NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out Aug. 1

Episode Date: August 1, 2025

Newcomer Emily Hines. Hardcore collective The Armed. A Susumu Yokota boxset. WDET's Liz Warner joins NPR Music's Stephen Thompson to dive into their favorite albums out this week.The Starting 5:• Emily Hines, 'These Days'• The Armed, 'THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED'• Mal Devisa, 'Palimpsesa'• Caimin Gilmore, 'BlackGate'• Susumu Yokota, 'Skintone Edition Volume 1' (box set)The Lightning Round:• Buddy Guy, 'Ain't Done With The Blues'• René Najera, 'Painted Life'• Hieroglyphic Being, 'The Sound Of Something Ending'• Spafford Campbell, 'Tomorrow Held'See our long list of albums out August 1 and sample dozens of new records via our New Music Friday playlist on npr.org.Credits:Host: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Liz Warner, WDETAudio producer: Noah CaldwellEditor: Otis HartExecutive producer: Suraya MohamedSee 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

Happy Friday, everyone, from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Liz Warner of Public Radio Station, WDET, in Detroit. Welcome to the show, Liz. Hi, Stephen. It is a pleasure to have you. Now, I want to note up front, the song we are hearing is from Haley Williams of Paramore. On Monday, Haley Williams dropped 17 new songs in an unusual fashion. Access to these songs was sent out via passcodes through Haley Williams' hair dye. company, Good Die Young, that's D-Y-E. That allowed people to access a link to download the songs, but those links were pulled soon afterward. It turns out there is a new Haley Williams album out today, though its title remains murky as of this taping. It does contain all 17 of those songs that were cryptically released and then unreleased earlier this week. So we wanted to acknowledge the news about Haley Williams, a good friend of public radio, by the way. And of course, we've also got a ton of other great records to get to on this week's show.

All of them are out today, August 1st, including new albums from the Armed, Mal DeVisa, and our lead-off artist Emily Hines. Emily Hines has a new album called These Days. Emily Hines is a songwriter who came from Ohio, rural Ohio. And this record, it's just a really interesting, wonderful, comfortable spot. when I was looking into what her approach was for this record, because it's her debut. So it's not someone you really know about, right?

You have to just kind of go and see what is she all about. When I saw something that she said, it really resonated with this whole record. She said she was making a song with her brother while their mom was in the hospital. Early on, as a very young girl, that's her very first song, wearing a fuzzy pink jacket. And it really, I think, is a great way to describe.

this whole record because it sounds like you're just being wrapped in a blanket throughout the whole thing. Yeah, man, her music just meets at this really interesting midpoint between a sound that's very commercial and a sound that is more experimental. And to me, like, if I'm going to start throwing out comparisons right off the bat, it's like the commercial balladry of like Nora Jones crossed with the more experimental yearnings of like Cath Bloom. And somehow it's landing in this spot where these songs, you know, can

float like dandelion spores, but they can still stick under the skin at the same time. So they're comfy but nervy. And I just I love that dichotomy that's running through this record. And you know, this album is seven songs in half an hour. There is not a wasted

moment on it. Yeah, she really does have a way of getting right to the heart of matters. It's a very personal record. It's an almost agonizing feel, although she makes it sound so sweet, doesn't she, with the way she delivers? Yeah, it's sweet and salty at the same time, which we all know is like a perfect, perfect combination. And sometimes, you know, there's a certain consistency to this record. There's not, like I said, there's not a weak moment, not a moment of filler, not a moment of waste on it. But at the same time, it doesn't all sound the same. You know,

there's a track called UFO, which I think really appropriately, it feels like it's being beamed from space in a way that that differentiates it from a lot of the rest of the material on this record. It's very kind of a rural Ohio. I've heard I have a song called UFO on there. It's a, I love it. It's a theme that, you know, is kind of this undercurrent of just how people look at the sky when you're out in the fields in Ohio, anywhere in the Midwest.

