New Music Friday: The best albums out May 8

Summary

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NPR Music – New Music Friday: The Best Albums Out May 8

Date: May 8, 2026
Hosts: Stephen Thompson, Celia Gregory (WNXP, Nashville)
Episode Theme: A breakdown of the week’s best album releases, with in-depth discussion, musical analysis, and joyful banter on the latest in pop, indie, and beyond.

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Episode Overview

This episode of New Music Friday highlights and reviews the standout albums released on May 8, 2026. Hosts Stephen Thompson and Celia Gregory bring their infectious enthusiasm and deep knowledge as they discuss new records from Muna, Aldous Harding, Deb Never, Lykke Li, Stephen Sanchez, and more. Throughout, they dig into each artist’s growth, musical direction, and the emotional currents within these albums, ultimately providing listeners with both recommendations and insight into the week’s musical zeitgeist.

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Featured Album Discussions

1. Muna – Dancing on the Wall

[02:01–08:40]

• Summary: Muna returns with a highly anticipated, irresistibly catchy pop record, blending glossy production, political nuance, and bittersweet lyricism. The album is described as "wall to wall bangers" and "impeccably timed" for summer and Pride month.
• Key Tracks:
  • “Dancing on the Wall” (title track): Hook-filled and instantly memorable.
  • “It Gets So Hot”: “What a great introduction to the rest of the record. The content, it's like a really spacey sort of electro beginning and then come the big beats and the drops and you're like, we're so back. You’re like, Muna is so back.” – Celia Gregory [04:13]
  • “So What”: Explores themes of parasocial love and self-soothing heartbreak.
    “It's about like parasocial relationships…she's lost the devotion of like a special one. Right. And so the so what if you don't love me? It feels both rhetorical and like an attempt for her to self soothe because she does care.” – Celia Gregory [04:58]
• Themes: Emotional complexity, queer experience, political engagement (e.g., “Big Stick” references global politics alongside personal themes).
• Quote:
  “Anyone who's seen Muna live has heard kind of their between song banter and knows that they are very political…This is a band with a ton to say. Not only about relationships, not only about queerness…but also about the bigger picture of global politics.” – Stephen Thompson [07:21]

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2. Aldous Harding – Train on the Island

[08:48–13:39]

• Summary: New Zealand’s Aldous Harding returns with a haunting, “worn-in,” and immediately cozy record, made in collaboration with John Parish in Wales.
• Musical Qualities: Sparse, piano-centered arrangements highlighting Harding’s elastic vocal range. Songs move between lush orchestration and intimate minimalism.
• Key Tracks:
  • “Train on the Island”: Airy, with softly tapped snares and resonant piano.
  • “Venus in the Zinnia” (feat. H. Hawkline): "It’s kind of somehow the most New Zealandy song on this record…You get this timeless effect and this song that feels more like a conversation than just these kind of interior musings.” – Stephen Thompson [11:38]
  • “Worms”: “I could feel the warmth and I could feel that I ain't got nowhere to be of it all and I love how unrushed this is as a whole work, too.” – Celia Gregory [13:04]
• Quote:
  “It's a record to get lost in, and it's just lovely to revisit that voice. I sometimes forget to miss that voice when it's not around.” – Stephen Thompson [13:30]

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3. Deb Never – Arcade

[17:02–22:30]

• Summary: Deb Never’s long-awaited debut full-length is a genre-fluid, innovative blend of bedroom pop and experimental textures, built from a place of introspection and personal isolation.
• Background: Grew up in Seattle/Spokane, attended a South Korean middle school without knowing the language—music became her self-expression.
• Key Tracks:
  • “Arcade” (title track): Nostalgic and atmospheric.
  • “Another Life”: Called “slick, kind of chill, wavy, breezy, hopeful pop” – Stephen Thompson [19:30]
  • “Blue”: “So dreamy…And she asks a lot of good questions. Right. Are you out of your mind? As how she starts the record? And so you're examining sort of her inner workings and her feelings.” – Celia Gregory [21:04]
• Themes: Loneliness, chosen and not chosen; expressing interior worlds amid social noise.
• Quote:
  "There's always so much going on. There are always people around me. I'm always surrounded, but I always felt this singularity and this isolation. And in my music is the only time I can express that." – Deb Never, paraphrased by Celia Gregory [21:56]
• Memorable Moment: Deb Never launched a video game to accompany the album’s announcement, showing her multi-disciplinary creativity.

