friday music guide
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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.
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This week, Charli xcx and Billie Eilish take a “Guess” together, Jack White has plenty of new riffs and A$AP Rocky returns with an unexpected guest. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Charli xcx feat. Billie Eilish, “Guess”
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Charli xcx’s spectacular Brat era continues with a new remix of “Guess,” in which Charli’s sultry delivery is paired with Billie Eilish’s soft-spoken sexual earnestness — the result is an explosive chemical reaction, that should have groups of partygoers shouting out Eilish’s line “Charli likes boys, but she knows I’d hit it” well beyond summertime.
Jack White, No Name
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Do you love the White Stripes, want to explore more of Jack White’s solo oeuvre but aren’t quite sure where to start? No Name, which was recently sneaked out to Third Man Records consumers before arriving on digital, may be White’s sixth album, but most closely resembles his former band’s bluesy garage-rock anthems, and should bring any casual listener up to speed.
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A$AP Rocky feat. Jessica Pratt, “HIGHJACK”
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During a recent chat with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, A$AP Rocky describes how Jessica Pratt’s music “kind of gave me this kind of Portishead meets Stevie Nicks vibe a little bit”; that explains how the hip-hop titan ended up corralling the indie songstress for one of the year’s more unexpected collaborations, on which Rocky’s boisterous flow collapses into Pratt’s gorgeous warbling.
Khalid, Sincere
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Khalid released his debut album, American Teen, a few days after his 19th birthday; now 26, his soothing tone remains intact but has naturally deepened on Sincere, his first full-length in five years and a revealing R&B exploration of heartbreak, fighting for peace and growing up within the music industry’s spotlight.
Jelly Roll, “Liar”
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Between his appearance on Eminem’s latest album, his contribution to the Twisters soundtrack and his John Denver-honoring team-up with mgk, Jelly Roll is on quite the prolific streak — but “Liar,” his first solo single since June’s “I Am Not Okay,” doesn’t dilute his appeal, functioning as a venomous farewell with unsettled guitar strums.
Maren Morris, Intermission
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In the past year alone, Maren Morris announced her decision to leave country music, filed from divorce from singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd and came out as bisexual during Pride month; the highs and lows of her journey are given a five-song snapshot in the form of Intermission, a compelling stopgap on which her fears and flirtations are given a technicolor pop sheen.
Justin Quiles, Permanente
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Puerto Rican hitmaker Justin Quiles wrapped up his visual song trilogy with “Te Perdió” last fall, and has moved on to more quick-hitting jams on Permanente, crafting rumbling hooks and commanding listeners’ attention while rarely allowing his tracks to stretch beyond the two-minute mark.
Jessie Murph feat. Teddy Swims, “Dirty”
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The raw, wounded way that Jessie Murph sings the words “I’ve got no mercy / You don’t deserve me” on her new Teddy Swims team-up “Dirty” allows her hurt to scan as authentic, and her voice powers her through such woe; after scoring hits with Koe Wetzel and Jelly Roll, Murph continues to shine as a collaborator and storyteller.
The Smashing Pumpkins, Aghori Mhori Mei
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There are moments across Aghori Mhori Mei, The Smashing Pumpkins’ thirteenth studio album, that harken back to their mid-‘90s heyday, and those callbacks are purposeful: Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlain have simplified their formula after some grander recent experiments, resulting in some refreshingly straightforward rockers.
Editor’s Pick: Kacey Musgraves, Deeper Into the Well
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Five months after its release, Kacey Musgraves’ charming Deeper Well has received a deluxe edition that boasts new collaborations with Leon Bridges and Tiny Habits, as well as “Irish Goodbye,” a wistful kiss-off that’s among the most emotionally resonant moments on the project.
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.
Explore
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See latest videos, charts and news
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This week, Ice Spice makes their full-length bow, Post Malone brings in another country superstar, and Halsey nods to Britney and Monica. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Ice Spice, Y2K!
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Ice Spice’s boisterous personality and no-holds-barred approach to New York drill made her a star in 2023, and this year brings Y2K!, the summation of months of single releases that still congeals into a singular full-length. Travis Scott and Gunna swing by new tracks, but Ice’s solo power on songs like “Papa,” “Plenty Sun” and “TTYL” make Y2K! worth turning up in the back half of the summer.
Post Malone feat. Luke Combs, “Guy For That”
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Post Malone’s chart-topping country music exploration continues with “Guy For That,” a hearty team-up with Luke Combs that leans on both artists’ vocal strength to achieve anthem status; both Posty and Combs are currently promoting bigger hits, and seem to use “Guy For That” to tinker with their respective images and have a down-home blast.
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Halsey, “Lucky”
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Interpolating both Britney Spears’ “Lucky” and Monica’s “Angel of Mine,” Halsey utilizes past hits to tell her own tale of complicated fame and effectively tugging on heartstrings with bare emotion: “And I told everybody I was fine for a whole damn year / And that’s the biggest lie of my career,” she laments.
MGK with Jelly Roll, “Lonely Road”
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The artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly has reinvented himself a time or three since launching his career, and a track like “Lonely Road,” which corrals Jelly Roll and puts a modern spin on a John Denver classic with plenty of soaring harmonies and acoustic strums, demonstrates his range while forging yet another new path.
