NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out July 10

Episode Date: July 10, 2026

Jack White. Baby Rose. Suki Waterhouse. Host Stephen Thompson chats with Maggie Brennan of WCBE in Ohio about their favorite albums out Friday, July 10. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.The Starting 5(02:00) Album No. 1- Jack White, 'Frozen Charlotte'(07:28) Album No. 2- Baby Rose, 'YEARNALISM'(15:23) Album No. 3- Suki Waterhouse, 'Loveland'(22:17) Album No. 4- Allison Russell, 'In the Hour of Chaos'(28:22) Album No. 5- Houndmouth, 'Lordy'(32:46) The Lightning Round- Bella Kay, 'My Reckless Abandon'- Luluc, 'Sweet Thief'- The Temper Trap, 'Sungazer'- Kelela, 'new avatar'- Tracey Nelson, 'Hercules'- Ultra Lights, 'Pleasure's All Yours'Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.orgCredits:Host: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Maggie Brennan, WCBEAudio Producer: Noah CaldwellDigital Producer: Dora LeviteEditors: Daoud Tyler-Ameen, Elle Mannion, Otis HartExecutive Producer: Suraya MohamedSpecial thanks to Sheldon Pearce and Lars GotrichSee 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. There are so many great new albums out this week. Our team at NPR Music is here to help you discover the best of the best across genres on our new Music Friday podcast. This week, guest Maggie Brennan of WCBE in Central Ohio, is here to help me share July 10th's most exciting releases. How's it going, Maggie? Hi, thank you so much, Stephen, for having me. I'm so excited and proud to be a part of it. Well, I'm delighted to have you.

The music you are hearing is from the new Rolling Stones album. It's called Foreign Tungs. We've heard a little bit of it. Maggie, what do you think? Hail, hail, rock and roll. Mick is 82, right? Yeah. Both Mick and Keith.

And they still got it going on. And it's just that gritty rock and roll. And I love it. I can see Mick dancing already in the arenas to it. Yeah, I've been really surprised by their recent. output. You would think Rolling Stones, now that, you know, key members are into their 80s, of course, Keith Richards will bury us all somehow. But it's remarkable how they continue to sound rejuvenated. I thought Hackney Diamonds was a really strong record. And you just, who would

have thunk it? Who would have imagined that they'd sound sort of revitalized? Because I think these last couple records have been better than anything they had done in a long time leading up to it. That's Rolling Stones. Their new album is Forer. in tongues. We've got a bunch of records we're going to get to in-depth, starting with Boy, Speaking of Rock and Roll, Jack White, Jack White's new album is called Frozen Charlotte. So this is Jack White's seventh studio album as a solo artist, not counting his work with the white stripes, the recontures, the dead weather, any number of kind of side projects that he's worked on. He released the first two songs on this record as a seven-inch this past spring as part

of this big kind of promotional tour where he played S&L, the late show was Stephen Colbert, he played at Coachella. And boy, Maggie, talk about sounding revitalized. Talk about coming back on top of your game. I was just really struck kind of from the first notes of this record, how consistent he's sounding, how rocking he's sounding, and how just advanced his guitar playing is. Right, with his signature Jack White Fender triplecaster throughout, right? And he's just killer gritty guitar work all through it and raunchy and the best way and just crunchy and just everything that you come to expect from him time and time again.

Complete badassery. Yeah, I mean, the very first track on this record, and this was released, you know, this past spring as part of that seven inch is called GOD and the Broken Ribs. And my immediate reaction to this song is I felt like this is the best Jack White song since 16 Saltines in 2014. He had a string of kind of Hearder that I think didn't really work as much for me and you. But to me, this is truly all-killer no-filler. It's this big, blustery, full band, rock and roll from

start to finish, complete with in songs like, you'll never fix me. You even have somebody rocking the cowbell. Oh, yeah. Like, you know that you're going full on when you bring in the cowbell. Who doesn't love the cowbell? Another favorite of mine is neighbor blues, where it begins with the three roosters crowing on my neighbor's roof and not my own and ends with you make one step and you're dead and you're on your grave and three roosters standing guard.

