NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out April 25

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Coco Jones. Samia. Fly Anakin. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson welcomes Ayana Contreras from Denver public radio stations KUVO Jazz and The Drop to discuss the best new albums they heard this week.Featured albums:• Coco Jones, 'Why Not More' (Stream)• Samia, 'Bloodless' (Stream)• Emma-Jean Thackray, 'Weirdo' (Stream)• David Murray, 'Birdly Serenade' (Stream)• Fly Anakin, '(The) Forever Dream' (Stream)Check out our long list of albums out April 25 and sample more 50 of them via our New Music Friday playlist at npr.org/music.To learn more about the Tiny Desk Contest artists you heard in this episode, check out Ayana Contreras' Top Shelf special on YouTube.CreditsHost: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Ayana Contreras, KUVO Jazz & The DropProducer: Simon RentnerEditor: Otis HartExecutive Producer: Suraya MohamedVice President, Music and Visuals: Keith JenkinsSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

A quick note before the show, this podcast contains explicit language. Happy Friday from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Ayanna Contreras from KUVO Jazz and the Drop in Denver, Colorado. Hey, Ayanna. Hey, how are you doing? I am doing well. It is great to have you here. Absolutely. It's been a minute. It has. You and I have done this show in past iterations, but this is the first time in kind of our new era where you and I get to chop it up and talk about. great new music out today, April 25th. First, you may notice you're hearing a little bit of prints. Today is the drop date for a new Dolby Atmos, Blu-ray spectacular of Purple Rain. If you have a high-tech home theater system, you can experience Purple Rain in, I guess, the most high-tech iteration yet. So there's like, apparently with the Atmos, it's got like over a hundred different sound points, so spaces where a different configuration of sound will hit you differently.

Like surround sound on steroids, right? And my, I'm like at most agnostic, right? Like, it sounds like a good idea, but I don't know about that. Like, it is it in one of those things that like years from now, it'll be like quaint. Eventually, we're going to be watching prints via hologram and thinking it's so, this atmos is so primitive. Right, exactly. We can't even represent what you would be getting in this Blu-ray DVD. So you just have to imagine that it sounds great. Right. If you believe, are you a believer? All right. Well, we've got a ton of great records out today. We're going to start with Coco Jones. Coco Jones's new album is called Why Not More? Send me on the counter. Neighbors need a preview. You go home me on me. I'm a jewelry.

That you bet you want to make me your wife. That you got a big appetite. Fresh and back the shower but it's getting filthy using all my levels legs up on a ceiling talking about it oh my god it oh my it's never too much never too much never too much never too much never too much never too much never too much baby don't take it easy on me know i'm also so keep it coming So Coco Jones is never too much, never too much, never too much, never too much. So Coco Jones is a very fast-rising R&B star. She's been active since she was a child actor. She worked on Disney Channel shows.

She acts in the Peacock reboot of Bel Air. So she's very busy as an actor, but she is also a very kind of Grammy-annointed, clearly future superstar, right? think like Victoria Monet, you know, somebody who's been kind of coming up in the business for a really long time. This is her official debut album, even though she's been kind of rattling around this business for like 15 years. Right. And super prolific. She's done some amazing work with lots of folks. BJ the Chicago Kid just put out a single not too long ago with her, which was really exciting. But yeah, last year, here on the drop, here we go, her single from this album, probably got the most spins out of anything,

just because it just really kind of captured people's imagination. How come when I see your name on my life's friend, I already know what it means. I was rolling in his bed. It was rent free in my head. I thought I was done with that piece. Please.

I want to love another person. Can I please love another person this time? Oh. Oh, me, I've been putting all this work in, and you still got a place in my mind. Oh, oh, I wanted to be my... It's really exciting to hear a full length, although to your point, it feels like full lengths just aren't necessarily needed in order to catapult somebody to superstard them anymore. Yeah, I mean, the fact that she's putting out her debut album now,

but she's already been nominated for multiple Grammys, including Best New Artist. She was nominated for Best New Artist in 2024. She won a Grammy in 2024 for Best R&B Performance. So this is not necessarily like the official introduction to her as an artist, but it does, I think, really establish the scope and the expanse of her talent. And she's showcasing a lot of different sides of her sound. You've got a track like Keep It Quiet, is this just really audacious and auspicious tone setter. in the spirit of somebody like a Victoria Monet or a Siza.

