New Music Friday: 4/3/26

"Beams," Arlo Parks
I can't shake the feeling that "Beams" lifted the rhythm program from Primitive Radio Gods' "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand," and that is a troubling feeling indeed. Consider it extra-high praise, then, when I say Arlo Parks' soothing voice and the song's hopeful melody are more than enough to keep me from getting too (cough) downhearted about it.

"Night at the Opera," Emei
This song is ridiculous, but in a fitting and purely intentional way. I don't know how much of this I could take — I suspect an entire album of it would be kind of tiresome — but taken purely on its own merits, "Night at the Opera" is a fun kiss-off with just enough theater-kid energy to amuse. Freddie Mercury might have been flattered.

"Time," Sofia D'Angelo
We've all heard plenty of songs about embracing the here and now, and I'm not sure Sofia D'Angelo is adding anything all that original to the pile with "Time." That being said, this is one extremely easy-to-enjoy pop song; I really like the balance the production strikes between Top 40 pop and guitar-driven rock, and D'Angelo is an extremely appealing singer.

"SpiceKick," Magi Merlin
Magi Merlin describes her sound as "broken R&B," which I'm totally willing to roll with even though I'm firmly of the belief that [Abe Simpson voice] we have too many goddamn genres now. "SpiceKick" is a delightfully off-kilter manifesto, a song that tells the world to go fuck itself even though the song itself is kinda fundamentally fucked. "I wanted to open the project with something loud, flashy, and seemingly arrogant," she's said of the song, which comes from her upcoming POWER HOUSE album. "The track, though, is a kind of façade. I’ve felt as confident as 'SpiceKick' sounds, but that feeling can’t last forever, perhaps it shouldn't. Sometimes arrogance becomes a cover for fear and inadequacy. The mask slips at the end when I tell the listener to save themselves from me. 'SpiceKick' is an ode to ego and self-confidence, something that can curdle into self-loathing if left unchecked."

"Misery," Alex Sampson
There's more than a little bit of a "but we have Harry Styles at home" vibe to this track, but lack of originality isn't a crime, especially if you're able to add something enjoyable to a musical conversation someone else started. Alex Sampson's "Misery" checks that box for me — this is a well-written, well-produced song, with a hook catchy enough to reverberate after the closing chords fade.

"Dangerous Lover," Sekou
In that same vein, here's Sekou's "Dangerous Lover," which dances down some extremely well-trod territory with skill, confidence, and a splash of genuine style. If you, like me, have ever found yourself wishing you could somehow live inside Quincy Jones' The Dude LP, you'll find a lot to enjoy here. It doesn't quite live up to that description, but it comes a lot closer than most that are audibly trying to.

"Glory Black," sunn O)))
If you've listened to any sunn O))) before, then "Glory Black" will hold few surprises for you. This is a feature and not a bug where this band is concerned; we tune into these guys in order to get lost in drone metal soundscapes that have been crafted with intelligence and attention to detail, and this song — the nearly 11-minute first "single" from the band's new self-titled LP delivers everything you're looking for on that front.

"Aukkauti," Beatrice Deer
An absolutely entrancing blend of traditional Inuit singing and English-language vocals, Beatrice Deer's "Aukkauti" is inspired by a late 19th century tragedy, but you don't need to know anything about the song's background in order to love everything you hear. People often ask me why I spend so much time and energy sifting through the new releases every week. Songs like this are the answer — the opportunity to hear the musical ingredients we all share, used in thrillingly unfamiliar ways.

"Tombstone," The Droptines
Going into this week, there were definitely albums on the new release list that I was eager to check out. The Droptines' Drought Flower wasn't on that list, but after hearing "Tombstone," my tune has changed; the group's vaguely Old 97s-adjacent brand of well-worn, country-flavored singer-songwriter rock 'n' roll represents the acme of this type of thing when it's done right, and I will definitely be listening to the rest of this album far sooner than later.

"Sliver of Time," Bruce Hornsby
I have nothing but respect for the creative decisions Bruce Hornsby has made over the course of his 40-year recording career, and that goes at least double for the decades since he stopped chasing the Top 40 brass ring and decided to just do whatever the hell he felt like doing. That respect doesn't mean I always enjoy listening to the results of Hornsby's decisions, and in all honesty, my ROI on his records has dropped a little in recent years. His latest, the just-released Indigo Park, strikes me as a bit spotty after my first pass, but it does contain a handful of gems, and "Sliver of Time" is one of the brightest.