NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out May 30

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

The National's Matt Berninger. Low's Alan Sparhawk. yuele. KXT's Jackson Wisdorf joins NPR Music's Stephen Thompson to talk about their favorite records out May 30.Featured albums: • Matt Berninger, 'Get Sunk' (Stream)• yeule, 'Evangelic Girl is a Gun' (Stream)• Ben Kweller, 'Cover the Mirrors' (Stream)• Alan Sparhawk, 'With Trampled by Turtles' (Stream)• Amy Millan, 'I Went To Find You' (Stream)Check out our long list of albums out May 30 and sample more than 50 records out today via our New Music Friday playlist on npr.org.CreditsHost: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Jackson Wisdorf, KXTProducer: Simon RentnerEditor: Otis HartExecutive 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

Oh, be my rest, be my fantasy. Happy Friday, everyone from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Jackson Wisdorf from KXT in North Texas. Welcome to the show, Jackson. Hey, thanks so much for having me, Stephen. Glad to be here. I'm so glad to have you.

Now, if you're listening to the music behind me, you are, of course, hearing the sounds of Sufion Stevens' album, Carrie and Lowell. I don't know how that's already been 10 years, but if you're interested in that record, you should definitely check out Robin Hilton's interview with Sufion Stevens, which we just published in this podcast feed. Sufion Stevens really opened up about the album. As a huge fan of that record, I was surprised to hear how critical he was.

I'm excited to listen to that interview. This week has a lot of records about embracing hard things head on. And the Sufion Stevens record, you know, it's reflecting on really poignant things, whether he likes it or not. And Jackson, you've heard obviously all the records we're talking about this week. It's remarkable how many are about just like dealing with hardships in your life. Some trauma being worked out, certainly, on a lot of them.

But also some nice themes of hope I've come to find on a lot of these. Yeah, well, let's get it started. First record we're talking about out today, May 30th. Matt Bermaninger from the National has a new solo record. it's called Get Sunk. This is his second solo album. He moved from L.A. to Connecticut with his wife and daughter, which naturally gave him time and space for introspective.

And I would say sort of a creative awakening. And some of these songs are the best he's done in ages. I feel like the national kind of gets dragged by some people for being sad dad music. I've heard that a couple times. Dad, dad, I get it. It kind of seems as if he's looking back on his life on this album, remembering times, even if they weren't the most amazing times in the world.

There's kind of like an air of acceptance to the way life is sometimes on this album. That's kind of what I was picking up on. Even the title of the record, Get Sunk, is kind of reflecting on that need for introspection. But as you kind of alluded to, Jackson, there are notes of hope here and sounds that are conjuring a certain amount. of grandeur. There's a song in this record called Bonnet of Pins, and it starts out seemingly wallowing in that sad dad, kind of gloomy guy mode, but then it builds into something with more kind of fire in its belly. I know that you miss me, I know that you miss me, this stuff takes a life time. She finishes off my dream.

For me to see a friend For me, it was a beautiful That didn't exist For must have to walk I needed to swim I flew to Indiana To see your friend For me it was inland ocean

Just is beautiful You know, the album starts with that And it kind of just keeps moving He's not going to rid of me. Wrap me up and bury me. And bury me. He's not obviously working with most of the members of the National on this record, but he's working with a lot of really interesting collaborators.

You know, he's produced by Sean O'Brien, Meg Duffy from Hand Habits, members of the Walkman, Kyle Resnick from the National. You know, and I appreciated hearing some kind of other voices and other sounds woven into what he does. Everybody said it's a gift. You should use it. There's a song called Breaking into Acting

that has this really tender sound to it and a guest vocal from Meg Duffy from Hand Habits and you get this song that's coming from this really tender and thoughtful place telling this message about getting through life essentially by faking it till you make it. Always have a cheat sheet in your jacket. You're breaking into acting. You'll do anything to be discovered