Fuerza Regida, Pero No Te Enamores
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Although “Harley Quinn,” Fuerza Regida’s hit team-up with Marshmello, is not included on the track list to Pero No Te Enamores, the full-length fusion of regional Mexican music and thumping EDM is indebted to that earlier single, with artists like Major Lazer, Afrojack and Gordo swinging by to contribute to the party.
Calvin Harris with Ellie Goulding, “Free”
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Fans of “I Need Your Love,” “Outside” and “Miracle” are going to wrap their arms around “Free,” the latest collaboration between Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding that builds upon their long-standing chemistry and pushes the tempo with a straightforward but powerful catchphrase: “When I’m with you, I’m free,” Goulding declares.
Mustard, Faith of a Mustard Seed
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Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was momentous enough to both land a knockout blow in a rap feud and revitalize producer Mustard’s mainstream career, and the star-studded Faith of a Mustard Seed, featuring everyone from Travis Scott to Kirk Franklin to Ella Mai (who teams with Roddy Ricch on the “911” rework “One Bad Decision”), functions as an extended, well-earned victory lap.
XG, “Something Ain’t Right”
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The retro bounce of XG’s “Something Ain’t Right” goes beyond feel-good and achieves downright giddiness, as the Japanese girl group preview their forthcoming second mini-album (due out Nov. 8) with a killer hook and ‘90s-indebted production that could feasibly reach a whole new listenership in the U.S.
Central Cee, “gen z luv”
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On the same day that his “Did It First” collaborator Ice Spice unveils her new album, Central Cee has a New Music Friday banger himself: “gen z luv” is a sparse, surprisingly vulnerable tale of social-media-age romance, but the pummeling percussion also makes the song work in a club setting.
Editor’s Pick: Wand, Vertigo
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Over the course of Los Angeles rock group Wand’s decade of activity, frontman Cory Hanson’s vocal affectation has drawn endless comparisons to that of Thom Yorke; with its ambitious, psych-adjacent sprawl, new album Vertigo is great enough to evoke peak Radiohead, and enough of a sonic leap forward to serve as a breakthrough.
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.
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See latest videos, charts and news
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This week, Childish Gambino takes a bow, Stray Kids eat up their new material and Jimin continues to innovate. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Childish Gambino, Bando Stone and the New World
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Donald Glover will likely be present in popular culture for a long time, but his Childish Gambino alter ego takes a bow on Bando Stone and the New World, a bold, 17-song project with an ultra-hip guest list (Flo Milli, Jorja Smith, Yeat and Amaarae all stop by) and that makes sure a beloved hip-hop personality goes out with sound-bending gusto.
Stray Kids, ATE
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The K-pop group’s new mini-album continues to showcase the upward trajectory of their confidence as both hit-makers and studio technicians: the 8-song set, helmed by their in-house production team 3RACHA, brims with effortless cool, particularly on the electro-shock of “Chk Chk Boom.”
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Jimin, Muse
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Jimin may have dominated stadiums alongside his BTS brethren and scored a No. 1 solo hit last year with “Like Crazy,” but he’s not resting on his laurels, as sophomore solo project Muse offers meditations on love and creative inspiration while still serving up cross-continental potential hits like with snappy rhythmic pop track “Who.”
Various Artists, Twisters: The Album
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What’s more formidable than one Twister? Multiple Twisters — and a big-budget soundtrack to go along with the natural-disaster epic invading multiplexes this weekend, with superstars like Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and Miranda Lambert headlining the country project (although Benson Boone also sneaking in, with the genre-straddling stomp-along “Death Wish Love”).
Glass Animals, I Love You So F***ing Much
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Following up a record-breaking smash like “Heat Waves” is no easy task, and on the charming new album I Love You So F***ing Much, Glass Animals shrug off chart expectations while still baking oversized hooks and harmonies into the 10 songs, particularly on the opening run of “Show Pony,” “whatthehellishappening?” and “Creatures in Heaven.”
Koe Wetzel, 9 Lives
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The country-leaning Texas singer-songwriter’s profile has been rapidly growing, and new album 9 Lives — featuring previous hits “High Road” with Jessie Murph and “Sweet Dreams,” as well as new standouts like “Hatchet” and “Depression & Obsession” — arrives at an opportune time and with a more mature version of his rootsy storytelling.
Khalid, “Ground”
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Khalid’s long-awaited third album, Sincere, gets another sumptuous jam, with “Ground” making the most of the singer-songwriter’s velvety tone and a hypnotic beat while leaning more toward traditional R&B; this is a head-knocker that you don’t want to end.
Alessia Cara, “Dead Man”
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“If you really care, then why am I feeling you slip right through my hands?” Alessia Cara asks on “Dead Man,” as the former best new artist Grammy winner kicks off a new era with some vibrant jazz-pop, complete with mournful trumpet blasts, that suits her voice and newfound perspective to a tee.
Joe Jonas, “Work It Out”
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A lifetime removed from his 2011 solo debut Fastlife, Joe Jonas sounds an refreshed on energetic new single “Work It Out” as Jonas Brothers did on their comeback single “Sucker,” addressing his issues with anxiety and intrusive thoughts over some kicky pop production for late-summer streaming.
