New Music Friday: The best albums out May 15

Summary

NPR Music – New Music Friday: The Best Albums Out May 15

Date: May 15, 2026
Hosts: Stephen Thompson (NPR Music) and Joe Kendrick (WNCW, North Carolina)

---

Episode Overview

This week’s New Music Friday dives into the standout albums released on May 15, 2026. Stephen Thompson and guest Joe Kendrick offer a vibrant tour through releases from acclaimed singer-songwriters, boundary-pushing genre-benders, and internationally celebrated artists. This episode spotlights music that is rich in emotional depth, political resonance, and creative collaboration—plus a quick-fire round of additional recommendations from the NPR team.

---

Main Album Highlights

1. Joby Riccio – Face the Feeling

• Sound Clip: [01:36 - 02:44, 04:29 - 06:18]
• Overview:
  Joby Riccio’s second album is a powerful display of contemporary Americana grounded in both personal reflection and broader social commentary.
• Key Points:
  • Riccio is a Colorado-born artist with North Carolina connections, recognized for her nuanced vocals and distinguished songwriting.
  • She has garnered accolades such as the John Prine Songwriter Fellowship and a nomination for Americana Honors and Awards "Emerging Artist of the Year."
  • Themes: Personal journeys, life in the American West, environmental devastation, protest, and connection to nature.
  • Notable Tracks:
    • “Wildfire Season” – a protest song on environmental crises:

      “The smoke is so thick and the news is so bleak and the richest in the history of man? Keep talking about space like it's the promised land...”
      — Joby Riccio (04:29)

    • “Love of the Song” – an introspective track about the reasons for creating music:

      “I'm not drinking for the taste or singing for the love of the song.”
      — Joby Riccio (06:18)

• Quotes:

  “Her voice is just astounding. The subtlety, the nuance, the range. I hear a little Joanie here, a little bit of Suzanne Vega there.”
  — Joe Kendrick (02:44)
  “These songs are lived in... you can feel the way these songs were felt in their construction.”
  — Stephen Thompson (06:59)

---

2. Dua Saleh – Of Earth and Wires

• Sound Clip: [08:18 - 13:31]
• Overview:
  Minneapolis-based Dua Saleh’s sophomore effort merges pop, hip-hop, folk, and R&B, producing a mysterious and experimental 27-minute suite.
• Key Points:
  • Saleh is Sudan-born, also known for their acting role in Sex Education.
  • Album features significant collaboration with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver).
  • Short, tightly crafted tracks with opaque, poetic lyrics and experimental production.
  • Themes of uncertainty, environmental catastrophe, and multifaceted emotional experience recur.
• Notable Tracks:
  • “Five Days” – showcases Saleh’s full vocal and emotional range.

    “You cry and so too shield your skin under Prometheus's spell / But the moon still beats her foot to the earth.”
    — Dua Saleh (12:58)

  • “Flood” – reflects on Midwestern roots and ambiguous environmental anxieties.
• Quotes:

  “Introspection comes through, but the words are often opaque... there is a sense of mystery that keeps you coming back.”
  — Stephen Thompson (10:24)
  “I love Duasale's voice. I would describe it as multifaceted... operatic twee with a kind of salted innocence.”
  — Joe Kendrick (11:59)

---

3. Tank and the Bangas – The Last Balloon

• Sound Clip: [16:43 - 21:52]
• Overview:
  The dynamic New Orleans ensemble returns, concluding their “Balloon” trilogy with joyful genre fusion, bold collaborations, and poetic energy.
• Key Points:
  • Album mixes hip-hop, gospel, funk, R&B, and rock—a signature for their explosive live performances.
  • Features seven collaborations across 13 tracks, including Lucky Daye and Dawn Richard.
  • Themes: Celebration, affirmation, self-discovery, industry critique.
• Notable Tracks:
  • “Move” (feat. Lucky Daye) – a sleek R&B crossover.
  • “Don't Count Yourself Out” (feat. Dawn Richard) – atmospheric affirmation.
  • “No Invite” – a witty takedown of influencer culture and feelings of industry exclusion:

    “I'll never get invited to the party.”
    — Tank and the Bangas (21:34)

• Quotes:

  “You get an artist like Lucky Day, and it’s this kind of sleek excursion into really poppy R&B... meeting in the middle.”
  — Stephen Thompson (18:52)
  “All of these styles are coming out. It's like super saturated colors throughout this record.”
  — Joe Kendrick (19:53)

