NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out May 2

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

NPR Music's Stephen Thompson is joined by Julie Bee of Marfa Public Radio to talk through the best albums released on May 2.Featured albums:• Car Seat Headrest, 'The Scholars' (Stream)• Samantha Crain, 'Gumshoe' (Stream)• PUP, 'Who Will Look After The Dogs?' (Stream)• Jenny Hval, 'Iris Silver Mist' (Stream)• Jolie Laide, 'Creatures' (Stream)See the long list of albums out May 2 and stream our New Music Friday playlist at npr.org/music.CreditsHost: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Julie Bernal, Marfa Public RadioProducer: Simon RentnerEditors: Otis Hart and Elle MannionExecutive Producer: Suraya MohamedVice President, Music and Visuals: Keith JenkinsSee 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 Julie B from Marfa Public Radio. Hey, Julie. Hey, it's great to be here. It is a pleasure to have you. And now, if you're listening, and I hope you are, you may have noticed the sounds of Sharon Jones and her classic album, Naturally, that she made with the Dap Kings. It has just gotten today a 20th anniversary reissue, which I think is there not only to celebrate the life and legacy of Sharon Jones, but also to make Julie and me feel old. Yeah, right. Hey, when you're talking about the 90s, that doesn't really make me feel old, though. That's my time, you know. Julie, were you a Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings fan? Sadly, I kind of didn't get more into them until Sharon Jones passed. away. Anyone who plays with Lee Fields is all right with me. This reissue collection includes a full

disc of kind of karaoke instrumentals. If you can match the late great Sharon Jones, you can't. But you'll at least have the option of doing that. We've got a ton of new records to choose from for this very packed release date May 2nd. We're going to talk about new records from Pupp, Samantha Crane, Jenny Vahl, and a lightning round of a bunch of other fantastic records out today. But first we're going to kick things off with car seat headrest. Car seat headrest has a new album called The Scholars. For those of you not familiar with car seat headrest, they're an indie rock band that formed in Virginia. They're currently calling Seattle home. And in addition to founder Will Toledo, the band now also consists of Ethan Ives, Seth Dalby,

and Andrew Katz. They put out some great lo-fi rock music all through the 2010s, mostly on Matador Records. With their 2020 album making a door less open, they experimented a bit more

bringing in electronic instrumentation. It's not often that a record comes along that makes me just want to listen to it with all my attention and hit repeat. And it's actually a rock opera or a concept album. It explains why the album flows so wonderfully with the music and the

lyrics. This is nine songs in 70 minutes. Four of that songs are run past the eight minute mark. Three of the songs run past the 10 minute mark. And there's a song called Planet Desperation that clocks in at 18 minutes long. There's so much joy in so many of these songs, so much earnestness in the somber ones. Those long songs just sound like epics. It's actually 19 minutes long. Planet Desperation is the most uplifting 19-minute song ever to include the word desperation in its title. That song, as you can imagine with that runtime, it's moving through different phases.

There's like an interlude halfway through where another voice comes. in. It's working brown dragon the last way the night comes Devil Angel on my left right and waiting for

the chant a cliff chanticle chanticle shant to chants chants chants all these different phases but it still hangs together sonically it still feels like one piece. Two of the shorter songs

because I'm kind of like a short and sweet song person Catastrophe, good look with that man Yeah, by the time it kicks in, it is just so infectious. There's a song in here called Devereaux that where it's kind of careening into this big, grand, hokey chorus. The fact that you have these bangers, they sound like singles, they're just like big, summary rock songs. But you also have these huge, blooming epics, but they all hang to. together really effectively.

It's not easy to apply discipline to a rock opera, but it is necessary, and I think he really pulls it off here. That's Car Seat Headrest. Their new album is called The Scholars. Out today, May 2nd. Next up, another great one. Samantha Crane has a new album called Gumshoe. I don't want to worry when I worry I lose all that precious time to love.

So, So, So Samantha Crane is my Purpose. I am all slacking my limbs and wishing that I was just the sea.