So I think it kind of really plays well into her whole theme. I kind of really like all of our friends. I really was just taken by it lyrically and trying to see what it was that she was getting at. So then I looked up the video, which was really telling. I don't want to give everything away because I think it's really important to just go and look at it yourself. It really is a great accompaniment. but it is a full circle moment of all the possibilities presented in the song and asks this question of, what if we take the chance?

But the relationship, it doesn't work out. Yeah, that's one of my favorite songs on the record, in part because it has these warm, sunny vibes. It's got this subtle, indelible guitar line that's running through it. It's so beautiful. It's so warm. And I was kind of like scribbling in my notes like, oh, this song is, you know, it's like a warm, comfortable hang. But then you mentioned the lyrics and the song is all about the way doubt and fear can creep into a new relationship in ways that can undermine it. And you realize, like, there is depth to this.

This is not just atmosphere. This is atmosphere in service of real observation and incisiveness about relationships. and about herself and about the world. And that really brings us to Cold Case, which is a similar song in theme about fear of relationships. It's not too different from all of our friends. So when Emily Hines is talking about why is it so hard to tell the truth, is love something that you choose,

or does it burn a hole right through you? It really highlights all of those insecurities. What if he never lets me. I mean the company's gold. Let's die. It's a beautiful record. Emily Hines, I managed to get, by the way, through this entire segment

without confusing Emily Hines's name with the name Emily Haines from Metrick, and I just want to give myself a pat on the back for that. Emily Hines, new album is called These Days. It is absolutely. gorgeous. Check it out this weekend if you're if you've got a little downtime and want to just get lost in something beautiful. Next up new album from Mal DeVisa. Mal DeVisa's new album is called Palimp Sessa. So Malda Vista is the work of My property is properly packaged and sold to mouth breathers

Maldivisa step this way You are a true believer You are a true believer So Maldivisa is the work of an artist named Deja Carr She's a rapper, she's a singer, a poet, a songwriter, an activist She's been floating around for more than a decade

She's based in Amherst, Massachusetts And her music mixes hip-hop and rock and jazz and funk And spoken word, experimental music uses lots of loops, lots of bass. This particular collection, 29 songs in 88 minutes. It's a mix of old songs and other unreleased material. It's kind of like an anthology and an introduction for the unfamiliar. The title, Palimpsessa is a play on the word palimpsest,

which is a manuscript or a piece of, I'm quoting here, a manuscript or a piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing, but of which traces remain. which kind of speaks to some of what she's doing here. She's taking older material that she's written and making it new. And this album is just absolutely bursting with ideas. And we should note, you know, Malda Visa is an NPR music favorite. She had an album in 2016 that made our list of the 50 best albums of the year.

So she's somebody we've been tracking for a long time, somebody whose music we've really admired for a long time, and it's just great to have her back. I be counting compliments like there was calories on Jenny Craig, Steven, I really like My seat in the thread Shetting skin snake bites Like a jealous writer

Writing songs, DACA blow yours out the water Stephen I really like this comparison To the Pellimpsist It basically, throughout this record You can think about that In terms of the anthology You can also think about it

In terms of her creative path Where she has taken What she has learned Through the years Built upon it And made even new material as well And you can really hear that as you travel through this record. Absolutely.

And, you know, she is an outstanding rapper. You listen to a song like Next Stop, which is just like packed with references. It's really clever. It's really blunt. Like several of the songs early on this record, it serves as a real statement of purpose where she's kind of reestablishing who she is

and why you should listen. And, you know, these early songs, songs like Dominatrix, you know, is just so hard driving. it feels almost like industrial rap. But as you kind of move through this record, you hear her kind of weaving in more and more layers, more journeys into rock, more journeys into jazz. She's also extremely fluent in rock and roll.