---

4. Cocanha – Flama Folklòra

• Sound Clip: [22:49 - 27:15]
• Overview:
  This duo from southern France revitalizes Occitan-language folk, channeling activism, tradition, and political rebellion via hypnotic vocal layering.
• Key Points:
  • Sung in Occitan, a nearly erased language, with politically charged undertones.
  • Members are environmental activists.
  • Minimalist instrumentation—focus on polyphonic vocals and rhythms.
  • Produced with the help of seven different producers for sophisticated layering.
• Quotes:

  “People are going to say, what is that? This record is like a history lesson, too.”
  — Joe Kendrick (24:31)
  “It is rhythms and voices, and they blend together so beautifully.”
  — Stephen Thompson (25:11)

---

5. Tamikrest – Asikel

• Sound Clip: [28:35 - 33:49]
• Overview:
  Malian band Tamikrest delivers desert blues that seamlessly blend Tuareg folk and western rock, full of hypnotic grooves and political resonance.
• Key Points:
  • The sixth album, balancing hypnotic percussion, electric elements, and reflective songwriting.
  • Explores the Tuareg experience—blending themes of alienation, nostalgia, weary hope, and resilience amid regional conflict.
  • The closing track “Idunia” is a tribute to a fallen member of Tinariwen.
  • “Ilal” features spoken word by Ibrahim Ag Al Habib (Tinariwen).
• Quotes:

  “Mix of hope and loss and a certain amount of mourning... but there are these moments of catharsis, moments of release.”
  — Stephen Thompson (31:13)

---

Lightning Round: Other Picks

[33:49–42:27]

• Eluvium – Virga 3
  Ambient, calming, head-clearing music by Matthew Robert Cooper.

  “A pitch perfect mix of calm and wonder. It’s a perfect way to just kind of clear your head of everything that’s been stressing you out.”
  — Stephen Thompson (33:49)

• Kevin Morby – Little Wide Open
  Produced by Aaron Dessner, features a tableau of Americana and heartland poets.

  “His albums are akin to novels, but the songs are often novellas in themselves.”
  — Joe Kendrick (35:24)

• Martyn – Music for Existing
  Eclectic, jazz- and live-instrumentation-focused electronic music from the D.C.-based Dutch producer Martyn.

  “This is his quote, love letter to the communal act of making music.”
  — Noah Caldwell (37:21)

• Julieta Venegas – Norteña
  A stylistic shift into Norteño/banda from the famed Mexican pop/rock artist, a homage to her Tijuana roots.

  “It’s very much an album for Mexico, with collaborations that are really diverse.”
  — Ana Maria Sayer (38:42)

• Jeff Parker and the New Breed – Eta Forte: Happy Today
  Improvised live jazz/post-rock with rich, evolving grooves.

  “They are great at imperceptible shifts of sound... all of a sudden you feel the mood of the room change.”
  — Lars Got (40:21)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Not Covering Drake’s “Iceman”:

  “No one let us listen to the new Drake album... We are only spitballing, only guessing here. This record is going to be very long... But we have otherwise nothing to say about Iceman because we have not heard it. So let's kick off the show with Joby Riccio.”
  — Stephen Thompson (00:45)
  (Lighthearted beginning that also sets tone: this episode prefers depth over mere hype.)

• Themes Across Albums:

  “Uncertainty and dissonance and environmental catastrophes... are a theme that run through a lot of these records today.”
  — Joe Kendrick (11:50)

• On Poetry and Spoken Word in Music:

  “A recurring theme: We’ve mentioned poetry several times... and artists who are able to kind of incorporate that into other forms of music.”
  — Stephen Thompson (32:18)

---

Timestamps of Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 00:31 | Show open; Drake album joke | | 01:36 | Joby Riccio: Discussion & music | | 04:29 | “Wildfire Season” (Riccio) | | 08:18 | Dua Saleh: Discussion & music | | 12:58 | “Five Days” (Dua Saleh) | | 16:43 | Tank and the Bangas: Discussion & music | | 21:34 | “No Invite” (Tank and the Bangas) | | 22:49 | Cocanha: Discussion & music | | 28:35 | Tamikrest: Discussion & music | | 33:49 | Lightning round: Eluvium | | 35:24 | Kevin Morby | | 37:21 | Martyn | | 38:42 | Julieta Venegas | | 40:21 | Jeff Parker & Eta Forte |

---

Summary

This episode is a rich, global tapestry of new music, focusing on meaningful songwriting, unusual genre fusions, political engagement, and bold experimentation. Hosts bring warmth, humor, and passionate expertise, guiding listeners through releases worth much more than a single-stream listen.