It's kind of a statement of who is she is as an artist. So you mentioned the single, Here We go, parentheses, uh-oh. You know, another kind of tone setter that's already been nominated for a couple of Grammys this year. So you get a sense of who she is as an artist, but the record kind of allows her to explore a lot of different sides of her sound. Absolutely. I mean, other side of love has kind of that, how does it feel, gospel riff happening? I don't know why I get your love that I'm in my mind. Taste, one of the recent singles, people are talking about this a lot because it interpolates toxic by Britney Spears. but totally flips it and totally like stretches it out and slows it down and chills it out.

There's a lot of early aughts sounding R&B on here, which I think is, you know, kind of on trend. So I think very much so. There's a lot for people to like. It's worth noting that you are never too young to feel nostalgia. In pop culture right now, we're having a lot of conversations about Gen Z nostalgia. Like one of the hottest movies out right now is the Minecraft movie. And it's like, yeah, 20-year-olds can feel nostalgia just the way 50-year-olds or 80-year-olds can. And the fact that early-aughts R&B is so hot right now makes all the sense in the world.

Well, I mean, it's 20 years ago. I mean, in the 90s, 70-s-sounding stuff came back into vogue. I think that 20-year period is right when vintage hits, right? You want early-aughts nostalgia. Coco Jones's father was a linebacker who made the tackle in the 2000 Super Bowl that sealed the then St. Louis Rams win over the Tennessee Titans. So she's bringing it all back around to the early 2000s. So that is Why Not More, the official full-length debut album by the singer Coco Jones.

Next up, Samia. Samia has a new album called Bloodless. So just like Cocoa is the daughter of a Oklahoma is vicious in the dry water grab So just like Coco-Jones is the daughter of a famous person Samia is the daughter of Kathy Nijimi And the wonderful comic actress And this is why I don't like the phrase nepo baby

Sometimes nepo babies, they've just been training From a very early age to excel at what they do And that is absolutely the case here She's a tremendous singer-songwriter. is her third album. I love the way her lyrics are kind of laden with little specifics, little details.

She sometimes drops the names of her favorite singers or bands or stuff like that. These little details can make her songs feel really universal. Yeah, you know what I like about it? I like that it's kind of like a drugged out Western echo drenched thing. Like, that's kind of my little sweet spot.

There was one song, Pants. It had this kind of psychedelic, some velvet morning Nancy Sinatra thing going on, at least for me, that was my reference point, which I really enjoyed. Carousel is another strong one. There's just a lot of interesting recordings. I don't know, it made me want to go like get some organic milk out of a cow in the field somewhere. Well, you mentioned a cow. There's a song on this record called Bovine Excision.

That is drawing inspiration from inexplicable cattle mutilations. You know, classic singer-songwriter stuff. I'm really glad you mentioned the song Carousel, because Carousel jumped out at me as my favorite song on this record. I was truly blown away by it. She has such a subtle, understated, kind of slightly sullen vibe to so many of her songs. And this song kind of takes her from that

into this guitar-drenched arrangement that really, really has, like, force and power behind it. It was definitely stand-out for me. The vibe of it was, like, really undeniable. I love her. That's Samia. Her new album is called Bloodless. We've got a bunch more great records out today, April 25th. But first, we're going to take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Ayanna Contreras from KUVO Jazz and The Drop. Iiana, you have a lot of jobs. Well, I am VP of radio, which means I am over both stations in terms of like general manager, basically. And I am the programmer for The Drop, which is an urban alternative station.

And then I also host a show, yeah. Nice. Well, and among other things, among your many, many jobs, you are a judge in the NPR Music Tiny Desk contest. What's that process been like? It's been interesting because I've been kind of watching it from the outside in for a lot of years and was curious how people whittle down thousands of applicants, right? And so now I know it's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for all parties involved.

For everyone that wound up being talked about on the top shelf podcast, I'm sure there's probably 20 more that were notable. Swear it, darling, make it through the day. Lotty scars in play. Never be a raise. One of the great things about the Tiny Desk Contest is, yeah, we pick one winner every year, and sometimes often those winners go on to do really interesting and notable stuff. But at the same time, we're also building a community of musicians. And you mentioned Top Shelf.

That show, you know, is showcasing a lot more than just the artist who wins. And there are some fantastic discoveries from so many different genres and so many different parts of the country. It's a really inspiring experience where you get to discover a ton of great music. that people just have not heard before. Yeah, and also a notable part is it's all original compositions, right? I really enjoy that discovery, the desire, the energy, the rawness. You know, it brings tears to my eyes sometimes seeing some of these artists, you know.