And I kind of sense that as a vigilance, protection, and awakening. But isn't that the magic and mystery of music and, you know, how everybody interprets things differently? And that track, you know, that's the last track on the record, and it's a little bit more of a slow burn. And it was interesting kind of having that come at the tail end of all these songs that are rocking so hard, that have these big, grand, sometimes weird and gnarly guitar solos. to have a song kind of close the record by hanging back a little bit more. But then as needed, he kind of steps up and just lets the song wail. That is Jack White. Jack White's new album is called Frozen Charlotte.

Next up, Baby Rose is back with a new album. It's called Urinalism. So Baby Rose, D.C. native, grew up in North Carolina before settling in Atlanta. Her music is kind of soulful but incorporates jazz. R&B, pop, gospel, and rock. Highly recommend if you're unfamiliar and want to hear more, check out her Tiny Desk concert from 2020, recorded just before the pandemic.

Basically, everybody on this record has performed at the tiny desk. The guests are El Mien and Leon Thomas. You know, she's been around for a while now and just has this timeless, unusual voice that's kind of reaching back to Billy Holiday, but also to kind of contemporary R&B, And this particular record is just kind of songs about desire, about wanting love, learning to love yourself. But it starts very dark and kind of gets more hopeful and upbeat as it goes along, which I thought was an unusual arc for a record like this.

Yeah, and I agree on the Billy Holiday. I also feel like channeling a little Nina Simone. And I feel a little Britney Howard from Alabama Shakes on this too. and just love the power pipes and the smoke-filled ballads. And regards to Leon Thomas, that Friends Again song, it's such a gorgeous, slower, sultry ballad, and just loving that one. Yeah. Hearing that song made me yearn, I'm talking of journalism,

made me yearn for a full-length album of those two voices blending. I felt like the collision of their vocal styles feels so timeless and gorgeous. Their voices were just made to sit alongside each other. Then there's Sunday, which is a sweet little scaled-back. Scale-back instrumentally, I think, builds toward the end with some gorgeous horn and string arrangements. And I love that one, too. And there's a line in there. Made for smiling, dancing in the kitchen about starting new beginnings and redemption

and maybe find my way, making a change, spreading the god. all that good Sunday's feel, you know, whether it is gospel or church or just your own spirituality, doing something good for yourself. Because Sunday, it was made for smiling, it was made for listening and dancing in my kitchen. Go on start a new beginning. Maybe find my way. I can make a change. Yeah, Sunday is one of those songs.

I definitely clocked it when I got to that song. Like, wow, this song appears on the same record as the tracks that kick it off. You know, the first song on this album is called When I'm Gone. And it's opening with this dark kiss-off. You know, it's grand, it's timeless, it's sweeping, it's jazzy, and it's soulful. There are these flex of hip-hop. But tonally and thematically, it's a dark, angry song. And over the course, I'll be fast without you.

Then I keep holding you. And over the course of the record, that tone just lightens a little bit at a time. And then by the time you get to Sunday, which has, you know, you mentioned the string arrangements, these kind of these sweet, dreamy, ooh-oo choruses, I just love how versatile she is and how this album kind of takes you on a journey from being in a deep, dark place where you're kind of questioning whether love works for you at all, to these songs that feel so much more hopeful. And by the time you get to the penultimate track on the record, which is called All My Love, you know, it's this song of devotion with this bright, chiming arrangement

that's like right out of the 1970s, kind of that classic vintage stylish. upbeat, hopeful soul. That is Baby Rose. Baby Rose's new album is called Urinalism. We've got a few more records we're going to talk about in depth, as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, July

10th, but first we're going to take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Maggie Brennan of WCBE in Central Ohio. Maggie, tell us what's going on at the station. And by Central Ohio, do you just mean Columbus? Columbus in the outlying areas and of course online everywhere all the time.

And we've been here since 1956. We're pushing 70, Stephen. We're pushing 70 in September. So we've got some great things cooking for that in celebration. And WCBE in 1970 became one of the first charter member stations of National Public Radio. Woo! Yeah. And so it's worked so far and we hope that keeps happening.

Yeah, seriously. Wonderful. And I'm assuming people can listen at WCBE.org? Yes. Wonderful. All right, well, let's get on to our next record. Suki Waterhouse is back with a new album. It's called Loveland.

