NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out Jan. 24

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

FKA twigs. Central Cee. It's a big week for new releases, and we've got you covered. Host Stephen Thompson welcomes Desiré Moses of Virginia public radio station WNRN to break it all down.Featured albums:• FKA twigs, 'EUSEXUA'• Central Cee, 'Can't Rush Greatness'• Sam Amidon, 'Salt River'• Mogwai, 'The Bad Fire'• Anna B. Savage, 'You & i are Earth'Check out our long list of albums out Jan. 24 and stream our New Music Friday playlist at npr.org.See 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 here with Desiree Moses from WNRN in Charlottesville and Richmond. It is a pleasure to be joined by an illustrious former NPR music intern. It's so nice to be here. I was just reminiscing. I can't believe it's been 12 years since I started my internship at NPR Music. It is always exciting to see our interns grow up and surpass me in every way. I'm not quite there yet, but maybe one day, Stephen. We've got a great roundup of new albums that are out today, including records by Maguire and Anna B. Savage, Sam Amadon, Central C. But first we want to talk about the new record from F.K.A. Twigs. Her new album is called Usexuala. I'm glad you pronounced that. What birthed this new record was the late nights that she spent when she was recording the movie The Crow.

Late nights in the underground techno scene in Prague were the main inspiration. behind this new record. And you can really hear that in this title track, and it's the opening track on the record. Interesting that you mentioned that she was inspired to make this record while filming The Crow. It's just a good reminder that great art can come out of anything,

even a remake of The Crow. Yes. As much as it's really been billed as her techno-inspired record, her kind of experimentation with dance, music, even the title is kind of coming from this sort of portmanteau of euphoria and sexual, like just this feeling of total elation brought about by music. There are still haunting and off-kilter qualities to these songs.

It's not just pure pleasure all the time. You listen to a song like Keep It Hold It, and the quality of that song, it's still off-kilter. You're still hearing something dark and unusual. When I listened through this record, I almost felt like there were two parts to it. Sort of halfway through, there was kind of this turning point. And I feel as though her vocals really shine through. Like, her vocal is beautiful.

And sort of the latter half of the record kind of turns more sensual, almost more vulnerable. In a way, kind of sounds like a plea, right? It sort of sounds like, This is why I need this experience in this room, you know, something like the track Perfect Stranger. And that elation that can come from being altogether in the same room with people that you don't know sharing in this experience that you might have needed at just that time.

Perfect Stranger comes with this pep talk attached to it. You know, it is definitely a song that evokes that sense of communal joy, which I really appreciate. And you've got tracks like childlike things, which has this really giddiness, this brightness to it. It almost conjured up like MIA a little bit. She can do this kind of low, dark haunting thing, which she does on tracks like Wanderlust, but you also do have just big, elated moments like you get on childlike things. That is Usexuala from FCA Twigs, her first album since.

the 2022 mixtape Capri songs. Next up, a new record from Central C. Central C has a new record called Can't Rush Greatness. Is it me or the GBP? I don't know if she really wants C for C. It could be the GIAs or the GFAC plane. I don't know what the reason be. When we step in the field, you can tell we ain't scared no security guard.

We was free man deep. My old clients are proud of the kid. They remember me selling Civo weed. I like regular girls. We fucked in her parents' house. She's surprised I remember it well. Because I've been all over the world. I'm back at a bag and a pair of them holes.

Valencibeck with a mirror attached so she can stare at her soul. All right. So Central C is a huge kind of rising star. in UK rap. He's actually has the highest charting UK rap single in the history of Billboard. He had a track called Band for Band with Little Baby that hit the top 20 back in May. But he's been rising for a few years now. He had a string of kind of mixtapes and an EP, kind of a collaboration with the UK rapper Dave. He's already massive in the UK, but he's really been breaking through here, in part because he's been collaborating really wisely. He's collaborated with huge stars like Drake and Little Baby,

Jay Cole, Ice Spice. This record has guests, including 21 Savage, who turns up here on a track called GbP that is definitely a standout from this record. This is his first official full-length studio album, and it's definitely introducing him further to U.S. audiences. The price go up if it's U.S.D. Better watch your words. I get you ex by the shit you tweet. I told a little bro if it's personal, he better jump out and do it on feet.