Editor’s Pick: JADE, “Angel of My Dreams”
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“I didn’t want to do a safe first single, that was really important to me,” Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix says of her solo debut in a press release. No worries on that end: “Angel of My Dreams” is a shape-shifting, wholly thrilling first step that effervesces before collapsing then rising back up, and JADE handles all of his wild movements with veteran skill.
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.
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See latest videos, charts and news
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This week, Eminem puts a nail in Slim Shady’s coffin, Katy Perry flexes her pop know-how and Ice Spice makes a connection from across the pond. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Eminem, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)
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The chart success of pop-leaning lead single “Houdini,” plus the technical rap wizardry of follow-up “Tobey,” have heightened expectations for The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), Eminem’s 12th studio album that has been billed as the finale of his raging id character, Slim Shady. Indeed, the full-length is Em’s most complete project in years by showcasing the full scope of his talent — his button-pushing devilishness and bar-bursting theatrics, as demonstrated on the singles, but also his unexpected grace (“Temporary,” with Skylar Grey, is a heartfelt message to his daughter for when he’s gone) and ability to cross into other genres (“Somebody Save Me,” with Jelly Roll, might end up garnering some country-pop airplay for Marshall Mathers).
Katy Perry, “Woman’s World”
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Pop fans who fondly remember the bright, oversized hooks and candy-colored visual fantasias of Katy Perry’s record-breaking Teenage Dream era will wrap their arms around “Woman’s World,” the introduction of a mainstream-ready new era that has been given a music video with plenty of eye-popping, cleverly conceived feminist iconography. Perry has evolved since her blockbuster 2010 album, with her lyrics turning more personal and her stardom extending into projects like American Idol — but she’s always sounded most at home on big, neon-colored pop anthems, and “Woman’s World” marks a return to a winning mode.
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Ice Spice & Central Cee, “Did It First”
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Ice Spice always sounds most effective while rapping downhill: her flow spins and tumbles, picks up speed, and remains too cool to ever get tripped up. After a few experiments with her formula on the songs preceding upcoming album Y2K!, she finds her footing on “Did It First,” a team-up with London rapper Central Cee in which she immediately begins pummeling a beat co-produced by RIOTUSA, with boasts about proudly cheating, spending money, dismissing any disinterest and committing to “party ’til the party ends.”
Clairo, Charm
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Whereas Clairo’s previous album, 2021’s Sling, lacked a sense of warmth by design — singer-songwriter Claire Cottrill moved to upstate New York and teamed up with Jack Antonoff on a muted, woodsy project — Charm radiates with the same glow that made her 2019 debut Immunity so captivating. The soft-rock arrangements feel naturally designed, as if the interplay between piano, guitar, bass and drums has always existed and Claire has simply strolled in to provide her hushed tone and sensual lyricism; the pace changes, and the details rearrange (“Echo,” for instance, sounds more synth-ified and spaced-out than anything Clairo has done before), but the formula makes for an excellent front-to-back listen.
ENHYPEN, Romance: Untold
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“XO (If You Only Say Yes),” the lead single from ENHYPEN’s new album Romance: Untold, illustrates why the K-pop seven-piece has broken through in a crowded field: full of stuttering hooks, engaging vocals and well-crafted rhythmic pop production (courtesy of JVKE, who appears on the English version of the track), “XO” works well as a crossover bid and showcase for the collective’s skill set. The rest of Romance: Untold builds upon 2021’s Dimension: Dilemma and the projects released in between, thanks largely to the strengthened chemistry between the members, who harmonize, belt, dip into falsetto and softly intone with impressive dexterity.
Editor’s Pick: Remi Wolf, Big Ideas
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Remi Wolf’s early singles may have earned millions of streams and suggested plenty of artistic promise, but it wasn’t until the singles preceding sophomore album Big Ideas, including “Cinderella” and “Toro,” that it sounded like the Palo Alto singer-songwriter had locked her funk-laden synth-pop aesthetic into place. The rest of the album plays out like a full realization of her talents: Remi Wolf is a detailed writer, knows when to throttle a melody, can harness a groove like a pro and now has the songs (especially album highlight “Soup,” and the dynamic bonus track “Slay Bitch”) to tie the presentation together.
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.
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This week, Zach Bryan continues his prolific streak, Lana Del Rey and Quavo get “Tough” and Morgan Wallen takes a muted new step. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Zach Bryan, The Great American Bar Scene
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Zach Bryan has released a new full-length in each of the last three years, somehow managing to unveil extended alt-country opuses in between nonstop tour dates and expand his aesthetic in the process — after scoring his first Hot 100 chart-topper last year with the Kacey Musgraves duet “I Remember Everything,” for instance, new album The Great American Bar Scene boasts collaborations with Bruce Springsteen and John Mayer, among others. Yet Bryan’s tireless work ethic and growing popularity is not yielding diminishing returns: The Great American Bar Scene is defined by the same rustic, open-hearted songwriting that has made Bryan a star, and songs like “Mechanical Bull,” “28” and “The Way Back” are among the strongest in his quickly swelling discography.
