NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out July 17

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

Gracie Abrams. Nia Archives. Steve Lacy. On a release day full of catchy earworms, host Stephen Thompson chats with Tshego Letsoalo of KALW in San Francisco about their favorite albums out Friday, July 17. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.The Starting 5(00:58) Album No. 1- Gracie Abrams, 'Daughter from Hell'(08:13) Album No. 2- Steve Lacy, 'Oh Yeah?'(16:38) Album No. 3- Nia Archives, 'Emotional Junglist'(22:27) Album No. 4- Lido Pimienta, 'Caribenya'(28:04) Album No. 5- Swapmeet, 'Mount Zero'(33:13) The Lightning Round- Catherine Moan, 'CM Ultra'- Helado Tropical, 'Helado Tropical'- Orquesta Akokán, 'América!'- Nao Yoshioka, 'Self'- Quicksand, 'Bring On The Psychics'Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.orgCredits:Host: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Tshego Letsoalo, KALWAudio Producer: Noah CaldwellDigital Producer: Dora LeviteEditors: Elle Mannion, Otis HartExecutive Producer: Suraya MohamedSpecial thanks to Felix Contreras, Lars Gotrich and Ann PowersSee 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. I'm Stephen Thompson each week on New Music Friday. We speak to a member of the NPR Music Network. And today, July 17th, we are welcoming Shea Ho Let's Swallow from KALW in San Francisco. Welcome to the show, Shea Ho. Hi, Stephen. Thank you so much for having me. This is going to be so much fun. It is a pleasure. And, man, your New Music Friday debut features a lot of earworms. That's exactly what I was going to say, listening to all of these albums. I'm like, everything has been stuck in my head for days. Yeah, I don't think there is an album we are talking about that does not have a song that will burrow into your skull and not leave. And that right now, currently, there's like a cage match in my skull of like five artists and then some whose songs are all just fighting for supremacy. Oh, just popping up at different levels in your brain as you're doing, washing the dishes, going through work. Yep, I feel that. Well, let's kick off the show with a purveyor of earworms, including one that is,

currently raging in my brain right now. Gracie Abrams. Gracie Abrams is back with a new album called Daughter From Hell. Just got to the party with the big shots and the Barbie's empty. Talking, talk and talking till my ears bleed he's holding the bill.

He thinks that I should take one, but I'll raise him to the whole bunch. I'm kidding. God he thinks some stupid. So Gracie Abrams, this is her third album, L.A. Pop Star, associated with Taylor Swift, kind of broke through in part because she opened for part of Taylor Swift's era's tour. Her last album, The Secret of Us, was a kind of blockbuster pop breakthrough.

She was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys. And this is kind of the first record that she has put out post stardom. And it's a product of what really feels like deep reflection. She is wrangling with relationships. She's wrangling with stardom. And, you know, she's working with collaborators who will be very familiar to listeners of this show. She has worked with Aaron Dessner before he is all over this record. She also works with her friend Audrey Hobart.

She works with Justin Vernon from Bonnie Verre, whose job these days seems to be to give every album a little dose of melancholy. She even collaborates with Daniel Nigro, who, you know, boosted the careers of Olivia Rodrigo and Chapel Rhone. So big pop star, big pop breakthrough, but this record feels kind of like the next step in that journey. Yeah, totally. You can hear the, I mean, there was an article on NPR about Sad Girl Summer, and you can definitely kind of hear that meandering throughout this album a lot.

But also, like you're saying, all of these different collaborators, being in the background, pushing her forward in this different way. Like you said, earworms, very joyful to listen to. Yeah, and joyful, but also with an undercurrent of melancholy at the same time. Totally. Kind of befitting the, I don't want to call it Sad Girl Summer. First of all, every summer is Sad Girl Summer. But at the same time, you know, those songs, even the sad ones,

you know, the very first song on this record, the first single, from this record is called Hit the Wall. And it is so catchy. And for me, it reminded me immediately of one of my very favorite singer-songwriters in the world, Maddie Diaz, to the point where I had to look up, like, did she write this song with Maddie Diaz? Is this a Maddie Diaz cover? And for me, like, you know, as much as, you know, being compared to artists, other artists can be a double-edged sword, to me, that is a very, very high compliment. in this album. In this album there are a lot of songwriting moments that stand out that you can see okay I use when I'm able to...

