NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out Nov. 21

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

Odeal. Snarky Puppy. The return of Tobias Jesso Jr. Stephen Thompson from NPR Music is joined by Justus Sanchez from KNKX in Seattle and Tacoma to chat about their favorite new albums out Friday, Nov. 21.The Starting 5:- Tobias Jesso Jr., 's h i n e'- Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover, 'What of Our Nature'- SHOLTO, 'The Sirens'- Snarky Puppy with Metropole Orkest, 'Somni'- Odeal, 'The Fall That Saved Us'The Lightning Round:- Keaton Henson, 'Parader'- John Scofield and Dave Holland, 'Memories of Home'- Fabiano do Nascimento, 'Cavejaz'- Magic Fig, 'Valerian Tea'- Max Richter, 'Hamnet (OST)'See the long list of albums out Nov. 21 and sample what’s out via our New Music Friday playlist on NPR.org.Credits:Host: Stephen ThompsonGuest: Justus Sanchez, KNKXAudio Producer: Noah CaldwellDigital Producer: Elle MannionEditor: Otis Hart Executive Producer: Suraya MohamedSee 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. Let's get this thing started, people. Come on. I know she got your lines. Let's make this a good one. Happy Friday, everyone from NPR Music. It's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Justice Sanchez from KNKX in Seattle and Tacoma.

Welcome to the show, Justice. Hey, Stephen, thanks for having me. Glad to be here. D thrilled to have you. The music you are hearing is from De La Sol's new album, Cabin in the Sky. It's their first album since 2016 and the first since the death of Trugoy the Dove. We did not get a chance to hear the De La Sol record in its entirety,

but we wanted to make sure that we included it on this week's show, especially just given how much sad news has kind of swirled around this band. And some triumph, too. They got their catalog back, which was a really cool thing for them to happen. And this record, Cabin in the Sky, was a musical back in the day that, had a all-black cast in the 1940s that was a rare thing for the time.

This record, they put the track list out. There's amazing features. There is a reunion of native tongues a little bit. Q-tip is on a song. There's also a song with Bilal. Slick Rick is on the album. Black Thought, Nas. I'm really excited to dig into this record this weekend.

LA's finest crassmatic. This ain't the sit-down pillow-top package. Well, let's kick the tenor boy, we be on summertime. Want that good work called Plug One of Time. Stay on the TikTok, but this ain't the kiddie at. Black King's shit, go. Where you're city at? Once again, we...

Well, let's kick off the show with Tobias Jesso Jr. Tobias Jesso Jr.'s new album is called Shine. This one is his first record in about 10 years, but it's not like he's really was taken any time off. he has written prolifically for artists across the board. Yeah, it's a hugely long list. A few years ago, he won the Grammy, the very first Grammy for Songwriter of the Year,

and won an album of the year Grammy because he worked on a song on Harry Stiles' album, Harry's House. So he's become one of these big hired-gun, collaborative songwriters, people like Jack Antonoff, people like Dan Nigro, who have had careers, as musicians in their own right, but really found their calling

and an enormous amount of fortune in becoming hired gun collaborative songwriters. And so, yeah, it's been 10 years since his one and only album. Yeah, and it's just incredibly raw. You know what I mean? It took me a couple of listens to really, like, take it in

because it was so raw, but the songwriting is beautiful. There's some really standout tracks for me, like a, I think Black Magic, that song hit me the hardest. Yeah. That song has got like a kind of a timeless pop energy, I would say. Like when I was listening, I was like, maybe a little bit of Bruce Springsteen in here from like his heyday. One of the first things that kind of jumped out at me listening to this record and kind of

thinking about Tobias Jesso Jr.'s story and kind of his career arc is listening to this record now. It's hard not to hear it almost as like proof of concept demos for songs that have the bones of pop music in them. You really get a sense that this is somebody who's been playing around in a pop space and landing on extremely sturdy melodies. And so you mentioned Black Magic and kind of how much fire and intensity he manages to fit into a song that's largely just him at a piano. And you can kind of start to flesh out an arrangement in your head for it as like a big old epic. And that happens a bunch of times, I think, on this record.