You take a song like Crowd Pleaser, which is kind of seething and slow burning, but it's a rock song. Or you can take a look at Skyline Arms Reach Out, which is a simple song, simplicity in celebration and human connection. But at the same time, within that, she shows her reign. It's kind of a one-woman show, right, throughout the entire thing, which is not easy to do.

Yeah, this is a bold record. It is so good to have her back. Mal de Visa, her new album is called Palimpsesa. We've got several more records we want to talk about that are out today, August 1st, but first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Liz Warner of WDET in Detroit. Liz, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about WDET and the work that you're doing there on your show alternate take.

You just published a playlist of the best music of 2025 so far. I am a list fiend, and I just want to know, first of all, what some of your favorite music of 2025 so far is. and also just like the kind of stuff that you are that you're digging and playing on your show. Oh, well, thanks, Stephen. You know, I, I tend to go all over the place with the music that I play on alternate take. I took the name of the show based on alternate takes of, let's say, jazz recordings or old classic recordings or that whole kind of thing, meaning, you know what, there are a lot of different ways to listen to even sometimes the same music. With the show that I do, I do go a lot of places, not exactly physically, but virtually, going to spots around the world. It could be Japan. It could be England. It could be in South America. It could be right here in Detroit. So when I put together a best of release for the year, it's, first of all, it's excruciating, isn't it? Because there's so much good music.

So much great music to choose from. So the list that I made and when I shared it almost immediately afterward, I said, wow, that's going to look different by the time we get to the final end of the year. But we have so many excellent musicians. Butcher Brown I threw in there. Really, really love that release that is getting some widespread attention, which I'm really glad about. Put Max Cooper on there.

and the amazing work that he does. He's such a really fun experimentalist. Music from Brandy Younger. I just love her music. Herbert, back with Mamoko. Oh, yeah. That's a good one. I should go back and dig that back out.

So good. Those are just a few of the artists. I mean, you know, the list goes on every week. It's just like a reinvention almost. Nice. And it should be, If you have not seen them, Google WDET T-shirts. WD-E-T's promotional T-shirt game is, I think it's the best T-shirt game in public radio.

Stephen, we have an amazing, dedicated community of artists of all sorts, and they really, really show up. And you kind of can't even stop them from just contributing. It's that powerful. You know, it's so people love each other in this town. Yeah, well, shout out to all of the brilliant artists in Detroit making those t-shirts. They are a true gift. All right, next up, we've got a new album by The Armed. The Armed has a new album with a title that really speaks to its sound.

The future is here and everything needs to be destroyed. Speaking of Detroit, Stephen, this is the record that we did not realize that. we needed at this exact moment. It comes in strong. And well made play, I believe is the first song on the record. And wow, it just really hits you over the head. When I first put the record on, I thought immediately of the Maxel cassette video or the commercial. Like the logo with the person being kind of blown back.

Yes. And you can look up the commercial. If you go look it up, it's basically the music starts. and then immediately the hair is blown back. And it's kind of like that when you listen to the record. It reminded me of seeing John Brannan, who's been a punk rock stalwart in this city of Detroit. Easy action, laughing hyenas,

different outfits like that, hardcore punk scene. When I saw him live at the same effect, and then I kept listening to this record. And I started watching the videos and all the conceptual ideas that are going on behind it all. And I was just completely blown away. When you talk about the song Well Made Play, there are two people that are basically just destroying one another, hoping to win a jet ski. Yeah, the chains together in a competition. Right.

And whoever survives can win a jet ski, which is interesting way to do. demonstrate the depths to which humanity can plunge. I mean, this is an album about the state of modern life in America, and the armed has a lot to say about that. And, you know, as a listener, you know, just kind of listening through this record the first time, it was a few songs in before I was even fully able to make out some of the words. I recommend if you have access to a lyric sheet to kind of take advantage of that. But I appreciated, I got to a song called Broken Mirror. And suddenly I clearly made out six words,

The World's an Empty Shopping Mall. And I'm like, oh, okay, I see where this band is coming from. That's all you get. And then later in a track called Local Millionaire, I very clearly made out the words, Go F yourself. And so, you know, you're getting, this ferocity, this intensity.

