NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out Sept. 18

Episode Date: September 18, 2026

Beck. Carly Rae Jepsen. Beabadoobee. Host Stephen Thompson breaks down the best albums out Friday, Sept. 18 with DJs from around the NPR Music network: Robert Moore from 90.9 The Bridge in Kansas City, Amelia Mason from WBUR in Boston, and Brian Burns from WUNC in Chapel Hill. Plus, a handful of of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.The Starting 5(01:01) Album No. 1- Beck, 'Ride Lonesome'(07:10) Album No. 2- beabadoobee, 'Pylon'(13:01) Album No.3- Carly Rae Jepsen, 'Day and Night'(21:32) Album No. 4- Tove Lo, 'ESTRUS'(28:22) Album No. 5- Rhiannon Giddens, 'Hope is the Thing with Feathers'(34:18) The Lightning Round- Jake Xerxes Fussell, 'The Old Beloved Path'- Jóhann Jóhannsson & Adam Wiltzie, 'Friendship Survival Guide'- YENDRY, 'Como agua'- Krallice, 'Scour Order'- Son Lux, 'Out Into'Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.orgCredits:Host: Stephen ThompsonGuests: Robert Moore, Amelia Mason, Brian BurnsAudio Producer: Noah CaldwellDigital Producer: Dora LeviteEditors: Elle Mannion, Otis HartExecutive Producer: Suraya MohamedSpecial thanks to Anamaria Sayre, Lars Gotrich and Robin HiltonSupport public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See 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. Each week we talk about the best albums out this week with members of the NPR Music Network. Today, we are talking about new records from Beck, Bidoobee, Carly Ray Jepson, and Moore. But first, I want to welcome Robert Moore from Sonic Spectrum on Kansas City's 90.9 The Bridge. Back to the show, Robert, how are things in Kansas City? Ah, they're great. The Chiefs won their opener, so the City's happy. Yeah, boy, I really expected that team to circle the drain for longer than they did, and I'm a little resentful. Yeah. It's good to see Mahomes back. It is. It is. Good for you. It's good for you. It's good that Kansas City Chiefs fans can finally get some good news. Right. It's been a while. It's been like a year or so.

All right, well, let's kick off our discussion round new album from Beck. Beck's new album is called Ride Lonesome. So Beck, for the none of you who don't know years now, he has trafficked in everything from kind of lo-fi folk to glossy funk, two kind of stately, beautiful orchestral ballads. And this new album, Ride Lonesome, it's his 15th record. It's firmly in the camp of like Beck in this kind of ruminative and extremely orchestral space. Songs that really unfold deliberately and slowly, he's surrounded by strings, these deep, rich, beautiful arrangements in songs that reflect on a lot of loss. This is a

sad record, but it's also a very, very beautiful record. I initially, honestly, was hesitant when asked to talk about the album because, I mean, I'm a fan, but I would never have considered myself a massive fan. The last album that really blew me away was C-Change, like, you know, many others. And I think Morning Phase tried to recapture that feel, but didn't quite do so, in my opinion, but upon hearing Ride Lonesome for the first time, honestly, I was speechless at first. I think it's his best in C-Change, and it may even surpass it for me at some point. Wow, yeah. I mean, as you kind of alluded to, this record is very much in the spirit of the kind of subgenre of Beck music. I sometimes call Beck and Repose. You know, this kind of extremely kind of languorous, thoughtful music. And I'm really glad that he kind of is returning to this really stately sound. Because as you said, this has some of his best music in ages.

I mean, he's always been a great songwriter. no matter what genre he's playing with. But I think, you know, bringing back the band from Sea Change and Morning Phase, as well as returning to United Studios, just that sound in that room. I mean, it really just comes across. It's just a beautiful recording. And for me, the secret weapon on this recording, honestly, is his father's string arrangements. Yeah, Beck's father, David Campbell, is a very, very veteran film composer. And I love the way that he is able to kind of marry contemporary.

contemporary classical music to folk music. And some of these songs really still feel like folk songs, even as the strings are swelling behind them. You know, a song like Slow Canyon feels like fully folkcastral. It's interesting, Robert, my colleague Otis Hart, when he was kind of presenting me with a list of the records that were coming out this week, he mentioned, back is 56 years old. He's the exact age that Bob Dylan was when time out of mind came out. And, like, I still think of Beck as, like, such a youthful and playful and kind of constantly surprising and self-reinventing figure. But, you know, he's, like, deep into midlife and making music that reflects that. Yeah, and I think, you know, a lot of the lyrics on this record definitely reflect that.

