friedman, New Thing
💿 Jess Sah Bi, Jesus-Christ Ne Deçoit Pas
💿 Neil Young, Coastal: The Soundtrack
Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on and .
The Long List
For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:
Electronic/Out There
- Lucy Railton, Blue Veil
- Divide and Dissolve, Insatiable
- Gryphon Rue, I Keep My Diamond Necklace in a Pond of Sparkling Water
- Hieroglyphic Being, Dance Music 4 Bad People
- jives, At Eternity's Gate
- LDS, power of 2 EP
- Olivia Belli, Intercosmia Vol. 2
- Quade, The Foel Tower
- Shell Company & Older Brother, Shards
- Sieren, Emergence
Rock/Alt/Indie
- Arcy Drive, The Pit
- Batpiss, There's A Place In My Mind Where We All Burn Alive
- Beddy Rays, Do What Ya Wanna
- Cumulus, We've Got It All
- Dallas Ugly, See Me Now
- Fotoform, Grief is a Garden (Forever in Bloom)
- Funeral Commercial, dead before i die
- Gentle Leader XIV, Joke in the Shadow
- Heavy Lungs, Caviar
- Iron Lung, Adapting//Crawling
- John Dwyer, CHIME OBLIVION
- Johnny Skin, s/t
- Kinsella & Pulse, LLC, Open ing Night
- Little Barrie, Electric War
- Mamuthones, From Word To Flesh
- Melvins 1983, Thunderball
- Michael Marcagi, Midwest Kid EP
- MIEN, MIIEN
- Mystery Dungeons, OPEN WORLD
- Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Live at the Capitol Theatre
- quickly, quickly, I Heard That Noise
- Sawyer Hill, Heartbreak Hysteria EP
- Scrounge, Almost Like You Could
- Sunnbrella, gutter angel
- Swell, Too Many Days Without Thinking (Reissue)
- The Concrete Boys, Everything's Better Than You
- The Convenience, Like Cartoon Vampires
- The Pale White, The Big Sad
- TV Sundaze, Plastic Bags / Packing Tape
- Witch Post, Beast EP
Global
- Legado 7, L7X
- Wolfgang Pérez, Memorias Fantasmas EP
- Yzoula and Louis Fontaine, Des Animaux Pires Que Moi
Country/Folk/Americana
- Ally Venable, Money & Power
- Chaparelle, Western Pleasure
- Henhouse Prowlers, Unravel
- Ian Munsick, Eagle Feather
- Taylor Rae, The Void
- Tony Holiday, Keep Your Head Up
- Tony Kamel, We're All Gonna Live
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Blu, Forty
- Chip, Grime Scene Saviour
- G Perico, LA Gangster: Gangsta Grillz
- Kool Keith, Karpenters
- Millyz, Blanco 7
- Mozzy, Intrusive Thoughts
- The Underachievers, Homecoming
- ThisisDA, Fast Life
- Trim, No Caller ID EP
- Wiz Khalifa, Kush+Orange Juice 2
R&B/Soul
- Keri Hilson, WE NEED TO TALK: LOVE
- Alex Isley, WHEN EP
Classical
- Stewart Copeland, Wild Concerto
Jazz
- Ikue Mori, The Bagatelles Vol. 4
- Mark de Clive-Lowe, past present (tone poems across time)
- Rindert Lammers, Thank You Kirin Kiki
- Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Inspire // Radicalise
Credits
- Host: Stephen Thompson
- Guest: Brian Burns, WUNC
- Producer: Simon Rentner
- Editor: Otis Hart
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Vice President, Music and Visuals: Keith Jenkins
Copyright 2025 NPR
