new music friday
From The Weeknd releasing the lead single to his next album to Charli XCX and Troye Sivan initiating Brat autumn with a fresh remix, this week is full of artists stepping into new eras. Starting with the Canadian superstar, new song “Dancing in the Flames” marks the lead single off his upcoming album Hurry Up […]
Miranda Lambert’s much-anticipated ninth album, Postcards From Texas, is officially out today (Sept. 13). The 14-song project marks the Grammy-award-winning artist’s first release since signing with Republic Records earlier this year and was recorded at Austin’s Arlyn Recording Studios. Lambert teamed up with producer Jon Randall to craft the album, which offers a glimpse into […]
After a six-year wait, Snow Patrol is back with The Forest Is the Path, their first studio album since 2018’s Wildness.
Released today (Sept. 13), the 12-track project marks a new chapter for the Northern Irish band, showcasing their signature mix of introspective lyrics and sweeping melodies.
Produced by Fraser T Smith (Adele, Stormzy) and the band, The Forest Is the Path was written by Snow Patrol’s core trio: frontman Gary Lightbody, guitarist Johnny McDaid, and guitarist Nathan Connolly. The album’s lead single, “The Beginning,” offers a taste of the band’s evolution, with its melodic thrum and poignant lyrics: “There is only you and me in this life / And I don’t want to f— it up now.”
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In a previous statement, Lightbody shared how the album reflects on love and memory, saying, “The album is rooted in reflection, introspection, and interrogation, with a key building block being the idea of looking at love from the distance of time passed.”
The Forest Is the Path also celebrates Snow Patrol’s 30-year career. “This album took us on many uncharted routes,” the band wrote on Instagram upon announcing the album.
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“We honor the past, deeply… but while we honor the past, we also want to cherish the present and look to the future.”
The band will support the LP with a tour in 2025, which includes dates in the U.K., Europe, and the U.S.
Snow Patrol has made a lasting impact on the Billboard 200, with two albums landing in the top 10. Fallen Empires (2012) peaked at No. 5, while A Hundred Million Suns (2008) reached No. 9. Their 2006 album Eyes Open spent 66 weeks on the chart, driven by the global smash hit “Chasing Cars,” which became the most-played song of the 21st century on British radio, according to licensing body PPL. The track reached No. 6 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, powered by a sync in Grey’s Anatomy.
Stream Snow Patrol’s The Forest Is the Path below.
The first week of July has been lit up with firework displays and, as usual, a shimmering batch of new music releases from several different artists. Leading the charge is Zach Bryan, whose highly anticipated new album The Great American Bar Scene dropped Thursday (July 4), fittingly timed for the United States’ most patriotic day […]
A slew of new music releases hit streaming services right on schedule Friday (May 17), from fresh pop albums to standout rap and country singles. Arguably the most highly anticipated project to arrive this week, however, is Billie Eilish’s third studio album Hit Me Hard and Soft, a 10-track follow-up to 2021’s Happier Than Ever […]
Nothing stops New Music Friday — not even Grammy nominations.
Although 2023 MVPs like Ice Spice, 21 Savage, Drake and Nicki Minaj racked up the rap field nominations for the upcoming 66th annual Grammy Awards, last Friday (Nov. 10) offered a litany of music beyond those four 2023 Billboard Music Awards finalists. Last week saw new albums from the likes of Brandy, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Kodak Black, but those weren’t the only notable releases to update your weekly playlists with.
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from BADBADNOTGOOD’s gorgeous rework of an Elmiene standout to BJ the Chicago Kid and Chloe Bailey’s sultry, synthy link-up.