“Take that, Drake. We’re leading with Joby Riccio and her new album, Face the Feeling. Highly, highly, highly recommended.”
— Stephen Thompson (08:03)

---

Transcript

[NPR Planet Money Promo]

Each story you hear on Planet Money starts with a what happens if we refund tariffs? Why are groceries so expensive? At npr, we stand for your right to be curious because the forces shaping our world can be hard to see. Follow NPR's Planet Money wherever you get your podcasts and start seeing how the economy really works.

[Stephen Thompson]

Happy Friday, everyone, from NPR Music. It's NEW Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Joe Kendrick from public radio station WNCW in Spindale, North Carolina. Welcome back to the show, Joe.

[Joe Kendrick]

Hey, it's great to be back, Stephen. Thanks for having me on.

[Stephen Thompson]

It is great to have you. Now, we should lead off, get this out of the way up front. No one let us listen to the new Drake album that is out today. It is called Iceman. There have been months and months and months of buildup and speculation about this record. He announced this record while standing on under a giant ice sculpture. I've seen basketball games go by where there are like chairs that are iced out to promote this record. I would imagine we are just, we are only spitballing, only guessing here. This record is going to be very long. It is going to be full of track after track after track of Drake and it will hit number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart when that chart finally rolls around. But we have otherwise nothing to say about Iceman because we have not heard heard it. So let's kick off the show with Joby Riccio. Her new album is called Face the Feeling.

[Joby Riccio]

Driving through my hometown at the Red Lights Weekend. So many years I longed for someone

[Stephen Thompson]

to share with

[Joby Riccio]

Woke up with you in Nashville slept alone in St. Louis so many years All I wanted was someone good to miss My heart only

[Various Artists (Singers)]

bright

[Joby Riccio]

A little at a time, a little at a time A little at a time. But even just a little is worth all the cry. And it's.

[Joe Kendrick]

Joby Riccio hails from Colorado, but she has a North Carolina connection. And she recorded her previous record in Asheville, North Carolina, after winning the new song music competition at the Rocky Mountain folk Festival in 2019. So, so that's really cool to have a little bit of that tie to our own backyard, but man, what a record. Her voice is just astounding. The subtlety, the nuance, the range. I hear a little Joanie here, a little bit of Suzanne Vega there. You know, it's just like so many great qualities are all wrapped up in this young artist.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. And the accolades have been kind of rolling in steadily for a few years now. You mentioned the new song music competition. She also Received the John Prine Songwriter Fellowship Award at the Newport Folk Festival. She was nominated for an America Honors and Awards designation for emerging Artist of the Year. She's been bubbling up for a while now, and yeah, as you said, just this gorgeous instrument at the heart of this record. She has a beautiful voice. At times, she reminded me of one of my very favorite singer songwriters, Maddie Diaz. There's such clarity to her voice, but there's also. These songs are all coming from a distinct perspective. It's not just a beautiful voice. These are songs about, you know, she's a Westerner at heart. These are songs about spending time outdoors as a means of putting your own life in perspective. And there are songs that are straight up protest songs. There's a track called Wildfire Season. It's a blunt, you know, protest song about environmental devastation. And it's clearly from the perspective of a Westerner who knows of what she speaks.

[Joby Riccio]

Having a hard time this week? The smoke is so thick and the news is so bleak and the richest in the history of man? Keep talking about space like it's the promised land? While records break and waters rise and we're hunted by the hands of time? Cause wildfire season's here again? Each year it's harder and to pretend that we've been doing all we can? Each year we're harder to defend.

[Joe Kendrick]

Oh, yeah, Wildfire Season is my new jam, and I would put it on par with a lot of great songs of that style, like paradise by John Prine, speaking of the. The John Prine award that she's won. Or speaking of Joni Mitchell along the lines of a Big Yellow Taxi or even Burning two by Fugazi. It's none of those songs, but it has that spirit. And I think we'll be singing this song for years to come.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, and talk about songs that I will be playing for years to come. We need to talk about love of the song, which is such a beautiful track. And again, you know, we go back to this big, expressive voice and this song for me, you know, I've already name checked Matty Diaz, but it just pings all the same things that I love, which is clear songwriting perspective. Clear. You know, a lot of introspection went into this song, and then it's all tied up with this gorgeous, rangy, expressive, contemplative voice.

[Joby Riccio]

Cause if I have one, I'll have another. If I pick the sky, I won't ever recover. And I'm not doing as well as I've been letting on. I'm not drinking for the taste or singing for the love of the song.

[Joe Kendrick]

It's like exasperation mixed with a little dismay, a little cynicism. It's like hard to say exactly what it is, but I can feel it.