Lana Del Rey & Quavo, “Tough”
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Lana Del Rey has become a beloved pop heroine without paying too much attention to crossover pop singles — she’s only entered the top 10 of the Hot 100 twice in her career, once with a remix and another time thanks to a featured spot on a Taylor Swift song. Yet “Tough,” her new team-up with Quavo, finds a sweet spot in between dreamy alt-pop and sizzling trap, with each artist sticking to their respective approaches before Del Rey starts rapping and the Migos star begins crooning. “Tough” shape-shifts, but never in an unnatural way; don’t be surprised if this unexpected collaboration becomes a late-summer hit.
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Morgan Wallen, “Lies Lies Lies”
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As Morgan Wallen enjoys the type of superstardom that winds up becoming decade-defining — and spends another week atop the Hot 100 chart, with his Post Malone team-up “I Had Some Help” — the country giant has released “Lies Lies Lies” as something of a palette cleanser, with the wistful, low-key track a far cry from his latest chart-conquering anthem. Originally recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 2023 and released as part of a digital series in March, “Lies Lies Lies” arrives on streaming services as a humbled admission of continued longing, with Wallen trying to convince himself that he’s moved on from a relationship before crying, “I’m still a fool for you.”
Childish Gambino, “Lithonia”
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Donald Glover’s Childish Gambino project crowned the Hot 100 and scooped up multiple major Grammys with the provocative 2018 anthem “This Is America” — and instead of doubling down on mainstream music fame, Glover released an offbeat pandemic project (3.15.20), revisited and renamed it a few years later (Atavista), and retreated into rewarding film and TV projects. Now, he’s prepping what has been teased as the final Childish Gambino album, Bando Stone & The New World, and “Lithonia” marks an intriguing first taste: a fuzzed-out power ballad featuring some open-chested singing and soul harmonies, the track sounds designed for the arena crowds that Glover can still command whenever he wants.
Eminem feat. Big Sean & BabyTron, “Tobey”
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The first two tracks that Eminem has released from his upcoming album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) showcase two of the qualities that have made him an enduring superstar: while “Houdini” was all quotable crassness and pop hooks, “Tobey” is ear-melting rap theatrics, with Em’s technical skill taking center stage in the back half of the track. Before that, Big Sean and BabyTron crash in to deliver their own double-time rhymes, operating over a minimalist beat that allows all three MCs to turn their bars into the song’s priority.
Editor’s Pick: Kesha, “Joyride”
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The release of Kesha’s “Joyride” on Independence Day was purposeful: the new single represented the pop star’s first song as an independent artist, following a years-long legal battle with Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald and the fulfillment of her initial label contract. With that in mind, “Joyride” is both an exhalation following unhappy circumstances and a smart back-to-basics move, in which Kesha can wrap her arms around a sly, hard-charging party track and reintroduce herself. “Joyride” bounces along with carnival-esque production and wacky sound effects, but Kesha matches its exuberance, altering her voice to punctuate every punchline and having a blast on the giddy hook.
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.
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This week, Gracie Abrams’ much-anticipated second LP arrives with a famous friend in tow, Peso Pluma bows in grand 24-track fashion, and Ariana Grande and Charli XCX’s new remixes land with headline-capturing guest stars. Check out all of this week’s picks below.
Peso Pluma, Éxodo
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The biggest name in música Mexicana returns this week with his sophomore LP Éxodo, a star-studded, 24-track, two-disc affair. The first disc is full of familiar names like Junior H, Natanael Cano, Gabito Ballesteros and “Ella Baila Sola” co-stars Eslabon Armado, while relying mostly on the sort of corridos tumbados that made him a star in 2023 — albeit with some new elements, like heavier guitar on “La Patrulla” and bookending piano on “Bruce Wayne.” Then, the second disc includes some different sounds and first-time collaborators, like English-language rappers Rich the Kid, Cardi B and Quavo on the trappy first three tracks, respectively, as well as Ryan Castro, Anitta and DJ Snake on songs that lean more reggaetón and/or EDM. It’s an interesting juxtaposition, and both discs still end up sounding quite naturally Peso, proving we’ve only really seen the beginning of what he can do in global pop music. (Read our ranking of all 24 tracks here.)
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Gracie Abrams, The Secret of Us
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Hot off her first Billboard Hot 100 hit as an unaccompanied solo artist, with the long-teased synth-pop banger “Close to You,” Gracie Abrams arrives with her sophomore LP The Secret of Us. It’s an expert collection of pop confections and folky ballads — and folky pop confections — mostly co-written and co-penned by indie-pop superproducer Aaron Dessner. The new song that will get the most attention is undoubtedly the power ballad “Us,” which features Abrams’ Eras Tour headliner Taylor Swift, but highlights also include the humming “Let It Happen,” the sighing “Good Luck Charlie” and the pulse-racing “Free Now.” “This album has meant so much to me because it has supported me through a period of transitions,” Abrams told Billboard about Secret earlier this month.