Something that you long for. So Samantha Crane is, you know, kind of a veteran singer-songwriter. She's been floating around for ages, making kind of nervey, thoughtful folk rock music. She's at a really interesting point in her career because she's put out

a big run of records. Like car seat headrest, kind of slowed down around the time of the pandemic, but in her case slowed down because she'd suffered some injuries from car accidents and was bedridden for like a year and a half. So she found herself kind of forced to put roots down in her home state of Oklahoma, and this record is kind of building off of that experience. She had always been this kind of itinerant folk singer traveling around the country, a little bit of a lone wolf. And then, you know, as she's putting these roots down and writing this record, she's able to write about more of the experiences of home, about helping a partner who's struggling, about working odd

jobs, about, you know, just like making a living day-to-day in one place instead of kind of singing these itinerant songs. And I think in that way, this record kind of feels like a summation of her career and the best of the multiple different worlds that she's managed to document in her songs over the years. Listening to her, I really love her voice. To me, it just sounded like a friend singing to me, really pure, very unaffected. There were some standout tracks for sure. Dragonfly was one that I really loved.

The tone, the kind of fuzzy guitar, and the kind of minimalism of it, I would say. To me, I could hear the four distinct tracks almost of the instruments that she was using. I also liked writing out the storm. I thought it had really playful rhyming in it. I liked the psychedelic-washed kind of folk rock in that one. There's a track called B Attitudes, not B attitudes, but B-Hifin Attitudes, where she brings in these big, vibey horns. But at the same time, what just kept jumping out at me in that song and elsewhere

is that there's just superior guitar work on this album. She is a great guitarist. The guitar lines just provide this kind of this network. of nerves that run through the record. There's a song called Dart that leads into riding out the storm, and the one-two of those records with these wonderful, sleek, slinky guitar lines, it just got under my skin. If you kind of got into Samantha Crane 10, 15 years ago when she was getting written up,

I think, a lot more in the media, and you've kind of lost track of her, which is kind of my story with her. Get back into her. This record is terrific. It's called Gumshoe. It's Samantha Crane. We've got a bunch more great records we're going to talk about. But first, let's take a quick break.

From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Julie B from Marfa Public Radio. Julie, tell me what's going on in Marfa these days. I mean, for those who aren't familiar, Marfa, this glorious little arts mecca in West Texas, and just a place everyone should visit if they get the chance. Absolutely. The population of Marfa is less than 2,000.

and we're out in the middle of nowhere in West Texas, very close to the border with Mexico. However, we get a lot of bands passing through town as a DJ here at Marfa Public Radio. I've been able to discover some of these bands that are maybe just starting out and get them on my show amplified. We're kind of all a little bit DIY out here,

but we got a lot of really creative people. I know you brought a face, favorite local band, they're called Baby Steps? Baby Steps. They burst onto the scene a few years ago playing songs about our real experiences living here in Marfa. These are songs about being under the too watchful eye of our local deputy, whose name will be nameless. You'll have to listen to the Baby Steps album for more about that. Well, I grew up in a town of about 12,300 in the middle of Wisconsin. Okay.

I got to say, like, I wish we'd had a music scene like Marfa's. There's a new band that's playing psychedelic cumbia called Zona Mutante. So on any given weekend, one of these bands will be playing, and everybody in town will be there. Marfa, Texas people, listen to Amplified. So you can listen to Amplified every Wednesday night at 10 p.m. Central Time on Marfa Public radio. We're streaming at Marfa Public Radio.org. And all of my shows are

archived on MixCloud. Just look for DJ Julie B. And that's spelled B.E. Thank you, Julie. Well, coming up next, we've got a new record from Pup. Pup has a new album called Who Will Look After the Dogs.