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Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Sinkane feat. Tru Osborne, “Everything is Everything”
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For his first new song since 2019’s Dépaysé album, Sudanese-American singer Sinkane chose to ground his lyrics in the harsh realities of the Black living experience. Written and composed by bandleader Ahmed Gallab with vocal contributions from Harlem-bred artist Tru Osborne, “Everything Is Everything” is an amalgam of free jazz, Sudanese pop, gospel, funk and rock. A hearty choir provides a strong anchor for the arrangement, while Sinkane and Tru’s harmonies add splotches of color throughout the track. “The tides of change / Serve great purpose in our every day / My people, we will find our way,” Sinkane sings, with a hopefulness that consistently permeates the darker truths that the song explores.
Elmiene, “Marking My Time (BABDBADNOTGOOD Edit)”
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Elmiene dropped off his debut major label EP, Marking My Time, last month, and to continue his promotion of the project, he’s released a reworked version of the title track, helmed by Canadian experimental jazz collective BADBADNOTGOOD. Here, the group reimagines Elmiene’s original with heavy splashes of R&B and psychedelic, specifically of the ’70s persuasion. Elmiene’s vocal is predicated on allegiance to subtle dynamism, and it’s that steady build that grounds the winning remix.
Rick Ross, Meek Mill & Cool & Dre feat. BEAM, “Go To Hell”
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Hip-hop heavyweights Rick Ross and Meek Mill unleashed their highly anticipated Too Good To Be True joint album last week (Nov. 10), and this collaboration with BEAM and Cool & Dre is an immediate standout. Heavily nodding to Tears for Fear’s “Shout,” “Go To Hell” finds the two rappers deep in their braggadocio as they trade bars about their wealth, their escapes from the feds, and how much status and clout they have in whatever room they choose to walk into. “Bitch boys run to social media / Rich n—a, name in Wikipedia / If I f–k her once, she wanna f–k me twice / All the real n—as clique up, let’s get rich tonight,” Rozay raps.
Kevin Gates feat. B.G. & Sexyy Red, “Yonce Freestyle”
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In a way, Kevin Gates and Sexyy Red are perfect foils: two devil-may-care rappers who are unafraid to embody and celebrate the grimiest parts of sex and sexuality, with a healthy dash of humor to add some levity to the whole affair. On “Yonce Freestyle,” the pair’s new collaboration which also features NOLA rapper B.G., the two maximize their similarities — even if the end result is a bit tamer than what some may expect. “Yonce Freestyle” is a well-crafted club banger, with a murky Southern hip-hop beat courtesy of ProdByJM, EJ Grimes and Juko, and a perfect laid-back ratchet tone from Sexyy.
BJ the Chicago Kid feat. Chlöe, “Honey”
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BJ the Chicago Kid also released an album last week (Gravy), and that project featured loads of collaborations for R&B lovers. Among those impressive duets is the Chloe Bailey-assisted “Honey.” Landing squarely in the disco-tinged pop that has dominated mainstream top 40 for most of the young decade, BJ and Chlöe deliver a sexy, synth-laden collaboration that balances come-hither euphemisms with some outstanding harmonic choices. Between a surprisingly smooth vocal blend and a bright, clean mix, this just might be Chlöe’s best release of the year.
Ben Hughes, “What Was It For?”
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For the opening track of his forthcoming Manha EP, UK musician Ben Hughes opts for a breezy guitar and drum-forward groove. “What Was It For” fits nicely in the landscape of contemporary British R&B, and Hughes’ careful vocal approach works alongside the instrumentation instead of towering over it. It’s a very soft and lush number — an air that offers a smart counterbalance to the melodrama of the lyrics. “Bring me peace / And heal my wounds / I’m bleeding out / Just for you,” he croons.