So Suki Waterhouse is a singer, actress, and model from London. She's acted in everything from Detective Pikachu to the limited series Daisy Jones in the six. You know, this is her third album and kind of first on a major label. Her breakthrough from 2024 was called Memoir of a Sparkle Muffin. And, you know, this particular record, Love Land, is kind of looking at her life and kind of the difference between the life she is currently leading and the life that she anticipated living when she was younger. And, you know, on the surface, you know, her life is going wonderfully well. She has this music career. She's a successful actress and model. She's in a relationship.

relationship with the actor Robert Pattinson. They have a young child together. But at the same time, it's kind of a look at, you know, not midlife, maybe quarter life, and kind of what you envisioned for yourself and how that might differ from what you as a person who has not yet lived in adult life, kind of how you maybe saw things unfolding. And so it's, there's a, there's a certain ambivalence, I think, that runs through this record that I found really intriguing. Absolutely. And we were lucky enough. to have her do a live session with us a few years back when she was in town. And just as sweet as could be and, you know, very successful already, as you know. But the one thing she said I found interesting, something was missing from her life and it was music.

And so she went on to tell the story how it just kind of filled that piece. You know, this is before motherhood and all that, which I'm sure was a great addition to her life. And a big part of this album, Becoming a Mother, and The Mother. the love she has with Patinson and nostalgia. There's a song on here at Notting Hill, where she lived for 20 years or better, and where she first started writing and had the initiative to do music,

and I guess that filled a void. Notting Hill on Sunday morning, I feel so famous. Got my coffee, call my picture, and I'm back to bed. You're my favorite flavor. You love the same. It's interesting hearing this record,

one of the clearest kind of reference points on this album is Lana Del Rey. You know, that certain, like, slightly gloomy, slightly distant, vintage vibe. You know, runs through some of these songs. And there are songs where it's like, this is edging a little close to Lana Del Rey. But then as you listen to the lyrics, it's a different approach entirely. And so, you know, you know, you get a song like happy with it, you know, which feels like this kind of swoony sigh of a song.

But then there's darkness under the surface, you know, is she singing things like, is this what happiness is because I'm not happy with it? And it's kind of in keeping with a lot of the themes of the record where, you know, she's looking at her life where she is and kind of realizing that even though you have all these kind of hallmarks of success, you have this successful career, you're in this happy relationship with a movie star, you have a young child, but at the same time, like life on the ground, the reality's on the ground, you feel the way you feel. And I really appreciate the way that she's able to get at that here.

I feel a lot of growth as a singer-songwriter, and that she's gotten better. This is a third album and each one gets better sonically and lyrically both to me with the eclectic pop sound and just love it yeah and that sort of dreaminess the sexiness the sultriness of it throughout yeah you know and there's a song that jumped out at me as like oh this kind of has the lana del rye vibes but also this kind of jolt of energy it's called when i get drunk i want you boy and i'm like oh this is just going to be like this is going to be just this sultry banger But then as you kind of listen to it, there's this undercurrent of darkness. There's that postscript even when you treat me so bad.

Which, you know, is definitely a Lana Del Rey thing, of kind of singing as a doomed lover. But it's also, you know, I like the way that Suki Waterhouse kind of plays with these contrasts. Sometimes these songs have these bright, kind of lustrous, buoyant arrangements. But then when you listen closely, there is this streak of darkness. And I think that juxtaposition is what really works on this record. Oh, fuck it. Let me tell you what it feels like. All right, that is Suki Waterhouse.

All right, that is Suki Waterhouse. Her new album is called Lodhaw. Love Land. Next up, new album from Allison Russell. It's called In the Hour of Chaos. This new album is just as beautiful as you would expect from Allison Russell, a mix of folk and jazz country, even if you see it. This new album is just as beautiful as you would expect from Allison Russell, a mix of folk and jazz country, even some kids. Celtic and Klesmer and blues all in the mix. Russell's work often blends personal narrative with culture and historical context and drawing from her own life experience, such as surviving abuse, homelessness, and foster care,

as well as her exploration of black heritage, slavery, and ancestral stories. Yeah, I mean, she is such an intriguing artist. She's made some fantastic records in the run-up to this one. And what I was immediately struck by listening to this album is tonal. when I think of how heavy a lot of her material is and how rich in history her music is, often, you know, I sometimes come to her records expecting them to feel weightier than they are,

to feel more like homework than they are. But you listen to this record, and it is all about connection and collaboration and above all joy. It is a really upbeat and light-hearted record, and I was really intrigued by that, and I started to kind of read more about it and got to understand, like, that is absolutely by design. This is an album of joy as an act of resistance, and that comes through again and again.