It's getting out of hair Your mouth is always full of blood packets Breaking into acting Gonna make me a fan There's something to be said about the folks that are helping them out on this album too The ones you listed I also want to say Booker T. Jones was involved in the project Which is really cool and something that was unexpected

You mentioned Booker T. Jones, you know, there's this organ swell right near the end of the record. The last track on this album is called Times of Difficulty. And it's, you know, a really plain spoken kind of examination of life that reminded me of Lou Reed. But just like Lou Reed, it's not all downcast. There's also hope to it. There's also perspective. If we're not dying, then what are we? I think you hit the nail on the head with that one. A lot of songs about things that may seem like mundane day to day,

but if you're looking at it through the lens of someone who's experiencing them, it's just really done well. Get Sunk is the new album from Matt Burninger of the National. Next up, it is a new record by Yule. It is called Evangelic Girl is a Gun. So Yule, for those who don't know, has been around for a while now. This is their fourth album. Yule is a pseudonym for a pseudonym.

Nachmiel is the singer, born in Singapore, inspired heavily by video games and the internet. Yule itself is a reference to the video game Final Fantasy, which is how I'm going to get my kid to listen to this record. Because it is terrific. You know, kind of a mix of hyperpop and classical music and emo and 90s alt rock. Songs about love and lust. in the modern world. It's just throwing a million ideas at these songs. Just a dizzying and

exciting record that just packs an incredible number of ideas into about a half an hour. Epic soundscapes on this album. And I like how it kind of goes back and forth scary to, oh, it's a little bit lighter and we're doing okay. And then it's scary again. And then back and forth. An excellent production. Even on those scary songs, Yule's voice still has this kind of calm, airy delivery to it. Kind of like a friendly voice guiding you through these kind of scary moments. You mentioned the production.

They're working with a lot of different producers here, including A.G. Cook, who can kind of make music that feels mechanical in a way, but Yule wanted to get away from some of that. And so they were really like deliberately issuing AI, which frankly everyone should do. And finding these ragged, jagged, edges of their voice to give it that human quality.

I find it really interesting. I was reading up on this record, and a lot of it was in part influenced by Zhijswaev Vekinsky, the kind of dystopian, surrealist, Polish artist. If you look at some of his art and you listen alongside songs like Doodoo or Skull Crusher on the album. It has that kind of dystopian vibe to it, but there's those. little airy parts that kind of are relief from those scary times. Analyzing these lyrics that fly by, you really get a sense of how Yule is looking at

the world and looking at music as a way to reflect on melancholy. Feelings of discontentment as a way of finding comfort and a way to sit still with yourself for a second. I just think there's something to be said about just the way that they put everything together. Yeah, and listening to it in totality is a very different experience from having a track pop up here and there on a playlist. And depending on what track you land on, it's going to take you to a lot of different places. That title track is going to take you to someplace very heavy compared to some of these

songs that have a lighter touch. That's Evangelic Girl is a Gun by Yule, one of the terrific albums out today. May 30th. We've got some more albums we're going to get to, but first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Jackson Wisdorf from KST in North Texas. Jackson, give us a sense of what you do at KXT, because I know you've been around the public radio system for a while. Yeah, you know, I've been kind of in it since college.

I did college radio and ended up interning way out in far west Texas at Marfa Public Radio. I have kind of just been in it ever since then. I'm the manager of radio operations for KERA, which is our NPR station. And I also do a nightly Monday through Friday shift, play some tunes on the air on KXT. So it's kind of the perfect situation for me. We've got a bunch more great records to talk about. Next up is Ben Queller. Ben Queller has a new album called Cover.

The Mirrors. Don't Caves a Cabe. Don't Cave. Don't cave. One from the new album called Cover the Mirrors. Ben is back in fine form on this album. It's some of the best I've heard from him in a while. You know, something to be said about all the artists that are also featured on this record, too. Katie Crutchfield from Waxahatchee, got the flaming lips making an appearance, M.J. Lenderman on a song.