Like, there's a track called Rain, where you listen to that song, and you can imagine a way that the bones of that song become the skeleton for, like, a big R&B epic. Are we just waiting for the rain? Are we waiting just to tell me I'm going for... He talked about in, like, the promotional material that he went back to Vancouver, which is his place of Burrink, up in Canada, and he recorded most of this record with his mother's piano. Yeah, and it's interesting.

You know, he's sort of, you know, talked about, like, he hasn't really performed live since his album Goon came out in 2015. And there's some talk about, like, maybe he'll tour, you know, maybe he'll perform, you know, some of these songs. And it's just interesting that that's coming at a time in his life when his work as a pop collaborator has sort of never been more successful. You know, he won two Grammys in 2023. He's nominated for two Grammys right now.

He's nominated for Songwriter of the Year again. He's nominated for album of the year again, this time for his work on Justin Bieber's swag, which has a bunch of amazing collaborators on it. So he's in this interesting spot, right, where he's like about to kind of go on the awards circuit. But he's also got this very intimate collection of music that really puts himself out there. And I really appreciate that about it. That is Tobias Jesso Jr. His new album is called Shine. Next up, Haley Hendricks and Max Garcia Conover.

It's called What of Our Nature? Come round you roving dancers if this speaks to the souls you were given. If you like me have never believed in this kingdom of commerce we live in. Language is a beginning. But language is never known. And the terrorists look like my mother And do most of the same kind of stuff Here's to Pedro, here's to Lolia

Kept looking at what they were seeing Like those New York signs in the sidewalk crime No blacks, dogs, or Puerto Ricans YKViva Alicia Rodriguez And the thousands before and sins Who talked too fast, get pushed and push back, push back and then choose to start talking again. So it's rad.

I pretty much love the whole record. There's so many standout and also like subjects that are not the easiest subject because a lot of it has to do with where we are at here in America and where we have been. And coming from two people of color that are bringing their history and their stories into the folk realm, is just really, really awesome to hear. Yeah, it's interesting kind of reading up on the making of this record,

because I first started following Haley Hendricks when she kind of came up in, I would say, the late teens. You know, she had an amazing record as a solo artist. She played a tiny dust concert in 2018. She was very much on our radar. And then I kind of lost track of her over the course of the years. And, you know, she started working with Max Garcia-Conover.

They started making this record when they were living, you know, on two different coasts. He was living in Maine. She was living in Oregon. And as they were kind of collaborating from afar, they were also doing a lot of research and doing a lot of wrestling with the state of the country. Max Garcia-Conover is half Puerto Rican. Haley Hendrix is half Filipina.

And they're wrestling with identity and the people who inspired them and also wrestling with the legacy of Woody Guthrie. And I think Woody Guthrie's influence really comes through in these songs in powerful ways. that along the way end up conjuring the sounds and images and ideas of a lot of other people who've been inspired by Woody Guthrie. You'll hear echoes of Bob Dylan. You'll hear echoes of Connor Oberst. These songs evoke so many eras of folk music in ways that still feel like they are speaking to the present moment. Cop killing coal miners starvation wages the end times the headlines the hate was contagious When I get too high I'm dead eye complacent and when I need money

I take it peace you know me my head is capacious I swore she was flirting she's just a good waitress I double the dosage still I feel anxious so when I need something I take it I don't know these horses I don't know what they're One of the most tender spots on this record is the song that Haley Hendricks wrote using the words of the labor activist Carlos Boluson, a Filipino American writer and activist, a beautiful song and kind of a heavy and poignant hook. The hook of that one is it's easy being quiet, it's not easy being alone. And I was like, oh.

That song really hit me I would say the feelings that we have within ourselves that perhaps other people are feeling that connect us and I think a lot of that comes through on this record across the streets and shadows to hope the whole world won't find out

that my rights are still translucent like a sharp wind in the cold it's easy being quiet but it ain't easy being alone The track on this record that really jumped out of me is called This Morning I Am Born Again. And it's conjuring so much of kind of the hope and fury of a lot of great 60s folk singers without feeling it doesn't feel like a cover. It doesn't feel like a throwback. It doesn't feel like it's from some vaulted piece of the Lomax archives.

It is a new song. But it is really conjuring those feelings. And I was raised by folk music nerds. You know, my parents loved Peter Paul and Mary. They loved Bob Dylan. They loved the Weavers. You know, a lot of Odetta. You know, they loved a lot of kind of classic folk music.

