New Music Friday: The best albums out May 15
NPR Music
NPR
4.3 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Starting 5
(00:00) Introduction & Jobi Riccio, 'Face The Feeling'
(07:49) Dua Saleh, 'Of Earth & Wires'
(15:38) Tank and the Bangas, 'The Last Balloon'
(21:41) Cocanha, 'Flame Folclòre'
(26:50) Tamikrest, 'Assikel'
(33:01) The Lightning Round
- Eluvium, 'Virga III'
- Kevin Morby, 'Little Wide Open
- Martyn, 'Music for Existing'
- Julieta Venegas, 'Norteña'
- Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, 'Happy Today'
Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.org.
Credits:
Host: Stephen Thompson
Guest: Joe Kendrick, WNCW
Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell
Digital Producer: Dora Levite
Editors: Otis Hart, Elle Mannion
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Special thanks to Lars Gotrich and Anamaria Sayre
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Happy Friday, everyone from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson, here with Joe Kendrick from Public Radio Station, WNCW, in Spindale, North Carolina. Welcome back to the show, Joe. |
| 0:19.7 | Hey, it's great to be back, Stephen. Thanks for having me on. It is great to have you. Now, we should lead off, get this out of the way |
| 0:26.0 | up front. No one let us listen to the new Drake album that is out today. It is called Ice Man. There have been |
| 0:33.4 | months and months and months of build buildup and speculation about this record. |
| 0:40.4 | He announced this record while standing under a giant ice sculpture. |
| 0:46.4 | I've seen basketball games go by where there are like chairs that are iced out to promote this record. |
| 0:46.9 | I would imagine we are just, we are only spitballing, only guessing here. |
| 0:50.9 | This record is going to be very long. |
| 0:52.7 | It is going to be full of track after track after track of Drake, |
| 0:56.0 | and it will hit number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart when that chart finally rolls |
| 1:00.9 | around. |
| 1:01.5 | But we have otherwise nothing to say about Ice Man because we have not heard it. |
| 1:06.5 | So let's kick off the show with Joby Richieo. |
| 1:09.6 | Her new album is called Face the Feeling. |
| 1:11.7 | Driving through my hometown at the red lights we'd give. |
| 1:19.6 | So many years I longed for someone to share with. |
| 1:31.3 | Woke up with you in Nashville Slept alone in St. Louis |
| 1:35.3 | So many years all I wanted was someone good to miss. |
| 1:43.3 | My heart only bright |
| 1:47.0 | a little at a time |
| 1:51.0 | a little at a time |
| 1:55.0 | a little at a time |
... |
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