NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out June 19

Episode Date: June 19, 2026

Tierra Whack. The War and Treaty. A plethora of new jazz releases. Host Stephen Thompson chats with Nate Chinen from WRTI in Philadelphia about their favorite new albums out Friday, June 19. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.The Starting 5(01:17) Album No. 1- Tierra Whack, 'Whack's Museum'(06:43) Album No. 2- The War and Treaty, 'The Story of Michael and Tanya'(15:39) Album No. 3- Micah Thomas, 'Lucid'(20:40) Album No. 4- Your Brother's Keeper & Gary Bartz, 'Where Rivers Meet'(26:21) Album No. 5- Sam Barsh, Keyon Harrold & Mark Guiliana, 'Straight08'(32:30) The Lightning Round- Tucker Zimmerman, 'Dream Me A Dream'- The Phoenix Trio, 'Tomorrow is Today'- Janus Rasmussen, 'Inert'- Daniel Lanois, 'Belladonna Nocturne'- Wild Up, 'Gay Guerilla Vol. 5'Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.orgCredits:Host: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Nate Chinen, WRTIAudio Producer: Noah CaldwellDigital Producer: Dora LeviteEditors: Otis Hart, Elle MannionExecutive Producer: Suraya MohamedSpecial thanks to Robin Hilton and Tom HuizengaSee 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

Yes. Check, check, check, check. We have everything we need. Happy Friday and happy Juneteenth. We are here celebrating by sharing the best new music out this week. Each week on New Music Friday, we chat with great DJs from across the NPR Music Network. And today, June 19th, I'm here with Nate Chenen of WRTI in Philly. Hey, Nate. Hey, Nate. Hey, Stephen. Before we get into new records from Tierra Wack, the War and Treaty and others, did want to acknowledge that this is Father's Day weekend.

I know you to be a dad. I know myself to be a dad. How you celebrating? You know, it's always just an enjoyable chill time. It's like, I'm not the one who has to make any plans kicking back. I think there's going to be a hike of some kind. That's my request. You know, maybe get up in the Wissahickin, which is a very Philadelphia thing to do. just enjoying this beautiful weather basking in family life. I'm actually, I've asked for the exact opposite. I wish for nothing to be asked of me. I wish to make no plans.

I wish to not move my body in the slightest. And we'll go from there. It sounds like a plan. Well, happy Father's Day to all the dads and dad-like figures out there. Let's kick off the show. New mixtape from Tierra Wack. Tierra Wack's new record is called Wax Museum. Yeah.

Go outside and see clones. He never truly are known. make all over your head. You know a drone, wish I didn't miss you. Tears dropping an Andy Stone, yeah, keeping a don't condone, sitting cozy on my throne. What's the problem with these niggas?

Always hating on the queen. Why they so intimidated by my presence is pristine. Cranking them my aura, I am hip hop's daughter. All you do is make up lies. Her they hire and Sifora. This is a classic Diodora. Here to read. Stored a order, I can bring you boys horror.

Oh, she popping because I taught her yes. When we're married, Good right. So Tierra Wack, speaking of Philadelphia, fantastic rapper and singer and just all around multimedia artist. Her videos are incredible if you have not seen her Tiny Desk concert, which features a cameo appearance by the Philly Fanatic. Yeah, I was going to ask, were you there that day?

I was there that day. Oh, my God. And reveling in what I truly consider to be one of the greatest Tiny Desk concerts of all time. It's up there for sure. She's so eclectic. I mean, to me, you know, she first came to my attention when she put out Wack World, this 15-minute, 15-song album. You know, each song was a one-minute kind of song fragment that had a full song's worth of ideas stuffed into it. This is, this is her follow-up to her 2024 album World Wide Wack, but it's built as a mixtape, not an album, timed to coincide

with Juneteenth, and it is so inventive. It is very rap-focused, but with these kind of warped, eclectic arrangements, and she's just strafing you with ideas. Absolutely. You know, this is a rapper who is just absolutely word drunk. Like double, triple entendres, associations, literary references, you know, like, you mentioned the Tiny Desk with the fanatic. I mean, you've got to say, Tira Wack is so Philly. You know? The first single from this album was Wax Paper and came with a black and white music video

that largely involves Tierra Wack with a posse dancing outside of an okay hot chicken franchise. It looks like the Snyder Street location in South Philly. You know, this is just like as real as it gets. Time to face the harsh truth, you are spoof. Aging bad, but this is not Zeus. Shurper than a shark tooth. God, I'm Doc Suce.