[Stephen Thompson]

Absolutely. And then, you know, there are a bunch of songs here. Nature comes up again and again in these songs. The Ridge is, you know, the single from this record, and it's just a killer. It's about moving through nature as a way of seeing yourself and kind of putting yourself in perspective. And that theme comes up again and again on this record. And so you just get a sense that these songs are lived in, that they have been, they have been felt. You can feel the way these songs were felt in their construction. You get a sense that somebody wrote these songs while processing things in the midst of something larger than themselves.

[Joby Riccio]

Been spilling secrets to the rain Hinting at a sadness I'm not brave enough to claim Watching myself from above Trying to remember all the ways I almost fell in love.

[Stephen Thompson]

That's Joby Riccio. Take that, Drake. We're leading with Joby Riccio and her new album, Face the Feeling. Highly, highly, highly recommended. Next up, Duasala. Dua Sala has a new album called Of Earth and Wires.

[Dua Sala]

Do you feel me? Cause I'm pretty numb Mail mowry She knew right from wrong she's aflo party hops for fun she was mourning the

[Various Artists (Singers)]

horizon's gone Breathe in, breathe out you carry out what if I can't fall into the sky? How you feel around me how you feel the grace? Would you rather lose half life here? Would you rather just breathe? Are you feeling this?

[Stephen Thompson]

So Dua Sala is a Minneapolis singer, songwriter, actor, poet. Originally from Sudan. As an actor, they've had a recurring role on the show Sex Education. They released a string of EPs and an album in 2024 called I Should Call Them. So this is their second album Of Earth and Wires.

[Various Artists (Singers)]

And.

[Stephen Thompson]

And it is such an interesting genre wise collision of pop, hip hop, folk, R and B. Kind of fragmented in its style and kind of influenced in the style of Bon Iver, who Justin Vernon turns up on three of these different songs. And, man, if you had told me when Bon Iver came out that Justin Vernon would be such a heavy influence on so much hip hop and R and B music, I never would have believed you. But here we are.

[Joe Kendrick]

Yeah, you know, that Bon Iver, it starts to feel like a little bit of that quiet storm vibe in some of these songs. Also, what really jumps out is this is a short record.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah.

[Joe Kendrick]

A lot of these songs are two minutes, and it was recorded fairly quickly. I think the story is they did a lot of work on these songs while working on the TV series.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. And that introspection comes through, but the words are often opaque. And so sometimes, you know, I would hear songs from this record and be like, oh, this. This is such a lilting, sweet song. Like a song, like anemic. But at the same time, the way that the mix is kind of bending Duasala's voice into a higher register. I'm not always picking up everything that they're about. And so sometimes you get a sense of mystery to it where you might be like, oh, this is a really dark song, but lyrically it's not. Or this is a really light, summery, warm weather song, but it's actually really dark in its intention. And so these 11 songs go by in 27 minutes. They're very tight. There's not a wasted moment. But at the same time, there is still this sense of kind of uncertainty that hangs over it where you never quite grasp immediately what they're all about. And that keeps you coming back to these songs.

[Various Artists (Singers)]

My dad found out. He's.

[Joby Riccio]

How about that?

[Joe Kendrick]

That sort of uncertainty and dissonance and environmental catastrophes and things, I think, are a theme that run through a lot of these records today. Stephen.

[Stephen Thompson]

Absolutely.

[Joe Kendrick]

I love Duasale's voice. I would describe it as multifaceted. There are different modes that they use. So there's this operatic twee with a kind of salted innocence kind of aspect, or this sort of maybe like a St. Vincent Alto at times, and it switches back and forth. And like you say, it's like, what's. What kind of song is this? And it's. It surprises you and keeps you engaged.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, and you mentioned several different kind of vocal modes, that the song Five Days is such an intense tone setter. There's this big, odd, vibrant, bombastic energy to it. And then as that kind of dissipates, you get this spoken word interlude kind of taking you out of the song, and you're just like, man, I just went on a real vocal journey here where you can't pin them down for very long in the best possible way.

[Dua Sala]

You cry and so too shield your skin under Prometheus's spell But the moon still beats her foot to the earth.

[Joe Kendrick]

One of the songs that also jumps out to me on this record is the song Flood, which points back to their Midwestern roots. Bon Iver is on here as well, and I think it's kind of open ended as to what it means. Is it really about environmental disaster or not? And I think that speaks to what you were saying earlier, Stephen, about the interpretation being a little open ended on

[Stephen Thompson]

a lot of this. That is Duasala. Their new record is called Of Earth and Wires. We've got a bunch more records we're going to talk about in depth as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, May 15th. But first, let's take a quick break.