So Pup have been putting out some great punk rock for about 10 years now. They're a Toronto band. And though it's four members are all best friends, creative dysfunction and interpersonal friction have been a driving force in the music for pub while writing songs for this record, Frontman's Siffon Babcock was separated from the band and romantic attachment. He had a long time relationship that had ended. It gave him time to kind of reflect and maybe even grow up a little bit.

and the songs on this record kind of reflect that. This album starts with a bang with the song No Hope. No Hope kind of reminded me of a giant dog who I really love. I think fans of Amel and the Snifers are really going to love this energy too. Lots of great punk energy. Sonically maximalist, you know, just big, bold, brash, aggressive, triumph. rock and roll at just the right time of year for that. The lyrics certainly have a certain element of discord to them,

but there is this majestic feeling to these songs that works so well. You know, you mentioned No Hope. I mean, what a killer two-minute album opener. You can just imagine that just that absolutely crushing live. Fans of this band are pretty intense. I have several big, big, big pup fans in my life, and I love them dearly. I know they are going to have internalized that song, and we'll be off book on that song within a matter of days. And it's going to be amazing live.

Fuck everyone on this planet, except for you. Except for you. This band is not a one-trick pony. They're not necessarily, like, just in your face, big, aggressive. you know, hooks on top of riffs on top of riffs, on top of riffs, there's a song called Hunger for Death, which kind of opens with this lo-fi goof, you know, where it sounds almost like Daniel Johnston and it's in its simplicity, but you start to like tremble with anticipation for when this song is going to slam into overdrive.

One of the most reliable collaborators in all of Rockies, and roll right now is Jeff Rosenstock. And there's a song on this record perfectly titled, Get Dumber. You know, if you want your rock and roll to bellow with just maximum grandiosity, you enlist Jeff Rosenstock. And the result, of course, is just this big doofy shout-along anthem. Yeah. That was just exactly what I was looking for. No, that song is a total earworm. It was stuck in my head for the rest of the week. That's Who Will Look After the Dogs by Pup. Next up, something very different from Pup.

The Norwegian singer Jenny Val has a new album called Iris Silver Mist. So this album, Iris Silver Mist, is named after a fragrance. It was described as smelling of steel. And perfumes and scents filled a void for Jenny left by music during COVID when she wasn't performing for audiences. I think this album also plays like a mixtape. Yeah, and I think that mixtape vibe speaks

to her background as an experimental musician. She's somebody who does not just have one sound that she's very comfortable and she likes to work in a lot of different approaches. And this record, there are so many just wildly different songs.

You get these ethereal expanses, songs like Lay Down, which has like a little spoken word interlude to it. There's a song called A Ballad that gives off Enya vibes. Hit me with those Enya vibes. I wrote down Enya vibes and I thought, oh, I don't want to say, I don't want to have too many 90s references. There are people who do not love Anya.

I am not one of those people who do not love Anya. I'm not one of those people either. I love Enya with my whole heart. But then it closes with this song called I Want the End to Sound Like. this. The payoff is exactly what the title promises. It's ambient beauty, kind of lightly futuristic and head filling. It's very stars of the lid, which is this ambient duo that has made some of the most important and special and beautiful ambient music in the world. There are so many different approaches here. There's a track called All Night Long, which is just full of these

spoken word asides. But she also sings really beautifully. There's a song called The Artist is Absent, It's like a minute and a half long, and it's like this strange, foreboding dance number. This is a record you really could go back to listen to again and again and find something different each time. So that is Iris Silver Mist from the artist Jenny Vaughal. We have a lightning round coming up of a bunch of more of our favorite albums out today, May 2nd, as well as a little bit more of an in-depth discussion of one more record. But first, let's take a quick break. We wanted to have a little more of an in-depth conversation

about one more record that came out this week. It's by Jolie Led, and it's called Creatures. Jolie Led is a band that was formed by Nina Nastassia and Jeff McLeed. They originally met in the mid-2000s at Steve Albini's studio, actually. They were both recording albums, and Jolie Led. The band includes Jeff's bandmates from the Cape May and Florida, BC. Jolie Led is a French term which loosely translates to pretty ugly. They're taking something that maybe isn't typically thought of as beautiful and making it beautiful,

which I think is just such a lovely idea. I really love this band. The male and female voices together. One of the things they wanted to accomplish with this record was that every song was a duet. One of the standout tracks for me is something for the thrill, me being like a fan of indie rock. Oh, I mean, those riffs. Oh, yeah. Thick guitars, pissed off vocals, and the lyrics that kind of took me back to the kinks. I don't know if that was intentional. Murder Ballad also was a standout track for me.

