NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out Jan. 9

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

Dry Cleaning. Jenny on Holiday. An introspective debut from Mon Rovîa. Stephen Thompson from NPR Music is joined by Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville to talk about their favorite new albums out Friday, January 9.The Starting 5(00:00) Intro(00:31) Dry Cleaning, 'Secret Love'(06:53) Jenny on Holiday, 'Quicksand Heart'(15:12) Mon Rovîa, 'Bloodline'(21:22) Home Star, 'A Binding Life'(27:07) Kris Davis and the Lutoslawski Quartet, 'The Solastalgia Suite'The Lightning Round• Zach Bryan, 'With Heaven On Top'• The Cribs, 'Selling A Vibe'• Pullman, 'III'• Clémentine March, 'Powder Keg'• Rawayana, '¿Dónde Es El After?'Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist on NPR.org.CreditsHost: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Celia Gregory, WNXPAudio Producer: Noah CaldwellDigital Producer: Elle MannionEditor: 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

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 Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville. Welcome back to the show, Celia. Thanks, Stephen. Happy New Year. Can we still say that? Are we within bounds? Or are we too past the point? Oh, I'm going to be writing Happy New Year into my conversations well into March and April. Okay. Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year. All right. Let's kick off the show. We've got a new album. from Dry Cleaning. Dry Cleaning's new album is called Secret Love.

Well, Stephen, I've been really excited about this band for some time. There's been a bit of a gap between their second and this, their third LP. Stump work came out in 2022, but it was worth the weight, I think. This is really a cool thing from this British band because they worked with Kate LeBond on this record. I knew I would like it once I learned. She had her production touch on it, and I think it does not disappoint. Yeah, and I mean, I think Kate LaBond. Bonn's a really interesting collaborator for them too, because if you listen to Kate LaBahn's music, it also has that mixture of kind of spare and deadpan, but also kind of thoughtful and, like, able to kind of work these, like, little, little jagged touches into the, into their sound.

And, you know, this is going to sound like a really weird comparison. I know you've been a fan of dry cleaning for a while now, and I've, you know, certainly, like, picked up their records as they've come out and liked them. I am sometimes reminded listening to this band of the band Lowe. I get that. Even though the music basically sounds nothing alike. Both artists take what seems like a very limited palette and finds like tons of interesting variation and gradation within that sound. And so the singer for dry cleaning is named Florence Shaw.

And she's like borderline spoken word. At times, she's just straight-up spoken word. But she finds these little melodic fluctuations in her voice in ways that really project and evoke a lot of emotion and really kind of pull you into what she's saying. It's really interesting how much this band does with that kind of seemingly smallish palette. I really like that analogy then. I'm going to listen to Lowe differently now, thinking about the Stranglinger Records. So thank you for that, Stephen. I mean, Florence Shaw is the thing, right?

They're a great band. They're a very tight rock band. And you have these undercurrents that if it was just instrumental, you'd be like, oh, I dig that, right? Like, I would listen to that without her speak singing over it. But Florence, as this sort of art school acquisition back in the day, has made dry clinging what it is. And you almost can't read these lyrics without hearing her speak singing them. And the lyrics really set them apart as well. A lot of this is really dark in content.

I mean, it's of the times. but it's always funny. There's like a little bit that's funny about it, and it's what makes them interesting, I think. Coming back to this idea of how much diversity can be found within a seemingly limited sound, tonally speaking, this record is actually kind of all over the map. There's a song called Let Me Grow and You'll See the Fruit

that has this gentle, tender quality to it, but you still feel an undercurrent of darkness, And in that way, it's actually of a piece with a song like rocks, which is big and loud and gnarly and really kind of lets the guitar freak-out side of this band shine. That's so funny. I have those two paired together as well because they're both sort of nightmarish in content, right? Like, laced with paranoia and there's spiders on me and all this.

They can take the mundane and make it interesting and listenable because you want to know what's going to happen next. Like the next track, oh my gosh, what are they singing about? And I really like my soul half pint. She's talking about not wanting to clean. Is there anything more relatable than that? If there's any energy that I'm bringing into 2026, it is an unwillingness to tend to my life in any way.