And somewhat, I think he's showing some acceptance of it, but also some remorse, you know, about aging as well as, you know, the heartbreak that he's gone through with the divorce. Yeah, I mean, this definitely feels in some ways like a divorced record, you know, back, you know, split from his, from his long-time wife in 2019, finalized in 2021. And I feel like thematically, that definitely, that kind of mournful quality runs through these songs. But I didn't necessarily find it unrelentingly bleak. There are still these traces of energy and velocity that, you know, that kind of come through in different ways. The song, It Ends Right Here, is maybe my favorite song on this record, in part because as orchestral and beautiful as it is, it also has energy and intensity and even grit.

You mentioned this album really isn't just bleak or sad, and I think that is the difference between this and sea change. I think it comes a lot with aging that he knows life will go on, despite this pain, despite what he's going through, that there is a theme of hope at the end of the tunnel, I think, in a lot of these songs. Yeah, 15 albums into his career, he's still making gorgeous, gorgeous music. What a career. That is Beck.

His new album is called Ride Lonesome. Next up, something pretty different. Be Bidubi is back with a new album. It's called Pylon. So Bidubi has been kind of the next big thing for a few years now. She's really been blowing up in recent years. Pylon is her fourth album. And it finds her, you know, kind of fully occupying this space between kind of sunny, sugary pop and big, chunky 90s-style rock.

Right. And the bridge here is playing the sun is set in rotation currently. So we are on that record. I think one of the things is most impressive about her is that she's released four full-length albums at only 26 years old. Yeah, and she's already been a really prolific collaborator. She's somebody who turns up as a guest on other people songs. She's been very prolific as a touring artist. And if you, I always say, like, if you want to get a sense of who the next big pop stars are, just look to the opening acts on major pop stars tours. Bidubi has opened for the 1975. She's open for Olivia Rodriguez. She was an opener on Taylor Swift's Erez tour. She is extremely well connected in the industry and extremely adept at kind of being a part of the mainstream musical conversation. One thing that I really

love about this record is that, you know, as much as she's this kind of budding pop star, she's also a budding rock star. And a lot of these songs have this kind of chunky and themic quality that I really appreciate. You know, the collaborators on this record include Haley Williams from Paramore, who is a clear, you can draw a clear line from Haley Williams to a lot of contemporary pop stars like Olivia Rodriguez and Bidubi. And like Brandon Yates from Turnstile. And let's not forget Chino from Death Tones. Yeah.

It was a surprise appearance as well. Yeah. And I think that combination of kind of pop instincts and rock execution works really, really well for her. And you take a song like estranged. It's a sleek pop song, but it's got that kind of 90s influenced kind of quiet, loud, quiet, big, shimmery rock choruses. you get a sense that she's tapping into like a lot of pop and rock and alternative music of the last 35 years.

For me, the track that stands out, I think it's their strongest vocal performance is the opening track, Pylon. Yeah, Pylon and Sun has set both have that kind of chunky anthemic quality that is going to kill in big rooms. I also wanted to mention the song Switchplay. which is a little bit lower, a little grungier. And, like, her vocal is this kind of leavening agent. And, you know, if we're going to throw out 90s signifiers, like, her vocal kind of reminded me a little bit of like veruca salt. But the arrangement was pure Stone Temple Pilots.

And I love the way that she's able, kind of like an Olivia Rodriguez, she is able to pull from the past to the present, everywhere in between, and still come up with something that feels very contemporary. Feeling upset. That is Bebadooby. Her new album is called Pylon. Robert Moore, thank you so much for joining us today. It was an honor to be here. Thank you.

Oh, it's always a pleasure to have you. We will be back after a short break to talk with Amelia Mason of WBUR about new pop records from Carly Ray Jepson and Tuvalu. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson. Next up, Amelia Mason from WBUR is here to chat about a conference. couple more terrific albums out today. We're going big, big pop here. Carly Ray Jepson is back with a super-sized new album called Day and Night. Also, hi, Amelia. Hello. So Carly Ray Jepson, Canadian singer-songwriter, she's been a reliable source of

