New Music Friday: 10/10/25

"Lover," Richard Ashcroft
I didn't even know Richard Ashcroft was still making music, and I suspect to some, this song will sound like it's trying too hard to achieve middle-aged anthem and/or Jeep commercial status, but fuck it — I'm middle-aged and I love a good anthem, and "Lover" hits me like the work of an artist who's long since figured out what his strengths and weaknesses are. Insubstantial, but catchy and mildly stirring in its own way.

"Back of My Hand," the Belair Lip Bombs
These kids are new to me, but it sounds like they've spent a long time listening to records that were all over college radio before I was old enough to be admitted. This is a spin on the type of mini-review I've offered countless songs in this space, which continues to strike me as fairly ironic, given that I wouldn't have given the aforementioned records the time of day when they were popular. Nostalgia is a funny thing; more importantly, "Back of My Hand" is fun and catchy.

"Feel Something," Madi Diaz
On one hand, this is fairly standard singer-songwriter post-breakup stuff. On the other hand, anyone who writes about a breakup with lines like "I wanna be someone / Who doesn't know your middle name" deserves to be celebrated as a poet, so we're doing that here.

"Eternal," Eydís Evensen
Eydís Evensen is an Icelandic pianist whose compositions have been described as "deeply emotive soundscapes," and while I haven't had the opportunity to listen to all of her new record, based on the limited amount I have heard, I'd have to agree. "Eternal" sounds like frost on a windshield on a cloudless early morning — bracing and strikingly lovely.

"Keep Me in the Dark," Flock of Dimes
I don't necessarily expect others to hear what I hear here, but I'm going to say I hear it anyway: "Keep Me in the Dark" sounds almost like a Christine McVie-led demo track from Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac. If that sounds like something less than an endorsement, I assure you it is.

"Man in His Pomp," Yves Jarvis
Speaking of the Mac, there's some subtly tasty guitar work happening throughout "Man in His Pomp," which serves as Jarvis' return to action after winning a Polaris Prize. Nothing terribly exotic going on here — just hooky, cleanly recorded pop-rock that lingers after the final chords fade. What else do you want?

"Orchestra," Labrinth
I've had my ups and downs with Labrinth, but when he's on, he's really on, and "Orchestra" is one of his best works. The song's about his ongoing efforts to maintain his mental health, which puts me in an awkward position — is it wrong to want more like this when you know it comes from a place of struggle? Thanks a lot, Labrinth. Well, like he says in the song, no use crying over spilled milk; and really, a song that blends this many components so effortlessly — dance beat, orchestral instrumentation, operatic choir — only deserves celebration. One of my favorite singles of the year.

"Don't Remind Me," Amber Mark featuring Anderson .Paak
The 17-year-old and I have a running joke about how often Anderson .Paak shows up on Spotify's New Music Friday playlist in some way, shape, or form. His relentlessly prolific nature is funny in a good way — I chuckle every time I see his name, but I'm always confident I'll enjoy what I'm about to hear. That's definitely the case here; I've enjoyed Amber Mark's smooth R&B stylings before, and "Don't Remind Me" has a classic throwback feel that's only elevated by .Paak's vocals. Try shaking this one out of your head after it's done.

"Feel Good," Maygen & the Birdwatcher
I'm struggling with this one, because while I think it does what it does very well, what it does is also pretty goddamn corny. I guess I'm including it anyway because a little bit of corn never hurt anyone, and if you're the type of listener who has a soft spot for kinda folky, kinda country, kinda pop songs about how nice it is to come back home after some time away, this will lift your spirits even if it makes you roll your eyes a little while it's lifting them.

"You're No Man," NoSo
I think a lot about how little the sound of mainstream pop has really changed since the '80s. There were sea changes in technology from the '50s through the '80s, but since, it's really been a matter of tweaking and refining our ability to make whatever noises we want with increasingly portable and affordable gadgetry. I bring this up because describing NoSo's sound is difficult without lapsing back into a lot of the same reference points and phrases I've used in this space before. His lyrical perspective is far less standard, however, and listening to "You're No Man" made me think about how, even if we seem to be in a multi-generational rut in some ways, we're still advancing and welcoming fresh voices in others.

"Die on This Hill," Sienna Spiro
We're apparently in the midst of some sort of bumper crop of young British singers with soulful, skyscraper-sized voices — just a few weeks after Lola Young released her latest record, here comes Sienna Spiro. "Die on This Hill" is a lot more traditionally pretty than a lot of Young's stuff, but in numerous ways, it's cut from the same classic cloth. To put it another way: Spiro's the type of singer you can easily picture recording a sweeping ballad that people think of as a standard 50 years from now. I don't think it'll be "Die on This Hill," but she might not be far off.

"Be Right Down," the Telephone Numbers
We close out this week with our latest evidence that harmony-soaked jingle-jangle power pop remains alive and well. The Telephone Numbers are from the Bay Area, which makes me worry for them — it's expensive to live out there, and this type of music has never sold worth a damn, so I hope they're able to keep making music this sparklingly entertaining, to say nothing of feeding themselves. In the meantime, please join me in enjoying the hell out of "Be Right Down."