And my first thought when I heard this morning I'm born again was, I have to send this to my mother. Because I think she's going to love it. And I think this is a record that to me could pull a lot of people into classic folk music. And it could make a lot of fans of classic folk music. wake up and listen to some of the new music that's being made that still speaks to the same concerns. This morning I am light and tying unwritten belief. I ride the rising horse light as it dries and all around is evidence. That is Haley Hendrix and Max Garcia Conover.

That is called What of Our Nature? We've got some more records we're going to talk about that are out today, November 20, first, but first let's take a quick break. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Justice Sanchez of KNKX in Seattle and Tacoma. Justice, tell me about the station. What's going on? Yeah, K&KX, I have been here for about two years and it's been incredible. This summer, we launched some new programs that are diving into the modern side of jazz and beyond. So we have a show that I, host called The Lounge, and it's kind of an exploration of where jazz meets modern music,

bridging a divide of, you know, the modern sounds that aren't quite jazz, but they're definitely influenced by that. So hopefully bringing in some new listeners who are like fans of Bad, Bad, bad, not good, or like hiatus coyote and like catching their ear with some of those sounds, and then, you know, showing them the jazz that has been inspiring people that are creating those sounds. I love gateways that move in both directions. And it's a perfect segue to our next couple records, right? Yeah. Let's kick it off with Sholto. Sholto's new record is called The Sirens. That's Sholto. He is a drummer bandleader from the UK. He is very inspired by the soul jazz era Crout Rock from the 60s and 70s, and that shines through on this record. One of my favorite

tracks is tied to the mass. Yes. It's big. It's cinematic. The grooves are just beautiful. Well, you know, it's interesting, like, kind of reading up on what these songs are about and kind of what inspired him. And you can tell kind of from the song titles and from even the title of the record that he's heavily inspired by Greek myths. He's heavily inspired by movies, you know, which is only natural, given how cinematic

and kind of score-like a lot of these songs are. There's a track called Ghibli's Dream, you know, that's inspired by the movies of Studio Ghibli, you know, it's dabbling in this kind of mellow futurism and, you know, kind of sleek, blooping synths over beats. And it would fit in on a movie score, but it's, it's even more expansive than that. One thing that I wrote down, the track Lemia, which is named after a Greek mythology monster that eats children. I was like, oh, this feels like a fantasy world, kind of like Hobbit adjacent and you're like kind of a melodic stomp through a dream forest and the air sparkles and it's a little damp and everything shines because it's a little damp. That's what I wrote down

about the mood of this song. And there's a monster among the trees and that is apparently Lemia, the child eating Greek mythology monster. You know, I think about the track Purple Flow. Oh yeah. Kind of sinister and mysterious, a lot of smeared synths, kind of a haunting hook that kind of feels like a voice. And again, I love the way these tracks kind of conjure a swirl of ideas, a swirl of spaces. I think it's one reason the word cinematic comes up so much, is it really feels like you're being transported into a place where you have to make up your own visuals, but this music is going to really help your brain do that. I was kind of listening from a jazz angle too, and I don't necessarily hear like some full

scale improvisation through the whole record. But I think the way that things drift in and out, it doesn't really feel like it's stiff or anything like that as well. He played the drums and he played a bunch of other instruments on it. So I kind of also imagine that there's

a big overarching structure, but I imagine that at some point there's maybe little bits of improvised parts in a lot of these songs. It's really cool. That is Sholto. His new album is called The Sirens. Next up, A band I would imagine, pretty near and dear to your heart.

Snarky Puppie is back with a new album-length collaboration with Metropole Orchestra. It's called Sommi. So for those who aren't familiar, Snarky Puppie is a five-time Grammy-winning group led by Michael League. Justice and I were talking about gateways. Their sound kind of moves well beyond jazz. They're working here with the Metropole Orchestra, which is a Dutch group that makes kind of symphonic blends of jazz and classical music as well as kind of pop and more contemporary sounds. Kind of a big band and a symphony rolled into one.

Yep. They've, they had made one record before. This is their second kind of album-length collaboration. They recorded it live over three nights in January of this year in the Netherlands. Not a ton of audience interactions. You get little smatterings of applause here and there. But man, you really get taken on a journey here. It is just such a big record. And I was looking into it. There is 74 musicians across this album from the Orch orchestra to the core of Snarky Puppy, which is like 20 people. And one of the beautiful things about Snarky Puppy, and it's nothing new to this record, but they're not afraid to go places and take chances.