But in this sense, it's like not just a cover of Midnight Train to Georgia. It's also, you know, the songwriting chops, the whole thing. You know, it's really fabulous. So each of the clips you just heard are from Ayanna's Tiny Desk Contest Top Shelf episode. You can watch the whole thing via the link in our episode notes. Well, speaking of fantastic discoveries, let's talk about Emma Jean Thackray. Emma Jean Thackray has a new record called Weirdo. Producing and writing and collaborating with lots of folks in this sort of hip London jazz scene.

And she's on Giles Peterson's Brownswood recordings, also a radio. host kind of defies musical boundaries doing a lot of work. I was actually on a panel with her a couple of months ago during Winter Jazz Fest in New York. Also just quite a thinker. When this record presented itself, I was excited to hear it. And it's like there's like this clear connection of P-Funk, 70 soul jazz, but also some other little notes. And it's very cool. Working in so many different genres simultaneously and collaborating with really interesting people. I mean, as soon as you hear, hear a song like Black Hole, which is a collaboration with Reggie Watts, you realize you are going to experience a collision of just dozens and dozens of ideas, musical ideas, lyrical ideas.

She's got this amazing sense of rhythm, you know, which is really evident throughout the work, like the rhythm changes and playing with those changes. The one thing that is very interesting, too, is her voice. Like, I kept listening. to her voice thinking, what does she sound like? Who does she sound like? And I landed on Brenda Russell. Very specific, but very emotive, but at the same time, just a little bit of coolness to it and the phrasing. And I doubt if that was like anything near what she was going for, but that was definitely what I heard. Yeah, I mean, I immediately landed on Kay Tempest at first, you know, just that mix of the music and spoken word poetry and kind of the way poetry can weave its way into music in fascinating ways.

But looking at this record as a whole, it was originally intended as kind of a treatise on neurodivergence, on mental health, and kind of her relationship with her brain. And then that songwriting gained this poignancy after the death of her long-term partner. So it became more of a record about coming to grips with how your brain works as you're processing trauma. Knowing that really deepened my relationship with a lot of these songs as I was listening. Leave Me Alone is really an interesting one in terms of that theme. Save Me. It's like an Afro beats jam, but if you're actually listening to what she's saying, she's really digging deep. But just so that folks don't think that the whole thing is about that, she also has songs.

like tofu and fried rice, two separate songs, that showcase her sense of humor and ability to kind of call the mundane for material. So it's like kind of this wide spectrum of things that she's talking about and drawing from. It was really interesting, like kind of listening to this record and the way it's sequenced. This record closes with a song called Thank You for the Day,

which has this joyful shimmy to it. And when you think about all the things that she's been through and all the things that she's processing on this, record, to close on that note of joy and optimism and gratitude, I found really powerful. It's Weirdo, the new album by Emogene Thackeray. Next up, we're going to talk about David Murray. David Murray has a new album called Birdley Serenade. This is the peaceful waters of the sleepy lake. Exophonist, bandleader, bass clarinetist, composer. We're talking about like a 50-year

career in jazz and improvisation. And I have to say, Ayanna, when I saw the title of this record, Birdley Serenade, I thought it was going to be a Charlie Parker tribute. It is not. No, you are not alone in that. Yeah, I mean, so it's part of this larger bird song project produced by Randall Poster and Stuart Lerman. And so, like, there's already been collaboration with Flaming Lips, Mark Ronson, Yo Yo, Ma. The ultimate goal is to have these folks influence people's knowledge about bird conservation. You know, so he's also collaborated with the Audubon Society and other partners. This project has collaborated with those things.

So it's really interesting. But yeah, I too thought that it was going to be a Charlie Parker tribute album. Instead, what you get is this really far-flung assortment of ideas and songs that are really expansive and wild. These pieces don't necessarily stay in. one place, you know, for very long. He's really known as sort of a free jazz saxophonist. Circa, like, 70s, 80s was when he really helped put that sound on the map with a lot of

his contemporaries. But this, for me, it's pulling a lot from, like, 50s cool, bop, like a freer version of it. Think about bald ego. Like, that song kind of is in that pocket. But then he's not afraid to stretch all the way out on a time. track like Blackbird's going to light up the night. I was going to mention this song because that is a wild, free-form, chaotic ride. Yeah, absolutely. It's bringing me back to my times in Chicago.

I have a lot of friends who are in the AACM. So, yeah, I'm very familiar with that, that sort of freedom. Thing recording, and I think ultimately, he definitely understood the assignment in making sure that these tracks kind of flitter and float like a bird would. That's the best way into the theme of it, because I definitely at first, listening to this record was kind of like, well, this is great, this is great jazz, but I don't get the bird connection. And it's, you know, I see it in the titles, you know, you've got these titles like Bald Eagle. You mentioned Blackbird's going to light up the night, and there are a few guest vocalists who come in. But I think you're right, that it's in the overarching theme of the record, and it's in the kind of freedom

and expansiveness of this album. There's a track that closes the record. It's called Waso di Paradis, has this kind of bonkers piano solo, and just kind of gets wilder and wilder as it goes along. And this is what's closing the record. And eventually there's this French language vocal coda from Francesca Sinelli.