irresistible, breezy pop for nearly a decade and a half. This is her eight-year-old. album, it's tricky to even count her records because her albums have become so supersized that each one of the last few has spawned a sequel. But we're going to say it's her eighth album and this one is double-sized. It's called day and night. There is a full-length day half. There is a full-length night half. And thematically, the songs are engineered, as you might guess, one to be played during the day and one to be played at night. But it's Carly Ray Jepson and she still finds joy at any time of day. It's really interesting that you point out

that each of her past albums, or many of them, have spawned more things. Like emotion, which was her big breakout in 2015, has like emotion side B. Dedicated has that. Yeah, it seems like she has too many songs. So I, well, when I was listening to this one, which is a double album, I was like,

look, she's clearly she's leaning into it. She's decided not to limit herself with sort of standard length album and just go for it. And I'm here to say it works really well. I think it's actually very focused and sharp despite being 24 tracks long. The first half of that is day. And the production in that part of the album is like warm and breezy and a little more just like pop and and sort of, I don't know, dreamy. I have in my notes, the first half is floppy sun hat music. Oh, that does feel like almost an insult.

It's not. It's not. No, there's nothing wrong with a floppy sun hat. It's true. It's just, it's songs that are breezy. They are what our colleague, Lars Gottrich, might call Rose A Wave. You know, just like gorgeous, slightly loungy, dreamy songs. A song like Habits of Creatures, you know,

has this like, the quality is like bedroom disco. Yeah. And I think she wears bedroom disco really, really well. Thank twice if you're still breathing I was thinking we could shower We could catch that one Yeah another song I wanted to bring up was Versailles

Which comes maybe right after that song Which is really I would say Okay I was thinking about it And I was like maybe I'm overthinking this But I feel like it sort of offers a meta narrative Of her music Which is that like The emotional tenor that so many of her songs live in

Is this yearning space But Versailles is sort of like about It's about yearning, but it's also about like yearning for yearning. It's about wanting to feel the feelings like that. She's got, you know, this line, I want to be good, I want to be bad, I want to have fun, I want to feel desperate. It's this wanting to have the feeling as much as having the feeling. But what's cool about this song, the verses, they feel like they're building up to some huge chorus

that you're getting ready for. It's this rushy feeling and it has like a clubby bass line and this really cool piano sample. But then instead she gets to the chorus and it just sort of like switches to a slower tempo. It's a little more grounded. You never actually get the release, which I think works really well for a song that's yearning about yearning. Well, and it really speaks to like, man, she was born to write songs. Right? Like, she is clearly somebody who spends a lot of time in her head and thinks a lot about writing songs and thinks a lot about her own emotions and our own feelings. And, you know, it could have been so easy for this record to map kind of perfectly over Carly Ray Jepson's own life.

She fairly recently got married. She's had a baby. This could have been a totally bucolic journey through the life of somebody where, you know, who's hitting all these wonderful life milestones and feeling it. But like, it's still capturing this huge range of emotions. There's still loads of melancholy. There are still loads of feelings because no matter what is going on in your life, it's going to be a cocktail of good and bad. And I think she really understands that. And Amelia, you know, we've been talking about these day songs,

but then there's this whole night album. And I had kind of, for whatever reason, when I saw the concept of the record and the title of the record, For whatever reason, I pictured that Knight would be more brooding. Right. You know, that it would be more like the Beck record that we played earlier where it's like, this is Carly Ray, you know, in sadness mode. But a lot of these are like club bangers.

There's a real throb to them. Yeah. I mean, one of the things I thought a lot about, especially when I got to the Knight section, was her fan base, which is very queer. A lot of gay men love her too and queer people of, of all types, myself included, and I could picture exactly where these songs might be played and remixed. And I think she writes them too very self-consciously in a way that can be flexible for people

to grab onto and make it their own. You know, she's got a few choice lines that I could just see how they could be repurposed to describe a queer experience. You know, there's a song, motivation. Yeah. We go hard in this family, which is, in her press materials, has said, you know, it's actually about her family and the very complicated relationship she has with them. But the chorus of that song, it made me think of we are family.

You know, it made me think of the way, like, chosen family can be, it could be an anthem for chosen family. And, of course, the production on night just sounds like a club. And I could imagine it being a gay club. And I can just imagine, I mean, I can just see it in my mind's eye where some of these songs might be played. Well, I think we can agree Carly Ray Jepson Rules. And we love this album.