And I wouldn't 100% say that this is like safe music. You know what I mean? There's huge twist and turns that capture your ear and really draw you in. Thematically, this is an album about dreams. This is an album about dream logic and shape-shifting and these kind of liminal spaces that your mind creates as you're drifting into and out of sleep. And each of these pieces is sort of supposed to represent a different part of the experience of being asleep, but like kind of in the most unsettling ways. You know, not necessarily just like strictly nightmares, but recurring dreams. There's a song called Recurrent, which is almost 14 minutes long.

And it's mellow. You're asleep, but there are these kind of terrifying outbursts. And knowing that the piece is about a recurring dream and hearing those outbursts, you're really kind of able to, again, kind of like we talked about with Sholto, map your own visuals onto it in ways that can make this a really intense listen. And another song that takes a dark turn is the Camero, which I think is like the third. track in and oh man it feels like there's like kind of fire and chaos everywhere and then it kind of guitar solos yeah so many big big guitar solos yeah i wrote down world-class shredding

another cool part about this too is that there is a video of the whole concert that you can watch too and it's just beautiful and it just they're like in kind of in the round and some of the stats from it are pretty amazing, just the feat of having such a big recording. You know what I mean? They said they used 410 headphones, there's 256 channels of audio, and in total, the crew, including the 74 musicians, was 102 people that got this record together. Well, it shows. It is a grand feat. That is Somni, new album from Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orchestra. Just as we've got one more record that we're going to talk about in depth as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, November 21st. But first, let's take a quick break. From NPR Music,

it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Justice Sanchez of KNKX in Seattle and Tacoma. We've got a lightning round coming up of some of our other favorite albums out today, but we wanted to talk about one more record in depth. Odeal. Odeal is back with a new record called The Fall That Saved Us. So I'm dragging your feet. Silence just ain't working. I guess the color's too deep. Yeah.

Trying to live free. A new person still shackles on feet. And the rest is right. Trying to tell yourself you're going to leave soon. So Odeal is a guy named Hillary Dennis Udano. He is a German-Nigerian singer-songwriter. Born in Germany, spent his childhood kind of living around Europe and has moved back and forth between Nigeria and London. And as you can kind of imagine from that biography, his music

straddles those two continents, you know, a mixture of kind of classic R&B with a little bit of an Afrobeat vibe. But he is definitely, R&B, first and foremost, he's had a string of EPs and mixtapes dating back to 2017. But he's definitely like building up these kind of industry connections. You know, he's collaborated with Summer Walker and Leon Thomas, who are two huge, huge names right now. And to me, this record, you know, it's nine songs in 24 minutes, and that is all it takes to hook you on that rich, gorgeous voice. Talking about the record, he brought up this concept of Lustropolis as a, like, kind of a place of mind. It's not a physical place, but it kind it translates to a physical place a little bit, but...

It's not a physical place yet. He's definitely given that place a sound. I mean, the song Pretty Girls feels like it is emanating from a place called Lustropolis. You know, it's probably the closest he gets here to like a full-on sex jam. You know, just very, very, very smooth. But it's so welcoming. And again, you just hang on his voice. They're crashing out most days

The crashing I'm burning But you wanted more, baby I like you want me Prove it and show me If I'm being honest You got what the Pretty Girls want Yeah, it is a pretty sensual record

I would say And I like the Afrobeat sounds And I think like the low end And like the bass of a lot of these songs Really stand out Yeah, there's a track called Molotov You know, he's kind of displayed this really smooth voice throughout the record.

But this one has a little bit more of a trap edge to it. The arrangement is dreamy, but his vocal feels very contemporary. I liked that he had some Afrobeat features like WizKid is on, the song Nights in the Sun. In an album full of kind of a dark, moody, essentialness, the song Nights in the Sun is really bright, and it stands apart from the rest of the record. It's like the last song on the album. Yeah, I mean, it's a classic case of leaving people wanting more. And, you know, nine songs in 24 minutes, there's not really a wasted moment here.