And you just realize you're like an hour into this record, and it is still just flinging ideas at you. What a language? Vibris Rectris And it definitely has like an all-star collaboration of people too

so like that backbone from Marta Sanchez and Luke Stewart who is a bassist he's like kind of like a Kevin Bacon of Freer Jazz Everybody has worked with him at some at some point

A lot of folks, absolutely yeah it's a fabulous collaboration of ideas and, you know, spirit. Birdly serenade from David Murray. We've got one more record we're going to discuss in depth, as well as a lightning round with some of our other favorite albums out today, April 25th.

But first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Ayanna Contreras from Cuvow Jazz and The Drop in Denver, Colorado. We wanted to talk about a new music. record by Fly Anakin. It's called The Forever Dream. Here we go. Hit a

motherfucking cracker with that Figuido, Figuado. Funny-ass nigga, I heard he got jokes. They got his bean pie smoke. Edged them up on both sides like G.I. Joe. For the Fump, the FIFO, for the front, nigga, you don't need one-on. Based off my calculations and amalgamations, if you

got it on you, nigger, then I got to take it. Favorite activations was counting paper, but now I'm stacking pages. Black John Taff up on the Raptor. Spraying K's like it's my favorite fragrance Me and my niggas click like tennis bracelets Mouse keys control buttons So when the picture's take it

That's my dog, that's my thine nigga That's my bro, that's my man's, that's my cool breeze That's my guy, that's my pops, that's my OG That's my sis, that's my missus, that's my auntie You basically see So Fly Anakin for those who don't know him He's a rapper and producer from Richmond, Virginia extremely collaborative in his approach

he has put out loads of mixtapes and collaborative projects, working with people like The Alchemist. He's been endorsed by Madlib. He's somebody who is, you know, I've made this comment about a couple records this week, and it feels like an overarching theme, throwing a ton of ideas at you and respecting you enough to let you sort them out. Yeah, absolutely. I think I kind of got hip to him for his work with Pink Sifu.

He collabbed in 2020 on that Pink Sifu album and then Smoke Break in 2021. and Pink C-Fu played at like Pitchfork. So that was kind of like my entree into it. In general, so many D-Niggas, gold queens, queens, believers they say so be the keeper. I see demons. I see trees in the beach you breaching and you won't do that like that, like that. When I see it, niggas act like you wasn't where we be at,

Pillum talking with feedback, hey, got it, all about cash, never all topic. I hear you. In general, I just think he's part of this kind of psychedelic children of Goody Mob and Outcast, Dungeon Family Jr. thing that includes, gang, Dreamville, Smino, which is all of my favorite things wrapped up in one. So when I heard the record, I was like, catnip, catnip. It's funny looking at the track list of this record. And a track that really stood out to me was a song called Lord Forgives, I Hold Grudges,

which first of all, great title. But then, like, every song title has to include a whole bunch of guests. So the full title is Lord Forgives, I Hold Grudges. featuring Denmark Vessi and Pink Sifu, parentheses, producer Denmark Vessi. He's somebody who is just always working with a lot of people at once and giving them space to shine. I'll hear such a bad bitch, times of the essence.

I ain't never had shit. I've been on the ceiling with my own nose with me. Running it up. Running to our breakfast. Woke up with a blessing like a death wish. What a fuck. The Lord forget me. You must warn me out of you.

He's got a lot on the floor. He's got a lot of He's got a lot of blue. He's got a very large network of people, like Denmark Vessi is originally from Detroit. So they're from all over the place coming together into this larger thing, which I think is really powerful.

Chris Key's another person who did a really dope production on there called Good Clothes. We get my bitch to fuck your bitch. We running trains home She compliment My notas Give me everything

I asked to stay And flowed if it's too heavy You can need me there Every time a nigga Do business We need some silver When you got me Popin' On these good clothes

Tell me what I should know Ride around with these good holes Pure ones, no cheap shows You gotta pay the price If you can get a bun To the hood of my car The dead at night Used to get in my head at night

South side of the debtor Been settled up A god it's nice Niggas never had nothing I brought it back in twice Yeah Take off my We went up, y'all went left. You can see it through the check.