In this album there are a lot of songwriting moments that stand out that you can see okay this is someone who is coming into their own as a songwriter. For me I really loved man like you. I think I'm totally an advocate for using the word girl in a gender inclusive way. And so when she sings, girl, I know men like you. I appreciated that kind of tone. And so, yeah, I think it comes across. There's this coming into a self-knowledge into the songwriting.

And so like you're saying, it feels like it's also referencing other songwriters that she's obviously collaborated with or feels even musically on the map related to, but kind of grounded in her own way too. Like you, you live. I'm glad that you mentioned men like you. That song really felt very folklore-coded. And when I say folklore, I'm referring to the blockbuster Taylor Swift album of the same name, you know, that has that Desner stamp all over it. Totally.

And you really get the sense here like, wow, Aaron Dessner is kind of coming back and doing his thing all over that song. But as you said, her songwriting as well is still coming through. Yeah, I think I would be curious. to see or here in the future, if she moves away from the collaboration with Aaron Desner, because definitely in my mind, it's not derivative, but it's so related that sometimes your brain automatically puts them all in one kind of box where she might want to be standing out a little bit more. Yeah, and it's tricky. Like, at the same time, you know, my notes are full of lines like, if this had been on either of the last two Taylor Swift records, it'd be my

favorite song on the record. You know, she's doing, she's doing, in some cases, kind of peak Taylor Swift, and she's definitely, there are, there are songs here that are reminiscent of, like, all too well era, Taylor Swift. Like the song, Death Wish, I immediately, like, if you're reminding me of not only Taylor Swift, but probably the best song Taylor Swift has ever written, you're definitely doing something right. I love, you love your time machine, your power trips and diamond rings, the walls you built

teenage dreams the well you dug for sinking things your words to kill her evergreen so you must not feel anything at all. But how'd you get so bulletproof? You trade your time for inside truths. Trade your time for any clue of what to do or not to do. Hate to say it's nothing new aside from those few girls you keep around. That is Gracie Abrams. Her new album is Daughter from Hell.

Next up, Steve Lacey is back. Steve Lacey's new album is called, Oh Yeah? So Steve Lacey is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer. First broke through as a member of the kind of alt-R-N-B collective, The Internet, an incredibly kind of creative and sprawling ensemble. Steve Lacey has worked with Tyler the Creator. He's worked with Calvin Harris, Vampire Weekend, Frank Ocean.

written for Kendrick Lamar and Solange. And in 2022, he caught lightning in a bottle with a song called Bad Habit, which kind of broke through as this kind of TikTok phenomenon turned Billboard chart topping record and Song of the Year nominee at the Grammy's huge, huge, huge hit. And this record is kind of following on the heels of that success. It's this third album, and it's full of enveloping psychedelic, soulful pop. I mean, Stephen, Stephen, speaking of earworms, this was the one for me. I'm like, get this out of my brain, but also, I don't mind. But then get it back in. Put it back.

Yeah, but come on back in. Yeah, just earworms on earworms for this one for me. Yeah, and one of the first singles from this record that is broken through is called Is It Cool? It's a collaboration with Siza, who is just, I think, a perfect match. I think they both have this kind of easygoing, slightly blurry vibe to them that I think really pairs up beautifully. I absolutely loved this combination. Like you said, it feels like, oh my gosh, why haven't they done this before? They feel like this is such a wonderfully obvious collaboration to do.

And I think there's a lot of great collaborations on this album too. Also with Erica Badu, I also really love. like having your spiritual leader come and kind of provide these vibes on the track. So good. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, and Pure Color is a song that he does with Erica Badu. And it's just this like slow rumbling kind of grinding atmospheric song. And I just love, you know, I love it when artists collaborate with their influences,

you know, bring on people like Erica Badu has made the world better for decades now and kind of bringing her on, you know, basking in her reflective glory, also giving her some shine is a beautiful thing. There's nothing samey about this record. Each song really kind of feels like its own pocket universe a little bit. And you take a track like Show You Me. And it's this sweet kind of sing-songy bobble of a song and then you listen closely.

And you realize like this is a queer love song about fumbling innocently through new romance. You know, so like thematically each song feels a little different in terms of who he's collaborating with, he's bringing in different voices. He's, you know, a gifted guitarist. So, like, he's able to kind of create sonic beds for these songs that don't feel the same from track to track. And that made this record one that I was really happy to kind of keep coming back to and

listening to over and over again. I think I'm in love with you. I think you should be in love with me. Somebody called a little. I think I'm in love. I mean, there are rules, and then there's also the bending, shaping, twisting of the rules that he does just wonderfully. And you don't like sad girl summer, but I feel like this was bringing me like yearning boys. If we can coin that phrase.