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4. Lykke Li – The After Party

[23:26–28:53]

• Summary: The Swedish indie pop icon’s sixth album, possibly her last, is brisk yet emotionally deep, pairing orchestral arrangements and pop textures with intense vulnerability about shame, revenge, and fleeting euphoria.
• Musical Qualities: Nine songs, 25 minutes; lush pop meets orchestral grandeur.
• Themes: "Not an exploration of one's best or higher self, but your lower self, your need for revenge, your shame, despair…but make it sparkly pop music." – Celia Gregory [24:43]
• Standout Tracks:
  • “The After Party”
  • “Lucky Again”: Samples Max Richter’s Vivaldi recomposition.
  • “Euphoria”: A melancholy, dreamy closer about the impermanence of joy.
    "Hallelujah. That euphoria is temporary...If it were forever, we would take it for granted. Is that an Easter egg?” – Celia Gregory [27:57]
• Quote:
  “I love upbeat music that's secretly miserable.” – Stephen Thompson [25:17]

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5. Stephen Sanchez – Love, Love, Love

[30:23–36:16]

• Summary: The California-born, Nashville-based crooner’s sophomore album delivers big-hearted, throwback pop with a “Technicolor” aesthetic. It’s brimming with sweet, earnest love songs and classic showmanship, recalling 50s/60s styles with a modern sheen.
• Key Tracks:
  • “Sweet Love”: “Big, grand anthemic songs…” – Stephen Thompson [31:17]
  • “It Might Be Love”: Described as “mile wide bangers” perfect for summer.
  • “Already Got Me”: Displays a “little sassy” pushback; hints at artistic growth.
• Themes: Romantic optimism, wholesome charm, and self-aware sincerity.
• Quote:
  "There is nothing wrong with sincerity. There is nothing wrong with sincere joy. And so I aspire to enjoy this record even more than I already did." – Stephen Thompson [36:00]
  • On Sanchez’s longevity: “This feels like the kind of music that is gonna launch a 50, 60 year career. Like, this is music that feels very trend resistant and very classic.” – Stephen Thompson [35:18]

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Lightning Round: Additional Recommended Albums

[36:17–42:45]

• Ashley McBryde – Wild
  • “One Night Standards” called “the best country song of the 21st century.” McBryde’s “fifth album…rowdy country rock with an emphasis on the rock as well as incisive ballads with a keen eye for detail.” – Stephen Thompson [37:39]
• Broken Social Scene – Remember the Human
  • First full-length in nine years from the sprawling Toronto collective; features varied lead vocalists, moody textures. Standout track: “The Briefest Kiss.” “If only for the comeback of it all.” – Celia Gregory [37:39]
• Rae Bull – Please Stop Laughing
  • “Deliciously strange” debut by a conceptual pop duo. “Every song…so deliciously strange. These songs are full of unreliable narrators…music for the mirror world.” – Anne Powers [38:41; 39:27]
• Anastasia Kristensen – Bestiarium Somber
  • Danish DJ/producer’s album named after mythical animals: “Alien and pulsing” electronic landscapes, “polyrhythms and textures totally gets your head spinning…but it just still sounds so warm and inviting.” – Robin Hilton [40:01]
• Amy Grant – The Me That Remains
  • Her first original album in a decade, after major life events. “Wants us to consider what matters most while we are here on this earth…it’s her best album since House of Love.” – Lars Gottrich [41:14]
  • “A source of good in the world.” – Stephen Thompson [43:07]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the Met Gala as escapism:
  “Without stupid things, what even are we?” – Stephen Thompson [01:18]
  “We need them right now. We need them like lifeblood.” – Celia Gregory [01:34]

• On the role of the Tiny Desk Contest:
  “We find so much great stuff along the way and kind of build up this community around it.” – Stephen Thompson [15:58] “It’s so much bigger than the contest. It’s about music discovery…” – Celia Gregory [16:44]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:34 — Show opening, banter about the Met Gala
• 02:01 — Muna: Dancing on the Wall
• 08:48 — Aldous Harding: Train on the Island
• 15:02 — Tiny Desk Contest discussion
• 17:02 — Deb Never: Arcade
• 23:26 — Lykke Li: The After Party
• 29:48 — Stephen Sanchez: Love, Love, Love
• 36:17 — Lightning Round (Ashley McBryde, Broken Social Scene, Rae Bull, Anastasia Kristensen, Amy Grant)
• 43:07 — Closing remarks

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Overall Tone and Language

The episode glows with warmth, playful irreverence, and depth. Hosts blend critical insight with genuine, sometimes vulnerable joy, welcoming listeners into new music discovery without pretense. Humor, sincerity, and love of artistry shine throughout—making this episode a rich primer for anyone looking to explore new releases in pop and indie for May 2026.