She's awesome. Her new album is called Day and Night. Next up, a personal major favorite of mine, Tuvalu. Tuvalu is back. Her new album is called Estris. So Tuvalu, first of all, her name is spelled like Tovlo. is pronounced Tuvalu. She sells t-shirts that say like Vulevoo, Scooby-Doo, Tuvalu, to give people, you know, tips on how to pronounce her name. Swedish pop singer broke through in a big way with a string of pop hits like habits and talking body and is kind of settled in as a super reliable, just like pop ace. You know, she put out a record in 2022, Amelia, that is straight up one of my favorite albums of the decade.

And I feel sometimes like I'm the only person who loves this record as much as I do. This record was called Dirt Femm. And it's this incredible collection of pop songs about just like making your way through the world and finding happiness, but constantly feeling ambivalent about it. And I just think she's such a cool and fun and interesting kind of bawdy, dirty pop star. And, you know, this record, it's called Estrus. Estrus is kind of referring to like an animal in heat. which gives you some sense of the vibe here, but as always with Tuvalu,

there are layers and layers kind of beyond that. Yeah, I'll be honest. I had lost track of her. Ooh, dirt fam, dude. Dirtfam is the best. Now I have to go listen to it, darn. But I'd been, you know, familiar with those hits that you mentioned earlier

that were just sort of breakout. And it was what a pleasure to come back and discover how much she has evolved and deepened her songwriting. and made such interesting pop songs. This album, I felt like there are a few tracks where I was like, oh, the tone is petty. And it's fun.

You know, I'm thinking specifically of DNH, which is a song directed at her best friend who's being messy. She's just being messy. It sounds like, I mean, literally the lyrics just feel like a kind of slightly unhinged text you'd send to a dear friend that you're just like, dude, what are you doing? One of several acronyms here, in this case it means drunken horny. Oh, yeah. I guess I didn't realize that.

Well, it's a very Tuvalu approach, right? These are songs about, you know, constantly being aware of how chaotic you are. And, like, still also, you know, trying to hit these kind of benchmarks of adulthood and, you know, kind of meet, you know, societal standards. But, you know, you're in your own skin and you're like, I'm not doing that. I'm so messy. It was really fun of bed Taking the shots

Everyone that You're drunk at home Why are you causing a scene? It was really fun also to Listen to this album And be taking notes on it After reviewing And listening to

And embedding myself In the Carly Ray Jepson album Because I think they're really In dialogue You know, they're close in age And they've both settled down Rather recently And had written a lot about

Heartbreak And sort of the ambivalence of love And the torture of love And the euphoria of love And now they're finding themselves in committed relationships. And I think this album, Estress, Tuvalu, is not, you know, she's still complicated, and she's still exploring her commitment in an interesting way in her songs. She's still kind of yearning for the club and living in that space, but also growing older.

And I do think that she is writing really interesting songs as a result. She is. And I also want to call out one of the singles from this record is called De Fleur, which is a collaboration with the Belgian singer Stromai, who is incredible in his own right. And this song, to me, like, doesn't just bring Stromi in to just, like, sing a verse, right? It feels like a true collaboration. It feels like one of his songs and like one of her songs. And it's just a reminder, first of all, of what a brilliant kind of collaborator she is,

but also just how versatile her sound is, where this song fits pretty, seamlessly on this record while totally pivoting to the style of another artist. Like, she's a chameleon in the best way. The flowers, de pleur, the fleur, always, I want to get to get these flowers,

but I'm not the peer of Ammands. D'yeur If I'm I'm just that I'm a flore, I would'

I'd like that a good moment. It's just that you may the form a bit all the time, you know that I'm that I'm

but you know is that they're turn norm, it's all right it's not very old, but I'm just This album is very fun, and I also enjoy that the production is sort of dark and a little bit edgy.

Like, it feels like it really rides this nice edge between being a bit dramatic and depressive and also a little bit like not taking yourself too seriously, I guess. All right, Tuvalu, her new album is called Estris. Thank you for being on the show, Amelia. Thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure. Always a joy to have you. We've got another quick break, and then we'll be talking about a new album from Riannon Giddens plus five lightning round picks. Welcome back to the show. Brian Burns of WUNC in North Carolina is here. Hey, Brian. Hey, Stephen. Thanks for having me back. All right. For our last discussion round album today, we've got a new one from Riannon Giddens.