But at the same time, there's also a healthy diet of hooks, you know, that keep it digestible. There's enough variation to keep it interesting. And they switch up vocal duties. You know, they bring in, you know, Kara Drolshagan is a member of the group. And she comes in and is able to, you know,

give some of these songs this like slightly sugary quality that, lyrically not sugary at all. But like she comes in and kind of leavens things a little bit and the songs don't lose any of their intensity amid that sugar. in a track like Sharp Teeth, very well-named, you know, brings her in, you know, to provide, you know, just like a different voice, a different perspective.

But that fury and intensity remains. You're right, that there's a lot of, let's call it beating over the head, you know, with some necessary statements throughout sharp teeth. But you also have this, like you mentioned, this sweetening, this kind of like slightly more inviting, maybe slightly approaching this alternative kind of sound, not so much of the hardcore, metalcore, punk,

whatever it is, however it is that you want to categorize it. And then you see the video as well. The video for this, I don't know, Stephen, if you've had a chance to look at this. For Sharp Teeth? Yes. It's incredible. I haven't seen that one. I've seen the one for Well-made Play. So the video for Sharp Teeth takes a cue, a heavy cue, in fact, from Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovich.

And the performance piece that she did called The Artist is Present. She did this back in 2010 over at MoMA. And it is a replication of the interplay between the artists and the observer. For this one, it's guess what? This feeling of torment, this feeling of torture. And there's kind of like a split screen that indicates all of this. but it's done really, really well to great effect. Yeah, and you know, those vocals by Carad Rolshagan

pop up again in the closing track on this record. It's like a five and a half minute epic, which, you know, for the arm, that's a very, very long song. The song's called Heathen, and it plays out more like a shoegaze song than a hardcore song. And it's really a reminder that as heavy as this band can get, as hard hitting as their messaging is, as much as they can just kind of rip your face off sonically,

they're really capable with textures, you know, that really give this record staying power. And I appreciated that it kind of closes on that more shoegazy note to just kind of remind you like, oh, we've got a lot of tools in our toolkit. It's not all hammers. Some of it, some of it is chisels, some of it is brushes. I love that observation.

That's actually a good spot to mention that with all the chaos that, it seems is happening. It's a lot of controlled chaos. That is the Armed. The Armed's new album is called, The Future is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed. Next up, new album from Kamen Gilmore.

It is called Black Gate. So Kamen Gilmore is a member of the Irish New Music Act Crash Ensemble. He's also a very, very frequent collaborator. in one way or another with artists from all over the world, whether it's performing on stages or in recordings with the Crash Ensemble. He's worked with Leonard Cohen, Bonie Verre, Phoebe Bridgers, Bryce Destner. Anyone who kind of likes to weave the little bit of neoclassical music into their sound has probably worked with Kamen Gilmore on one level or another.

But this is kind of his first album, and it's pretty brief. It's seven tracks in like 23 minutes. Kamen Gilmore plays double bass, and he's working with a cellist and pianist named Kate Ellis, and a harpist named Lavinia Meyer. And the three of them together, you know, just make these beautiful concoctions of bass strings and harps that just roll together really beautifully. This is really a favorite of mine so far. As you mentioned, he brought together these musicians who are really all just great. in their own right. Lavinia Meyer recently, maybe about five years ago, she did a Philip Glass cover of Etude number one. It's one of the most phenomenal covers I've ever heard and you think about it.