You got something in common with scuba divers, whack of the guys in deep. If it went to the UK, would have had an AK gang outside with a samurai sword. Night 10 fleece with the Air Force One. My scheme must fun, but we don't snowboard. Go on a glad, leave your phone at home. What's wrong with these guys, they go and record? Sold a stroke. It's broke as hell.

Really my first big introduction to Central Sea, really fun listening to this record. I have to admit, this was sort of a knowledge gap for me until I started taking a listen to some of these offerings. And my stepdaughter is 15, and when I was talking to her about this, we actually were watching a show, the new Goose bumps production on Disney Plus. We were watching the other day. And the outro of the credits, they had a Central C song. And she pointed out to me, hey, this is Central C. And I said, oh, I'm listening to the new Central C record.

And she couldn't believe that the first time I was hearing Central C was on the outro credits of goosebumps. So shout out to the kids. They keep me young. I wasn't expecting goosebumps to come into play in this conversation. I like that goosebumps is this cultural indoctrination device to help break new artists. He's definitely heavily influenced by like UK drill. but also there are these elements of reggae and dance hall. Mom said don't ever trust no one that claims their role.

I'm bro, I ain't going to say that a row. The bro them know how I know these women who come and they go. I know that she ain't my girl. I'm not in a mood for socializing. I'm sitting in silence. I won't form an alliance if I don't like how your vibe is. He's a very charismatic presence here, and he's willing to mix up his sound, so it's not one note.

It's not monochromatic. There's a track kind of late on this record called Walkin Wardrobe that has this beautiful piano line kind of coming in underneath them. And it's just like a little sonic twist, you know, in this record where it's not just the presence of this charismatic voice, you know, with that very distinct accent. He's willing to incorporate a lot of sonic ideas. Hold on, Chad. See is tapped in.

I know drama souls The internet made me laugh out loud Everyone talking behind computers What you gonna do if my dog come round I might made a young gee come to your show With a stick like Moses part the crowd I ran that time come only human I got caught lacking my god was down

Leng she out of my league All of my bitches As a novice to Central C's music What I really picked up on Was his wordplay And sort of that introspective storytelling So even something like the concept Of walk-in wardrobe

just what that image conjured up and signified, right? And then the way he delivered that message. If you haven't heard him or if you've only heard him in the closing credits of goosebumps, this record is a great starting point. So that's Can't Rush Greatness. That's the new album by Central C. We've got a ton of great music we're still going to get to. But first, let's take a quick break.

It's New Music Friday from NPR Music, rounding up some of the best albums out today, January 24th. Next up, we've got a new record from the singer Sam Amadon. Sam Amadon has a new record called Salt River. There was a little ship, and she sailed on the sea, and the name of this ship was the golden willow tree. A sailing, sailing. So we're listening to Golden Willow Tree, which is a traditional Appalachian tune, very close to our hearts here in Virginia. You know, something that Sam has done throughout his whole career is deconstructing traditional folk songs, reworking them, bringing them into new light.

And it's always fun to see who he picks to collaborate with, Stephen. So on this record, he's working with Sam Gendell, multi-instrumentalist, saxophonist, also credited as the producer on this record, loving what he brought to the table. to recontextualize some of this source material. They met up together in LA and kind of just decided to jam things out and then see where they went from there. So there's really moments of surprise here that I love that they came up with together. The synth loops, there's some sort of psychedelic dips that they get into. So you can really hear that they're having a lot of fun on this record. There's a cover of Ask the Elephant, which is by Yoko Ono. Ask the Elephant.

