New Music Friday: 8/29/25

Time to switch this series up!

It started out as a way for me to share my weekly journey through a 100-song playlist that's always felt to me like a lot of chaff and a handful of wheat, but as time's gone on, a couple of things have happened. One, Spotify has become — for a variety of reasons — a distinctly less appealing listening destination, and I've grown increasingly conflicted about making it the sole focus of the column; two, relying on that single playlist has prevented me from taking a more holistic approach to offering weekly new music recommendations, which is really a more useful thing to do than subjecting myself to an endurance test and expecting you all to ride along.

So what I'm going to do now is what I should have done all along: Rather than focusing on Spotify's New Music Friday picks and filtering down from there, I'm going to run through the list of new releases helpfully assembled by our pals at Pause & Play, along with a handful of other sources, and offer up a collection of the things I was happiest to hear. And with that, away we go:

"Outbound," After
I'm tossing this one in the pile while thinking of Friend of Jefitoblog Ted Asregadoo, who was a big Michelle Branch fan in the early aughts and will, I imagine, be quite pleased to know that her style of music is now old enough to boomerang back around again. Setting aside the fact that "Outbound" sounds a lot like a trip to Forever 21, I'd have a hard time arguing against the rock-solid songcraft that went into its creation.

"Dream of You," Amaria
I'm throwing this one on the pile because holy FUCK do those horns sound like something I might have heard on an Earth, Wind & Fire ballad in the early '80s, and I am decidedly Not Mad About That. In many respects, this is a pretty ordinary R&B babymaker, but every time I hear that brass in the intro, I smile all over again. The heart wants what it wants.

"Feather on a Glass," Asymmetric Universe
The "Feather on a Glass" video makes it abundantly clear that Asymmetric Universe is made up of showoff assholes who play with way too many strings on their instruments, but if you can get past all that, this song is a really cool combination of aggravating muso tendencies and impressive melodic chops. If we were still living in the '80s, you'd give them four albums before they all turned into Sting and stopped being interesting, but we are no longer living in the '80s, and I look forward to many albums of muscular yet smoothly catchy instrumental workouts. Thumbs (and devil horns) way up.

"SUPAFLEE," Joey Bada$$ featuring Bri Steves
I am old and white, so I don't know shit about Joey Bada$$ or Bri Steves. I do know that this track is supposed to be one of the more radio-friendly cuts from Joey's latest record, and I can't argue with that; while I can't pretend to have paid close enough attention to tell you what this song is even about, that isn't necessary in order to appreciate the way Mr. Bada$$'s flow intersects with Bri Steves', and the way the naggingly insistent production supports both of them.

"Sideways," Balu Brigada
The 17-year-old gives an immediate and aggressive thumbs down to this track, and I'm not sure why — it strikes me as a perfectly innocuous, mildly catchy, and gently anthemic pop song. I demand your vote to determine who is wrong and who is right.

"Touch Myself," the Beaches
Lots of people I know seem to be going apeshit over the new Beaches record this week. I'm not sure I'm that into the wares this band is peddling, but when it comes to this particular track, I also can't argue against the surging synth-pop goodness on offer. Mildly '80s, but not overtly so. "I wish it was a little noisier, but that's just because I like Alvvways," says the 17-year-old.

"No Joy," the Beths
You want noisier? Well, here you go. "No Joy" is an Elastica-indebted slice of angular, caffeinated pop-punk/punk-pop that would sound equally at home on the Top 40 or in the opening credits of the type of wacky twentysomething sitcom nobody's making anymore. Well, everything is cyclical; give it ten years, and maybe this'll be the real theme song to a real show. "It reminds me of dodie if she tried to get too cute," says the disdainful 17-year-old.

"Mind Loaded," Blood Orange featuring Caroline Polacheck, Lorde, and Mustafa
The first time I heard this track, I thought it was pleasantly atmospheric in the same way everything else I've ever heard from Blood Orange seems to be. Upon further listens, there's something naggingly enjoyable about this; I'm not sure it needed the combined efforts of Blood Orange, Caroline Polacheck, Lorde, and someone I thought was a cartoon lion, but I have no complaints whatsoever.