Ariana Grande feat. Brandy & Monica, “The Boy Is Mine”
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We probably should’ve known: You just don’t give a song the title “The Boy Is Mine” if you don’t plan on getting Brandy & Monica involved somewhere along the line. The two ’90s R&B icons both make appearances alongside Ariana Grande on her new remix to the Eternal Sunshine single, with Brandy kicking off the first verse, Monica leading the second, and both sharing the harmony-laden bridge, including the lyric, “I told you once before, I’ll tell you once more, the boy is still mine.” Shoutout to Grande doing the right thing here — as always, pretty much — and to Brandy and Monica for giving longtime fans the semi-official “The Boy Is Mine” sequel they’ve waited over a quarter-century for.
Post Malone feat. Blake Shelton, “Pour Me a Drink”
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After his Morgan Wallen collab “I Had Some Help” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent its first five weeks on the chart in pole position, Post Malone returns with his next country-era team-up. This time, longtime genre stalwart Blake Shelton is in tow to help out on with the down-on-our-luck singalong “Pour Me a Drink,” with the two co-stars splitting vocal responsibilities in fairly equal measure on both the chorus and the verses, Post’s resonant warble meshing surprisingly well with Shelton’s twangy croon. Without Wallen’s contemporary commercial clout, it might not be quite as immediate a chart super-smash, but it certainly sounds like it’s gonna end up being two-for-two for Country Posty.
Coldplay, “feelslikeimfallinginlove”
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A mouthful for a one-word song title, but “feelslikeimfallinginlove” isn’t really nearly as frenzied or smushed together as its name might imply. Rather, it’s Coldplay generally doing what they do best: love songs with moody verses and blood-rush choruses that you can remember after a single listen. Much of the same superteam of producers behind 2022’s Music of the Spheres, including Max Martin and Oscar Holter, return for the new song, so you know it’s got the same top 40 crackle and sparkle of that album’s highlights — and should get fans excited for the band’s upcoming 10-track set Moon Music, recently announced and due in October.
Kehlani, Crash
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R&B star singer-songwriter Kehlani has been one of the more consistent albums (and mixtapes) artists of the past decade, so it’s always a good Friday to be getting a new set from her — as it is today with her eclectic and spellbinding Crash LP. You already know about the coolie dance riddim lift (via Nina Sky’s 2004 dancehall classic “Move Ya Body”) on the viral hit “After Hours,” but the lustful “What I Want” also includes an inspired pitched-up sample of Christina Aguilera’s TRL-era Hot 100-topper “What a Girl Wants” (and the even-more-inspired chorus hook “I need all the pretty girls to the shower”). Meanwhile, “Vegas” is her biggest-sounding pop killer in years, and the grungy, guitar-driven title track is a real lighter-waver, a future setlist closer to be sure. Perhaps in this month of longtime cult favorites experiencing overdue pop success, Kehlani can follow her fellow Crash artist to the top tier of the charts this June.
Charli XCX feat. Lorde, “The Girl, So Confusing Version With Lorde”
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Speaking of Kehlani’s fellow party Crash-er, Charli is back this week with a new Brat remix — and if you thought her “Club Classics” redo with Robyn and Yung Lean was clever, just wait till you see who she’s got on her “Girl, So Confusing” Pt. 2. Lorde, the longtime peer of Charli’s who many believed to be the subject of the original love/hate-themed “Girl,” appears to answer the latter’s call to “work it out on the remix,” running through her own mixed feelings about their relationship (as well as her own body and self-image issues) before concluding “I ride for you, Charli.” And unsurprisingly — as Charli predicted on the original — the internet is indeed already going crazy for it.
This week in dance music: Miami’s III Points announced its full 2024 lineup led by Massive Attack, Justice and Disclosure, a book featuring never-before-seen images of Avicii was released in Europe, we spoke with the founders of The Circuit Group about how they’re helping electronic artists create independence through their intellectual property, and father/daughter duo Floorplan discussed what it’s like playing clubs and festivals as a family act.
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And to all that, we add the best new dance tracks of the week.
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Tokimonsta feat. Cakes da Killa & Gawd, “Switch It”
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The announcement of a new and forthcoming Tokimonsta album comes with a bonus prize in the form of “Switch It.” The lead single from the L.A. producer’s seventh studio LP, Eternal Reverie, the track is a punchy, house-meets-hip-hop party starter that features vocals from SoCal R&B duo Gawd along with previous Toki collaborator Cakes da Killa, who lights an already hot track on fire with his characteristically rapid-fire verse.
“Exploring my take on dance music is a risk,” Toki writes in conjunction with the release, “but I’m entering my unapologetic ‘do what feels good’ era (as someone who’s overly apologetic, this is a big deal.. amirite?) Thnxxx.” To that we say no, thank you, and add that Eternal Reverie is coming through Tokimonsta’s Young Art Records in conjunction with a 26-date tour that starts at San Diego’s CRSSD festival this September.
SG Lewis & Tove Lo, “Heat”
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The duo — who worked together with Nelly Furtado on last month’s “Love Bites” — come in hot in multiple ways with their shimmery club anthem “Heat,” which puts Lo’s singular voice on display over a brightly pulsing production. (And please head over to YouTube to watch the song’s happily carnal and Pride-centric video.) The track comes from the duo’s four-track collaborative EP Heat, which had a packed release party last night in West Hollywood and is out through Lo’s own label, Pretty Swede Records.