[DSW Advertiser]

This message comes from Designer Shoe Warehouse. You know that feeling when you find shoes you love at a great price and want to tell everyone about it? Find something to brag about at Designer Shoe Warehouse, like the latest styles from brands you love, the trends everyone's obsessing over, and shoes that make you feel like you head to a DSW store or dsw.com today for shoes that get you at prices that get your budget. Dsw.

[Stephen Thompson]

Let us surprise you from NPR Music. It's NEW MUSIC Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Joe Kendrick from the public radio station WWNCW in Spindale, North Carolina. Joe, tell us what's going on in the station.

[Joe Kendrick]

Man. WNCW came off of a pretty good spring fun drive.

[Stephen Thompson]

Nice.

[Joe Kendrick]

Thank you. All of our members who chipped in and helped us keep going for another six months. And we've come off our first big round of festivals in the region as spring is in full bloom and we look forward to more live sessions in our studio. We always have live artists come through and play in our fully decked out studio, which we also record and put on our YouTube, put on compilations and then just more radio, more shows coming up in the summer.

[Stephen Thompson]

Nice. And I gotta throw in a plug for something NPR Music has just done. It is a months long process that always results in triumph. On Tuesday, we just announced the winner of the Tiny Desk contest. It's an artist called Cure for Paranoia. Cure for Paranoia is a rapper whose song no Brainer is just an absolute freaking geyser of ideas. Rapid fire bars set to a kind of a soulful rock arrangement. This is rap rock. I can get behind Left Brain, Right

[Cure for Paranoia]

brain, no brain, Left brain, right brain, no brain, Left brain, Right brain, no brainer, I lost my mind. Left brain, right brain, no brainer, I lost my mind Left, right brain, going back and forth.

[Stephen Thompson]

So excited about Cure for Paranoia. We're gonna record them at the Tiny Desk very, very soon. And that will be up site before you know it. But in the meantime, highly encourage people to get acquainted with Cure For Paranoia and their winning Tiny Desk contest entry. It is absolutely fantastic. Now, speaking of the Tiny Desk contest, we have a former Tiny Desk contest winner is next up. Tank and the Bangas is back with a new album called the Last Balloon.

[Tank and the Bangas]

What is it that's holding you back? Can I do that? You've been getting enough track to relax in your lack your ambition and vision. Take a seat in the back. Who says that you finish just getting started? No need to get tired your drive takes you higher your wheel is the T going too far get lost if

[Joby Riccio]

you wanna the moon up the sw

[Tank and the Bangas]

you get on your own way it's okay if you you go your own way. Go your own pace.

[Joe Kendrick]

Tank and the Bangers, the Last Balloon. Now, if you take all of the many elements of music that you associate with New Orleans and have this celebratory, proud, welcoming attitude, that would be Tank and the Bangus. That would be them. Plus poetry. Yeah, and here's the poetry thread again. Love to hear that. And that's what they won their Grammy for. It was the one of their most recent records which was not named after a balloon.

[Stephen Thompson]

That's right. This is completing their kind of Balloon trilogy. The Grammy winning record is called the Heart, the Mind, the Soul. But they've had two other records, Green Balloon and Red Balloon and now the Last Balloon and I mean Joe. So Tank of the Bang is obviously by definition a huge NPR Music favorite. They were a truly triumphant pick for our Tiny Desk contest. They went on to get nominated for best New Artist at the Grammys. They put on what I think many people consider to be one of the greatest Tiny desk concerts of all time. When they came in for their kind of celebratory performance. And, you know, this record, it's just kind of picking up where this band left off. You know, you kind of mentioned that melange of of New Orleans sounds, Hip hop, gospel, funk, R and B rock, all smashed together with tons and tons of energy, but still leaving a lot of room to breathe. And, you know, this record is full of these really dynamic collaborations, too. And so that often kind of lends a certain amount of energy, especially when they're kind of deployed as seamlessly as they are here. Where you get an artist like Lucky Day, you know, comes in in the song Move, and it's this kind of sleek excursion into really poppy R B that's meeting in the middle between what Tank and the Bangers do and what Lucky Day does.

[Cure for Paranoia]

Bring away some more. Since there are no words left to say. Cause no one else can take me no one else Makes me move.

[Tank and the Bangas]

Move closer to you.