From the very first track, which is called Rainbows, it's the only kind of solo song on this record. It's the only song that doesn't have, like, build collaborators on it, you know, kind of featured guests. But it's such a tone setter because it is just this big, lavish, unmistakable, expression of joy right down to the title, Rainbows. Love playing that anytime and especially during pride because it is about happiness and equality and it's a great lead off track. And then black lavender, oh, that's probably my favorite. But again, another album, it's hard to pick a favorite.

And bluesy jazz tune with Brentney Spencer, it was released on Juneteenth as an uplifting, empowering symbol of black women showing up for each other. One thing I could never see you. Such dances. Lavender tea and black swan. One thing that jumped out at me kind of listening to this record a second time is how effectively she brings in guests and then meets them halfway, kind of meets them where they are and allows them to really inform the sound of a song.

Instead of just having them come in and kind of assist her and doing what she does. So Black Lavender with Brittany Spencer, it feels like an Alison Russell song, but it also feels like a Britney Spencer song. You take really real, which is this collaboration with Nora Jones. And it incorporates those Nora Jones vibes, right? Like that kind of jazzy, softer, mellower, kind of breezier quality. It still sounds like Alison Russell. It still sounds like Nora Jones. It really meets in the middle.

It winds up really showcasing her versatility and allowing all these guests to shine. Alison Russell, she's great. Her new album is called In The Hour of Chaos. We've got one more record that we're going to talk about in depth as well as a lightning round of a bunch of our other favorite albums out today, July 10th. But first, we're going to take one last quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Maggie Brennan of WCBE. Before we get to our lightning round, we want to talk about one more record.

It is by the band Houndmouth. It's called Lordy. Come on, let it out now. Turn a thought into a whisper. Push it come to shove. Spit turn to vapor. I've been one. I think it's down between the earth and

the pavement to break sunny they don't cost to say Friday nights come Tire blood, the lead off single with that laid back rhythm, some soft piano and Hal Mouth's signature rough-edged vocals

and kind of capturing the feeling of pushing forward despite fatigue or challenges and I love this first single and I'm loving the other tracks on this too with frontman Matt Myers leading the way. Yeah, I mean it's Hound Mouth's career has been interesting. You know, I first heard this band, you know, around the time they kind of broke through,

probably around 2012 or so. This is their fifth album. And I had really thought of Hound Mouth as kind of a bluesy indie rock band. And so kind of coming back to them after a few years of not paying as close attention, I was just struck by how intimate this record sounds. You know, he, Matt Myers and the other members of Hound Mouth made this record with the producer, Brad Cook. And Cook kind of encouraged Myers as he was, you know, in this kind of crossroads of his life. You know, he coming out of a relationship, starting a new relationship, kind of at a little bit of an inflection point in the career of Houndmouth. And Brad Cook really encouraged him, go deep, find something vulnerable. And I think that comes through not only lyrically in this record,

but sonically. There's a sparness to these songs that really kind of encourages you to, to lean in and listen closely. I got my dinner to go. No, I can't come to the show. But I'm all, it's getting dark, staring at the wall. I get the feeling there was a little more to that call. I love the blend of alternative rock with blues and Americana with the roots and country folk and classic rock. influences that they've had all along the way, but Lordy, the title track I love as well.

That's one that really jumped out to me, in part because that's a very raw vocal. That's not an overly processed vocal. That is not a vocal where like they've tried to, they've tried to make everything perfect about it, right? There's this wavering quality to it. There's this falsetto that comes through and is, you know, really, really striking. And I think it ties into kind of what makes this. record work for me, which is that sense of rawness, that sense of vulnerability. And I think you know, any, any like little imperfections that come through only make you kind of pull in closer and listen to it with more attention.

Oh, they'll be crying. That's a fact. Did you get the more that I left in the shed for you? Should I meet you out back? That is Houndmouth. Houndmouth's new album is called Lordy. So, Maggie, we have reached the point that we reach every week on New Music Friday, where you look at just the sum total of albums released in a given week.