You mentioned the Kate Laban collaboration, but this record is kind of recorded in a few different. places with a few different collaborators, and that brings out a few different tones. They worked with a band from Dublin called Gilliband, formerly Girl Band, because they wanted to kind of explore a little bit of a darker side, something a little bit more jagged, a little discordant. And you get a couple of these kind of darker tracks. There's a song called Blood and a song called Evil, Evil Idiot, that are kind of existing around the center of this album

that really bring out a dark side of this band. That is dry cleaning. Their new album is called Secret Love. Next up, a new record, debut record, from the singer known as Jenny on Holiday. It's called Quicksand Heart. So Quicksand Heart is the first solo record

from the singer Jenny Hollingworth. She's probably best known as one half of a duo called Let's Eat. Grandma, which was an all-song's favorite from South by Southwest a bunch of years ago. Let's See Grandma's work is kind of a little bit creepier and a little more esoteric. This record's a little bit more straight ahead. I would liken it to like a less synth-driven churches. You know, it's kind of springy and shiny anthemic power pop with this kind of big, slightly raw, expressive

voice at its center. I was really reminded, Celia, you can back me up or contradict. me fiercely on this. I felt like this record really taps into a vein of a lot of 80s English pop. Yes. Concur. Concur. No fierce dissent here. I mean, yeah, you still get a lot of

synth on this, but it sort of is Brit Pop Forward in parts too, and I like it. I mean, from first listen, I thought, oh, pop music, it's a pop record, but like Quick Sandhart, the title track could fit, like you said, 80s or 90s, Britpop era and not of today's electronic

scene. The title is kind of referring to an energy that I would love to take into 2026. It's referring to being open to being kind of enveloped in something, giving your whole self to your interactions with others. And I think that's a sweet way of looking at the pursuit of being present in your interactions. And I think, you know, that's a nice way to, you know, I know I'm using a lot of kind of therapy speak here. I'm into it. I'm into it.

I'm into it. I'm into it. I'm kind of setting intentions for 2026. Like have a quicksand heart. And, you know, in that song itself, it's this big, lush anthem. It's kind of mixing the sense of childlike wonder with, you know, kind of grand, propulsive pop rock. I think it's a night. That song to me jumped out as like, oh, I want to kind of take this energy into, into 2026.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to attack this year. And I think that's a perfect. fine way to do it. Now, let's be honest, by February, I will have leaned all the way into sullenness. Let's take the sparkly poplar. We can find it right now, top of January. Exactly. Top of January, I'm going to take it. I'm glad you mentioned sort of this childlike wonder, because

you know, when she started, when Jenny and Rosa started, let's eat grandma, they were teenagers, right? So she clearly has more to say, different things to say with this solo project, but it still sparkles, it shines, and talking about being enveloped. Every ounce of me was another standout track. for me. It really

shimmers and it almost flirts with like this big, swifty sing-along quality that I think people might like even if they don't like, let's eat grandma. I'm glad you mentioned every ounce of me. I wanted to bring it up just for its thematic ties to kind of the themes that are evoked

in this album's title. Like, this is an album about kind of giving your whole self to something. And I think that's a lovely concept. I think it's one she's really well equipped to kind of put out into the world. And, you know, I, and I like that a lot. I also like that, you know, kind of elsewhere on this record, she's able to lean into a more tender, graceful kind of ballad singing style. There's a

track called Dolphins that I thought had, you know, had this kind of sweeter vibe that I think she carries off really well. Jenny on holiday, her new day. debut album is called QuickSand Heart. We've got some more records we want to talk about this week, but first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville. And, you know, Celia, I think it's time for you and me to break a little piece of news. This coming Tuesday, we are going to be opening up our 12th annual Tiny Desk Contest. Our amazing, our amazing.

Now it's an iconic tradition of this process where we have unsigned artists submit videos of original songs and the winner of the Tiny Desk contest each year comes into Washington, D.C. and records a full, real Tiny Desk concert in the NPR Music offices. We have discovered so much amazing music music over the course of this contest. We have minted, you know, we have like picked winners who've gone on to win Grammys. We have, have, you know, had really great success shining a light on wonderful talent. And the news that I'm here to break is that one of our judges for 2026 is none other than Celia Gregory from WNXP. Stephen, thank you. And thanks to everybody in PR music. I mean, I've been such a fan of the Tiny Desk concerts for so long. I think a lot of folks, that's their

entree to NPR music, right, as all the coverage of and going deep dives with an artist or an album like we're doing now. But to be able to visually see some of these artists that you've loved forever or you're just being turned on to in the tiny desk format is hugely important. So for the contest to elevate an artist to that level and also get them on tour, which is a newer thing that you guys have done. It's really special. I'm just so thrilled to be part of it and can't wait to watch dozens and dozens,

nay, hundreds of videos, when everybody that's hearing this decides, you know, this year's my year, I'm going to submit. It's an honor. And quite frankly, it's a responsibility of us, you know, in 2026. Let's hold on to these good things. And independent artistry is one of those good things. I'm just so stoked to be part of it. Yes, support independent artists, support independent venues, support public media. That's some energy to take into 2026. Well, Celia, next up, we've got a record. I think you and I both really, really love. It's by a singer who goes by the name Mon Roe. Rovia, the album is called Bloodline.

