Friday Music Guide: New Music From Ariana Grande, Lil Durk, Selena Gomez & More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

This week, Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine gets brighter, Lil Durk shares his story and Selena Gomez finally releases a fan favorite. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Ariana Grande, Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead 

While Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine album already feels like ages ago — thanks in part to a wildly successful Wicked campaign, which netted the pop superstar an Oscar nod — this deluxe edition not only adds six new top-notch cuts to her most recent full-length, but also serves as a reason to revisit one of Ari’s most accomplished artistic statements, one year later.

Lil Durk, Deep Thoughts 

Lil Durk’s ninth studio album exists in a singular context from the rest of his catalog, as the Chicago rap star is currently in prison and awaiting trial while facing murder-for-hire charges, but Deep Thoughts turns that uncertainty into a compelling listen, with Future, Lil Baby and Jhene Aiko all stopping by to support Durk as he works through his fears and doubts behind bars.

Selena Gomez, “Stained” 

One week after she and fiancé Benny Blanco unveiled their collaborative album I Said I Love You First, Selena Gomez has given fans a thank-you gift with the studio version of “Stained,” a smoky standout that originally leaked in 2017 during an exciting creative run and, with its echoing harmonies and trap drums swirling around Gomez’s haunted words, still sounds fresh today.

Lucy Dacus, Forever is a Feeling 

Lucy Dacus’ personal and professional circumstances have changed since her last full-length — she’s signed to a major label, the success of Boygenius has greatly elevated her profile, and she recently confirmed a relationship with Julien Baker, which serves as the basis of her new album’s romantic slant — but her distinct songwriting flair remains intact, and helps connect Forever is a Feeling to the rest of her oeuvre.

Playboi Carti, Music – Sorry 4 Da Wait 

After flooding the Hot 100 with all 30 tracks from his long-awaited new album Music, Playboi Carti has tossed four new songs onto the project as a means of apologizing to fans for the prolonged gap between Whole Lotta Red and its follow-up; the final song, “FOMDJ,” is a tough-as-nails highlight, with the type of juxtaposition between crunchy production and elastic flow that Carti often embraces.

Linkin Park, “Up From the Bottom” 

If From Zero, the rock group’s first album in seven years and Emily Armstrong’s debut as co-vocalist, represented a band working towards a new identity last year, the pulse-pounding “Up From the Bottom” may hint at the sound Linkin Park will explore more deeply in the future, as a punk anthem with coiled energy and more natural interplay between Armstrong and Mike Shinoda.

Feid feat. Ty Dolla $ign, “DALLAX” 

The flip phones and cassette players featured in the music video to “DALLAX” are not the only retro components to Feid and Ty Dolla $ign’s new collaboration: as the reggaetón and R&B veteran bounce off each other, their styles blend into a sound that harkens back to the rhythmic pop of the turn of the century, with modern flourishes but a nostalgic foundation.

Mumford & Sons, Rushmere 

At a moment when folk-rock is back in vogue, Mumford & Sons, perhaps the movement’s biggest breakthrough act in the early 2010s, has returned with an album that gestures toward the band’s past while not abiding by its boundaries. Rushmere is a free-wheeling rock affair that builds upon the confidence that Marcus Mumford demonstrated on his 2022 self-titled solo album.

Jessie Reyez, Paid in Memories 

Paid in Memories is the sprawling project that Jessie Reyez has been working towards her entire career, with the singer-songwriter no longer reducing her aesthetic to chase success, writing about her experiences with heightened vulnerability and ultimately producing the best songs of her career. “NYB,” “BEGGIN 4 LUV” and the 6lack team-up “6LESSINGS” are immediate highlights.

Editor’s Pick: Free Range, Lost & Found 

As Free Range, Chicago-based singer-songwriter Sofia Jensen writes songs that linger in the air and rattle in your brain long after they’ve dissipated. Lost & Found, their follow-up to 2023’s Practice, contains breathtaking beauty made out of very few production tricks — a testament to Jensen’s disarming delivery, as they yearn for connection and let their voice crack over straightforward yet effective arrangements.

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