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Transcript

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[Stephen Thompson]

Happy Friday, everyone. From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville. Welcome back to the show, Celia.

[Celia Gregory]

Thank you, Steven. So good to be with you, virtually, as that's the only option we have currently.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, if we're not in person now, that means that you and I were probably not together for the Met Gala either.

[Celia Gregory]

No, unfortunately, we missed it this year. I think my invitation was lost in the mail, but I had an outfit

[Stephen Thompson]

ready and everything, you know, what was your outfit? What would you wear to the Met Gala?

[Celia Gregory]

I'm just rocking, as per, like, the ridicule of my office. I'm just rocking like millennial wear until it comes back around. Right. Like, I'm not throwing away skinny jeans. I have these Adidas. And I think that it'll be really future forward, you know, one of these days.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah, I'm sort of one of those, like, I wore clean pants for this. And I know there are people, you know, every time the Met Gala rolls around, people jump in and are sort of like, this is stupid. When all these terrible things are going on in the world, and I say, without stupid things, what even are we?

[Celia Gregory]

We need them right now. We need them like lifeblood. So let's have this. Can we see pretty people wearing pretty outfits just for, you know, a day?

[Stephen Thompson]

Exactly. Well, you know what is not dumb and what is actually awesome is new albums.

[Celia Gregory]

Always weekly. We're so blessed.

[Stephen Thompson]

We are so blessed. Especially because we're kicking off with really, one of my favorite bands in the world for the last bunch of years. Muna has a new record. It's called Dancing on the Wall.

[Music Clips/Artists]

I can feel you so close no more than a stone's throw Looking for a window but you're the one that I keep banging my head against. I always sing, this time I get do I end up with a bruise as a consequence I know how to hurt myself on you so I'm calling you up again I'm always saying this time I get through I up all alone as A consequence I'm dancing on the wall When I'm with you and I'm with you I'm dancing on the wall and dancing in the light Shadows dance across my eyes Watching as the second hand turns and turns around again Now I'm working up a sweat spinning in my body Just stroke a midnight at the bar Realizing.

[Stephen Thompson]

So Muna, for those who are unfamiliar, is an absolutely fantastic kind of dance pop group. Put out a couple of great records in the late teens, kind of got dropped from their label, signed to Phoebe Bridger's Saddest Factory label a few years later, and then have just been on an all killer, no filler tear ever since. Their self titled record from 2022 was my favorite album of that year. This honestly is going to be in the running for me this year. And you know, we heard a little bit of the title track, Dancing on the Wall and to me it's just an instant classic. It's so hooky, it's so the second you hit play, it's stuck in your head. And I cannot imagine a record more impeccably timed than this one. Like, it's been four years. We're hungry for new Muna music. It's getting warmer outside. We're heading into summer, we're heading into pride month. And then you just get this album of wall to wall bangers. And I'm so excited that it's here.

[Celia Gregory]

I share your excitement. I could not wait to talk about this one. I'm so glad we're leading off with it. And speaking of leading off and going into summer, it starts with, it gets so, so hot. And I was like, what a great introduction to the rest of the record. The content, it's like a really spacey sort of electro beginning and then come the big beats and the drops and you're like, we're so back. You're like, moon is so back. I've missed you.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Sweat drips down on the concrete it gets so hot down here on the concrete the heat turns out dripping down on the concrete and it won't stop dripping down on the concrete.

[Celia Gregory]

Also, like all the feelings around this, it's not just bubblegum pop music to, to escape to. It's so. We'll talk more about like they go a little dark and like aggressive and I love that. But on so what they had me in the palm of their hands because it's. It's about like parasocial relationships and like you have this lowercase love surrounding you when you're an artist or in this Case a group that's grown, but she's lost the devotion of like a special one. Right. And so the so what if you don't love me? It feels both rhetorical and like an attempt for her to self soothe because she does care that that one has gotten out. It's just like it breaks my heart, but it's also such a banger.