Oh, for the steel trail, have I learned my lesson since then? Beas through this fail, I've been digging up what's left, and that train keeps carrying on. But the truth's so stuck in the pond, I've been circled, circling, circling. Absolutely gorgeous, Stephen. I know we could talk about this for most of the hour, but we'll be. move right into why this is so significant. Now, Monrovia is based here in Tennessee, and we've covered him quite extensively at WNXP.

We're really fortunate. We had him part of our summertime series. He's done a sonic cathedral session with us, our sort of version of Tiny Desk. But it's his story that's really incredible and needs to be the preface of listening to this record for new fans of Monrovia. He was born in Liberia and then adopted

and has been raised in the States and moved all around. Finally, he's in East Tennessee. But this, record. His debut, even though he's given us a bunch of singles so far, is telling the story not just of his life, but of his homeland, and it is powerful. Yeah, as you say, Celia, this record is kind of working through different phases of his life, and the first few songs are kind of reflecting on childhood. There's a song called Day at the Soccer Fields, which is just beautiful. That's kind of

just like evoking memories and kind of playing around with, you know, what his life was like growing up. As my body shakes. I feel my history. I'm terrified. Burned cities and my mother's cry. Then it kind of pivots into coming to terms with his identity, coming to terms with change, coming to terms with living in different parts of not only the U.S. but the world.

His, you know, he was raised by a pastor, you know, who traveled a lot. he was growing up black in a white family, often in very white environments. The fact that the album is called Bloodline, and there's a song called Bloodline, that is also kind of dealing with kind of this tangle of like, where am I from? Who am I from? You know, because he's straddling all these different places. And I think the music reflects that really beautifully. Yeah, absolutely stunning. and that title track he sings,

came a long way and I can't find my bloodline. I mean, he's grappling. He also, I think, finds it to be like a personal mission to share these stories. And the clarity of his voice, and I mean that in listening to him, close listen, but also the clarity of voice and his storytelling,

it begs you to listen closely, right? And each of these songs, the soft ones, and sort of like the stomp and holler ones that actually makes him fit. Yeah, we'll get to that. Yeah. He fits in different scenes. But the delicate nature of the storytelling, like on Bloodline or the day at the soccer field saying emotionally I've digressed, you're really in it with him, you know, from the first chord struck and through the whole thing.

What did you kind of pull away in terms of his influences? Because there were several moments where for whatever reason, I couldn't tell if it was like something he was doing was evoking a specific song by this artist or if his overall vibe was reflecting this artist. But I occasionally got pieces of like Sufian. Stevens. I knew you were going to say it. And I got, and occasionally got pieces of Jose Gonzalez. And, and, you know, I think part of it is, is especially when you get into the kind of stomp and clap, whoop and holler, songs that kind of turn up in this album's last third, there's a track called Field Song that for me, like specifically evoked a Sufian Stevens song, even though it doesn't sound like he's imitating him. It sounds like he's been inspired by him along the way.

I thought Pray the Devil Back to Hell was another sort of Sufyan sounding. And that actually, that one starts with news coverage out of Liberia. It's so moving. And then the composition sort of swells like a Sufyan tune, right? And I think it's notable that, of course, Monrovia worked with a producer in L.A. on this. There were really clear production choices made to allow this storytelling to shine through. It's not, it's lush in parts, but it's not overdone anywhere. And I thought that that's probably really deliberate to let the skill and let the delicate nature of Monrovia's voice really shine through.

That is Monrovia. His new album is called Bloodline. Next up, an artist called Homestar. Homestar's new album is called A Binding Life. So Homestar is the latest project by an artist named Evan Lescalette. He is of a band called Marietta. And here he is the soul songwriter, almost the soul musician. He did bring in a drummer named Tim McMonigal to kind of bring in that, you know, that percussive energy. But otherwise, like Evan Lescalat is playing basically everything here. Big pop punk energy, brash, catchy, kind of both scuffed up and meticulous.

