It's Friday, and we're happy to report that a handful of truly great albums were released at midnight. Los Angeles singer-songwriter Annahstasia 鈥� who you may have seen as Kendrick Lamar's love interest in the video for his No.1 hit "luther" 鈥� blew us away with her blend of gravity and grace. Celebrated jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson 鈥� who won a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2019 鈥� has a new album produced by Deerhoof's John Dieterich. Jazz harpist Brandee Younger might have hit a new career high with her new album, on which she plays Alice Coltrane's harp.
We get into those three and a few more on the June 13 episode of New Music Friday. Nate Chinen of joins host Stephen Thompson to share their favorite records of the week.
The Starting Five
Our hosts share the backstories and best songs from the following albums:
馃捒 Annahstasia, Tether ()
- Recommended If You Like: Tracey Chapman, Nick Drake
馃捒 Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts ()
- RIYL: Bill Frisell, Peter Bernstein
馃捒 Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season ()
- RIYL: Alice Coltrane, Shabaka Hutchings
馃捒 Joe Armon-Jones, All The Quiet (Part II) ()
- RIYL: Ezra Collective, Makaya McCraven
馃捒 The Cure, Mixes for a Lost World ()
- RIYL: The Cure, Orbital
New Music Friday is a feature of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast. Hear the discussion on the , , or .
The Lightning Round
Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:
馃捒 AJ Tracey, Don't Die Before You're Dead
馃捒 Theo Croker, dream manifest
馃捒 Cosey Fanni Tutti, 2t2
馃捒 Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell, We Insist 2025!
馃捒 Ella Hanshaw, Ella Hanshaw's Black Book
Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on and , or .
The Long List
For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:
Rock/Alt/Indie
- King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Phantom Island
- Queens of the Stone Age, Alive in the Catacombs EP
- Grateful Dead, Gratest Hits
- Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, Talkin to the Trees
- Bloodshot Bill, So Fed Up!
- Common Holly, Anything glass
- Guy Blackman, Out of Sight
- Jahnah Camille, My sunny oath! EP
- Lipsticism, Wanted To Show You
- Patrick Wolf, Crying The Neck
- Puffer, Street Hassle
- Self Improvement, Syndrome
- Steve Queralt (of Ride), Swallow
- WPTR, Redness and Swelling at the Injection Site
Country/Folk/Americana
- Mister Romantic (John C. Reiilly), What's Not To Love?
- Dierks Bentley, Broken Branches
- Joseph Allred, Old Time Fantasias
Electronic/Out There
- Lyra Pramuk, Hymnal
- Adrian Sherwood, The Grand Designer EP
- Dummy, Bubbelibrium DLC
- Gabriel Brady, Day-blind
- Polygonia, Dream Horizons
- gyrofield, Suspension of Belief EP
- Holden & Zimpel, The Universe Will Take Care Of You
- Kate NV, Room for the Moon (Live)
- LSDXOXO, DGTL ANML
Global
- BALTHVS, Flesh and Soul EP
- Buscabulla, Se Amaba Asi
- V/A, P艒poloheno: Songs Of Resilience And Joy
- WITCH, SOGOLO
Jazz
- Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap, Elemental
- Brittany Davis, Black Thunder
Pop
- Calum Hood, ORDER chaos ORDER
- Mikayla Pasterfield, Heritage Listed EP
- salem ilese, growing down
- V/A, Smurfs (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Van Morrison, Remembering Now
R&B/Soul
- Maiya Blaney, A Room With A Door That Closes
- Natanya, Feline's Return
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Leikeli47, Lei keli ft 47 / For Promotional Use Only
- EST Gee, My World
- onefour, Look At Me Now
- Lil Tecca, Dopamine
- Cymarshall Law & Slimline Mutha, The Peaceful Warrior 2: Raw Self Expression
- 驰补尘锚, 脡叠膾惭
Classical
- Juri Seo, Obsolete Music
Credits
- Host: Stephen Thompson
- Guest: Nate Chinen, WRTI
- Producer: Simon Rentner
- Editor: Otis Hart
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Vice President, Music and Visuals: Keith Jenkins
Copyright 2025 NPR