“We share a lot of fans in the queer community, and this EP is very much inspired by the energy we feel from the crowd,” she says. “We wanted to celebrate that with these four bangers. Sam and I met on the dance floor, and I think when we first worked together we felt that special creative connection that rarely happens. So after making a few songs together that ended up on both our albums, we felt like we had more to give to our mutual fans who, like us, love to dance in sweaty warehouses.” The project features additional production from fellow tastemaker Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.
Sofi Tukker & Heidi Klum, “Spiral”
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Self-proclaimed party animal Heidi Klum returns to the scene with her second dance project of the year: a starring role in the video for Sofi Tukker’s latest, “Spiral.” A singalong anthem about a relationship in its downward trajectory phase, the song is built around urgent Eurodance production and Sophie Hawley-Weld’s ever-silky voice, coming with a cheeky music video that features Weld and Klum having a sort of post-breakup slumber party, complete with frilly robes, catwalking and sex toys used as microphones. The track is the second single from Sofi Tukker’s forthcoming album, Bread, out this August.
Carlita, “Planet Blue”
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A piano house anthem as bright and enjoyable as summer sunshine, “Planet Blue” is the latest from Turkish/Italian producer Carlita. She says she worked on the song in her head during “countless rides on Lime bikes to my London studio sessions,” adding that playing it at settings including Space Miami and Manchester’s Parklife Festival over the last few months “has been an indescribable joy for me.” The track is out via Counter Records and and features vocals from Cleo Simone.
Mathame, “I Will Find You”
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The rising Italian duo bring the Pure Moods vibe with their latest, “I Will Find You.” The brothers started working on it six years ago, taking inspiration, they say, from “music we listened to in the early 2000s in Italy, that underground world of parties and unrepeatable moods that only those who have lived can understand.” What that sounds like in practice here is cinematic and sweeping progressive techno with a celestial vibe, an edge of darkness and a memorable and sort of haunting melody.
“Thank you,” they add, “to all the legends of Italian progressive techno for making us fall in love with this when we were kids and went dancing, much more than ten years ago.” They’re being literal, as the song is a take of a 1993 version by late Italian DJ and vocalist Franchino, whose own release was an edit of the Clannad theme song from the 1992 Daniel Day Lewis film The Last of Mohicans.
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.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week, Normani’s debut album is at long last with us, as are new sets from Don Toliver and NxWorries, and a new Father’s Day-ready LP from Luke Combs. Check out all of this week’s picks below.
Normani, Dopamine
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That’s right, everyone: We made it to Normani release week. After years of teases, delays and false starts, the 5H alum’s impossibly long awaited solo debut album Dopamine is finally here. The 13-track affair, featuring pre-release singles like the Cardi B teamup “Wild Side” and “1:59” with Gunna, is an impressively tight affair, with its biggest thrills including the Slim Thug sample (via Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin’”) on “Still,” the shredding guitar solo late in “Insomnia,” the skipping house beat on “Take My Time” and of course the Billboard shoutout on the album-opening “Big Boy.” Only her longtime fans can really determine whether the set was worth the wait, but it’s a welcome listen this Friday regardless.
Tommy Richman, “Devil Is a Lie”
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If you’ve finally gotten your fill of breakthrough hit “Million Dollar Baby” — unlikely, given how the song is still hanging around the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 — breakout singer-rapper Tommy Richman is back this week with its follow-up. “Devil Is a Lie” is intoxicating in many of the same ways “Baby” was, with his buttery falsetto floating over clean, throwback-tinged trap-n-B beats, and a chorus hook (“I’m not no Travis, baby, not no Chase B/ I work too hard, can you f–kin’ pay me?”) that should do big business on TikTok. We’ll see whether it’s enough to disqualify Richman from one-hit wonder status in his first post-“Million” try, but it certainly sounds like another potential smash.
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Luke Combs, Fathers and Sons
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Happy Father’s Day from Luke Combs! The country superstar announced his new album, Fathers and Sons, just a week ago, planning it for release just before the patriarch-celebrating holiday. The album, which was previewed last Friday (June 7) by the advance single “The Man He Sees in Me,” is a predictably emotional and heartfelt set of tributes to his two sons Tex Lawrence Combs and Beau Lee Combs, as well as to his own father, Chester Combs. Touching (and occasionally tear-jerking) stuff, of course — though some of us who prefer the less-sentimental version of Combs may stick to his booming Twisters: The Album soundtrack hit “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” when building our summer playlists.
Don Toliver, Hardstone Psycho
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The Cactus Jack lieutenant is back with his fourth studio album of booming trap beats and piercing R&B vocals. Don Toliver‘s Hardstone Psycho is divided into four sections of four tracks each, and features the advance singles (and Billboard Hot 100 hits) “Bandit” and “Attitude” (featuring Charlie Wilson, Cash Cobain and a clever sample of Pharrell’s hook from Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful”). Additional guests include Future and Metro Boomin on “Purple Rain,” label boss Travis Scott on “Ice Age” and Kodak Black on album highlight “Brother Stone,” while other inspired samples include a pitched-up Whitney Houston singing “Exhale (Shoop, Shoop)” on “Glock.”