We can only talk about a handful of them. And so it's a great time to do our lightning round of some of our other favorite albums that are out today, July 10th, and we'll bring in a few other members of the NPR music team to kind of pitch in their own suggestions for music to check out. I'm actually going to kick us off, and I'm going to kick us off by breaking the rules. I am looking at my producer, Noah Caldwell, who just widened his eyes menacingly. I'm going to talk about two albums. I'm going to invoke host privileges and talk about two records that I really loved that are out right now.

actually I'm going to start out with one that doesn't come out until Sunday. It is by the Florida bedroom pop singer Bella Kay. She's making kind of a major pitch for stardom right now. She's checking every box imaginable in doing so. She's got a breakout viral hit called I Love It, I Love It, All One Word, which has been on the Billboard charts for months now. She's about to tour with Noah Khan and with Gracie Abrams. Her new record, which again does not technically drop until Sunday for some reason,

is full of bright, buzzy, clever pop songs. Bella Kay's debut album is called My Reckless Ambition. And then there's the wonderful Australian duo Luluk. Back in 2014, they put out my favorite. they put out my favorite album of that year with a record called Passerby. I have listened to that record

dozens of times in the 12 years since. I still return to it anytime I need a balm for my battered soul. Now Leluke is back with another kind of warm breeze of a record. Zoe Randall's voice always lowers my blood pressure the second I come into contact with it. But there's also tension and grace to these arrangements. I'm so glad to have this band back in my life.

That's Luluk. new album is called Sweet Thief. I will go with an Australian band as well. The Temper Trap. They're back with their indie rock sound and this hauntingly beautiful Sungazer track. That's Temper Trap. Their new album is called Sungazer.

Thank you, Maggie Brennan. We're going to bring in Sheldon Pierce, phenomenal writer for NPR Music's website. Sheldon, what do you got? My pick is the third album by the singer Kalee. New Avatar. For much of her career, the avant-rmb artist has toyed with the idea of genre, hardwiring electronic music into the DNA of her sound. New Avatar ventures further out in its exploration, blending shoegaze and grunge into her existing palette. Produced with Oscars

Sheller, the album is influenced by Kalila's days on the indie scene in Washington, D.C., and it migrates her music towards a more guitar-driven core within her intersectional sound, really moving to expand the parameters of what alternative can mean. Thank you, Sheldon. El Manion, wonderful producer and editor on New Music Friday. Elle, give us your pick. Hey, Stephen. I want to shout out an album called Hercules by Tracy Nelson.

It's the project of singer-songwriter Austin Knoll, and this is his debut full-length album, but you might know him from the bands My Sins, and Hotline TNT. Noel is from Kansas and lives in New York now, but he's very connected to the Asheville, North Carolina music scene where so much of my favorite music has come from

over the past decade or so. In fact, the album was co-produced by M.J. Lenderman and Colin Miller. Plus, Wednesday band members, Carly, Zandi, and Ethan are all featured on it. In the project's liner notes, Noel writes about his experience making the album with this group of friends,

and I think their closeness is really reflected in the music. The production is excellent. The lyrics are sweet and self-deprecating, and the country, slacker, indie rock sound is just really friendly and comforting. It's a really warm and breezy record. I think it's perfect for these long days of summer. That was the album Hercules by Tracy Nelson.

Thank you, Alf. Finally, our dear colleague, Lars Gottrich. the striking Viking himself. What do you got, Lars? Here is something I will always know with every fiber of my being. I love rock and roll. If you feel the same way, you got to listen to Ultra Lights. They're from my old stomping grounds of Atlanta, Georgia, and after some promising seven-inch singles, this is their debut album, Pleasures All Yours. You're going to hear mix the strokes in pavement, for sure. The comparisons are unavoidable. But when a band comes along with swagger and riffs, scraggly vocals, and an after-midnight waffle house,

Joie de Veeve, I know that I found a kindred spirit. Every song feels like the hugging the curves of the road, gas pedal, permanently stumped. I'm mixing metaphors here, people. That's how much I love this record. That's the album. Pleasure's all your. by Ultra Lights.

Thank you very much, Lars Gottrich. That is our show for this week. Thank you so much, Maggie Brennan, for taking time out of your week at WCBE in Central Ohio. Thank you so much, Stephen. My pleasure. I had a blast. Yeah, it's been great to have you. So a great way to support NPR Music and Public Radio

is to leave a positive review on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell in Al Mannion and edited by Otis Hart. Our production assistant is Dora Levitt. The executive producer of NPR music is Soraya Mohamed. We'll be back next week to discuss more new music with Sheho Let's Wall of station KALW in San Francisco. Until then, take a moment to be well, find the nearest beach or swimming pool, and treat yourself to lots of great music.