Yeah. It really grabs your attention from the jump, showcases this broad artistic range, and absolutely made me want to hear more. That is Odeal. His new album is called The Fall That Saved Us. Now, Justice, even though it is November 21st, the release schedule kind of slows down as we get to the end of the year, you know, kind of fewer and fewer records to choose from each week, still, nevertheless, hard to narrow it down to just a few records to talk about in this show. So we wanted to do a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today. I'm going to kick us off with Keaton Henson for about 15 years now. Keaton Henson, he's a singer-songwriter, he's kind of known for. tender, vulnerable, heart-on-the-sleeve indie pop songs, kind of in the spirit of like Elliot Smith or Nick Drake. But on his terrific new album, he kind of turns up the volume a little bit. In songs that sometimes evoke grunge, they still sound like Keaton Henson. They're just

rangier, more powerful, more dynamic. Keaton Henson's terrific new album is called Parader. Another release that is absolutely worth sitting with is. is John Schofield on guitar and Dave Holland on bass. And they've been in the jazz world for decades. They both played with Miles Davis. They had a record in 1996 with Herbie Hancock where they were a part of his quartet. And they're together for the first time as a duo.

They're just so in tune with each other. This album is a really good listen, especially if you're sitting down for a mellow evening or cooking some dinner or something like that. John Schofield and Dave Holland's new album is called Memories of Home. On his new album, the Brazilian musician Fabiano Don Nassimento plays seven and eight-string guitar in inventive pieces that are sometimes fleshed out with bits of tabloss and percussion, as well as an occasional voice here and there.

The result is organic and enveloping as it kind of blends the modern and traditional sounds kind of popping up from all over the world. Fabiano Donacimento's new album is called Cave Jazz. I came across this record from a San Francisco band called Magic Fig, and this is their second release. It is called Valerian Tea, and it is just playful, tasty, psychedelic music. It's blissed out and full of wonder and fantasy.

I enjoyed this record a whole bunch, and it kind of feels like an alternative soundtrack to that show Adventure Time in some ways. But Magic Figs' new album is called Valerian Tea. Finally, we are headed into awards season, whether we like it or not. One of the big movies getting a lot of attention is Chloe Zhao's Hamnet. It's about Agnes and William Shakespeare and the Sun that they lose. The score will hopefully grab some awards attention of its own. It's by the great Max Rous.

Victor, who's made some of the 21st century's greatest contemporary classical music. This one is as sad and sweeping and beautiful as you might expect. That is Max Richter and his new score for Hamnet. Now, Justice Sanchez, you and I listen to a lot of music. You listen to a ton of music to prepare for this show. This is where we like to just put each other on the spot, pick out the one track that you're going to remember the most after all those hours of listening. It can be from anything we talked about.

It could even be for something we didn't talk about. That's tough. I think the song from Haley Hendricks and Max Garcia-Conover, the single is just glorious fluorescent light. It's perfect because, you know, lyrically, it's talking about America and how we're under fluorescent light a lot of the time. And it doesn't really matter if you're in prison or in school. So this fluorescent light, this overarchingness.

of, you know, America, it's pervasive no matter where you're from or what side of society you're on. There was an ancient song. There was an ancient song. Now something isn't right. Now we live in Florida and light. Look, you know, usually at this point in the show, the co-host and I will talk about different records. Yeah. But I'm also going to talk, I'm also going to pick from the Haley Hendrix and Max Garcia a Conover record. And I did talk about it in the segment. This morning I am born again is a song I'm going to come back to again and again. This feels like a direct spiritual descendant of a lot of the music that I heard in my house growing up. And so it was very, very powerful for me. I kind of had a ratatouille moment, you know, when like the food critic, you know,

bites into the ratatouille and suddenly he's a child again. I had a little bit of that experience listening to this song. I've seen pasture after pasture. in the fragments in the air I've seen bodies flown and bodies thrown and bodies shown such care I've gathered up my own in there we're still so many there

asking who is making up these That is our show for this week Thank you so much Justice Sanchez For taking time out of your week at KNKX In Seattle and Tacoma Yes indeed my pleasure. Stephen, thanks for having me on the show. This has been a super fun time.

It has been great to have you. Look forward to having you back. 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 edited by Otis Hart. The executive producer of NPR music is Soraya Mohammed.

We'll be back next week to discuss new Black Friday Record Store Day releases. Until then, take a moment to be well, make a plan for Records Store Day it's next weekend and treat yourself to lots of great music. There's all the emptiness against us.