They say that I'm uptight. That just means I'm not loose. I got proof. Bodies in the basement. He ain't my typey basic. It'd be difficult to fake it. Whenever I get tested, nine out of ten, I'm going to ace it. But Philadelphia also shows up in

the way that she operates as a rapper, too. You know, I feel like there's a really strong battle rap tradition in Philly. But it's also very kind of, it's just, it's very like, literate and surprising. You know, if you're a fan of Black Thought and his work both in and out of the roots, like what she does is not that far from what he does in terms of just the sheer skill and bravora and like surprising associations.

It's really exciting. Yeah, I mean, there are just like references on top of references. And you mentioned, of course, double entendre at the same time. Like, if you take, like, the opening seconds of the song Wiggity Wack, you just, like, immediately get kind of a saucy double entendre, just, like, mixed into this song where she is holding court. She is just, like, ideas on top of ideas, on top of ideas. But the arrangement behind her is really interesting at the same time.

It's kind of warped and eclectic, and some of those kind of soundscapes behind her are kind of shifting as she goes. No excuses. The stairs were much funer. We are not the same. I'm super, you supper. The difference is the spelling. The eyes are very telling.

What's a misdemeanor to a goddamn felon. Your favorite's so out. So of course they're bestselling. I'm talking, not yelling. I'm writing, not prepping. The author. What y'all forgot? Cuella DeVille, because I'm coming for my spot dog.

You know, there's one where I want to shout out. The track called Siren. This is one that reminds me that, you know, Tierra Wax spent some time in Atlanta. as well. There's kind of like an Andre 3000 outcast flow on this track. It's like very like leaning forward while the beat kind of slumps back a bit. So you have like a really cool tension between the sort of relaxed feeling of the production

and the kind of hyped up cadence of the rapping. And then it also, you know, she's a great singer as well. Right. She sings on that one as well. And so that's one where she mixes in the sort of R&B vocal hook. Like she can kind of do it all. Right. That is Tierra Wack.

Her terrific new mixtape is called Wax Museum. Next up, the War and Treaty. The War and Treaty's new album is The Story of Michael and Tanya. Mm. Mm. Mm. For you. That da da demons would stay away.

Girl, you must be so tired from fighting them online and on day. Grew up a couple here, I'm married. Girl, I just want to reach you in a hurry. So the War and Treaty is the duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter. They've been around for a while now. Their music fuses, folk music, gospel, soul, blues, country, pop. They've been nominated for two Grammys, including Best New Artist. And this is their fifth album together, technically their sixth,

because they did make a record as Trotter and Blount before that. And, you know, they are a married couple. and this is a record about kind of their journey, for lack of a better word. They, you know, kind of relationships and toxicity that they've shed over the course of their lives together. Songs about empowerment and jealousy and perseverance and prayer, you know, kind of all kind of flowing through this record that is designed to kind of tell their story. And it opens with a track called Liddy, which has, like, Whoopi Goldberg, kind of giving this spoken word narrative about, like, you know, this is their story. It's the story of heartache and redemption, peace and war, loss and gain, trial and triumph, liars and truth, love and lust, death and rebirth. But then, like, kind of once the record kicks off, you get these showcases for their big, rich.

sonorous beautiful voices. and Tanya because I feel like the war and treaty has always been the story of Michael Antonia. I mean, this is a group that is really indistinguishable from its backstory. And that backstory is, you know, as you've noted, it's really remarkable. Michael was a serviceman. He was, you know, stationed in, I think, Iraq and saw, you know, some pretty significant combat. I think they met in Nashville and both had already kind of bouncing. a bit of a way towards having a music career, but they really found something together

that was both musical and personal. And, you know, they have really been this, like, incredible, indivisible unit. The strength of their story and the strength of, like, their identity as a duo and as individuals. It's so strong that, to me, it's almost difficult to hear the music simply as songs. You know what I mean?