Every summer is a summer of yearning if you're living right. If you're doing it right, you're yearning. Yeah. Steve Lacey's got it down. And he's a very witty songwriter. You know, the song Love Sex, Drug Bomb, which is a collaboration with Sissile Believe, has this line like, kill your boyfriend, maybe that's excessive. Like, having maybe that's excessive as a lyric, you know, he's clever.

And I think that's, again, a part of why I kept coming back. Each time I listened, I'd find some kind of new little bit of wit, some new, clever, instrumental flourish. invoking some different sound, as you said, from the past, from the present, from everywhere in between. That is Steve Lacey. His new album is called, Oh Yeah. We've got more records to get to. First, we're going to take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's new music. It's new. Music Friday, I'm Stephen Thompson, here with Shea Ho Let's Swallow from KALW in San Francisco. Shea Ho, tell us what's going on at the station.

This is actually a very exciting week for us here at KALW. We just announced the lineup for our 85th birthday benefit concert. We're turning 85 in September, and we've got Bad, Bad, Not Good and Digable planets coming to... Yeah, coming to celebrate our birthday with us. Plus, locals, Razzie, and our own DJ. One Way Possible who's been on the show. Oh, he's great. Yeah.

So, I mean, you're absolutely invited on September 29th to come and party with us at the Historic Warfield Theater on Market Street. So, yeah, it's a very exciting week for us, and everybody's invited. Wow, that sounds amazing. Gosh, the combination of diggable planets and celebrating y'all's birthday. Y'all don't look a day over 70. I bet you say that to all the stations, Stephen. Absolutely.

Well, next up, we've got a new album from NIA Archives. Nia Archives new album is called Emotional Jungleist. So Nia Archives is an English singer, DJ, songwriter, producer. Her music combines EDM, indie pop, jungle, drum and bass. It's extremely insistent, hard-charging, kind of pop rock dance hybrid earworms. The word earworms that we talked about with Gracie Abrams, with Steve Lacey. It is like somehow doubly true with NIA archives. These songs insist on themselves.

There's almost like hyper-pop vibes to a song like Feelings Go Numb, which kind of opens this record with this clipped, chopped, glitchy rager. It's so hyper and so catchy and so confident at the same time. I'm a huge jungle drum and bass fan and so kind of tracking Nia Archives career from this. And like you said, moving then towards this super hyper pop direction, but still very much rooted in this UK bass music scene. For me, the song Vertical where I just wanted to turn it up and kind of inject that bass more into my ear because I was like feeling it physically, biologically.

Just it's a physical album for me too. Just all of these, the rhythms, the syncopated drums, the bass, just physical pleasure for me with this one. She is able to create these hooks that burrow so deeply. But at the same time, like we were kind of talking about with Steve Lacey, they're not the same from song to song, as beat-driven as they are, as much as they're kind of drawing on a lot of classic,

you know, jungle and drum and bass sounds, each one feels different. And, you know, you take a track like, um, lover's grief, you know, which has these kind of clean guitar lines. It's kind of 80s-coated dance pop. That's a very different song from like Dance With Me, which is just all bright, sweet, buoyant pop. I was thinking about the title Emotional Jungleist where it feels like even from her previous work that she's bringing herself forward in a way where maybe her identity as a DJ you're kind of in the background, the person kind of curating this way, but bringing herself forward with lyrics, with her voice, that's coming forward in a different way. And I think that's bringing the tender was also the word before I saw that there was a track

called Tender with Samfah about like there's also something to me, a tenderness about her bringing herself forward in this way against the backdrop of this hyper, super volume of modern wall of sound kind of thing where it's like the drum and bass stuff carries you, but at the top there's this emotional tender self also coming through as well. That is Nia Archives. Her new album is called Emotional Jungleist. Next up, an artist I have loved for quite some time. Lido Pimienta is back. with a new record, it's called Carabena. So Lido Pimienta is a boundary-pushing,

Grammy-nominated polymath. She's based in Toronto. She was born in Colombia. She won the Polaris Music Prize in 2017. She's been making brilliant genre-straddling records for, gosh, you know, at least a decade now. Her music mixes cumbia, synth-pop, EDM, you know, many, many different sounds.

her last record from just last year, La Balazza, which we talked about in this show, was like orchestral pop. She worked with an orchestra, and it really gives you a sense of an artist who has so many weapons in her arsenal, so many brushes in her paint box. I don't know what metaphor to use here, but she is so inventive. And these eight songs are just all killer, no filler, not an ounce of fat on this record. Truly, I felt very cliche in thinking this, but it was definitely like, this album is just not long enough. Like, it's not enough.