Pharrell, “Double Life”
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Pharrell plus the Despicable Me franchise always equals pure pop soundtrack gold, right? Maybe, though this new entry from the upcoming Despicable Me 4 film probably doesn’t quite sound like what you’d expect: “Double Life” rides a grungy guitar riff, sharp chorus harmonies and an action-packed bridge to maybe the most dramatically high-stakes Pharrell soundtrack single yet. “It doesn’t matter to you if you get heads or tails/ You just don’t like the flip all the time,” a double-tracked P belts on the chorus, sounding more like he’s trying to match “One Night in Bangkok” than “Happy.”
NxWorries, Why Lawd?
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Yes, it’s the return of the other superduo featuring R&B critics’ darling Anderson .Paak. We haven’t gotten a full-length project from NxWorries, which pairs .Paak with underground favorite hip-hop producer Knxwledge, since 2016 — with .Paak also experiencing pop stardom in the interim as half of Silk Sonic with Bruno Mars. The new project Why Lawd? might not experience that level of chart-topping success, but it should be a joy for longtime fans of the producer and singer-songwriter — with its 19 tracks of chill grooves also soundtrack from big names like H.E.R., Earl Sweatshirt, Snoop Dogg and of course R&B legend Charlie Wilson, who appears to be absolutely everywhere in 2024.
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.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week, we have the long-awaited new album from Charli XCX and the longer-awaited debut album from Tems, as well as a musical swerve from Sabrina Carpenter and a theatrical epic from RAYE. Check out all of this week’s picks below.
Sabrina Carpenter, “Please Please Please”
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If you’ve fallen for Sabrina Carpenter over the course of her past couple sublime disco-pop smashes, you might be a little taken aback by “Please Please Please.” The song still has a good amount of the dancefloor snap of “Feather” and “Espresso” — down to the guitar chops and handclaps on the chorus — as well as the cleverly snappy lyrics (“Heartbreak is one thing, my ego’s another/ I beg you don’t embarrass me, motherf–ker”). But there’s a melodic unpredictability at play here, along with a near-country twanginess to the guitar picking and Carpenter’s yearning vocal, that makes “Please” a truly fascinating and surprising listen. It won’t likely interrupt any kind of Song of the Summer bid for “Espresso,” but it might make you even more excited for her full Short n’ Sweet album this August. (Also: rumored real-life paramour Barry Keoghan appears in the music video.)
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Tems, Born in the Wild
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Tems has already proven to be such a major part of the pop landscape of the past few years — with star-making guest appearances on global smashes by Wizkid and Future, and her own solo favorites like “Free Mind” and this year’s “Love Me JeJe” — that it can be tough to remember that she’s still yet to release a full-length solo album. That LP arrives this week with Born in the Wild, her 18-track debut, and it’s safe to say it was worth the wait: The set is full of the kind of blissful grooves, piercing lyrics and heart-melting melodies fans have come to expect from the Nigerian singer-songwriter, along with special guest appearances from fellow Afrobeats hitmaker Asake and star American rapper J. Cole.
Charli XCX, Brat
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It feels like Charli has been teasing her Brat album for years, drumming up excitement with singles like “Von Dutch” and “360,” and now the full set is finally upon us. Already attracting some of the best reviews of her highly acclaimed career, Brat spans future-club bangers, emotional synth-pop ballads and countless shades in between, whipping through its 15 tracks at near-breakneck speed. It’s fun, it’s flirty, it’s often bitchy and it’s occasionally incredibly poignant, and it feels like the album that most of the past decade of Charli XCX has been building towards.
RAYE, “Genesis”
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Turns out the winding, cinematic, five-minute drama of RAYE’s 070 Shake-featuring 2023 smash “Escapism” was only the beginning. “Genesis,” the new song from the singer-songwriter born Rachel Agatha Keen, is a seven-minute, three-part epic, produced by R&B legend Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins and evolving from a self-flagellating orchestral intro to a dark and decadent R&B shuffle to a swinging and scatting (and nearly optimistic-sounding) big-band outro. It’s a lot, and none of it is expected — meaning it might not quite have the pop appeal of “Escapism” — but it will certainly find its audience, and for many it will likely end up being nothing short of a revelation.
Zach Bryan feat. Noeline Hofmann, “Purple Gas”
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Just a week after his “Pink Skies” scored a No. 6 debut on the Billboard Hot 100, Zach Bryan is back with a new duet. Noeline Hofmann might not have the name recognition of previous partners Maggie Rogers or Kacey Musgraves — the 20-year-old singer-songwriter, who wrote and originally recorded “Purple Gas” solo as “The Belting Bronco,” has no other songs even officially available on Spotify — but the sharpness and clarity of her Emmylou Harris-like delivery makes for one of the most lovely harmonic blends yet with Bryan’s gruffly unassuming croon.
“This song brought me to tears the first time I heard it so it was really important for me that Noeline gave me the privelage to sing it with her,” Bryan wrote on Instagram. “I have never covered another musician on an album, and it’s because I was waiting on someone to write a song like this. Noeline resonates like Gillian Welch to me and Gillian is one of my favorite musicians to ever live; now Noeline is too.”
