NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out Jan. 31

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

The Weeknd may be the biggest release of the week, but is it the best? We run down five other albums you should hear, with NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and John Morrison, host of Culture Cypher Radio on partner station WXPN.Featured albums:• Cymande, 'Renascence'• Ambrose Akinmusire, 'honey from a winter stone'• Lilly Hiatt, 'Forever'• Pink Siifu, 'BLACK'!ANTIQUE'• Damon Locks, 'List of Demands'See our long list of albums out Jan. 31 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

A quick note before the show, a quick note before the show, this podcast contains explicit language. Happy Friday, everyone, from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson, here with John Morrison from WXPN. Hey, John. Hey, what's up, Stephen?

Long time, no see. Yeah, it's good to see you, too. And I should congratulate you, WXPN, based in Philly. I know you to be a Philadelphia Eagles fan going to the Super Bowl against the dreaded Kansas City Chiefs on a couple Sundays from now. Are you excited?

Yeah, I'm super excited. Last night, you know, a bunch of us was all out on Broad Street. While and out, it was crazy. I was still bitter from you vanquishing my Green Bay Packers. Yeah, easy work. Just a light tune-up. Let's just run.

through a path of no resistance. Traffic dies while we are racing home. So we've got a bunch of new records we want to talk about this week. We're going to get to some really interesting stuff by bands like Samande. We got a new record from Ambrose, Akamouseri, a whole bunch of great stuff. But first up, we wanted to acknowledge a record that we haven't heard that is dropping the day this episode drops. The Weekend has a new record called Hurry Up Tomorrow. It's his sixth album. It's a double album.

album and kind of the completion of this trilogy of records that he's been putting out, starting with After Hours in 2020, which was this colossal hit. And then Dawn FM in 2022, which is kind of this interesting, dreamy synth pop record. Hurry Up Tomorrow is an epic. He's already dropped a few tracks from it. You know, looking at the few singles that have come out from this record so far, I've gotten dancing in the flames stuck in my head a few times since it dropped. So I'm going to be intrigued.

I mean, the fact that it's a double. record, the fact that he is such a deeply reliable hitmaker, he really is one of the biggest hit makers of the 21st century. I'm always curious to see where people like that are going to go next. And he certainly suggested that this record is kind of the culmination of

a project that he's been working on for a long time. I kind of want to kick us off with one of the records that we do have and wanted to talk about. The group Simande has a new record called Renaissance. Renaissance is the brand new album from Simande, the Great British Caribbean Funk Band, who in the 70s made a

handful of records that were broadly influential to the first generation of hip-hop DJs in New York, also here in Philly, super excited to see what they've been up to. This is their first record in a while. It's a jazz to see where they're going and how the new sound relates to those. those old records that all of us hip-hop DJs know. I think it's wonderful to kind of have this group back and to have people kind of explore the music of an artist that was kind of a Rosetta Stone in a lot of ways. You know, Samande tracks were sampled by everyone from Grandmaster Flash

and Cool Herk to groups like De La Sol and the Fugees. Then, you know, they broke up in 1974 and put out a record 41 years later called A Simple Act of Faith, which is not even on streaming services at this point. This record really gives you kind of a supersized dose of what this group is all about, which is just this fusion of funk and soul and reggae and African music, calypso, jazz, all these sounds kind of swirling together. On this record that, you know, they're coming back,

after a long absence and they are super serving you. This is 10 tracks, the shortest song on this record is eight minutes long. It is a 104 minute album that really gives you a chance to kind of sense what this group is all about. If you're kind of looking for something to scratch like that Parliament Funkadelic itch, it does a little bit of that. It also kind of brings in some contemporary sounds. It brings in Celeste to do a guest vocal. on the track only one way.

You're getting a mix of kind of the modern and the classic here. Yeah, I love that idea of this new record being a kind of sample serving of what Simanday is. So you have, you know, this root in jazz, calypso, as you mentioned, you know, the funk is there, and what that kind of driving funky energy that attracted that first wave of hip hop DJs that really embraced this band. So you have them decades removed from their prime, quote unquote. Right.

But they still have a mastery of all of these different genres and these different colors that they can play with. It's amazing. I love when, you know, elder. musicians come back and, you know, get back on the scene and release a new body of work. So it's interesting to see how they still play around with all of those styles and genre building blocks that they were known for, but just in a contemporary context. Want to be a face in a crowd to face it.

