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New Music Friday: The best releases out on May 26

NPR Music

NPR

Music

4.3 β€’ 3.3K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 26 May 2023

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The best albums out this week include Lil Durk's Almost Healed, reflections on surviving your 20s from Arlo Parks and Miya Folick, Gia Margaret's Romantic Piano, a new Kassa Overall project and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Lil Durk β€” Almost Healed
Featured Songs: "Same Side (feat. Rob49)," "Therapy Session," "Never Again," "All My Life (feat. J. Cole)"
2. Arlo Parks β€” My Soft Machine
Featured Songs: "Dog Rose," "Bruiseless," "Purple Phase," "Pegasus (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)"
3. Gia Margaret β€” Romantic Piano
Featured Songs: "Ways of Seeing," "Cicadas," "Juno"
4. Kassa Overall β€” ANIMALS
Featured Songs: "Clock Ticking (feat. Danny Brown & Wiki)," "Still Ain't Find Me (feat. Tomoki Sanders, Bendji Allonce, Mike King & Ian Finklestein)"
5. Miya Folick β€” ROACH
Featured Songs: "Get Out of My House," "Oh God," "Cartoon Clouds"

Lightning Round:
Alex Anwandter β€” El Diablo en el Cuerpo
Anna Thorvaldsdottir β€” ARCHORA / AIŌN
Sparks β€” The Girl is Crying in Her Latte
Wande Coal β€” Legend or No Legend

Other notable releases for May 26:
Bayonne β€” Temporary Time
Henry Threadgill β€” The Other One
Janai Shankar β€” Hot & Cold
Kari Faux β€” REAL B*TCHES DON'T DIE!
Kevin Morby β€” More Photographs (A Continuum)
MeeeZ β€” [red album]
M. Sage β€” Paradise Crick
Matchbox Twenty β€” Where The Light Goes
Mike Oldfield β€” Tubular Bells - 50th Anniversary Celebration
Maya Ongaku β€” Approach to Anima
Shirley Collins β€” Archangel Hill
Simply Red β€” Time
Water From Your Eyes β€” Everyone's Crushed
Wolf Eyes β€” Dreams in Splattered Lines

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey everybody, happy Friday. I'm Robin Hilton from InPear Music. It's May 26th.

0:04.1

Astoundingly, the month is flying by. I am here with WBZ and Vocalo Radio's Ionic Contreras.

0:10.0

Hey, young. Hello. Contributors Serena Turos. Hey, Robin.

0:14.0

An InPear Music Editor, Sheldon Pierce. What's good?

0:17.8

It's new music Friday. We all got together, decided what the best albums are that we should flag for you today.

0:22.7

That includes new ones from Casa Overall, Arlo Parks, Mia Folic, and more.

0:27.5

But we start with the rapper Lil Dirk. His album out today is called Almost Healed. This is the song Same Side.

1:27.5

Yeah, it feels like Lil Dirk is living his second life as a musician. He was one of the first artists

1:40.4

signed in the great Chicago draw rush of 2012. But four albums released on two different major labels

1:46.5

across five years. Never really picked up traction. Dirk stayed with it though, and he has

1:51.6

quietly become one of the biggest rappers in America over the last three years. His 2022 chart

1:56.8

topper 722-0 was one of only five albums to go platinum last year. All of that has come with its

2:03.6

side effects. He's had a lot of people around him die, including his brother in 2021 and his star

2:10.8

people, King Bond in 2020. As a result, he has tried to think a little bit differently about his

2:17.5

career and about his life and about how his music functions. This album Almost Healed takes the

2:24.1

music as therapy approach, which is sort of a tried and true cliche, especially for rappers.

2:30.4

Sometimes as a cop out to not actually go to therapy, he is in therapy. Yeah, too. He's very open

2:36.5

about that. Yeah, that's an important part of it. And the album opens with Alicia Keys sort of

2:42.4

asking him to lay bare his life on the record. Good morning, Dirk. I hope you're doing as well

2:49.1

as possible under the circumstances. Can you tell me where was your mind when you heard the news

2:55.7

of your friend Vaughn passing away on November 6, 2020? And then the loss of your brother on June

3:04.3

6, 2021. Wow. I personally would have liked him to lean into the concept a bit more, his ability to

...

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