Yeah, she's, I read a fantastic interview with her in The Guardian, and she said that for this album she was channeling, imagining if Enia came out of her castle in Ireland and went to party in the Caribbean with her black and brown friends. What would that sound like? And reading that also just, yeah, kind of turned my ears. up even louder to listen to this and be like, absolutely, I can totally envision Queen Enya partying with Lido Pimienta, like dream rotation. Wow, take a record I already love listening to and just make me immediately want to listen to it again through that lens. Where to begin?

Because each of these eight songs really sounds different. You know, you mentioned partying with Caribbean friends. I mean, Hoy por ti is just this. lilting, kind of Caribbean inflected pop. It's got her friend Nellie Furtado kind of comes in and guests on it. And that's a very sweet, summary song. Then you've also got Toxica,

which has this kind of, again, I'm going to keep saying the word earworm. But it's like a pop song that, also has this kind of bork-inflicted artiness to it at the same time. It's so interesting that you mentioned Enya, because I hadn't really thought about Enya listening to this record, but thinking back on it, I can see that. For me, I also had, this felt like it could be a Damon album,

Gorillas, you know, related, like they could make an album together, and it could kind of be this way. I think her production that she does throughout this album as well is just really stand out. Like that's what it reminds me of because it's also so vast and varied too. Like you said, there's no, there's all these different moments and also just within eight songs, which again is like it's complete, but also I want more because there's such a big journey that happens throughout. Like you kind of go through these different waves of pushing and pulling in this beautiful Caribbean island moment. And I think the, yeah, the production for me also does that where it's calling upon like,

Like you said, it's just pinging all of these other reference, but just singularly Lido Pimienta, too, which is, I think, magical. That is Lido Pimienta. Her terrific new album is called Carabena. We've got one more record we're going to talk about in some depth, as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, July 17th. But we're going to take one last quick break first. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Shea Ho Let's Wallo from KALW in San Francisco. Before we get to our lightning round, we got one more record we wanted to talk about.

It's by the band Swap Meat, and it's called Mount Zero. Swap Meat is a fellow Southern Hemisphere Band. They're from Australia. They were formed in Adelaide in 2022, and they released their debut EP Oxalis in 2024 and they're very much kind of his and her 90s-ish, Tweed-ish kind of rock, which honestly out of all of the albums today is extremely up my street. Oh, Sheho, hook it to my veins. This could not be more up my alley. I love the way these songs build. You know, the song halfway, you know, feels kind of delicate.

at first, right? It's kind of threatening to build to something, but it's whispery and restrained. And all of a sudden, as that tension builds, all of a sudden there's this massive payoff in just these big, blustery, boomy, guitar, swirl. Oh, man, it's so good. For me, the song Seeds as well, like you said, it just kind of goes through. And then at the end, it's just this like, yeah, rock out kind of guitar moment that's happening. And because they do that so well. There's these like soft, again, twy, you know, moldy, peachesy, his and her kind of thing happening. And then it just builds to this like big moment thing that's also somehow working together just extremely well. I appreciated in a song like sand, there's a brightness to the sound,

there's a looseness to the sound, but there's also little notes of kind of playfulness of of like instrumental little bits of whimsy that come in. So it's not, it's not one of these like kind of ploddingly serious records where the guitars, you know, bloom and billow and get all, you know, big and everything. There's also like a sense of joy here and a sense of play that makes it that much more appealing and that much more fun as we were kind of saying about the Steve Lacey record. I just kind of wanted to go back and listen to this record again and again because I kept finding new elements in the mix.

One of my favorite things to do is pretend what it's like to hear an album for the first time again to feel like what does that feel like? With this album also it was like to keep coming back to it and keep discovering over and over there's something, all these, like you said, touches of whimsy and little sounds that come in that just kind of play around. And then you're like, oh, I didn't catch this this time because I was too focused on this. And just to come back to it is, it will be an important thing to do because it's got so many bangers. Absolutely. That is swap meet. Their new album is called Mount Zero. As you can tell, we highly recommend it. So, so Sheho, we could not get to all the great albums out today,

July 17th. I think this is a particularly strong release day in general. So the other stuff we couldn't get to, still good. You should still check it out. We're going to bring in other members of the NPR music team in just a second to bring us a few of their recommendations. But before we do that, I'm going to kick us off. Since this episode is so focused on earworms, I thought I'd pick one more collection of just wildly

catchy pop bangers. This album is by an L.A. singer named Catherine Mone, that's M-O-A-N. She specializes in synth-pop and new wave sounds that kind of smash together eras from the early 80s to the present, very much, I think, on theme with a lot of the records that we've been talking about, but even kind of more insistent. It's sugary, it's sweet, it's a little dark and strange at the same time, just the way it should be. Catherine Mone's new album is called C.M. Ultra.