Absolutely great, especially when you dig into the subject matter, which is pretty heavy. Ben Quillard lost, broken lies, I've fallen into your loving eyes. Ben Queller lost his 16-year-old son, Dorian, to a freak car accident in 2023. And reading what he's written about this record, hearing these songs, there's such useful and beautiful perspective coming through.

You hate the clouds, but love the rain You mentioned the collaborations There's a song called Killer B that he recorded with The Flaming Lips And the Flaming Lips were working with a singer named Nell Smith who also died in a car accident. She was only 17. And Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips put Nell Smith's parents in touch with Ben Queller

so that they could talk about their shared grief, about the process of losing a child so young, so talented. Both of their children were musicians who had extraordinarily promising futures. And I just found so much grace. and beauty in not only writing songs that are grieving the loss of your own child, but songs that are grieving the loss of somebody else's, and understanding that you are part of this tapestry, this community, and the way you get through pain and grief and sorrow,

is to lean on your community and to be available for other people. In the crowd just taking in the simple pain that strikes again, Will it be? Toss me like a castaway To hide what I was going to say Ben is a Texas guy And I know that when Dorian passed There was, you know, nothing but

An outpouring of support for Ben. You know, he's been around the Texas music scene For a long time. I've got to just hang out with him a couple times. He's such a beautiful human And such a good songwriter. And I think all of that is being shown vividly on this album.

We'll be okay. This town makes your mind melt. You see it in the collaborators, in a sense. There's a song called Dollar Store that features, as you mentioned, Katie Crutchfield from Waxahatchee. Their song together finds a way to lean into this triumphant sound. More, we're living in a simulation. I'll meet you at the dark.

A lot of store, she's looking at the expiration, all that you want and more. A lot of these songs, they're processing grief, but they're also finding something hopeful on the other side, because when you live, live a life that intersects with a lot of other people, you are going to touch grief. There is absolutely no way around it. Ben just had such a knack for, you know, tackling that grief in such a, you know, a great way. I think maybe my favorite on this album is the final song, O'Dorian, which features M.J. Lenderman. It's Ben looking back on his time with his son and not being stuck in the sadness, but embracing the love that he had for Dorian's time on this earth.

Out of the blue, I feel like I am walking through tunnels down to the door. There's another track called Letter to Agony. And I saw that title and I was like, who boy. Yeah, get ready. Get ready. It's a love letter to his wife, Liz. I used to have so much. You really get a sense of this deeply hard-earned love.

and a love that forever has threads of tragedy woven into it. But this song, that song is really reflecting on, you know, ways to find peace amid grief and allow your love to deepen as this tremendous pain that is in escape. All of your sweet talk and fine lines that you walk are making me mad at you and I want to be mean to you, but it pains me. You know, they say that, because I know it's not real. You know, they say people process grief differently,

and I think you can pick up on how Ben deals with grief on this album. That theme is there in every single song. But it's the way that he comes out on the other end with this kind of acceptance of such a terrible thing to happen in your life. And clearly part of his coping mechanism was turning to music. Music has been a part of his life since he was a kid. He first emerged as a national figure while a teenager is the lead singer of a band called Radish.

He's clearly somebody who has needed music throughout his life. And this record in many ways is a celebration of that as well. I love you so much. It'll push you away, push you away from me. And then I will hate, hate myself more than I do. It's called Cover the Mirrors by Ben Queller. Next up, Alan Sparhawk from the band Lowe has a new solo record called With Trampled by Turtles. And it's With Trampled by Turtles, if you can believe that.

It is. It is a very self-explanatory title. You got to put up with Stranger. It is a collaboration between Alan Sparhawk of Lowe and another Duluth, Minnesota staple, the band trampled by turtles. And there is a lot of distance between the sounds of these two artists. Alan Sparhawk with Lowe famously makes really spare, sometimes really dissonant, very slow. low and sad, reflective music. Trampled by Turtles, by contrast, is like a folk punk bluegrass band.