Rianan Giddens' new album is called Hope is the Thing with Feathers. Hope is the thing with feathers. in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops it all and never stops at all the sweetest in the gay lizard it's all must be the storm that could have bashed the little bird they kept so many warm they kept so many warm hope is the thing with feathers perches in the soul sings the tune without the little bird that keeps so many warm they keep so many warm hope is the thing with feathers Perches in the soul sings the tune without the words It never stops at all

It never stops at all I've heard it in the chillest land On the stranger sea It never in extremity It has to crumb up me It has to come up me Where to start with Rianning Geddon She is a two-time

Grammy award-winning singer Multi-instrumentalist MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Pulitzer Prize winner. Pulitzer Prize winner. She does operas, ballets, composers. Recently, she worked on the center soundtrack. She worked on Cowboy Carter. She's just one of the greatest. She really is, and it's wild for somebody that versatile to be this consistent. And like that, like, it's not just that she's like this polymath or dilettante, you know, who can, like, dip her toes into 50 different pools and, like, sound competent.

She manages to dip her toe into 50 different pools and sound like, genius, which is kind of shocking and really appalling. It's offensive. Yeah, it is. I'm offended. I would like one of her talents. Absolutely, yeah. I was thinking earlier she probably gets more done before breakfast than most of us do in a month.

Yeah, seriously. Well, and this record, this is her seventh solo record. You know, obviously she's been in groups like Carolina Chocolate Drops, our native daughters. She's worked with all these different artists. And here, this is a solo record where she's. She brings in a lot of familiar collaborators, but it's still just like working on this fertile ground, you know, where like banjo-driven kind of old-time folk music meets country and soul and blues. A lot of like, you know, kind of traditional songs here, you know, covers of, you know, people like Elizabeth Cotton. You're getting what feels like the full Rian and Giddens experience in just this tidy 10-song package.

I couldn't get enough of it. Yeah, she's been describing this record as a celebration of her 20 years as one of the leading people in Americana music. The first Carolina Chocolate Drops record came out in 2006, which is hard to believe. But this record really does feel like a celebration, and it has so many guests that have been her collaborators over the year. It's a really joyful record. It is. And, like, at the same time, you know, there's still a fair bit of variance from song to song. You know, you have, you know, something like Angel Fire Rise, you know, which opens.

opens the record, and it feels like this kind of somebody dusted off, some magnificent field recording. But then you'll have, you know, songs like Carolina Rain, you know, which is a little bit more of a straight ahead folk pop song. It still feels timeless, but it feels more, more contemporary. And I love the way that all these styles, you know, she's certainly the glue that holds. them together, but she's able to bring in music that feels like it's somehow centuries old and kind of sit it alongside music that feels current. Let's go down the Meventown where the flatlands start to rise. Cut a stonger that sweet sorghum cave.

Listen to the whippoorwills and watch the fire wash ourselves and That song in particular just has a really good message to it. In the liner notes, she writes a little bit about each of the tracks. And for that one, it just says, money isn't everything. That's all. And I think that really sums it up. Yeah, and these songs are beautifully arranged. You know, you take high on a mountain, which is a cover of a song by Olabelle Reed.

And the way the song is arranged, it's kind of bookended by these acapella vocals. And then, you know, in the middle, you have this, like, banjo and strings. It's, you know, it's so beautiful and so warm, and you can just, like, wear it. Like, you can just, like, wrap it around you, like, an old blanket. But then you, like, when you start to tap in, like, her vocal is really hitting hard. As my memory turned, oh, how my heart did you earn for you when the days that used to be here. That's a song that has been around for a really long time. by lots of people, mostly in the bluegrass world, but Riannon's version is just top shelf.

It's a really beautiful tribute to a fellow North Carolinaian. What a gift. Rianan Giddens, her new album is called Hope is the Thing with Feathers. Now, Brian, every week I say this, and every week it's true, there are too many records out to fit into one podcast. So we do a lightning round of some of our other favorite songs with the help of some members of the NPR music team. Brian, why don't you kick us off? My pick this week is from Jake Xerxes Fussell. The new record is called the Old Beloved Path.

Much like Rianan Giddens, Jake Fussell is a folk musician who interprets traditional tunes in his own unique way and brings new life to songs that are often more than 100 years old. That's exactly what he does on this new record, which is his second or least for the Mississippi-based Fat Possum. Cabbage in the garden, rabbit on the run. Throw your arms around me like the grapevine. Once again, that's Jake, Xerxes Fussel.