[Joe Kendrick]

Yeah Steven. Seven of these 13 tracks have collaborators. They just obviously are taking on all of these wonderful folks into their. And it's just even more joyous, I think, when they get together like that. It's dense, it's rich. All of these styles are coming out. It's like super saturated colors throughout this record.

[Stephen Thompson]

Absolutely. And, you know, I wanted to mention a pair of songs that kind of showcase the range at work here. First, I wanted to mention Don't Count Yourself out, which features Dawn Richard. You know, thematically, it's kind of picking up on themes of affirmation, but it's a vibey, atmospheric arrangement again, it's another song that's meeting in the middle between Tank and the Banga's sound. And that kind of more kind of ambient vibes of Dawn Richard.

[Tank and the Bangas]

Flyin, Falling, falling Long as you're moving on Stopping, stopping, waiting that's when you're doing it wrong. Dosing way too long.

[Stephen Thompson]

And then you've got a song like no Invite, which is just pure maximalist joy. And it's so witty along the way as it's kind of taking down influencer culture. That's about performativity over presence. And so, you know, these songs have a ton to say. They bring in a ton of people to say them. And it's just carrying on in this. This kind of feast of celebration that Tank and the Bangers have been doing so well for so long.

[Tank and the Bangas (Rapper)]

I ain't never been invited to the party I would be mad Cause I got that shit started, baby Looking mad Cause I call it out I'm the person to spray shit Let some shout it out so what, I got an attitude I'm a move kind of sweet, kind of rule your basic chase I'm so groovy with it so wet like a Jacuzzi with it. Making real movies this ain't no tubing business. I'll never get invited to the party.

[Joe Kendrick]

No invite. I mean, that talks about, like you said, Steven, about more of what. What they might be going through as far as their status within the industry. But who hasn't felt that way?

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Who hasn't felt alone in a crowd? Who hasn't felt like you're surrounded by a bunch of people who are not. Who are sort of there to be seen in different ways? And you're kind of in that room, like, feeling like kind of a mix of resentment and imposter syndrome at the same time. That is Tank and the Bangas. Their new album is the Last Balloon. Next up, Kokana. Kokana's new album is called Flame Folklore.

[Various Artists (Singers)]

That.

[Stephen Thompson]

So Kokana is a duo from the south of France, kind of a polyphonic singing duo. They are singing in the Occitan language, which is native to regions of southern France as well as Monaco and a few other places. And this music is radical in several senses of the word. The members of Kokana are environmental activists. They're singing in a language that is highly disfavored in France. But this music is also deeply traditional at the same time. This is their third album, and Man, Joe, I just love the way these songs build. You get these layers of voices and these very, very hypnotic rhythms. Even though, like, I don't speak this language, you really get a sense of the fervency at work here.

[Joe Kendrick]

Yeah. You're going to turn some heads if you put this on speakers.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah.

[Joe Kendrick]

People are going to say, what is that? This record is like a history lesson, too. I love it. It reminds me of, say, le Mystere de voir Bulgari, also some Celtic music. And it's just that contrapuntal nature of things. It also has the political aspect, so you are reminded that all music is political, at least on some level. So they are singing in the language that the French state actively sought to erase. They are drawing on the activism of a group that the French government had labeled eco terrorists. So, wow. What's not to like about this? It's wild stuff.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. And it's just. It is rhythms and voices, and they blend together so beautifully. You take a song like Odyssiat's Pal Hassan Ira, that song piles up these layers of voices while still centering them in a mix that is so rhythm focused. And so you're just. You're getting lost in these vocal blends while you're just getting carried on these rhythms.

[Joe Kendrick]

Yeah. There are seven producers on this album. There's only two artists. Caroline Dufal, Leila Frase, but seven producers working on this. So intricate, very layered.

[Stephen Thompson]

Absolutely. And, you know, you take a song like Onost Casalot, it has this in the round vocals where the. The song is just kind of spinning you faster and faster, and it's just voices doing.

[Joe Kendrick]

Flows.

[Stephen Thompson]

That is Kana. Their new album is Flame Folklore. We've got one more record we're going to talk about in depth, as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, May 15th. But first, let's take a quick break. From npr music. It's new music Friday. I'm stephen thompson here with joe kendrick from wncw in spindale, north carolina. We've got one more record we want to talk about in depth. It's by a group called tomicrest. The album is called asikel.

[Joe Kendrick]

So with Tommy Crest, you get the sixth album from this group from Mali and sort of mixing Tuareg folk, a lot of western rock and roll. It's kind of hypnotic. It's like a labyrinth of soundscapes, shimmering. Got these recursive melodies and they're unhurried for the most part, but they've got this sort of inexorable caravan of acoustic percussion and also the electric elements too. But hand claps, choruses. Every once in a while you get into more of a kind of a barbed wire guitar feel and some more sonic production that is not quite as analog. So it's a mix of east and west. It's pretty delicious.