Wow, you're like, this is one single harpist. So with the songs themselves, you see this expansion of spaces. You hear the sparseness, but then you hear it fill up with this beautiful synergy that happens throughout. It's a perfect example for the opening cuts. The song midway through just gains this entirely new energy. You would think on an instrumental level that you might hear it in a linear way, but it's far from that. I think that's a really good point. I mean, even within some of these tracks, you get these radical shifts. And in these segways, you know, in between the movements and they're titled MVE1, MVEE3. two, three, four, and then you have Segway one, two, three. You know, the segways themselves are not

just kind of interstitial time fillers. They're in their own way, they introduce new energy. So like the very first segue introduces this intense mechanical, almost industrial grind. Ice-Jurzen de Noboughton is who I thought of. Yeah, yeah. And like with real intensity to them. And it's a reminder as much as this guy and as as this band, they're working in this neoclassical space, but they are also extremely conversant in contemporary music. And this record really has its feet in both. I really love it. It reminds me of Rachel's, the band out of Louisville, Kentucky, and they had a similar kind of energy where it was taking these sounds that you might take for granted. You might think it's going to sound this way.

But no, no, because the composer has something different in mind. And you need to just throw away all of those ideas and go on the journey. It's a beautiful record. That is called Blackgate from Kamen Gilmore. We've got one more record we're going to talk about in depth as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite new albums out today, August. August 1st, but first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Liz Warner of WDET in Detroit. Before we get to our lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, August 1st, we want to talk about one more record, Susumo Yokota, has a box set out called Skin Tone Edition, Volume 1.

Susumu Yacota was a really important and influential musician based out of Japan. You really started to come into prominence in the 1990s. In this box set, it is expansive. This box set is, how many discs is this, Stephen? It's compiling seven albums out of the 14 that Susumi Yokoda put out on the skin tone label. This box set is coming out in part to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of his death. So it is a seven album box set, and there is another seven album box set. coming out next year and, you know, his music really deserves to be discovered and celebrated.

He ultimately became a very influential ambient musician. You know, in the press materials for this box set, they talked to Joe Goddard of Hot Chip. And Joe Goddard compared him to Apex Twin. And Richard D. James, aka Aifex Twin, was a fan of Susume Yucoda. So, like, if you're interested in ambient music, this guy was a really important, you know, player in kind of the development of that sound over time. He became fascinated with experimental sounds, with swirling orchestras, with vocal choruses, kind of embedded, where they sampled, were they created? Who knows? But he just kind of made them into this very almost touchable feel, where it became almost human. When you kind of go through this box set from start to finish, you not only get this creative arc,

you're also getting a sense of just how versatile he was within electronic music. You know, I've talked about his experimental ambient music and how influential he was in that vein. He also worked as a house music DJ. And when you get to the end of this box set, you get to the album Will, you know, which is more in like that house and techno vein, you know, and a track like Level 21, which has this kind of more hard driving beats. And you just realize just how much creativity he was able to bring to this music and how much he was able to innovate within this realm. Yeah, it's interesting because for him in a way, that was a bit full circle. At one point before then, he had said, no more club music. We're done.

And then suddenly he just comes back. He has even more depth. He brings in this resonating piano and these other embellishments. and he takes this experimental level to even new heights. And the arrangement section is incredible. It's almost like Brian Wilson levels of composition with what he puts together. Yeah, if you're interested in ambient music, if you're interested in house music, electronic music,

and kind of the history of how it's evolved over the course of decades, don't sleep on Susumu Yakota. That is Skin Tone Edition, Volume 1, a new box set from the artist Susumu Yokoda. Now, Liz, we could not possibly get to every great album out today, August 1st. So we wanted to do a lightning round of some of our other favorites. I'm going to kick us off with Buddy Guy. Now, Buddy Guy is having a huge year.

He popped up in the movie Sinners, which sparked fresh mainstream interest in the blues. And now he's releasing a new album to coincide with his eight. 89th birthday this week. The man not only ranks among the greatest blues guitarists of all time. He ranks among the greatest guitarists of all time. In a career that dates back to the 1950s and includes induction in the rock and roll Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 20 years ago.