My pick is a lot of tropical. It's a super group of sorts made up of Alado Negro and Reina Tropical, I'm such a fan of Alado Negro's production value. I always kind of think of it as like a blue dawn kind of sound. And then compared to Raina Tropical's voice and her spirited energy, this album just comes together. For me, I think it does that thing of, it's a summer album, but maybe your late afternoon sunset kind of vibes,

you're not dancing yet, but you're certainly getting in the mood for it. And this album for me just hits all of these spots of just like summer vibes, beautiful voices, beautiful production value. That is a lot of tropical self-titled album. All right, let's bring in Felix Contreras, co-host of NPR's Alt-Latino. Felix, what do you got for us, buddy? Okay, my pick is a song called No Me Boy from the group, Orkesta Akokan. And, you know, let me just say that Cuban music is so dynamic right now.

There's flirtations with the reggaeton called Cubotone. Jazz artists are literally redefining Cuban jazz. And then there's this band, Orquesta Akokad, a large orchestra with all these horns and percussion that is leaning into the sound of the 1940s in New York when Mambo was king. And their new single, which features the vocalist Carolina Oliveros, sparkles with sultry excitement. And all you dance challenge people out there, and I consider myself the president of that club, by the way, your hips will involuntarily start moving.

And the next thing you know, you'll be lost in the magic of Orchestra Acocan and their new single, No Me Voie, featuring Carolina Oliveros, from their new album called America. Thank you, Felix, Ann Powers. And Powers, give us your pick. My lightning round pick this week is the album Self by now, Yoshioca, a Japanese neo-soul singer who's been making record since 2012.

Self, her sixth studio album, is a great introduction to Yoshioca's sophisticated and highly emotional approach. This summary album gives Yoshioca a chance to really show off her singing and her sensibility, which incorporates jazz, classic soul, a little Lisa Stancefield vibe, and globally-minded pop influences. And she's working with a dazzling, national array of collaborators, including names you know, like Bilal and Jamila Woods and the trumpeter Kianne Harold, but also the Vietnamese singer-songwriter Mi'an, the Taiwanese vibraphonist Chan Chan Lu. Through it all, Yoshioca commands the stage with her dreamy tone and her impressive

melodic and stylistic range. I will be bumping this record as long as the nights are warm and sultry and, you know, I live in the South, so that's going to be a long time. And finally, Lars Gottrich, the man who brought us the Napalm Death Tiny Desk concert, My Personal Hero. What do you got? All right, listen up. Walter Shrifles has been in four bands that have defined or redefined hardcore. Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, and Rival Schools. Dude has a stacked catalog full of classics.

In the 90s, Quicksand fundled the aggression of hardcore punk through alternative of rock-friendly songs. They broke up, got back together, and have since released some pretty great records. This new Quicksand album is called Bring On the Psychics, and I gotta say, the front half sort of does a game-see game. You see, I don't think a band like Turnstile could exist without Quicksand. That half-song, half-screamed vocal delivery, those catchy stadium-sized riffs. Quicksand did that first. Some of these new songs lean into that mode, but things get weirder and heavier as the album goes on.

There's a cinematic sheen to Quicksand's signature crystalline grunge sound that only works in Walter Shrifle's hands. A really great summer rock album. That's Bring Off the Psychics by Quicksand. All right, that is our show for this week. Sheho Let's Wallow. Thank you so much for taking time out of your week

at KALW in San Francisco. Thank you so much. much. This was just an absolute delight. Oh, it is such a pleasure to have you. If you enjoyed this week's show, we always appreciate a positive review on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you're listening to right now. This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell and El Manion and edited by Otis Hart. Our production assistant is Dora Levitt. The executive producer of NPR Music is Saraya Mohamed. Anne Powers will be back next week. I'm on vacation to discuss new music from Charlie XCX, Tyler Shania Twain and more

with Nastia Voinovskaya of KQED in San Francisco. Until then, take a moment to be well, find that perfect summer soundtrack from among the albums we just discussed and treat yourself to lots of great music.