[Music Clips/Artists]

It's all right. It all worked out. Lots of people love me now. Lots of people. All is well is ending well and I feel great if you can't. Lots of people love me so if you don't,

[Stephen Thompson]

There's so much to kind of unpack in those words. Right. Because there's something kind of self deprecating about being like, so many people love me, but you don't is like it kind of has this like, I actually have friends vibe to it where you're kind of making fun of the fact that you have to acknowledge that there are people in the world who like you. And to me, it's that perfect, bittersweet Muna banger.

[Celia Gregory]

Yeah. I could like talk for the entire hour on this song, but I just, I felt like this is evidence of. And we remember Katie Gavin released a solo record since we've had a new Muna record and so we know the depth of her songwriting as a lyricist. But then the power trio of it all, bringing the pop hooks around it, it's just like really undeniable. I want to point you to Girls Girl, which I listened to I think three times in a row, Walking the Dog, like had to start it over. And it's again, it's the lyrical depth and the club ready beats. It feels like it's just fully formed and that they as a group have grown in the appropriate, scalable ways to still be relevant as pop artists, but also just be so appreciated for the craft.

[Stephen Thompson]

Anyone who's seen Muna live has heard kind of their between song banter and knows that they are very political. They have. They have very, very big, strong opinions. That hasn't always worked its way into the music, but it does here. There's a track called Big Stick that is explicit, referencing starving children and apartheid and kind of, kind of international policy. And at the same time, it's still a big, sticky, catchy Muna song, but like, this is a band with a ton to say. Not only about relationships, not only about queerness, not only about kind of the way, you know, we live as individuals in the world, but also about the bigger picture of global politics.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Make you want a nice house With a picket fence make you want two kids with inheritance make you want a ring light for self defense make you want to give money to the government so the cops can all have military tanks to protect a nice neighborhood just in case Cuz I read all the papers in the TV shows To make you think that other people are criminal I control the airwaves, I control the news so I can make you want anything that I want you to do

[Stephen Thompson]

that is Muna. Their new record is called Dancing on the Wall. Next up, we have a new album from Aldous Harding. It's called Train on the Island.

[Music Clips/Artists]

I've been away too long There's a tree that I used to climb Calling that one star Put my things in a long line I love the streets here at night I'm gonna write what I know Things for a long time I met the real John Cale he had no words But I don't mind I packed the stage while he A R Stephen.

[Celia Gregory]

I love this artist again. All the blessings on May 8 this year, train on the island is this first release in several years from Aldous Harding. She's a New Zealand based artist, but she's done this fourth, this fruitful fourth record in collaboration with John Parrish in Wales. So it's like, if it ain't broke, you know, don't fix it. This is a collaboration that works. And it makes me wonder because of how comfortable and Worn in, this record feels, like, instantly cozy if that's not because of the familiarity they have together and also in the place that she's recorded.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah, I think Worn in is a really good way to describe her voice. At times she has this way of seeming almost kind of deadpan, but then at the same time, it's a very elastic instrument. There's kind of an eerie quality to it. She lets it soar. Sometimes she. You know, sometimes these arrangements are kind of lush and almost orchestral, and sometimes they're extremely spare. A track like the title song, Train on the island, her voice is kept kind of soft and it's set against kind of softly tapped snares and this, like, resonant piano. So there's. There's a spareness to it and there's air in it, but that lets kind of bigger sounds bloom around her.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Blew all glass out of home Reflections still my mind. Train on the Island Thought I heard it blow Train on the Island I

[Celia Gregory]

mean, I love a record that seems to be centered on a piano, you know, And a lot of tracks are here. But to your point, I mean, her voice, she has such vocal range, and it's all so resonant. I mean, I was drawn in on sort of her deeper register on Designer, you know, in 2019, those songs, just incredible. But we know she can go high, and so it's. That's what's so impressive to me. It'd be impossible to talk about this record and not talk about the vocal range because the instrumentation is not over the top.

[Music Clips/Artists]

When I'm alone those buckets feel.