Like we are, we are who we are, and these songs are what they are because of who we are, if that makes any sense. Absolutely, but it's also not entirely specific to them. Like there's a murder ballad, you know, on this record. This is a kind of bluesy, murder ballad-y, kind of jealousy-fueled blast, you know, called Darlene and Gene that is, you know, led by Tanya. I finished my... Had a lot of time to blow. Started all surprise. And then, you know, Michael has his own kind of opportunities to kind of take the lead and shine, you know, and kind of these like slow jams like shouldn't have, you know, kind of big old school soul vibes. And listening to it, I thought, you know, we just lost Pibo Bryson. And I feel like Peebo Bryson would be proud of this vocal.

Shouldn't I be gone down? Shouldn't I stayed out state out of that late? Yeah, you know, there's another sort of throwback comparison. that occurred to me as I was listening. And I think it's on the song, You Can't Hurt Me Anymore, that I made it, thinking that Tanya had a quality that reminded me of Gladys Knight, you know, which is a, that is a high compliment.

But, you know, this really sort of classic soul sensibility, it's very grounded. It is powerful and flexible, but it feels neighborly at the, the same time. You know what I mean? It's not the kind of soul vocal that feels otherworldly like, oh, this is somebody operating on another plane. This is like, no, this is somebody you know. This is somebody in your community. You know what I mean? That is The War and Treaty. Their new album is called The Story of Michael and Tanya.

We got a bunch more records. We're going to lean heavily into jazz in the second half of our show. Uh-oh. Watch out. I know. Whoa. First, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Nate Chenen of WRTI in Philly. Nate, tell us what's going on at the station. You know, we are gearing up for America 250. Oh, yeah. Which, you know, is a big deal I know in Washington, D.C.

But also in Philly. Also a big deal in Philadelphia. So there's a lot happening on the ground and, you know, all around in Philly. here at RTI, we are going to spend the weekend of the 4th of July with something that we're calling Sounds of America. And this will apply to both our jazz and classical programming. It's going to basically be an entire weekend of music that celebrates American composers, performers, creators. So, you know, everything from Aaron Copeland to Duke Ellington to, you know, etc., etc. I mean, there's a lot that we can do with this, and I think it's going to be really fun.

Wonderful. That sounds great. I'm celebrating July 4th, by the way, by building an octagon for ultimate fighting in my front yard. How presidential of you. All right, let's move on. Micah Thomas. Micah Thomas's new album is called Lucid. So Micah Thomas is a pianist who originally, Hales from Columbus, Ohio, and came to New York City to go to Juilliard. And this is where he sort of hit the scene, was as a very, very promising young jazz pianist. He's probably most visible as a member of the Emmanuel Wilkins Quartet. But what he does on Lucid is really quite different.

The sound of this album, this is basically. an avant-garde recording. Yeah. It's very experimental. But it's not noisy or chaotic or atonal or jostly, you know. It's very calm and contemplative. It's like picture walking into, you know, the Tate Modern or, you know, the Guggenheim and stepping up to a gallery full of abstract canvases.

And then you just stand there and contemplate, you know, what's happening on the canvas, what's happening spatially, you know, the temperature of the air in the gallery. You know, it's like it's provocative, but it's not assaultive. You know, it's kind of inviting and it gives you the space to sort of figure out how you're relating to what's happening. Yeah, I think that space is really key to this record because, as you said, this is an avant-garde record. There are tracks here where it feels like there are like almost overlapping.

musical conversations happening in a crowded room, in a track like Frontier, you know, which can feel a little bit cluttered, a little bit cacophonous, but there's enough space in it that it's not overwhelming. It's not knocking you over. It just takes a little bit of time for your brain to kind of rewire itself to start to hear patterns in it. I'm curious to hear you say that, Stephen, because I know that you don't listen to quite as much avant-garde jazz as I do. But I'm glad to know that you've sort of found your own negotiation with how this stuff works. I think that every listener needs to do that with this record, and that's not a warning or a disclaimer. It's just kind of a description of the way that you engage, you know.