I thought kind of reminiscent of PJ Harvey and Nick Cave's great version. of Henry Lee. COVID also played a role in the development of this band. Like that's kind of the theme this week. Yeah, it's a theme this week. COVID and mixtapes. But they, Nastassia and McLeod kind of had to do these remote recording sessions back in 2023 that became their self-titled debut.

So I think that that kind of played into. how they created this record to them each sort of coming up with their own parts. You mentioned the song Murder Ballad, and I was thinking when I was hearing this song, how well it would fit in on the Samantha Crane record we were talking about. It's got this bluesy, atmospheric grit to it that is very befitting its title. I've been a big Nina Nastassia fan for a really long time now, and you alluded to the records that she was making with Steve Albini about 20 years ago. she put out a record with the drummer Jim White back in 2007 called You Follow Me.

And I was obsessed with this record. And I think that one of the things that I think she has done best over the course of her career is I think she really blooms in collaboration. There's also a song called Horwolf, W-H-A-R-W-L-L-F, that has more of a pummeling quality to it. It's bringing kind of blustery. You mentioned something for The Thrill, has these great riffs. Warwolf has almost this like thundering quality to it that brings texture, you know, where you have these spare, almost barren songs. But then you have songs that have more of a kick to them.

And I think it hangs together really nicely. So that is Creatures. It's a new album by Jolie Led. May 2nd of 2025 is a very, very busy release day. There's a bunch of records we could not even get to. We couldn't even get to the Blanchel record, or Esther Rose has a really nice new record. But I'm going to kick things off with Lucius. Jess Wolf and Holly Lessig from Lucius have become go-to collaborators for everyone

from Brandy Carlyle to John Legend to Harry Styles to the War on Drugs. But Lucius, the band, is back with their own new self-titled, full-length album. It's a really polished and confident record that showcases just how seamlessly this band works across pop, full country, and roots music. There's a new album out by Milkweed called Rimskala, not to be confused with the New York folk band by the same name. This experimental folk band is from the UK. This group is making really interesting music in the form of sound. collages using what sounds like found tapes and lyrics based on ancient King Arthur style Irish legends I made connections with other lo-fi recordings like the sound collages woven into

the guided by voice's classic album B-thousand and the early outsider tapes of Daniel Johnston. A standout track for me was drinking in the house of Fedlamid. It almost has a trip-hop sound. It's really hypnotic and cool. Oh, it always seemed to me. So like I said up top, there are so many directions we could go with these picks. There's a ton of great new music out today.

But sometimes I just have to be painfully on brand. So I have to acknowledge that one of my favorite bands of all time, Clemsnide, they've got a new record. It trickled out digitally late last year, but its official physical release is out to

day. It's full of deeply earnest and thoughtful meditations on divorce and death and God. It's been a sturdy companion for me these last few days, and maybe it will be for you too. It's called Oh Smokey. Like the clouds only covered the sun when it got in our eyes. Julie and I, in preparation for this episode, listened to a ton of new music. And it's a curious thought exercise when you're listening to like six or seven hours of stuff. Like, did you, what song are you taking away from your prep this week that is like, this is my favorite song of the week? I'm going to throw in something different that we didn't talk about.

The band Pet Symmetry put out a new album today. And their song, Big Engagement, is so fun. I love Power Pop. So this one has my heart. I'm going to say Pet Symmetry. and big engagement. Love it. That's great. Love a curveball. I just want to call people's attention back to that Samantha Crane record,

which was really a curveball and really a welcome surprise for me. The song DART is just so slinky and smart. That's the one I'm most likely to just kind of keep coming back to and remembering how much I really dug that record. And that is our show for this week. Thank you so much, Julie B, for taking time out of your week at Marfa Public Radio. Thanks so much for having me. It was so much fun. 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 Simon Rentner and edited by Otis Hart and L. Mannion. The executive producer of NPR Music is Soraya Mohamed, and her boss is Keith Jenkins, NPR's vice president of music and visuals. We'll be back next week to talk about the new Billy Woods album and more with John Morrison of Culture Cipher Radio, on WXPN in Philadelphia. Until then, take a moment to be well, hug your pets, and treat yourself to lots of great music.