[Stephen Thompson]

I wanted to shout out the song Venus in the Zinnia, which is a duet with the Welsh singer H. Hawkline, and it's a duet with H. Hawkline, and it's kind of somehow the most New Zealandy song on this record. Right. You got those jangly guitars that are kind of halfway between Velvet Underground and every Australian slash New Zealand band of the last 45 years. And it really feels. You get this kind of timeless effect and this song that feels more like a conversation than just these kind of interior musings.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Venus down in the zinya I was thinking about ya Red nose trying to leave me Red Rome rocking the ages

[Celia Gregory]

that song is so sweet. And that's yet again, you know, the solitary voice really works for Aldous Harding. But as a duet, I love that and even the lyrics. Thank you for sharing. I love what you're wearing. It's so plain spoken and you feel, like I said, immediately familiar with these voices and listening to it and listening close in. I was thinking about Worms, the song Worms. I wrote that. It feels like it's sort of like a stony, like, draped across something on an afternoon, you know, I could feel it. I could feel the warmth and I could feel that I ain't got nowhere to be of it all and I love how unrushed this is as a whole work, too.

[Music Clips/Artists]

I flew down to the brewery all dead on my waist Please stop My teacher la profesora I'm saving myself by eating rocks and clams I pray for the incel

[Stephen Thompson]

It's a record to get lost in, and it's just lovely to revisit that voice. I sometimes forget to miss that voice when it's not around.

[Celia Gregory]

Yeah. And I just learned, too, that her tour, she's playing some dates this year. This is her first headlining tour since 2023.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Wow.

[Celia Gregory]

So she's back, not just on record, but on stages. And we're all so much better for it.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah, that's Aldous Harding. Her new album is called Train on the Island. We've got some more records that are out today. May 8th that we're gonna. But first, let's take a quick break.

[Celia Gregory]

This message is from Synchrony bank who can help you get your do nothing savings to work hard with their high yield savings account. Put your lazy savings to [e-mail] NPR Member FDIC each story you hear on Planet Money starts with a what happens if we refund tariffs? Why, er, gross 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]

From NPR Music, it's New Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Celia Gregory of WNXP in Nashville. Celia, you are, of course a big part of WNXP, but you are also a big part of the 2026 Tiny Desk Contest. We are about to announce a winner. Unfortunately, we cannot break news on this particular podcast. But you know, and I don't, and I'm so mad.

[Celia Gregory]

The gag order, they put a lot of trust in me. I am the mouth of the south and I have not told a single soul who we selected. Cause I've taken this so seriously. Stephen. It was truly the honor of my life because I get to filter so much great music for the radio here in Nashville. But we're talking about thousands of entries and getting to hear and see on display just this depth of talent all across our country and all these artists unsigned. That's what blew my mind. I'm like, these people are ready for primetime. Like, we're gonna be talking about these albums next year on New Music Friday. It feels like some of them so ready to go. It was hard to pick a single winner, but I'm glad we got to highlight so many of them, you know, in the Top Shelf series. And I would just love to do it all. I hope I'm grandfathered in. I love it so much.

[Stephen Thompson]

I have a feeling you'll be asked back. I mean, one thing that I love about the tiny desk, cont. 1, is that we pick a single winner every year, but every year we discover way more than one artist. And very often artists who didn't win the contest still wind up being brought through the tiny desk because they, like the people who are sifting through all these entries, will fall in love with multiple artists and feel a need to bring them in. And sometimes we'll be talking about some great discovery and we'll Google them and be like, oh, here's their Tiny Desk contest entry in 2021. When it got picked for Top Shelf or whatever. And so I love the fact that it's not just a matter of there can only be one winner. We find so much great stuff along the way and kind of build up this community around it along the way.

[Celia Gregory]

Yeah, it's so legit. And I've followed a lot of the bands and artists. I got to watch their videos that weren't finalists. I'm now following them on social media and hope to support them when they come to town. And that's what it's about. It's so much bigger than the contest. It's about music discovery and also, yeah, elevation of artistry that deserves to be heard and seen by more eyes and more ears.

[Stephen Thompson]

Speaking of terrific music, let's talk about Deb Never. Deb Never's new album is called Arcade.

[Music Clips/Artists]

For once in my life I'm feeling something for the very first time. Cause after that night Days get so lonely when she's not by my side. Do you like Arcades? That's what I asked when she got off the plane. She's good at guitar, she's got a good laugh. She's got a good name. For the song that I sing a melody I'm pressing you on it gets harder to sleep these 12 days feel

[Stephen Thompson]

like a thousand lights so Deb never grew up in Seattle and Spokane, and when she was a kid, she went to a South Korean middle school and didn't speak the language. And so she turned to music as a way to express herself. And as you can imagine from kind of that background, the vibe of her music is kind of bedroom pop, kind of in the spirit of artists like Claro. You know, this music that is very warm and interior. There's that word again. And eventually, you know, she relocated to LA, put out kind of a string of EPs, has put out a bunch of music kind of on Bandcamp and Spotify. And now she's got like her first official full length record. And it's just gorgeous.