And I think that the best advice I would have is just to sort of check all of your expectations, you know. Like don't think about what quote unquote jazz is supposed to sound like or, you know, what a melody is supposed to do. Because there's so much beauty, like voluptuous beauty in this music. I think if you're looking for an entry point into this record, try the track interface, which I think kind of splits the difference between some of the more avant-garde sounds on this record and what you might consider more straight-ahead jazz. It's not exactly fluid in its approach. It's certainly not what you would call smooth, which is a word that has many, many connotations when we're talking about jazz. But it's still constructed out of these kind of flurries of notes.

And I think it is a fine way to kind of dial into the record. And if you like where that track goes, spend more time with the rest of the record, which is a little bit more expansive and jarring to the untrained year. That is Micah Thomas. His new album is called Lucid. Next up, another jazz record, a little more approachable. It's by Your Brother's Keeper and Gary Barts. It's called Where Rivers Meet. So Gary Barts, for those who are unfamiliar, is an 85-year-old jazz saxophonist,

two-time Grammy winner, one-time Tiny Desk veteran. gorgeous tiny dust concert. He has played with absolutely everyone. Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Max Roach, Art Blakey, and the Jazz Messengers. He's been around for a while, as his age might suggest. And this is a collaborative album with a group from London called Your Brothers Keeper. And so you have kind of an intergenerational collaboration and a truly beautiful one at that. I am so impressed with the way this record incorporates a lot of what you might think of as kind of traditional jazz music with sax.

center, but it's like space jazz. It's where you've got, you know, a track like eclipse, you know, where Gary Bartz is playing over these beds of ambient music. And I just, I loved this record. I just kind of listened to this record over and over again. Yeah, it's a really convincing synthesis of stuff. Yet one more indication of how much energy there is on the London scene, you know, especially in the realm of this kind of, um, grew forward, somewhat retro, but also very forward-looking sort of meld of styles, where soul and backbeat funk and elements of, you know, maybe even dub and club music are all just like metabolized and they're part of a fabric. There's never a sense of like,

now we're going into this bag, you know. It's just all very, it's very much in the fabric of the ensemble. And it feels very genuine that Gary Barts is kind of the guest of honor here, because, you know, I think all of the members of this ensemble clearly revere the work that Gary Barts has done in his career. And I think they're especially looking to what he did in the 1970s, you know. He was a pioneering sort of independent African-American creator and label owner and, you know, like, he was really doing things at a time where self-sufficiency was, like, kind of the, that was the key word, you know? I do think it's kind of sort of amusing that this album is credited to Your Brother's Keeper and Gary Barts. Yeah.

You know what it reminds me of, Stephen? You talked about this, I think, on the last episode, the latest Olivia Rodrigo album. I bet you didn't think that was going to come up in this conversation. I did not. I was like, I wonder where he's going with this. I did not see O'Rod coming. So there's a track with Robert Smith, right? Yeah.

And you really can sense, like, how excited she is to be, like, creating this welcoming space for him. And to a certain extent, he's like a patron saint of the whole record, right? Yeah. But nobody would confuse it for a Robert Smith or The Cure album. It's an Olivia Rodriguez record, but she's kind of, like, lovingly welcomed him in. And that to me feels like what's happening here, you know? Like, to me, this doesn't sound like a Gary Bart's album. It sounds like an album by people who are, like, really psyched to be, to be, like, creating a space for him.