They've got songs that are setting landspeed records for just like how much kind of speed and joy and verve is in them. But Alan Sparhawk has been mentoring this band since they started out. I'm fascinated listening to this record by how much it meets in the middle between these two styles. I think Trampled by Turtles just provides such a good bedrock for Alan on this. They're kind of there providing these little flourishes in the background that just worked so well with Alan's boys.

They put some warmth behind him. And let's address the elephant in the room here. You know, in Lowe, Alan Sparhawk was teamed up with his longtime wife and partner, Mimi Parker, who died in 2020. too. Lo's music, you know, within that band, the juxtaposition between their voices, he has kind of a darker, harder voice, and her voice was really swooping and soaring and extremely warm and enveloping. And so giving him collaborators who can create a warm bed for him to set his vocals on is really beautiful. And as a fan of Lowe, I just found it really moving.

It's a lonely place if you're alone. And I think there are some songs where Trampled by Turtles has that low vibe going on. Specifically the fiddle on screaming song. It kind of sounds like it could be in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, almost this suspenseful sound that the fiddle is just making throughout it. And it's not playing really extended lines or anything. It's just more of a flourish. And it's adding to this.

vibe that is being culminated on this album. There's one song called Not Broken. There is a voice that comes in, and my immediate thought was, is that Mimi Parker? And then I was like, no, it sounds a little like her, and it's their daughter Hollis. Wow. And, who boy, you could have knocked me over with a feather hearing that voice. hearing the continuation of their legacy. Alan Sparhawk, it's called With Trampled by Turtles,

two great sounds that sound great together. We've got one more record we're going to talk about in depth, as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, May 30th. But first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday, rounding up a bunch of the best new music out today, May 30th. We wanted to talk a little more. and depth about one more record.

It's by Amy Milan from the band Stars. It's called I Went to Find You. Amy Milan is one of the two singers in one of my favorite bands of all time, Stars, which has been making brilliant, beautiful music for more than 20 years now. Amy Milan is also a member of Broken Social Scene. Just a beautiful voice that always cuts through the din

and stabs me in the heart in the best possible. way. I just love to hear her back with some of her own music. This is her first solo album in more than 15 years, another gorgeous record full of insights and reflections that you can only have from being in music as long as she has. Yeah, and I got to say, I think my favorite part about it was the textures that were created through the mix on this album. It's not the story. It's so layered. It was just really cool to hear Amy doing her thing, you know, making some really cool soundscapes on this album. I loved reading about this record.

Amy Milan is a very smart person and a very reflective person, and she talks about the way one of her songs is actually a response to a star's song called Ageless Beauty, which has a line, Time Will Hold Its Promise. In an interview, Amy Milan was talking about her new song, Wire Walks, and she said, I referenced Starr's ageless beauty here with the lyric, I lied when I said that time would catch your head. I thought about when I was younger, time would mend all wounds, but I was wrong. It does not.

Turns out they stick around. The perspective that you're getting with this song isn't necessarily like, your problems never go away, you're doomed. It's about learning to embrace the difficulties of life instead of waiting for them to pass. That is such a recurring theme in the albums that we're talking about this week, this idea that your pain is part of you. You're going to make it through the troubled times, but you're not actually going to forget them.

You're going to carry that with you, and that's okay. Yeah, it's a form of acceptance that life goes on, and you have to just find out how to deal with it. Yeah, and she works on this record with a collaborator she hadn't really worked with. before. She performed at a benefit and was kind of paired up with a guy named Jay McCarroll. And while they were singing together, she suddenly had this reawakening of like a musical memory. She talks in this interview in detail about the fact that she lost her father to a car accident when she was five. And some of her earliest memories were of singing with him and clearly found that like the experience of singing

with this guy was tapping into the roots of her love of music. That was such a beautiful idea. Music as a balm. Music as a curative. Music as a way of accessing who you are and accessing your emotions. She had this full circle moment in the making of this record. I have another quote for his Stephen. I was reading it in a press release that Amy put out. It's just getting older as a trip. You assume you're going to grow out of feeling like you might fall down a hole. any minute, but for me, the feeling continues to hover. I think that kind of just sums up so much of this album. You alluded to just how beautiful this record sounds.