[Celia Gregory]

It really is gorgeous. And yet it's like, like very hard to define, which of course is not our job to define what the sound is. We want to beckon folks to listen to the whole thing and see how much it really does vary from track to track. She has really tinkered over the years with these singles, dropped to make this first debut record in full. Something quite surprising, right? Like the way she uses and layers different elements and different instrumentation. I think it's quite interesting. Alyssa, clearly she's an innovative artist and. And I almost can't believe it's her debut, because I've been sort of following her for years.

[Stephen Thompson]

And as you said, I've used the phrase bedroom pop to describe this record, in part because it's pretty tricky to actually describe the sound. She moves through a lot of different phases on this record. There's a track called Another Life that I really love. It's this kind of slick, kind of chill, wavy, breezy, hopeful pop song that feels like it will really connect with people who've connected with artists like, as I mentioned, Clara.

[Music Clips/Artists]

And all I want is to make this last Cause it's all I need.

[Celia Gregory]

I did notice if you care about sort of the rollout and, you know, anything these days to get attention. Right. She released a whole video game, like, created a video game and launched a video game to announce this record. And then she just hosted a game night this week in New York, sort of for the record launch. So clearly a creative in multiple ways. And I didn't want to be sidetracked by the video game of it all. I wanted to really listen, you know, what is she saying here with arcade tracks? Like, Blue is so dreamy.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, that's such a beautiful. I have more dreamy in my notes.

[Celia Gregory]

Yeah. I mean, and it's of the utmost compliment. And she asks a lot of good questions. Right. Are you out of your mind? As how she starts the record? And so you're examining sort of her inner workings and her feelings. I don't think she's shying away from the deep feeling, but it is hard to pinpoint her even by the. The finality of it. I'm just like, who is Deb? Never. I'm still asking you.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Creep into my life like your favorite out of the blue. Sometimes I wonder if you could know how much I want you.

[Celia Gregory]

You know, you were talking about her finding music as. As a means to, you know, go inward because she couldn't really socialize with her classmates. She said about this record. And I feel like that tension comes through. There's always so much going on. There are always people around me. I'm always surrounded, but I always felt this singularity and this isolation. And in my music is the only time I can express that. So, yeah, going inward, even though she's collaborating a lot on this record to make it what it is, sounds like she really had to tap into maybe not loneliness, but isolation, both chosen and not chosen to come up with some of these songs. Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

And when you think about universal feelings that aren't always being examined and expressed, I think feeling Alone in a crowd is a big part of being alive in 2026 because there is this din around us all the time, no matter where we. If you're online, you are kind of immersed in a lot of static and a lot of noise and it can be hard to kind of locate yourself within that and find ways to step away from that. And I appreciate how she kind of talked about that thing of like, I have this support network, I have all these people around me. But then this record is what happens when you sit down away from that and craft something beautiful. Deb never. Her new album is called Arcade. Next up, Leaky Lee. Leaky Lee is back with an album called the After Party.

[Music Clips/Artists]

You took me there, you took me there Gave me a taste of heaven's gate. You tangled fingers in my head. Now I'm the fool of fucking clown. Down on my knees, fella. Channel wide, I swear. Why do you have to take me there?

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, let's kick us off with the Licky Wiki. Give people a little sense. If you're not familiar with Licky Li, she's a Swedish kind of indie pop singer songwriter. She's been around since her first album came out in 2008. So she's been floating around for a while now. This is her sixth album. Nine songs, 25 brisk, filler free minutes full of introspection and like really catchy, bright, brisk, summery, soulful pop songs.

[Celia Gregory]

Yes, all the things again, we're right on the cusp of summer and so this felt kind of like the moon record to me, like right on time. Spring to summer, Emergence record. And she said, by the way, that this is maybe her final record. So it's like we appreciate it all the more because we're like, no, don't, like don't leave us. But it's also. Thanks. No, thanks. Yeah. Do we have a vote? Can it not be? But she said this is not an exploration of one's best or higher self, but your lower self, your need for revenge, your shame, despair. I'm like, okay, let's go there. But make it sparkly pop music. I love that. I love that balance.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. I love upbeat music that's secretly miserable you.