Real niggas, give it up. Bad bids you're trying to fuck. Police niggas try to cut. Y'all niggas worse for. Told me y'all can be the president. You kind of cap me down. I ain't never had the back paddle. You can ask now. If she bouncing on the nigger, it's a nigger wrong. She can contemplate about it. We're saying psychedelic, but really it's more like dark acid trip, if that makes sense. You know, because there's definitely some darkness to it. both in sort of the Lofi production, but also like thematically speaking. But then there's also like sort of a spiritual touch to it, right?

Like say thank you is definitely not a gospel song, but it does speak to a certain faith within it, a certain I'm okay with this right now thing. It gives me feeling bad like I can't remember this. You don't know what it means to bleed, remember shit. You never seen what it means to have. The Times is a shit. You know I'm a kid. Watch this.

Left from the neck. That's what they expect. They never threat. It's like murder. They cry. The Times is another really powerful recording, which was produced by mono in stereo. There's just like a lot of theater.

Good job, me. It's interesting. I was reading about this record and kind of the making of it. And that it originated with these just hangouts between Fly Aniken and producer Quelle-Cris. who's kind of the executive producer. He produces a few of these tracks. He's worked on a ton of great records as well.

And they started out just hanging out, but then we're clearly just like stacking ideas on top of each other. Who can we get? Whose voice can we bring in? How can we fill this song with, you know, how can we fill these songs with interesting voices, interesting ideas, interesting sounds? And yeah, as you said, it's psychedelic,

but it's not meandering at all. It's just like a really cool record that feels like nothing that I've heard this year. Since you let me use your couch, you ain't going to never be without all my brothers take and vows. I ain't never been no slouts. What you searching for. You got your mind made up. What you cursing for. I love you dealing with lady spirits been dripping for.

So much for jury you lost me. Replace them niggas course. I know you hit me out. They tell all the stories. That's the Forever Dream by Fly Anakin. Out today, April 25th. So we could not possibly get to every great record out today, April 25th. So we wanted to do a lightning round of some of the other albums that we're excited about.

I'm going to kick us off with self-esteem. Self-esteem is a pseudonym for the English pop musician and actress Rebecca Lucy Taylor. her songs are combative and funny and self-aware. Also really grand and theatrical. We're talking choirs. We're talking orchestra, a theatrical production with dancers, the works, and songs that actually back up all that pomp. It's a very big swing, and I am here for it.

The album is called A Complicated One. So the Crown is Lettucey's 12th album. She's a master of the R&B universe. I interviewed this lady for a downbeat cover article when she put out a Nina Simone tribute albums. I mean, you know, talk about containing multitudes. The title cut, The Crown, features Trumbone Shorty, and it's got that fabulous New Orleans energy. The things are said and done. When tomorrow let the love I gave say all there is to say

let there be love on the other side. The hole's getting deep. The terrific Chicago power pop band Beach Bunny is back with its first new album in three years. It is full of tight, fun, emotionally intelligent, three-minute rock and roll bangers. We're talking 10 songs in 30 minutes just in time for warm weather. Beach Bunny's new album is called Tunnel Vision. Silas Short, Milwaukee-born, Chicago-made, L.A. based is what he likes to say. The debut album, Lushland is filled with soulful songs that kind of have that 80s, 90s, R&B feel.

Collaborators include James Poisner, who did all that Soul Clarion's work back in the day, Peanut Butter Wolf. Like a Charm is one of my favorites, so sweet, shock full of DeAngelo-style riffs. All right, so narrowing down one more pick was a chore this week. There's just a glut of good stuff to choose from. Could have gone with Jensen McCray, who sounds like a rising indie pop star on her new album. could have gone with Natalia Lafourcada, the Grammy festooned Mexican singer-songwriter whose new album was recorded in one take. But I'm going to go with the return of the Oklahoma band Broncho.

That's Bronco spelled with an H. Brancho had a breakthrough about a decade ago with songs like It's On and Class Historian. The band last put out an album in 2018, but it's back with a new record full of sleek, strange, stylish, agreeably mysterious indie rock. That's called Natural Pleasure. And that is our show for this week. Thank you, Iana Contreras, for taking time out of your week at Denver's Cuvow Jazz and The Drop. Thank you.

It is a pleasure to have you. If you enjoyed this week's show, we always appreciate a positive review on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you're listening to right now. This episode was produced by Simon Rentner and edited by Otis Hart. The executive producer of NPR music is Seraa Muhammad. And her boss is Keith Jenkins, NPR's vice president of Music and visuals. We'll be back next week to talk about new records with DJ Julie B from Marfa Public Radio in West Texas. Until then, take a moment to be well, support your local record store, and treat yourself to lots of great music.