[Stephen Thompson]

Absolutely. And the vibe of this record that really comes through is really consistent with the one that I was kind of reading about when I was, you know, I listened to this record a couple times and then was kind of doing a little bit of reading about it. And one thing that, a vibe that they wanted to get across, that they totally succeed in getting across, is this mix of like alienation and nostalgia and kind of weary hope. And that's naturally going to come through when you're talking about the history of Mali and the Tuareg people and how much the music is kind of meant to convey a mix of hope and loss and a certain amount of mourning. And, you know, you take a track like Idunia, which closes this record, it's, you know, a meditative reflection. It's a tribute to a member of the group Tinarawan, you know, which has real presence on this record. Japonese, a member of Tinarawen, had died and this song is a tribute to him.

[Various Artists (Singers)]

Sa.

[Joe Kendrick]

Like on our earlier record from Dua Sala. There's a lot of themes of disconnection throughout this record. As you know, the situation in Mali is not good. It's a war torn country. And even though these lyrics are not in English, that is just built into Thoma Crest's DNA, just their whole presentation, just who they are.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. And you get songs on this record that feel like laments, but you do also have these desert blues jams, you know, that, that. That, you know, draw so many people to Malian desert blues. The. The track Imanin, you know, it's hand claps it's solos. It's kind of this stompy build to a big breakdown. So like, as much as there is a mournful quality to this music, there are these still, these moments of catharsis, moments of release, and moments of kind of jamming out as like big grand rock songs. And, you know, a recurring theme. We've mentioned poetry several times over the course of this show and spoken word and artists who are able to kind of incorporate that into other forms of music. There's a track here, Ilal, which features Ibrahim Ag Al Habib from Tenaro, and he kind of comes in and infuses a desert blues song with spoken word and that's powerful as well.

[Various Artists (Singers)]

Building.

[Joe Kendrick]

I can't speak directly to the politics of Tomicrest, but Stephen, you probably know some of the history of Tanarawin and some of the members that went on to fight in these wars in this. In this civil unrest, and it's not a pretty picture. What this reminds me of is the political nature of so much of music. And I think, oddly enough about songs that were created during the US Civil War, there are a lot of songs that endure to this day that hearken back to that era. So the past is ever present. And I think Tomicrest, I think that they'll be singing these type songs for generations to come.

[Stephen Thompson]

So that is Tomicrest. Their new album is called Ocikel. We highly recommend it. Now, Joe Kendrick, we could not possibly get to all of the great new albums out today. It's not just Drake people. I'm gonna kick us off. For the last few months, I have been working on an absolute bananas project for NPR in which I'm ranking all 50 seasons of Survivor for publication next week. Now, this week I finally finished the bulk of the viewing and the writing, and the first thing I listened to to reward myself wasn't a piece of like celebratory Andrew W.K. party music. It was a gorgeous piece of head filling ambient music from a guy named, named Matthew Robert Cooper, AKA Illuvium. His music always fills my brain with, I would call it just a pitch perfect mix of calm and wonder. It's a perfect way to just kind of clear your head of everything that's been stressing you out. I highly recommend it. Eluvium's marvelous new record is no different. It's called Virga 3.

[Joe Kendrick]

My pick is Kevin Morby and Little Wide Open. I imagine Kevin Morby getting inspired for this record by doing something like Picnicking by a river or, or camped out under the Stars. Perhaps he's got some Walt Whitman or some roomie as he's taking a break from making this record. His albums are kind of akin to novels, I would say best taken as a whole. But the songs that make up each of those are often novellas in themselves. And I would say that holds true for Little Wide Open. It's produced by Aaron Dessner and it's got a ton of guest artists on here. Amelia Meath from Sylvan Esso, Andrew Barr, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame.

[Stephen Thompson]

Because it's the law, everybody has to work with Justin Vernon.

[Joe Kendrick]

There's an artist that I think you will like, Steven. She's got this band called Muna.

[Stephen Thompson]

Katie Gavin do love Katie Gavin do

[Joe Kendrick]

like I Kid, I kid. I know you're a big fan. Lucinda Williams is on here, Meg Duffy. And it speaks to the heartland. You know, Kevin Morby has lived in different places. Originally from Texas, he's lived in New York, Kansas City, I think, now in la. But this is definitely kind of an ode to the heartland and the big sky, the girls twirling batons. And I like his quote, I love the Little Wide Open and I hate the Little Wide Open. Kevin Morby. Check it out.