[Celia Gregory]

You.

[Stephen Thompson]

I mean, talk about, you know, I mean, it's that feeling of being alone in a crowd, right? Like there's these boisterous arrangements around her and she's kind of sitting at the center of it, doubting herself. Right. Or like ruminating on shame and desire for revenge and kind of these darker sides of her personality. Even as there's like a 17 piece orchestra kind of jamming out around her in full Technicolor.

[Celia Gregory]

Yeah, I was gonna say, lest people hear, you know, a snippet on this show and then they're like, well, I don't really love pop music, so I'm not gonna go there. Please listen to this record. Because not only is there was it, you know, recorded with an orchestra. I mean, there's that first Lucky Again single I loved Love Love. Great radio song. And she samples Max Richter's Vivaldi reinvention. It's like high art, you know, like, this is not vapid pop music. Sing along. It's lyrically and musically rich. And yet it's gonna get you where you need to go. If you're looking for the pop bangers,

[Music Clips/Artists]

Lord, I don't know how and I can't say when if we're lucky, we get lucky again. Maybe hold on tight till the pizza end. If we're lucky, we'll get lucky again. You there? I'm lost.

[Stephen Thompson]

You have these kind of pop firecrackers at the top of the record. Songs like Not Gonna Cry, which is just like big, bright, kind of boisterous song. But then as you kind of drift to the back half and Again, this is 25 minute record, so you know, the back half that is 12 minutes, you get this kind of dreamier, more overtly melancholy sound. And I think that is executed just beautifully in tracks like Euphoria, a kind of mistitled song. That close. I mean, it's dreamy, it's beautiful, but it has a more melancholy vibe to it.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Baby, I will take your sorrow on my shoulder. We can borrow euphoria Though it won't last. Hallelujah. This renewal euphoria.

[Celia Gregory]

Do you know what I loved about Euphoria as a closer? Because she's dancing all around. Like you said, self empowerment, self doubt. There's some anger on this, like, how could you kind of thing. Euphoria is like this reframe of. I think she says, hallelujah. That euphoria is temporary. Like we should be grateful that like the sad times, this too shall pass intensely. Happy times don't. So maybe it's more special because it's so quick and potent and rare. And I was like, that's. I'm gonna take that with me. I like that sort of closing statement and closing argument. Like, if it were forever, we would take it for granted. Is that an Easter egg? She's like, no, really. I'm done with music. I hope you enjoyed this because it wasn't forever. But yeah, what a strong closer. Even though it starts with the bigger

[Music Clips/Artists]

pop tunes, though, it won't last. Hallelujah. Least we knew you Euphoria.

[Stephen Thompson]

That's Licki Lee. Her new album is called the After Party. We got one more record we're gonna talk about in depth as well as a lightning round of some of our other favorite records out today, May 8th. But first, let's take a quick.

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[Stephen Thompson]

It's NEW MUSIC Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville. Before we get to our lightning round of some of our other favorite albums out today, May 8th, we wanted to talk about one more album. It's by Stephen Sanchez, and it is called See if youf Can Sense a Theme Here. Love, love, love, love,

[Music Clips/Artists]

It's got a hold on me now. I ain't ever going to go Sweet love. It's kind of hard on me now. Do I need saving?

[Celia Gregory]

Steven this other Steven Sanchez is a California native now based in Nashville. So I feel this strong affinity. He was also our former Nashville Artist of the month around the time of his debut record, angel Face. So this is his highly anticipated sophomore release. As you said, it's love, love, love, all caps. And that is what it's about. And it's this Technicolor pop quote unquote.

[Stephen Thompson]

Technicolor is the word. That's the word all over my notes.

[Celia Gregory]

It's what he was going for and he delivered. This is another sort of undeniable artist, even if it's not your thing, you cannot deny this guy's skill. And I think he's going to be riding high off this one as he was his debut.

[Stephen Thompson]

I think so, too. I mean, this is big, bold, theatrical piano pop, but also kind of a throwback to classic 50s and 60s singers. So it's a very classic sound. It is in some ways one of the most wholesome albums that we'll probably talk about this year at times like this dude makes Alex Warren sound debauched, but at the same time, he has such a gift for these big, grand anthemic songs. I mean, like, we just heard Sweet Love, which is kind of this soulful pop throwback, but also tracks like It Might Be Love, you know, where you're just getting these kind of mile wide bangers just in time for summer, which is such a theme of this episode.

