It's Friday, and that means a tidal wave of newly released prestige pop is at your fingertips. In what might be the last blockbuster weekend of the year, we've got secretive albums from U.K. stars Dave and Lily Allen, as well as an unannounced debut from Halle Bailey of Chloe x Halle fame. Demi Lovato gets back to basic, while Brandi Carlile gets introspective with some help from Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and The National's Aaron Dessner. R&B stars Miguel and Daniel Caesar make stellar returns to the spotlight. And last (and maybe least, if you're a purist), Bruce Springsteen reveals what an electric Nebraska would have sounded like.
New Music Friday podcast host Stephen Thompson is joined by Ayana Contreras of NPR Member station KUVO in Denver to break down their five favorite albums out today. Press play to hear the conversation and scroll down to see our long list of noteworthy albums out Oct. 24.
The Starting 5
Our hosts share the backstories and best songs from the following albums:
🎵 Brandi Carlile, Returning To Myself
- Recommended If You Like: Bon Iver, The National
🎵 Miguel, CAOS
- RIYL: Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino
🎵 Tortoise, Touch
- RIYL: Ennio Morricone, Neu!
🎵 Daniel Caesar, Son of Spergy
- RIYL: Frank Ocean, Steve Lacy
🎵 Yazmin Lacey, Teal Dreams
- RIYL: Ezra Collective, SAULT
New Music Friday is a feature of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast. Hear the discussion on the NPR App, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Lightning Round
Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:
- iLe, Como Las Canto Yo
- Natural Information Society, Perseverance Flow
- Hannah Jadagu, Describe
- Hether, Holy Water
- Joyer, On the Other End of the Line...
Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple, or wherever you stream music.
The Long List
For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Dave, The Boy Who Played the Harp
- Roddy Ricch, The Navy Album
- Billy Dean Thomas, MX
- Hit-Boy & The Alchemist, Goldfish
- Reuben Vincent & 9th Wonder, Welcome Home
- YUNGMORPHEUS x Dirty Art Club, A Spyglass to One's Face
R&B/Soul
- Cautious Clay, The Hours: Night
- Leon Thomas, PHOLKS EP
- Monte Booker, noise / meaning
- Nelly Moar, Love's Law EP
- Queen Naija, 30. EP
Rock/Alt/Indie
- Jennifer Walton, Daughters
- The Lemonheads, Love Chant
- Just Mustard, We Were Just Here
- Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition
- Carl Perkins, Some Things Never Change
- DION, The Rock 'n' Roll Philosopher
- Jim White, Inner Day
- Parts Work (Frances Quinlan), s/t EP
- Horse Jumper of Love, Disaster Trick (Deluxe Edition)
- Major Stars, More Colors of Sound
- Alice Phoebe Lou, Oblivion
- Joelton Mayfield, Crowd Pleaser
- Babeheaven, Slower Than Sound
- Bahamas, My Second Last Album
- Bartees Strange, Shy Bairns Get Nowt EP
- Belly, King (30th Anniversary Edition)
- Circa Waves, Death & Love Pt. 2
- Dazy, Bad Penny EP
- E.R. Visit, my children will ignore you, my children will type amen
- Eliza McLamb, Good Story
- Fergus McCreadie, The Shieling
- Jesca Hoop, Selective Memory
- Kid Fears, Undying Love
- Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Live Like the Sky
- Little Feat, The Last Record Album (Deluxe Edition)
- Low Girl, Is It Too Late To Freak Out?
- Machine Girl, Psycho Warrior: MG Ultra X
- Max Winter, Mourning Routine EP
- Naïm Amor and Kid Congo Powers, Tucson Safari
- Nell Mescal, The Closest We'll Get
- NGHTCRWLR, OZ
- Nick Mulvey, Dark Harvest Pt. 2
- pets, 🌀❓ (Spiral Question Mark)
- SPEED, ALL MY ANGELS
- Spiritual Cramp, Rude
- Stroik, 65th and York
- The Strumbellas, Burning Bridges Into Dust EP
- ugly ozo, stargirl EP
- VOWWS, I'll fill your house with an army
- V/A, Naive Melodies (A reimagining of Talking Heads' catalog)
- V/A, Can't Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company
Pop
- Halle, love?... or something like it
- Lily Allen, West End Girl
- Demi Lovato, It's Not That Deep
- Rose Gray, Echo In The Dust
- Natalie Jane, r u gonna love me?
- Alexander Stewart, What If?
- Couch, Big Talk
- Sigrid, There's Always More That I Could Say
- Skylar Grey, Angel With Tattoos
- V/A, Nobody Wants This: The Soundtrack
Country/Folk/Americana
- Billy Currington, King Of The World
- Joshua Hedley, All Hat
- Mhairi Hall & David de la Haye, Underwater Cairngorms
- Ocie Elliott, Bungalow
- Sam Burchfield, Nature Speaks
Jazz
- أحمد [Ahmed], سماعSama'a (Audition)
- Horace Silver, Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse
- Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far
- Sean Mason, A Breath of Fresh Air
- Theo Croker, Dream Manifest Deluxe
- Zem Audu, You Can't Catch Me
Global
- Macario Martínez, Si Mañana Ya No Estoy
- Amadou & Mariam, L'amour à la folie
- Antibalas, Hourglass
- Oruã, Slacker
- Saagara, 3 The Shackleton Versions
- The Kasambwe Brothers, s/t
- Wendy Shay, Ready
Electronic/Out There
- In Transit (A Made Up Sound), s/t
- Auntie Flo, Birds of Paradise
- Binary Algorithms, Reminiscencias
- Carrier, Rhythm Immortal
- Chimehours, Underneath The Earth
- Crayon, Home Safe
- dance arts center, dance arts center presents
- DJ Aya, Good Boy EP
- Elektro Guzzi, Liquid Center
- Golden Brown, Patterner
- Haykal, Julmud and Acamol, Kam Min Janneh | كم من جنّة
- Kerrie, Echoes Of The Live Wire
- Ouri, Daisy Cutter
- Pancratio, Automatic House
- Rafael Toral, Traveling Light
- Richie Weeks, The Love Magician Archives. Boogie & Post Disco. NYC 1980 - 1983. Vol 3
- Squarepusher, Stereotype (Reissue)
- Wednesday Knudsen, Atrium
Classical
- Kareem Roustom, Shades of Night
- Martin Fröst, B.A.C.H.
Credits
Host: Stephen Thompson
Guest: Ayana Contreras, KUVO
Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell
Digital Producer: Elle Mannion
Editor: Otis Hart
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
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