It's the new album from Simande out today. Next up, an album called Honey from a Winterstone by the wonderful, incredibly inventive jazz musician Ambrose Aken Musory. So Honey from Winterstone is the follow-up to Ambrose Aken Museri's 2023 album Owl Song, which is a much quieter kind of instrumental reflective record. This album goes bigger and kind of tries to weave in a lot more than just jazz instrumentals. So this record, he brings in a vocalist named Kokai who does kind of vocal improvisation. We're stuck between dreams We just heard a little bit of the song Muffled Screams, which opens this record is this 15-minute epic.

And the words are about a near-death experience that Ambrose is a near-death experience that Ambrose Doc and Moose-Rie had, and he, like, told the story to Kokai and Kokai improvised words around it. So you have a mixture on this record throughout of this beautiful, reflective trumpet-forward jazz, but also with the energy of hip-hop and spoken word to kind of flesh these pieces out. And often within an individual song, he manages to fit in a lot of these ideas. Creating that bridge or that union between hip hop and jazz is not an easy undertaking

without sampling. Sometimes it can be very cheesy. Historically, it's been very cheesy. There have been some exceptions to that, but yeah. That's a thousand percent. And the dollar bins of history are littered with

quote-to-called acid jazz bands, that tried to do that and fail. This is something completely different. This record, Honey from a Winterstone, has so much emotional depth. You mentioned the tune muffled screams, which to me kind of felt a lot like in a silent way, the piece that Joe Zawinot wrote that Miles Davis,

of course, made famous. So it has, you know, a lot of, moments where there's this kind of calm reflectiveness to the music. But then, you know, there's also moments of dissonance that kind of tug at your attention and break up that calm feeling. It introduces a little bit of unease to the music. Compositionally, this record was really impressive to me in the way that it kind of took you on an emotional ride and pulled you through these different kind of states of feeling.

Embrose Akimus Rie calls this record a self-portrait, and I think that, to me, really said a lot about what's going on here. It's not just a matter of, I put together a bunch of tracks, and they're capturing the latest of what's on my mind. It's really a deeply reflective record, and a record where each individual song does not stay the same from, to finish. This is not a background record. Some of these pieces will have long, reflective, instrumental segments, and then kind of take a hairpin turn where all of a sudden Kauai jumps in

and, like, puts words to it. You know, this record closes with a 29-minute epic. called, you know, skin folks, and that's punctuated like S-dash-kinfokes. It's 29 minutes long, and it's like an album unto itself. There were so many moments on this record where it felt like the music was really commanding my attention, but not in like a showy or... Right.

Dramatic way, these moments that introduced maybe a little bit of dissonance or, you know, some other element that subverted what had happened before it that made me kind of think, like, made my ear stand up. With a single tear, man, I cry like, desal and glory. Y'all get it, y'all know the story because we all. Oh, fall. Oh. Highly, highly recommended. That's Honey from a Winter Stone.

The new record from Ambrose Akin Musery. We've got some more records we're going to get to, but first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, this is New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with John Morrison from WXPN. We've got a bunch more records to get to, but first, John, I wanted to talk to you about the show that you do for WXPN. It's called CultureCyfer Radio. Tell me about it. Culture Cipher was the name of a column that I used to do at an Alt Weekly here in Philly back in

the day, which is, it's also a ghost face reference for all my Wu-Tang fans. So now it's a radio show. You'll hear rap records, you know, from contemporary rap records to, you know, 70s, 80s, 90s, that sort of thing. But you'll also hear an entire side of a free jazz record. You'll hear psychedelic rock. You'll hear reggae. The tagline is hip-hop and beyond. It's really a broad approach to hip-hop DJ. Nice. I highly recommend this show. There's a reason we have

John Morrison on this show often. And I should note, you can find a link to Culture Cipher Radio in our episode notes. I am here to vigorously recommend that you check out

this show. Next up on New Music Friday, a new record from Lily Hyatt. Lily Hyatt has a new album. It's called Forever. So Lily Hyatt's been floating around for a few years, definitely in Americana circles.

One thing that I really like about this record is that she's putting the rock back into Americana. There's some really lean, muscular sounds here, while at the same time, she's kind of exploring elements of human nature in a way that feels really consistent with what a lot of Americana artists do. And so it's got, you know, kind of a foot in each world. This is a really lean, tight, you know, nine songs in 29 minutes,

and kind of all-kill-no-filler. There's a track on this record called Quiky Mart. which is a Simpsons reference, but also just like a great road dog song that uses convenience stores as a way of not only capturing what life is like on the road, but also romanticizing places that offer simple pleasures. These songs have that universal quality where they speak to specific life experiences, but they're also just about humanity, and I think it works beautifully. Next up, we've got a record that is a mouthful.