Why are you so big? You're small. I just look big to you. One, two, three, four, I look big. One, two, three, four, I look big. Ask the tiger, why are you so fast? Because I'm in a roller skate club. I think part of the idea of this record

and kind of part of the idea of Sam Amadon's career up to this point has been expanding, reinventing, and redefining what constitutes folk music. Hymns incorporated on this record. There's a bunch of different traditional music that's going into the sound, but he's also working in covers from, like he does a cover of Big Sky by Lou Reed. Big sky, holding up the sun, big sky, holding up the moon, big sky, holding down the sea, There's hold us down anymore.

Friends and neighbors, that's where it's at. Friends and neighbors, that's where it's at. Friends and neighbors, that's a fact. There's a cover of Friends and Neighbors, an Ornette Coleman song. So, like, he's working within kind of the expansiveness of jazz. He's always been, you know, heavily influenced by Appalachian folk music.

but finding space within Appalachian folk music to accommodate the sounds of Yoko Ono Ornette Coleman and Lou Reed gives you a sense of just how big his ears are, figuratively speaking. I don't know how big his ears are, literally. Lou Reed's Big Sky was a pleasant surprise for me, and then alongside something like Tavern, an old fiddle tune, and that really is where he dives into those synth loops and kind of jams it out and goes to these sort of psychedelic reaches. I love a record that expands people's definitions of what constitutes a sound.

You know, it's very, very genreless, and that is always welcome. So that is Salt River by Sam Amadon. Next up, we've got a new record from Maguire. Maguire is back with a record called The Bad Fire. So the Scottish band Maguire has been around for 30 years. This is their 30th anniversary and their 11th full-length album. For those who aren't familiar with Maguai's music, they make these kind of slow and portentous rock records

that build to moments of grandiosity. There are definitely moments on this record and other Maguire records that conjure sounds of bands like explosions in the sky, whose producer John Congleton produces this record The Badfire. The band's music for me has always been something to get lost in, and that's another feeling that I had with this record. You know, the chaos that goes on in day-to-day life, sometimes it is nice to just throw something on.

And like so many of their records, I feel like it's a nice companion. You know, I love to swim, and I love the sense of just kind of bobbing in the ocean and being carried around by something bigger than myself. And I think that a lot of their music can evoke that feeling for me, that you're being carried by it instead of connecting to it intellectually, if that makes sense.

And there's just a bunch of songs on this record that really build to that sense of being carried. There's another track on this record called Fanzine Made of Flesh, which has vocals, but they're basically unintelligible. One of the band members describes the song as a cross between, quote, Abba, swerve driver, and craftwerk, which actually is a pretty accurate description of the sound that they're going for. I need records like this as palate cleansers sometimes. That's the bad

fire. It's the new album by the Scottish band Maguire. We've got one more record we want to talk about in depth as well as a lightning round of some of the other great new records out today. But first, let's take a quick break. It's New Music from NPR Music. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Desiree Moses from WNRN. So tell me what you do at WNRN. Yeah, sure. So my official title here at WNRN is content director. I've been here for eight years. We have a nonprofit feature, which are 90-second newsy spots that I spearhead. And another part of what I do is I'm on the music programming team. And along with our music director, Amber Hoback, I co-host a music discovery show called New Rock Now. So it's on Sunday nights, 8 to 10 p.m. The name itself corresponds with our call letters in our N. And while we do

feature indie rockers, like Blonde Shell or the band Rat Boys comes to mind, we, we, We are also passionate about incorporating an array of genres on the show. So if you tune in at WNRN.org, we do stream worldwide. We have a free app too. It's for iPhone and Android. You search WNRN in the App Store. Hopefully it'll show it for you there. But you can expect to hear a variety of things.

So something like Fontaine's DC or Sharon Van Etton's new project, Sharon Van Etton in the attachment theory. But you'd be just as likely to hear the band out of Molly Songhoi Blues or even Killer Mike we featured last year. So it's all about making sure our listeners. are clued into what's up and coming, and we try to provide that global snapshot. Before we get to our lightning round, we wanted to talk more about one more record that's out today, a beautiful album called You and I Are Earth by the singer Anna B. Savage.