There's a song called Kiss That Summer, and it just floats like a dandelion spore. Great to have her voice back in my life. Her new album is called I Went to Find You. We could not possibly, Jackson, to every great album that came out today, May 30th. But we did want to touch on some of the other great records that are out today. I'm going to kick us off the Nigerian-born Obong Jaya. Londoner Stephen Yumo makes music under the name Obong Jaya.

And pinning down a single genre with this guy is basically impossible. You get Afrobeat and soul and reggae and pop all swirling together with this great charisma and energy. Do not miss his tiny desk concert if you haven't seen it. And don't miss his new album. It's called Paradise Now. One of my favorites is this new album from Lion Milk. It's his debut on Stones Throw Records. I'm a big fan of M.F. Doom and Peanut Butter Wolf and Madlib.

You know, all these amazing artists that are on the Stones Throat label. Moki Kawaguchi is at the head of Lion Milk, and it's really impressive, total DIY aesthetic on this album. He's playing most of the instruments himself. It has this jazzy inspiration, but it's all kind of brought in from isolation that leads to these beautifully cathartic soundscapes. One of the best kind of musac albums I've heard in a really long time. The English band Caroline performs with a... communal spirit, artie songs that splay out across folk and rock and emo and much more with an improvisational style with lots of people chiming into sing. Very hard band to sum up in a single

excerpt, but Caroline is always conjuring big emotions and grand statements. They're a huge NPR music favorite. They've got an amazing tiny desk concert. Their new album is called Caroline too. I'm just really glad to exist at the same time as all the great rock music we're getting from Australia. I'm thinking Amel and the Sniffers, the chats, all these shed rock bands, you know, who are reviving this sound. Civic, chrome dipped. Love this album. It's the follow-up to Taken by Force that came out a couple years ago. It mixes those kind of post and proto-punk sensibilities with a lot of really cool contemporary punk sounds as well.

There's some songs that remind me of early work by the Buzzcocks and the vibrators, but there's also just some things that are new, you know, Goals Way, a great track on their big fan, amazing record. Finally, Kasim Nakvi is probably best known as the drummer in the band Dawn of Midi, but he's also an inventive composer in his own right. His new solo album is a haunting and futuristic, mostly instrumental take on the end of humanity, As its subject matter suggests there is a real darkness to it, but also just real beauty. It's called Endling.

So, Jackson, before we go, we like to do this quick status check. We've obviously listened to a lot of music to kind of get to this point. And I was just wondering, what is your favorite song that you heard that is out today? As someone that was borderline addicted to Elder Scroll Skyrim back when it came out, It just made me feel like I was in like a tavern listening to a traveling bard. Bon Fables, the really cool kind of contemporary bard music, the album counterclockwise. I really liked Elfrida on that album. It's just stuck with me ever since the first time I listened to it.

Boy, picking one song, especially with so many albums, with so much emotion attached to them, It's really hard to narrow it down. I mean, I have to go with Not Broken by Alan Sparhawk from that album with Trampled by Turtles. As soon as I hear Hollis's voice come up and having that realization, like this is somebody who is related to Mimi Parker, that was a really transcendent experience and something that I will really celebrate from this week of tremendous music. That is our show for this week. Thank you so much. Jackson Wisdorf for taking time out of your week at KXT in North Texas. Thank you so much for having me, Steve.

And this has been so much fun. You know, just talking about music, no better way to spend a Friday. I could nerd out with you for hours, and I suspect I will. 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. The executive producer of NPR Music is Seraa Muhammad, 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 album by Turnstile with Turnstile expert

Izzy Bavis of Baltimore Public Radio Station, WTMD. Until then, take a moment to be well, splash around in the nearest body of water, and treat yourself to lots of great music. It's not broken. It's not broken.