It is by the jazz rap, punk, noise artist Pink Sifu. It's called Black Antique. Pink Sifu is one of those artists who, with his projects, he kind of builds like a playground of sounds. And you could come in and take different rides or engage with different genres through his music. You know, he's done hardcore punk, jazz. I love the B-Colade record that he put out a while ago that was kind of like jazzy, soulful, R&B, tinged hip-hop. And this record, Black Antique, is not any single one thing. You know what I mean?

Much like the music that he's put out over the years, you know, there's underground hip-hop sound and stuff, there's soulful stuff, there's jazz, trap. Every train that we set eventually emulated. Advanced mathematics to ancient architecture. All these different genres and moods kind of colliding

throughout this record. It has so much soul and spirit to it. He's one of my favorite emcees right now because he has the bars, but also because of the creative mind that he has

and really his willingness to experiment and play around with sound. Like with the songs Sleep at the Wheel, he's kind of experimenting with like this kind of loose double-time flow, he's spitting on it. You know, there's a handful of songs throughout this record where, you know, he's really going in lyrically.

There's a little bit more like it's crone. This nigga keep on low. Still trying to say that ho. Superman can't say shit. Better Superman that old. You're trying to neck and a nigga off. Play that up shit around me. I'm going to take it off.

Don't want to hear that all. Not around no more. There's couple niggas down around that I know. There's couple of niggas that I know. There's couple niggas that I know around me. There's a deep, deep, experimental quality to this music. And if you look at Pink Sifu's discography, you know,

mentioned this is his, you know, fourth solo album. But if his discography, if you, like, load it up and start scrolling, like he has put out loads and loads and loads of music, EPs, album length collaborations, mixtapes, you know, that are experimenting with all sorts of sounds. This is 19 songs in 78 minutes, and it is stressful. In what way, I'm curious. In what way? So, there's a track on this record called sacrifice, Bon Appetit, that I found so jangling that I actually had to lie down for a while. It was like triggering an actual panic. Yeah, it was like, it was like triggering an actual panic response.

Obviously, there's a specific time and a place for that kind of stuff, when you want to be challenged, when you want to be kind of shaken by the collar. This record has that quality where he's so gifted. As you said, he's got the bars. He's dabbling in all these different genres. I just have to say as an aside that as a copy editor, I find his way of styling his song titles to be deeply, deeply stressful. Just like stray apostrophes and like apostrophe exclamation point. Oh, man.

That feels like old like Tumblr. Uh-huh. You know what I mean? This is head-expanding music. If you are in the mood to be stretched, if you are in the mood to kind of go beyond, if you are trying to mellow out or keep it together,

this is maybe not the record. There ain't been no shit in to you come and see what is about. When I'm in that pussy, hear that crazy shit come out my mouth but I be quiet just like you can't hear that dig going in that. And then break it back, take a bad, bad bitch and break her down. In a world, suck it slow. Make it count.

Damn I hit a shy bitch, bitch, you better for posse. If I'm going to pay that shit, if I put it in a lot. In a world where so much music is, you know, kind of like microwaved, music that is inconsequential. It doesn't really pull you right or left anyway.

This record, it feels like you've been dropped into this kind of like alien space. the lyrics really have like an edge to them the lyrics have teeth this record feels like a wake-up call in a lot of ways that's black antique by pink seafood we've got one more record we're going to talk about in a little bit of depth we're also going to do a lightning round of some of the other records that are out this week but first let's take a quick break from npr music it's new music friday i'm stephen here with john morrison from wxpn we're going to do a lightning round

of some of the other records that we're really excited about this week. But first we wanted to talk about one more album. It's by the artist Damon Locks, and it's called List of Demands. Sing to attract predators, staving off the light, blocking the entrance, holding the dawn in place. So Damon Locks has been around for ages. I knew him primarily as a member of the group, Frenchmouth, which made extremely strange and inventive music, you know, decades ago.

But he's worked with a ton of other projects. He's worked with Black Monument Ensemble, Rob Mazzurik's Exploding Star Orchestra, a ton of different DC hardcore bands. You know, he kind of started out in the DC scene and has moved over to Chicago. And there, you know, he's making sound collages. He works with, you know, not only music but also poetry and spoken word. He's an educator who's worked, you know, not only with, you know, students where he's teaching them improvisation, but he's also teaching incarcerated artists. So he's just a fascinating mind, and this record really captures a lot of what he's most passionate about. Yeah, it's funny you mentioned TrenchMouth.

