New Music Friday: The best albums out May 8
NPR Music
NPR
4.3 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 8 May 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Starting 5
(00:00) MUNA, 'Dancing On The Wall'
(08:17) Aldous Harding, 'Train on the Island'
(16:00) Deb Never, 'Arcade'
(22:15) Lykke Li, 'The Afterparty'
(28:12) Stephen Sanchez, 'LOVE, LOVE, LOVE'
(34:46) The Lightning Round
- Ashley McBryde, 'Wild'
- Broken Social Scene, 'Remember The Humans'
- Ray Bull, 'Please Stop Laughing'
- Anastasia Kristensen, 'Bestiarium Sombre'
- Amy Grant, 'The Me That Remains'
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: Celia Gregory, WNXP
Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell
Digital Producer: Dora Levite
Editors: Otis Hart, Elle Mannion
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Special thanks to Robin Hilton, Ann Powers and Lars Gotrich
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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 |
| 0:13.9 | Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville. Welcome back to the show, Celia. Thank you, Stephen. So good to be with |
| 0:19.9 | you virtually, as that's the only option we have currently. Well, if we're not in person now, that means that you and I were probably not together for the Met Gala either. No, unfortunately, we missed it this year. I think my invitation was lost in the mail, but I had an outfit ready and everything, you know? What was your outfit? What would you wear to the matcala? |
| 0:37.9 | I'm just rocking, as per, like, the ridicule of my office. I'm just rocking, like, millennial wear until it comes back around, right? Like, I'm not throwing away skinny jeans. I have these Adidas, and I think that it'll be really future forward, you know, one of these days. Yeah, I'm sort of one of those like, I wore clean pants for this. |
| 0:56.5 | And I know there are people, you know, every time the Mac Gala rolls around, people jump in and are sort of like, this is stupid when all these terrible things are going on in the world. And I say, without stupid things, what even are we? We need them right now. We need them like lifeblood. |
| 1:11.6 | So let's have this. |
| 1:12.6 | Can we see pretty people wearing pretty outfits just for, you know, a day? |
| 1:16.6 | Exactly. |
| 1:17.6 | Well, you know what is not dumb and what is actually awesome is new albums. |
| 1:22.6 | Always weekly. We're so blessed. |
| 1:24.6 | We are so blessed, especially because we're kicking off with really one of my |
| 1:28.3 | favorite bands in the world for the last bunch of years. Muna has a new record. It's called Dancing on the |
| 1:34.7 | Wall. I can feel you so close, no more than a stone's through, looking for a window, but you're the wall that I keep hanging the head against I'm always saying this time |
| 1:50.0 | I get through with a bruise as a consequence I know I know where to hurt myself on you So what I'm calling you up again |
| 2:02.6 | I'm always saying this time I get through |
| 2:06.6 | I end up all alone as a consequence |
| 2:10.6 | I'm dancing on the wall when I'm with you |
| 2:15.6 | And I'm with you I'm with you I'm on the wall |
| 2:19.3 | I'm dancing on the wall |
| 2:21.3 | and I see |
| 2:23.3 | I was dancing in the light |
| 2:25.3 | shadows dance across my eyes |
... |
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