In five years, his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction will be eligible for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Buddy Guy's latest album, it's a set of fiery electric blues with a very appropriate title. ain't done with the blues. I want to talk about heat myr. And a record called Mike City Sun, something that came out last week, and we kind of missed once we thought we'd just catch up on it. Why do we know the name Heat Miser?

Because we're talking about a band that Elliot Smith was a part of before he started being Elliot Smith. It's heartwarming in this case to go back to Heat Miser, his first musical forays and to listen to him in a band setting. At least it is to me. That's Heat Miser, the 30th anniversary remaster of Mike City Sons. So Renee Nehara is one of many alter egos for the electronic musician Jared Kerrigan. He's been making music in various guises for about a decade now.

As Renee Nehara, he specializes in what's called Liquid Electronica, electronic music that functions without any jagged sounds, which kind of allows it to flow like water. His new album of warped, free-flowing, propulsive sounds is called Painted Life. I want to talk about hieroglyphic being that is an artist based out of Chicago, a release called The Sound of Something Ending. The hieroglyphic being plays to the beat of his own drum. He's been creating his own sounds for around three decades, having worked with Adonis. Also with Sunrah Orchestra's Marshall Allen. That's just two people. A Marshall Allen, by the way, just turned 101, which is absolutely incredible. and he's still playing, I want to mention. So the music that hieroglyphic being makes is on another level, cosmic vibes.

That's hieroglyphic being, the sound of something ending. Finally, fiddler Owen Spafford and guitarist Louis Campbell are young, classically trained musicians who record together under the name Spafford Campbell. Their music is definitely informed by chamber music, but it also weaves in elements of post-rock and jazz and kind of noirish folk music. I would think fans of Bonie Ver would be intrigued by this.

It kind of manages a nice mix of darkness and uplift. Spafford Campbell's new album is called Tomorrow Hell. Now, Liz, this is the part in our show where we like to kind of consider everything that we listen to in the run-up to this taping, and just pick one song that exemplifies the week. What is the one song that we're going to remember? Remember the longest, play the longest, celebrate the longest after all of those hours of listening.

Hit me with your favorite. That's a tough one, Steven. Seriously, so many great releases. And when you really start to listen to each one and take each one in, it just becomes that much more difficult. I'm going to go with one, mostly one, Kamen-Gilmore, MVE III, I think, is exquisitely beautiful. But I also do want to mention something that, Wasn't able to make it even in our list, and that is the Swedish producers Pink Butter.

They worked with T3 of Slum Village from right here in Detroit to make a song called Can We Go Back? And I really love that one. Didn't get a chance to fit it in otherwise, but thought I'd mention it. Nice. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to go right back to the start of this episode and throw out one more plug for that Emily Hines record these days. I talk a lot on this show because it drops on Fridays and it kind of, people, listen to it over the course of the, you know, the day or two that follows, there's just nothing like a good Sunday morning listen. And I think these days just really falls into that, you know, looking out the window with your cup of coffee or tea or whatever you, whatever you're drinking

to wake up, you know, kind of slowly on a weekend morning. This record is just gorgeous. I'm going to go with all of our friends, which is such a beautiful song, so warm, so subtle, you know, just these these beautiful elements, but in a song that just runs a little bit deeper than that. And I think this is a record that I'm going to come back to again and again over the course of this year. I just think it's such a gift. And she was just a total discovery for me. I had never heard, you know, if I'd seen Emily Hines, you know, pop up, you know, on a social media feed, I would have thought it was a typo and that they were talking about the lead singer of metric. So I am delighted to discover her. I can't wait to hear more of her music.

And that is our show for this week. Thank you, Liz Warner, for taking time out of your week at WDET in Detroit. Thank you so much, Stephen. This has been an absolute pleasure. It has been 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 Noah Caldwell and edited by Otis Hart.

The executive producer of NPR music is Soraya Mohamed. We'll be back next week to discuss new music with. Deshawn Nance of the SIP at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. Until then, take a moment to be well, dunk your head in a bathtub full of ice water, and treat yourself to lots of great music.