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.
New Music Friday is a feature of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast. Hear the discussion on the , , or wherever you get your podcasts beginning at 3 a.m. ET.
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
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
- 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
- Yuuf, Alma's Cove EP
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
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
- NoMBe, 顿颈谩蝉辫辞谤补
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Leikeli47, Lei keli ft 47 / For Promotional Use Only
- 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
- Jordi Savall, Forgotten Symphonies
- 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