I come from a line of lighthouse keepers. We're happy alone with the sea. Anna B Savage's new record is You and I Are Earth. We just heard Lighthouse. It's a gorgeous offering from the new record. The whole thing is just beautiful. And her voice really shines. This song in particular, kind of sparse production, which really allows that emotion to sort of rise to the surface.

She's gone on record as saying this is a song about how she kind of always figured that she would end up alone and then finding that partner that really is there for her, you know, in the way that this metaphor of the lighthouse serves, right, as this beacon for safety. But also loneliness. Like, lighthouses are also a metaphor for deep, deep loneliness. She's playing on the juxtaposition of both sides of love, right? So, you know, feeling that deep sense of loneliness versus, okay, this is a beacon. I found somebody who knows me and can support me. This whole record was a standout for me, Stephen. This is one of those.

I could listen front to back. And there's not many of those. I don't know how you come up with your favorite records of the year, but that's sort of one of my criteria is if I don't skip a track on an album, that is a sign that that record is going to be high up on my list. It is a very romantic record. It is about finding your person and discovering that it was like there was a limb you didn't know you were missing. There's never a bad time to just be reminded of connection and love and joy.

You know what? Coming from an artist who is so literate, who is so steeped in poetry, who was so steeped in writing songs that capture the natural world and her place within it, but also finding connection to kind of more earthbound pursuits at the same time. Anna B Savage has been making great records for a while now, and I really, really want people to find this one and just swim around in it. Lovely record, with a lot of kind of wife-guy energy. Yes, exactly.

This is a record that is just so happy to be in this relationship. So when I cry, you say I taste like the sea. That's Anna B. Savage. Her new album is called You and I Are Earth. Before we wrap up completely, we wanted to do a quick lightning round of some of the other records that are out today. I'm actually going to kick us off with Benjamin Booker. Benjamin Booker is an inventive singer, songwriter, guitarist. We haven't heard from him much since he put out a terrific album called Witness back in 2017.

Now he's finally back with his first record in more than seven years. It's called Lower. And it showcases a dreamier and more expansive and exploratory side of his sound. FlipTern's new album is Burnout Days, the follow-up to their debut record Shadowglow. That dropped in 2022. This record is shimmery, it's catchy, doing all of that while exploring existential questions, vices that we pick up on to cope with stress. And also, as the title suggests, ways to find joy amidst the burnout.

The English Folk Group Tong, that's T-U-N-N-G, has just put out its eighth album in 20 years. It's called Love You All Over Again. It's actually a solid companion to that Anna B Savage record we just played. maybe the Sam-Amadon record too, really inventive and rustic with one foot in the natural world and the other on a different plane entirely. We bend our bones and wipe our shoes. We need you still. Why do we break this? Unlike kids into a store. Larkin Poe is the sister duo of Rebecca and Megan Lovell. I need to sing their praises for a second. Their sixth record, Blood Harmony, gave them their first career,

Rami Award. They won Best Contemporary Blues Album. This new record is called Bloom. It's the follow-up. They also won duo group of the year at the 2024 Americana Awards. So they are on the up and up, and in this record just kind of continues what they do best. It's gritty. It's upbeat. It's Americana meets Southern Rock. Titi Bacorta is a Congolese guitarist. Together, they make this wild stylistic transcontinental fusion that can be almost overwhelming to experience. It's wild and frenetic, and I highly recommend it.

Alehaap and Titi Bacorta's new album together is called Mapam Bacuzo. And that is our show for this week. If you enjoy New Music Friday, we would not say no to a positive review on Apple or Spotify, or whatever app you're listening to right now. feeling very thirsty about this. So thank you in advance. 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 albums out on January 31st. I'll be joined by John Morrison from Philadelphia

member station WXPN. Until then, take a moment to be well. Touch grass. Treat yourself to lots of great music. Thank you.