I actually knew Damon Locke's from The Eternals, and, you know, that band had a very interesting way that they would. would mix up like dub reggae, so-called post-rock. I don't know about that term. I don't like that term. You know, free jazz and hip-hop in a way. And listening to this record list of demands and a lot of Damon Locke's contemporary music, it reminds me of that genre mashup that The Eternals were exploring, you know, back in, I guess, like the late 90s, early 2000s.

And this record is on my short list so far for one of my favorite releases of 2025. I love albums that kind of feel like a sketchpad for most more ideas. Hour by hour from day to day, the dial turns and clicks further and further towards the unknown. A lot of this record. is like a jam that somebody would lay down in their bedroom, just like playing around

with a sampler, you know, a tape deck, some turntables, and a synthesizer. I love records like this that have that kind of loose, homemade feel. The ratios are off.

The signal is hot. The needle pressed into the red. And he incorporates a lot of samples, a lot of spoken words, in ways that, you know, I certainly wouldn't call it feel-good music, right? You know, there's like a swirl of unease to this record, you know, samples that are calling for revolution.

You could take that record and just drop it on a Halloween playlist, and just this sense of unease would work perfectly, even though obviously, lyrically, it's going much deeper than the songs you would typically put on a playlist like that. The thoughts are hot. The signal is hot. I'm thinking in particular of the song Click. It has this real short, minimal loop that he's rocking over.

It feels kind of like an alternate dimension version of what rock Marciano does. I wouldn't be surprised if Damon Lox was listening to producer Derringer. it feels like kind of like a different version of this wave of underground hip-hop stuff that's been popping over the last few years. Birds, frogs, the kingdom of spiders, all prophecy, all allegory. The skyscrapers are on fire. I stay tuned in, but the radio only plays a voice in the distance. That is all but shrouded in static. The voice asks for help or advises on where to go for safety.

If I can't understand a word, nor where they are. I look around to assess the risk, but the silence is frightening. That's List of Demands, great title. The new record from Damon Locke's. We're going to close out this week's show with a lightning round of some of the other albums that we weren't able to get to, but that we do think you should check out. I'm going to kick us off with the new album by Manic Street Preachers, the Welsh rock band that has been around for nearly 40 years, during which time it's racked up dozens of hits in the UK.

In the U.S., this band has kind of been dismissed a little bit as an afterthought or a curiosity since the disappearance and apparent death of songwriter and guitarist Ritchie Edwards back in 1995. But the band has kept putting out strange mercurial. deeply opinionated records in the 30 years since. Manick Street Preacher's 15th album is called Critical Thinking. Be kind. Have some empathy. Speak truth to power. It's your lived experience.

Be your authentic self. Be fitter. Be happier. Showbiz from the rapper, producer, Mike. This record is so loose, feels loose, but also is kind of deceptively technical. And the production on this record is gorgeous. I think that it is perfectly married to, you know,

a really unique flow and a different approach to MCN and putting together patterns and that whole thing. I've been digging it so far. I'm like my daughter, real. I'm trying to want my rap, believe me, you're going to call it quick. Go through all that down and booze with me. The Nigerian singer-songwriter King Mahdi, that's King with a Q, has just dropped her debut album.

It's called I Am the Blueprint, as the title suggests. It's a statement of purpose, a statement of arrival. Her music is really warm and catchy and seems primed to catch on here as more and more African music by artists like Thames take root on the U.S. pop charts. I'm just saying is the grander jazz musician Joe McPhee. This record is a spoken word piece where McPhee talks a lot about his life. He tells stories about friendships and talks a lot about his relationship to the music, but he's also playing this really beautiful, tender, but also kind of strange jazz

arrangements under the sound of his voice. This is a very beautiful and important recording. Is all colors absorbed? In this unnatural environment, white is content to reflect the supposed absorption of black and black is not content. Finally, Maribu State is an electropopop group from the UK. Their songs feel like throwbacks to sleek 80s pop bands like the Blue Nile. It's actually been seven years since the last Maribu State record. The delay was due in part to one of its members, Chris David's having to recover from brain surgery.

Maribu State's new album is called Hallucinating Love and it's full of catchy and sophisticated bangers. John Morrison, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me, Stephen. That is our show for this week. One note of pure shamelessness. If you enjoy New Music Friday, please do us a favor. We would love it if you left us a positive review on Apple Music 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 Soraya Muhammad and her boss is Keith Jenkins, NPR's vice president of music and visuals. We'll be back next week to talk about the new album from Sharon Van Etton and a whole bunch of other February 7th releases with Robert Moore of Kansas City Member Station 90.9, The Bridge, aka John Morrison's mortal enemy in the upcoming Super Bowl. Until then, take a moment.

Be well, reach out to a friend, treat yourself to lots of great music.