And they're inspired by him. They're influenced by him. And in a certain way, they're sort of convened in his name. And I think that's, I think it works. You know, it really succeeds on that front. It's funny that you kind of frame it that way, because you listen to a, a, track like Locris, a little bit stormier than a lot of the vibes here, but you really get a sense for long stretches of this song, you get these kind of drum solos and piano solos, lots of dense

percussion, and Gary Bartz is kind of hanging back a little bit and kind of only coming in and, you know, punctuating every now and then. And it really has this feel of like, dad, dad, look what we can do. That is your brother's keeper and Gary Bartz. Their new album is called where rivers meet. We got one more record we're going to talk about, as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, June 19th. But first, we're going to take one last quick break. Welcome back from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Nate Chenen of WRTI in Philly. Before we get to our lightning round, we got one more record we want to talk about. It's by Sam Barsh, Kianne Harold, and Mark Giuliana. It's called Straight O8.

All right. So when we talk about this trio, we have to briefly introduce each of the members because they're really operating on, you know, equal footing. So Sam Barsh, start out with him. He is a keyboardist who came up in, you know, a pretty traditional jazz background, but has since swerved really meaningfully into R&B and hip-hop. You know, he actually contributed. to multiple tracks by Kendrick Lamar. He has worked with Allo Black. He's worked with Anderson Pack. Has made a lot of, you know, heavy contributions there. You could say the same of Keon Harold. Again, a trumpet player came up playing jazz. But I think his first gig,

his actual first professional gig, was with Common. Oh, wow. And he has been really tight with Robert Glasper. So, you know, if you're familiar with the whole, realm of kind of R&B crossover stuff that Glaspers is involved with. Well, Keon Harold is right there with him. And last but not least, Mark Giuliana, I think most people probably recognize his name for the work that he did on David Bowie's Black Star album. He's collaborated with just all kinds of people, you know, in jazz and in, you know,

electronic music, groove, indie rock. And he's, He's a drummer that generations of other drummers are paying very close attention to because he just has not just incredible technique, but kind of Hall of Fame groove. Like his pocket is unreal. And so what you get in this trio is game recognizing game all over the place. Yeah, and I love the way, I mean, you can really hear these artists' relationship with music beyond jazz here. and how well they're able to kind of incorporate keyboards and kind of like little pieces of hip hop and soul. Some of these pieces feel a little bit like soundtrack music

where there's kind of like a cinematic quality to it. You take a track like East Flatbush Pimp Walk, which is kind of this squalid little oddity. It runs about two minutes, really highlights that trumpet, but the keyboards kind of make it filthy. And I really appreciate the way that they're able to take what might seem in small excerpts, like it might be fairly straight ahead jazz, but they're able to incorporate little pieces of like funk.

Yeah. You know, I also think that it's really nice, and I think it's really key, that they throw in a couple of recognizable melodies on this album. Yeah. You know, so they do a version of Little Sunflower. which is like a classic of the CTI label era. This is a... Freddie Hubbard.

Freddie Hubbard tune, yeah. And so this is like, you know, a song from the 70s that has been sampled by, you know, various hip-hop productions. And their approach to it is like, it's actually fairly straightforward, but they also translate it into their own group language. And then they also do a Thelonius monk composition, Green Chimneys, which I understand,

actually came out of just Keon quoting the melody at one point during a jam. And so I love that organic nature of just how these tracks, they all came together in a way that feels unpremeditated, but like very authoritative. You know, like all they need is a moment

for things to sort of snap into place. That is Sam Barsh, Keon Harold, and Mark Giuliana. Their new record together is called Straight 08. So next up, Nate, we've got our lightning round. You and I are going to be joined by a few other members of the NPR music team to make a case for a handful of other great records out today, June 19th. I'm going to kick us off. We've got the late singer-songwriter. Tucker Zimmerman, whose career began in the late 60s and wound through kind of a sporadic array of

albums as well as forays into poetry, novels, short stories. He experienced kind of a burst of prolificacy late in his life, particularly in the 2020s and even released an album-length collaboration with Big Thief in 2024. Unfortunately, he and his wife, Marie Claire, died in a housefire earlier this year. Tucker Zimmerman was 84. And now his final, his final album is out and it is a beautiful, hopeful, lived-in epitaph for a life and career well-lived. It's called Dream Me a Dream. I can make the oceans rise. I can make the west wind blow.