The first new music Friday of November sees a K-pop star stepping firmly into the spotlight, one of the biggest rock bands of all time using tech to make something old new again, and a recent Billboard chart-topper lending her chops to a blockbuster movie series, with new releases from Jung Kook, The Beatles and […]
This week’s new music Friday features high-profile releases across rap, K-pop and country, with Drake, NewJeans and a collaboration between Noah Kahan and Kacey Musgraves among the drops. Drake newest album effort, For All the Dogs, shows a return to form for the rapper, who enlists a series of star-studded collaborations to get the fans […]
Rap, soul and pop are all at the forefront of this week’s new music Friday, which features long-awaited releases from Quavo, Hozier, Doechii, Addison Rae and more. The remaining Migos members continue to feel the grief over the passing of Takeoff. The weight of the loss is ever present on Quavo’s new album, Rocket Power […]
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, Quavo pays homage while moving forward, Hozier takes us to church (and the Inferno), and Doechii wants you to dance at all costs. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Quavo, Rocket Power
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Quavo’s nephew and Migos co-leader, Takeoff, was nicknamed “The Rocket” — and less than a year after the rapper was killed at the age of 28, his family member and group mate is drawing upon his thoughts and instincts as inspiration for his new solo album. Parts of Rocket Power are racked with grief, including the soulful highlight “Hold Me” and the memory-flooded title track, although Quavo also makes ample room in the sprawling full-length to celebrate life, as on the Future-assisted hit “Turn Yo Clic Up” and the crackling “Stain” with BabyDrill; ultimately, the album depicts a long-running rap star in a more complex light, and immediately makes the case as Quavo’s best solo project.
Hozier, Unreal Unearth
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When Hozier revealed that his third studio album — which follows 2019’s Wasteland, Baby!, the first No. 1 album of his career — would be inspired by Dante’s Inferno and include passages sung in Irish Gaelic, fears that the “Take Me To Church” singer-songwriter was turning inscrutable were only natural. Yet Unreal Unearth not only showcases the strength of Hozier’s voice and songwriting, but also remains accessible to hardcore fans and casual alt-rock listeners, from the snappy single “Eat Your Young” to the gargantuan Brandi Carlile duet “Damage Gets Done” to the restrained grace of closer “First Light.”
Doechii, “Booty Drop”
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“Shawty, what it is? / Bring that ass to the club,” Doechii commands on “Booty Drop,” a late bid for the summer’s most kinetic dance song. The Tampa native has shown promise as a recording artist and performer over the past year — signing with TDE, scoring an opening spot on Doja Cat and Ice Spice’s upcoming tour, and mesmerizing audiences whenever she hits the stage — but her latest single, a gleefully explicit take on the Jersey club style that never stops moving, might be the moment where her appeal spills over into the mainstream once and for all.
Addison Rae, AR EP
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Although Addison Rae’s newly released EP rescues a handful of tracks intended for the influencer’s never-released debut album, AR does not sound like a collection of odds and ends: instead, the five songs engross the listener with fresh melodies and bursts of personality, showcasing the 22-year-old as a quick study within this brand of pop. “2 Die 4” with Charli XCX is the highlight — marvel at the mini-hooks jam-packed into that chorus! — but the whole project is worth bookmarking as the potential start of something big.
Anitta, Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story
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When Anitta released her single “Funk Rave” in June, the Latin music star hinted that a deeper dive into Brazilian funk music would be both a way to honor her roots and a rewarding sonic exploration; with Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story, a three-song project that follows up “Funk Rave” with two new heaters, Anitta has more or less confirmed her suggestions. “Casi Casi” and “Used to Be” adopt different approaches — the former a chattering sashay, the latter a slow-building reflection — but Anitta excels at both tempos, and has us hoping for even more to come.
Editor’s Pick: FIFTY FIFTY feat. Sabrina Carpenter, “Cupid Twin Ver.”
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Think of FIFTY FIFTY’s new version “Cupid,” featuring Sabrina Carpenter on the remix, as a well-earned victory lap for both artists: the K-pop group crashed the upper reaches of the Hot 100 chart with the undeniable sing-along, while Carpenter is a little over a year removed from Emails I Can’t Send, one of the strongest pop albums of 2022, and its viral hit “Nonsense.” Together, FIFTY FIFTY and Carpenter reinvent a rock-solid hit ever so slightly, as Carpenter slides into the second verse and handles that sugary “I gave a second chance to Cupiiiiiid!” hook with aplomb.