It feels like the work of one of those like great power pop studio rags. You know, guys like Johnny Polonsky, you know, some of these people who like get into the studio and like, here's my, here are 90 songs that I meticulously crafted for you. And I love that, that energy that he brings to this. It's true that he has been working on the bulk of this, this solo project Homestar, for many years, right? So this is a nice archive, but the bulk of them were sort of COVID era, right, times. And I think he just had enough to work on and decided I know what I want to see through. with this project, yeah, I'm going to mostly do it myself. I mean, from track one, Stephen, from winter, I was like, oh, I'm in. I'm hooked, right? And it's big pop-punk hooks,

big guitars. It's sort of like recommended if you like Pup or White Reaper or like even some song sound more like Green Day. It's not as emo band, quote-unquote Philly Emo, maybe as Marietta. It's just really solid songwriting and composition of verse chorus. The drums are huge. I'm glad he brought in Tim. That was one of the notable things on this record for me is how well the drums pair with these lyrics. And I think there's a bunch of standout tracks on this. It makes it a strong debut for Evan as a solo artist. My notes on this record are not complex. I did not walk away from it with, you know, smashing insight.

Even though these songs are about something, right? Like these were written during the pandemic. They reflect a certain amount of, you know, reflection on transition, on change. on anxiety, on fear, like, that comes through. But at the same time, my notes on this record, you know, third listen through, I'm like, bunker equals killer power pop. That's like, wow, this is what they pay. This is why they pay me the medium bucks.

I mean, it goes to show, right? Like, it's very punk rock insofar as it doesn't have to be complicated to be good. Like, it's meeting the moment, much like the sort of art rock of dry cleaning meets the moment lyrically. This also is of a time and a place. You know, he's come up in music as a young person, and I think he went to art school too, like coming up even before Marietta. So he knows music,

but he also knows not to overcomplicate a great pop punk song. I'm thinking about talking about the themes, waking at one. He says, waking at one is not how I want to be. No one is proud of me. Like it's a little whiny, brady, emo, but he's going through transitions.

He's growing up and trying to grapple with. what does that mean, who's on his team, and how's he going to move through the world? And I think it makes for a really nice listen straight through. There's not a lot of filler here. I think a lot of great songs are on this record. You know, I think the key to writing a good kind of emo-adjacent power pop lyric is if you deliver it without whining. And he manages to deliver it without whining. And, man, the instrumental chops on display here are really exciting, right?

like there's a song called Milk Honey Big, just billowy, catchy guitars. They're kind of piled on top of each other. And there's something about the way that they're assembled within that song, that there's still a sense of lightness to it.

He's not just like burying you in fuzz. He's like using guitars as kind of a leavening agent. That is Home Star. Their debut album is A Binding Life. We've got one more record we're going to talk about as well as a lightning round of some of the other titles coming out today, January 9th, but first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm

Stephen Thompson here with Celia Gregory of WNXP in Nashville. Before we get to our lightning round, we wanted to talk about one more record. It's by Chris Davis and the Lutaslowski Quartet. It's called the Solostalgia Suite. So Chris Davis is a Grammy-winning pianist and composer and Tiny Desk veteran, recent Tiny Desk veteran. Her background is primarily in jazz. This is sort of a jazz record, but I would say it is a jazz and neo-classical crossover. It's a collaboration with the Lutisloslowski Quartet, which is a Polish string quartet, and it is a composition for piano and string quartet, appropriately enough. And conceptually, this is a piece about horror.

It is a piece about specifically the horrors and kind of a meditation on climate change. It evokes dread, little slivers of hope and grief in songs that feel haunted. and at times almost apocalyptic, jarring, discordant. You take a track like The Known End, and it is not a big leap, even though there are no words on this record. It is not a leap to hear the known end and say, oh, this is a movement, this is a piece about the apocalypse. I white knuckled through that one and quite a few on here and Stephen. But with like so much respect, I mean, let's back up a little bit. What does solostalgia mean?

That was a new to me term. And because there's no lyrics, we do sort of need to know the source material here. Why is it called that? That's sort of an understanding of feeling homesick while still at home, mourning the loss of what was in a place. It's a great word for a piece about climate change. Correct.

And deciding that you're not just sad. You're not just grieving. You're horrified. And that's why it's a horror-sounding record. The Ghost Reefs was another one where, I mean, it's very on the nose. You're thinking about what's happening underwater and not just on land. The strings and piano together so foreboding. In a lot of cases, Chris really lets the quartet shine on their own.

You kind of forget that she's running the show as the pianist because it's so strings-heavy and it gives it that eerie quality. It's almost like she couldn't have done it without the string quartet. You listen to this piece and at times it kind of will soothe you as a way of preparing you. for some of the chaos and discordance to come. I mean, to give you a sense of just the overall feel of this record, the track pressure and yield is meant to evoke like the earth breaking apart. And you listen, this was just like reading about this record, right?