"Tears," Sabrina Carpenter
I tend to resist including tracks from artists who are so popular that everyone's already listening to them anyway, but I chuckled the entire time I was listening to "Tears," so fuck it; here you go. I can't say I have any deeply developed thoughts where Sabrina Carpenter's music is concerned, but after living through the rise and fall and rise and fall of Madonna, I have to tip my hat to the way she savvily, not-so-coyly leverages every ounce of her evidently voluminous sexuality. Keep 'em coming, har har har.

"Bell Penny," the Casket Lottery
The Casket Lottery's sound is admittedly two or three touches too emo for me. On the other hand, I have to give extra points to any song that includes a brief pause for the lead singer to scream "fuck it!" before the fun begins.

"wASH U AWAY," Destin Conrad featuring Terrace Martin
We now pause our regularly scheduled program to bring you a smoked slice of "alternative jazz." That's phrase that doesn't have a ton of inherent meaning, but in the context of this song, it alludes to a lot of slinky sax over a skittish beat with some lounge-y vocals up top, and I have no reason not to offer my stamp of approval.

"100 Horses," Geese
There's a distinct '70s cop show vibe to the instrumental side of this song, which is fun enough on its own. But I'm also kind of in love with the lyrics, which include lines like "All people stop smiling / Once they get what they've been begging for" and "There were 100 horses dancing / Maybe 124 / All the horses must go dancing / There is only dance music in times of war." Intoxicatingly incoherent music for terrifyingly incoherent times.

"Between the Bars," Brad Mehldau
On one hand, I feel like it'd be easy to argue that Brad Mehldau has taken what was once a thrillingly inventive approach to reinterpreting unexpected material through a jazz lens and sort of driven it into the ground. Having not kept close tabs on his career over the last 20 years or so, I was somewhat surprised to see that he had an album of Elliott Smith covers on the menu for this week, and also somewhat... I don't know if annoyed is the right word, but you get the idea. All that being said, this version of "Between the Bars" does everything you'd want a jazz-rooted cover of the song to do, which is to say it starts from the same fundamental place before spiraling off into all kinds of different directions. XO, sir. XO.

"Cigarette and Cocktail," Ron Sexsmith
My well-documented fondness for Ron Sexsmith is probably comical to certain readers of this space by now, but I make no apologies. The guy who was heralded as the musical offspring of Nilsson and McCartney when he made his debut has grown into his own unique breed of cat — a breed whose records can be counted on for their effortlessly relaxed posture as much as their thoughtful lyrics and incredibly sticky melodies. Another one in the win column for Mr. Sexsmith, whose latest reliably terrific LP is out today.

"While You Dream Vividly," Slow Crush
Are you in the mood for shoegaze pop? Are you in the mood for bone-crushingly heavy rock? How about both? Yes, like My Bloody Valentine so many years ago, Slow Crush understand that these are two great tastes that go great together. Much of their new album leans too far into the bone-crushing end of the spectrum for my taste, neglecting melody to a degree I find rather dull, but this particular track is a fairly delectable blend of both. I mean, you could always just listen to Loveless, I guess, but there's also this.

"UNDEFEATED," Nate Smith featuring Marquis Hill and JSWISS
This song's video includes the hashtags #natesmith, #drums, and #jazz, which are all appropriate. It says everything about my skin color and age that I'm drawn to this type of hip-hop, but fuck it; we are who we are, and I'm too old to make any apologies for digging a jazzy track topped off with some delectable flow.

"Alibi," Nicky Youre
While men with trucker hats and mustaches are generally unwelcome here, there are exceptions to everything, and Nicky Youre has made one for himself with "Alibi," an airy pop number with a thousand barbed hooks. If you're a sucker for sunny harmonies, soaring melodies, and double-tracked vocals, step right up.