[Cure for Paranoia]

Welcome to the Midwest where the sky knows best and you'll finally get some rest till the tornado sirens stop.

[Stephen Thompson]

So back from behind the boards. Back on mic, our dear producer, Noah Caldwell. Noah, what do you got for us?

[Noah Caldwell]

Hey, Steven. So I've got an album from the electronic producer Martin. It's called Music for Existing. Martin is Dutch, but he's actually been living here in the D.C. area for a long time now. He's been around for a few decades. He's had a lot of different phases in his career. Dubstep, jungle drum and bass, techno. This album is none of those things. It's got a ton of live instrumentation. A lot of it's really jazzy and bright and upbeat. At other times, it's down tempo, moody, crunchy. And he recorded with some really great drummers and horn players and keyboardists. And that collaborative spirit is at the heart of the record. He said that this is his quote, love letter to the communal act of making music. That kind of sometimes uncomfortable process of creating something with somebody else where you don't actually know where it's going to lead. But on top of it all, there's also some really great, like, experimental sound design. There's a few breakbeats in there. So, you know, he's still paying homage to his electronic roots. That's music for existing, the new album from Martin.

[Stephen Thompson]

Ana Maria Sayer, co host of NPR's Alt Latino. What do you got for us, Stephen?

[Joby Riccio]

What's going on?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Julieta Venegas, one of the probably most legendary living Mexican singers, released her 11 seventh studio album today. It's called simply Nortena, which famously, she is from the north of Mexico, specifically border town Tijuana. So this album is really an homage to that. She does this kind of whole storytelling arc about what is the very complicated, rich story of her childhood in Tijuana. It's norteno sounding, which is not really what she's known for. She's a. She's a rock, pop rock artist, but here she is doing a very kind of nortegno banda sound. Not super heavy handed with it, though. It still has a lot of those kind of like 90s, early 2000s rock elements that she became famous for. But it's definitely distinctly norteno in its sound. It's very much an album for Mexico. She has collaborators like Yaritza y Su Essencia, which is very young band from Washington state, as well as Bronco. So it's really diverse in who she collaborates with. But. But beautiful, beautiful record. Julieta Venegas. And the album is Nortena.

[Stephen Thompson]

Lars Got of Rid Rich about to celebrate his 20th anniversary at NPR. I know this because I just celebrated mine. And you started as an intern like one month later.

[Lars Got]

Just one month later.

[Stephen Thompson]

It's been a good 20 years, I think. So what do you got for us, buddy?

[Lars Got]

The guitarist Jeff Parker. He's probably best known for his work in Tortoise and the Chicago Underground. He also plays on that record by Flea, the jazz record by Flea. For the past decade, he's been working with a group called the Eta Forte. This has been his primary band as a leader based out of la. And they have a new album out today called Happy Today, and this one's a little different. The. The way that this group works is that all their albums are recorded live and everything is improvised on the spot. And all these players, Anna Butters on bass, Jay Belaroz on drums, and Josh Johnson on saxophone and electronics, they're all pulling from. From different webs of their musical influence, with a little bit of ambient, a little bit of minimalism, a little bit of jazz, a little bit of post rock. And it's all kind of mixed up together. And the thing that this group does so well is they are great at imperceptible shifts of sound. You spend 10 minutes, 20 minutes just in some kind of gossamer groove. And then all of a sudden something clicks. And the way this record was recorded is the audience is a little bit more audible in the recording. And so when that click happens, when that shift happens, you hear the crowd kind of lose their mind a little bit because they've been in this beautiful moment with this band for so long. And all of a sudden you feel the mood of the room change. And all of a sudden you're like, oh, wait, I really want to be in that room with Jeff Parker and his band. So that's a new record by Jeff Parker's Eta Forte. It's called Happy.

[Stephen Thompson]

That is our show for this week. Thank you, Joe Kendrick, for taking time out of your week at WNCW in Spindale, North Carolina.

[Joe Kendrick]

Hey, thanks. It's great to be here.

[Stephen Thompson]

It is always a pleasure to have you. 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 Elle Manion and edited by Otis Hart. Our production assistant is Dora Levitt. The executive producer of NPR Music is Soraya Muhammad. Ann Powers will be hosting the show next week. She'll be talking about new Music with Aurora McGuckin from WMVY. Until then, take a moment to be well catch up on all 50 seasons of Survivor between now and Wednesday and treat yourself to lots of great music.

[Various Artists (Singers)]

Sam.