I can make the oceans rise. I could make the west wind blow. I can take it to the river. Make you feel the floor Next up is an album by the Phoenix trio called Tomorrow is Today. Now, if you are not familiar with the Phoenix trio, you may know its members.

It consists of tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. These are all very elite jazz musicians of their generation. And, you know, it's meaningful that they came together here as a collective. I think it's an acknowledgement of just how much creative input Joe Martin and Marcus Gilmore are bringing to the proposition. It's a really sort of state-of-the-art pianist trio record that feels very much of our moment today. Just three bosses doing what they do best. Once again, that is the Phoenix trio. Tomorrow is today. Awesome. Thanks, Nate.

Next up, we've got our wonderful producer, Noah Caldwell. Noah, what do you got for us? So I've got an album from the electronic producer, Janus Rasmussen. It's called Inert. Rasmussen was born in the Faroe Islands, and he's based in Reykjavik now, and he's probably best known for his work with another Icelandic artist, Olafer Arnold's. The two of them have a duo called Kiasmos,

and his sound in that group is more minimalist and moody. This solo project from Rasmussen has a little more punch. It's teasing sounds you might hear in more mainstream electronica, like that two-step rhythm you'd find in more clubby UKG. But my favorite moments on here are the down tempo, almost ambient bits. Maybe it's just that imagery of Iceland sneaking into my subconscious, but it can sound kind of wind-swept and almost yearning at times. So that's the new album, Inert, by Janus Rasmussen.

Thank you, Noah. Next up, All Songs Considered host, Robin Hill. What did he got for us? The album that I'm most excited about this week is from Daniel Land-Wa, and it's called Belladonna Nocturn. So Daniel Lanwa is a producer, and that's what most people know him for probably. In fact, he's a legendary producer. Peter Gabriel's So album, U2's The Joshua Tree, the album Recking Ball by Emilou Harris. He produced all of those and so many, many, many more other just towering classic records.

But I've always loved his work as a solo artist, too. This new album, Bella Donna Nocturn, is a lot. a sequel to one that he put out more than 20 years ago in 2005 called Belladonna. And his thing is that he uses the studio as an instrument to create all of these amazing sounds and sonic universes. You hear that across Belladonna nocturn. It's dreamy and hazy. It's kind of magical and strange.

But if you're looking for something to take you out of whatever headspace or moment you're in, something that will just transport you to a whole other. universe. This is the album to hear this week. Beladonna nocturn from Daniel Anwa. Next up, we've got Tom Heisinga. Tom, give us your pick. Well, the album I'm Wild About this week is from the band called Wild Up. They are a new music collective based in L.A. And for about the past five years, the musicians who are led by Christopher Rountry have devoted themselves to a single composer, Julius Eastman, brilliant but troubled, and who died far too young at age 49 in 1990.

This latest album, Julius Eastman, Volume 5, focuses on just a single half-hour piece, which is called Gay Gorilla, that's G-U-E-R-R-I-L-A. It's a piece that shimmers and quakes and about three-quarters away through. The hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, just kind of emerges out of nowhere and gets dissected and passed around the orchestra over this galloping beat. But it's an album that you really have to sit down and listen to straight through. Just let the amazing music kind of wash over you. You won't be the same afterwards.

So it's Gay Gorilla by Julius Eastman, performed by the band Wild Up. So that's what we've got time to talk about today. You can see a longer album list at npr.org. Thank you so much, Nate, for joining us. My pleasure. Thank you, Stephen. You can hear more from Nate by checking out his podcast. podcast, The Late Set from WRTI in Philly. We'd love to know what you thought of today's episode. Please write us a quick review on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening.

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 Soraya Mohamed. Next week we'll be talking about the new Cecile McLaurin-Salvent album, among others, with Ayanna Contreras of KUVO in Denver. So stay tuned. Until then, take a moment to be well, take a hike or don't, and treat yourself to lots of great music.