Like this is what this song is meant to mean. And I got to that and was like, yeah, that checks out. I also think a really cute, curious thing is that they decided to start with a piece called interlude, right? Of these movements, it starts with interlude as though you've just been thrust in the middle. I mean, you're already anxious from the beginning. Right. And then, like you said, it backs up a little bit and you hear more of the grieving or the pieces of solitude and of okayness of touching the earth, so to speak, and then you're thrust back into the chaos because, folks, that's where we're at. And it's so

amazing that something without lyrics could evoke exactly what this word refers to in such a potent way. I mean, we talked about the pop movement of, of 2026, the energy we're hoping to take. This is the realism, right? Of what we're working with here. And I think it's beautiful and super laudworthy. It's just anxious and it's sometimes hard to listen to, quite frankly. Yeah, and that's not to say that we don't hardly recommend it. I often... But, you know, And often this is kind of the part of the show. Sometimes I do this in the lightning round. Sometimes we do this in kind of the last pick that we talk about in depth,

where I like to sort of be like, okay, this is your Sunday morning reflection music, right? Like this is your meditative, you know, gentle string music while you sip an herbal tea and stare out your kitchen window. This is not that record. Yeah, I don't know where the time and place is recommended listening, but I hope people will listen

because there's a lot of brilliance here, and the more I read about Chris Davis as a composer and as a, I mean, super decorated, also, you know, like you said, uplifts other artists in the work she does with Berkeley, et cetera. So worth a listen and a close read, too, about the meaning behind this album. Absolutely.

And check out her Tiny Desk concert. We just published it in November. You get a sense of just what kind of talent we're dealing with here. So that is Chris Davis and the Lutisloski Quartet with the Solostalgia. Sweet. So this part of January is not typically a huge week for new music. Still, there's more good stuff than we could get around to in a single week. So we're going to do a quick lightning round of some of the other notable releases out today, January 9th. I'm going to kick us off with

not just one of the biggest albums of the week, but what's likely to be one of the biggest albums of the year. You'd best believe we'd be leading off with this one if we'd heard the music, but no advances were made available. The country superstar Zach Brue. Brian has a brand new, super-sized album. He's been building to this moment for a while now. Details are still sketchy as we record this, but I'll for sure be listening to it this weekend and beyond. Zach Bryan's new album is titled With Heaven on Top.

Let's go to the Cribs selling a vibe. They've been around, these brothers and a brother band have been around for a long time, and they were sort of hitting while the iron was hot with the the bands here in the States. They've never really taken hold as much as some of their peers. in the UK. But this is a really nice strong return. Summer Seizures was the first single. It's sort of most sounds like a young garage band to me, but also if our paths never crossed is a standout track, selling a vibe. The record from the Cribs, who've been doing it for more than 25 years, and here we are in 26. Pullman is a supergroup containing members of bands like Tortus come

11th Dream Day and one of my personal favorites, the criminally underappreciated Rex. Pullman's first two records came out like a quarter century ago, and now decades later we get a third. It's a continuation of the band's warm, layered, hypnotic, guitar-rich sound. Pullman's first album since 2001 is called Three. Next pick, this innovative artist based in London, Stephen, named Clementine March. She incorporates a lot of sounds on powder keg, though it's maybe most recommended if you're a Stereo Lab fan, right? Upheaval, though, there's sort of a nod to our alt-rock roots, think pixies, then fireworks reminds me of rubble bucket, but make it French, which I love. And then the final track, Power of Your Dreams, ends an almost sort of a twee note, think Belle and Sebastian.

So this record, much like we decided we need in 2026, is giving whimsy. We're going to take it. Finally, this one's a tiny bit of a cheat because the album's been out for a few days, but I've got to put in a good word for the new record by the trippy Venezuelan pop band Rawaiana. The group put on a glorious Tiny Desk concert a couple years ago. It's won multiple Latin Grammy Awards, and now it has a fun new album. Rauwayana's new record is called Donde Es el After. And that is our show, for this week. Thank you, Celia Gregory, for taking time out of your week at WNXP in Nashville.

Always a pleasure, Stephen. I hope whatever powers your 2026, you do feel powerful and powered onward. It's good to be with you and we'll catch you again another time, I hope. Yeah, I'll be powered by whimsy like I am every day of my life. All right, 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. And as always, we got an assist from the great El Manion. The executive producer of NPR music is Soraya Mohamed.

We'll be back next week to discuss more new music with Alex Newman from KMHD in Portland, Oregon. Until then, take a moment to be well. Don't lose your sweetness in this horror show and treat yourself to lots of great music.