Jung Kook, “Never Let Go”
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Following a 2023 in which he became a global solo star in his own rights, with a trio of top five Hot 100 hits — “Standing Next to You,” the Jack Harlow collab “3D,” and the Latto featuring (and chart-topping) “Seven” — BTS alum Jung Kook is back with the new single “Never Let Go,” which may be ticketed for similar pop success. The song rides a bit of an Afrobeats bounce, with a melodicism borrowed from The 1975 and even the sentence-punctuating snaps of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Ol Mistakes,” as Jung Kook belts with clear-eyed sentimentality, “And when the days gеt longer/ You fill my world with wonder.”
Gracie Abrams, “Close to You”
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With Abrams long functioning as your favorite pop singer-songwriter’s favorite pop singer-songwriter, she’s seemed for most of the 2020s to be right on the verge of a major mainstream breakthrough. “Close to You” feels like her bid to complete that crossover, a storming, synth-driven declaration of love and lust that sounds reminiscent of Pure Heroine-era Lorde covering 1989-era Taylor Swift, with all the radio-ready implications baked into that. Whether or not it reaches those chart-topping heights, it should set the stage nicely for her new album The Secret of Us, due out in just two weeks (June 21).
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.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week, Eminem returns to recapture the glory days of him trying to recapture his glory days, Normani’s debut album is finally just weeks away, Foster the People are back on a new label with a new sound and much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below.
Eminem, “Houdini”
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Not surprising that Eminem begins “Houdini” — reportedly the lead single off his upcoming The Death of Slim Shady album — with a callback to his classic 2002 single “Without Me,” recreating that song’s famous “Guess who’s back?” intro. More surprising is the lift that follows: Eminem not only swipes the backing melody from the Steve Miller Band’s 1982 Billboard Hot 100 topper “Abracadabra,” he more or less recreates the chorus wholesale, just swapping out Miller’s “I wanna reach out and grab ya” for “I’m bout to reach in my bag, bruh.” Unfortunately, in this case, Em going in his bag involves making jokes about R. Kelly, the Megan Thee Stallion shooting and his “transgender cat,” before proclaiming, “If I think that s–t, I’ma say that s–t/ Cancel me, what?” Well, if it hasn’t happened yet for Eminem after 25 years of superstardom, this song probably won’t be the thing that does it, anyway.
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Normani, “Candy Paint”
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Only two weeks until Normani’s long- — and we mean long — awaited debut album, Dopamine, finally arrives. In the meantime, we have one more advance single: “Candy Paint,” in which she boasts about her ability to steal your man if and when (and for as long as) she’s so inclined. “If you let me take him, you might never get him back/ I’m a baddie and I don’t know how to act,” she proclaims in the chorus, with the first part evolving to “When I’m finished, baby, you can have him back.” It’s a frisky and fun three minutes, with a Coke-bottle-clinking beat from co-producers Starrah and Tommy Brown that keeps everything moving nicely.
Shaboozey, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going
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Few artists releasing albums in 2024 have done more leveling-up since their prior LP than Virignia country artist Shaboozey, who featured prominently on one of the year’s biggest sets in Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, then scored a breakout hit of his own with the Billboard Hot 100 top 5 hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” That still-growing smash is found on Shaboozey’s third album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, along with other dusty and lightly hip-hop-inflected bangers like “Highway” and “Let It Burn,” as well as ballads like “East of the Massanutten” and the Noah Cyrus collab “My Fault.” But there’s also some fun newer looks for the artist, like the Post Malone-sounding pop-rock of “Anabelle” and the trappier, BigXthaPlug-featuring “Drink Don’t Need No Mix.”
Charli XCX feat. Robyn & Yung Lean, “The 360 remix with robyn and yung lean”
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Yes, that is the real title of the star-studded new remix of Charli XCX’s “360” single, now featuring a pair of Swedish guests in rapper Yung Lean and pop icon Robyn. The three trade lyrics breathlessly and almost interchangably throughout the two-minute redo, amping the energy of the already impressively kinetic original version. And of course, the best lyrics belong to Ms. Carlsson: I started so young, I didn’t even have e-mail/ Now my lyrics on your booby.”
Ayra Starr, The Year I Turned 21
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Rising Beninese-Nigerian singer-songwriter Ayra Starr releases her follow-up to 2022’s 19 & Dangerous with this week’s aptly titled The Year I Turned 21. The album, which features the the top 10 Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs hit “Commas,” seamlessly mixes Afrobeats with genres like pop, R&B and amapiano, all tied together with Starr’s rich, deep vocals. “It feels very cohesive because of my voice,” she told Billboard earlier this week. “My voice is my sound — so whatever genre I find myself in, as long as my voice is there, you’re gonna hear the Afrobeats.”
Foster the People, “Lost in Space”
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Speaking of artists with a “Houdini,” 2010s alt-pop hitmakers Foster the People are back this week with the new single “Lost in Space,” the band’s first taste of their just-announced upcoming album Paradise State of Mind, FTP’s first new set in seven years. “Space” takes off with a squelching synth bass line and disco groove that sounds closer to “Pump Up the Jam” than “Pumped Up Kicks,” with a falsetto vocal hook from lead singer Mark Foster — all making for an auspicious beginning to the group’s new era, which they’ll be beginning on Atlantic Records after spending their first three years on Columbia.