The new record is called The Old Beloved Path. Nice. Thanks, Brian. I'll go next. Two of my favorite artists of the 21st century are Johann Johansson, the wonderful kind of sadly no longer with us, Icelandic composer. He did a lot of film scores. He made a lot of experimental, beautiful, ambient music. He made a bunch of recordings during his lifetime with Adam Wiltsy.

Adam Wilty has been one half of Stars of the Lid, which is one of the best ambient artists ever. He also, Adam Wilty has a project called A Winged Victory for the Sullen that I just love. But this record together is kind of compiling a bunch of the music that they made together. Kind of in the spirit of film scores, you can hear the influence of people like Max Richter in these recordings. It's just beautiful, head-filling, enveloping. enveloping instrumental music. Put it on on Sunday morning while you're sipping your tea

and staring into the middle distance. It's a beautiful record. That's Adam Wiltsy and Johann Johansson. It's called Friendship Survival Guide. Let's go to Anna Maria Sayer. Anna, what's your pick? Ooh, my turn? Okay, y'all.

I'm very excited about this pick. This is the debut album, highly anticipated, I might add, debut album of Dominican Italian singer Yendri. Now, Yandri started releasing music a number of years ago and created a lot of buzz for having this really beautiful voice and creative production. And more than that, this sound that just really naturally blended, like I mentioned, this Dominican and Italian and now L.A. world that she lives in. And this album

really just takes it to that next level. She includes Baceta. She sings a ballad in an Italian. I mean, she does so many things across the map that so many artists, especially in Latin America are trying to do today and she just does it by being herself. And really, she captured her essence, her mix, all of the things that she is and will become eventually into this debut record. It's really beautiful. You got to check it out. That's Yendri and her album is called Como Aua.

Thank you, Anna Maria Sayer. Lars Gottrich, I have a feeling this is going to be a left turn. What do you got? Well, I have been accused by the NPR music team and the world at large of having Lars bands. I don't really know what that means, because I am a man of many tastes. I am known to love Carly Rich Epson and Thou in equal measure. Absolutely. However, if there is ever an extremely large band, it's Crowellus.

The New York band works at the edges of metal and the avant-garde, and their new album is called Scour Order. It's their 16th album in 19 years. And it forwards their mission to make music the likes of which have never been heard. Phrenetic riff counterpoint, impossible drum patterns, all manners of growling and screaming. But with this album, I actually found myself quite emotional at times listening to it. There's not a new sensation with this band. It's just never felt this powerful and wondrous before.

I really love it. That's the album Scour Orr. by Krales. Nice. Thank you, Lars. Gotrich, I can't believe that I have to appear. Contractually, I'm not supposed to appear on shows with Robin Hilton, my sworn enemy. Imagine how I feel. Yeah, this is rough on both of us, but Robin, why don't you send us off?

Well, Stephen, I have a little band that you haven't really heard me talk much about over the years, one called Sun Lux. I'm not sure if you're familiar with Sunlux. Have you ever mentioned this band on NPR before, Robin? An actual obsession of mine for nearly 20 years now, I think. This is the trio of singer and frontman Ryan Locke, guitarist Rafiq Badiah and drummer Ian Chang. I think three of the most talented,

most imaginative and original artists making music now. A lot of people may know Sunlux from their film scores. They were nominated for a couple of Oscars for everything everywhere all at once. and then they entered the Marvel universe, got themselves some Marvel money with the score for Thunderbolts. But they've continued to put out just other regular non-score projects, including this new album that they have out now. It's called Out Into. They have always made music that I think is not entirely like anything else out there.

It's wildly inventive, next-level production, full love and built on these sounds that you can't quite place. and out into is no exception. It is the very definition of a headphones album. If you just want to get lost in all of the amazing sounds and stuff happening on this record, there's plenty of that. There is a profound feeling of love and hope at the heart of these songs, and I think the message that they drive home over and over again

is don't give in, don't give up, and we will find a way we'll get there together. The album again from Sunlux is called, out in two. Thank you, Robin Hilton. That is our show for this week. If you enjoyed this week's show, we always appreciate a positive review

on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you're listening to right now. This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell and El Manion and edited by Otis Hart. Our production assistant is Dora Levitt. The executive producer of NPR music is Saraya Mohamed. We'll be back next week to talk about new music from Blond Shell, Julia, Jacqueline, Leon Bridges and more

with some other. terrific members of the NPR Network. Until then, take a moment to be well. Don't forget to register to vote and or confirm that your registration is still active and treat yourself to lots of great music.