[Music Clips/Artists]

When I was younger I didn't care for love at all and all the world made me feel small but then again I was never tall I closed my eyes and she's there dancing in my dreams Just a doll on a silver screen but in my heart she's everything if you want to love her you can give her your time and if you're feeling lonely Please don't let her pass you by it's not easy to be noticed but within,

[Celia Gregory]

I mean, it's so sweet and like, that's just sweet. Throughout. Wholesome. Yes. I mean, he's got this balance of. I mean, such a strong vocalist. Right? That is the thing. He's got this sort of falsetto soul meets big pop hooks, almost like a la Harry Styles. Like, I thought about that when I listened to this record. Like, if it wasn't this rockabilly aesthetic that sort of propelled him initially. What. What does it sound like? And I feel like it's like Harry's house almost. I'm gonna get. I'm gonna get some flack for this. But he's definitely inspired by artists that came decades before him, right? Decades and decades. So not even like classic rock, but we're talking about like 50s, like Primo Town sort of crooners and guys like that. But he really delivers it. And some of them are more rollicking, like you said, sweet love. Others, you know, maybe don't feel like they stick with me. There's not a lot of meat on the bones, but they're all undeniably sweet. And most of them pretty short and sweet too. Like under three minutes. It's like old school radio songs.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. Yeah. And like, there's such craftsmanship at its core at times. Is it crossing over into sounds that don't appeal as much to me? Absolutely. There's. The title track on this record is kind of crossing over into slightly maroon 5 territory. Ooh baby, I Love youe is just corny enough, like, where it kind of crosses over into that. Like it's on that corny, charming line, depending on my mood. But there are absolutely times when I want to just be pumped up by big, bright, inoffensive but deeply charming music.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Hi, hello, great big world, Got something to say.

[Celia Gregory]

Inoffensive is one we use a lot around WNXP parts because we're like, if you want an introduction to music, that might be a recommended. If you like something else, like give a. Give a wholesome spin to something like Steven Sanchez, you know, I wrote down that already got me. It was sort of like a little sassy. We're like, oh, look at you. Pushing back. Because we've mostly found this artist to be, you know, achingly earnest and singing about love and like, on that quadruple, I think, platinum, mega viral duet that he did until I found you'd. The streaming numbers on this fellow are enormous. But he's growing. We're hearing him grow up a little bit, and yet not denying what he knows people want to hear from him, which are these sometimes syrupy, sweet love songs.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. And the guy's 23 years old. I would say get used to this guy. Cause this feels like the kind of music that is gonna launch a 50, 60 year career. Like, this is music that feels very trend resistant and very classic. Very classic, very timeless. And to me, like, there's a lot to recommend it.

[Celia Gregory]

Yeah. He's said, like, if all I ever did in my life was make people feel the way I felt, you know, being transformed and touched by music, then I feel I've been successful. That's why I do what I do. He's already mission oriented as a singer and a songwriter. So if he's on his path to keep delivering these tasty little, you know, pop morsels, let's let him have it. We're gonna eat well.

[Stephen Thompson]

And like, honestly, like, look, I've spent a lot of my life marinating in cynicism. There is nothing wrong with sincerity. There is nothing wrong with sincere joy. And so I aspire to enjoy this record even more than I already did.

[Celia Gregory]

Well said.

[Stephen Thompson]

That is Steven Sanchez. His new record is called Love, Love, Love. Now, Celia, we could not possibly get. I say this every week. We couldn't get to every great record out today, May 8th. There is just always a surplus. It never stops. But we wanted to do a lightning round of some of our other favorite records out today. I'm going to kick us off with Ashley McBride, who is just one of the best and brightest minds in country music. She's got this diverse catalog of songs that'll make you weep and pump your fists sometimes at the same time. I truly believe celia, her song One Night Standards from 2019. I'm gonna say it right here. I think it's the best country song of the 21st century. I think she's incredible. She's just put out her fifth album. It's full of kind of rowdy country rock with an emphasis on the rock as well as incisive ballads with a keen eye for detail. Ashley McBride's new record record is called Wild. All right, Celia, what do you got for us?

[Celia Gregory]

Well, happy early birthday to me. Today we have the Broken Social Scene Return. Remember the Humans is this new LP from this, you know, sometimes amorphous, sprawling collective based in Toronto. And this album I love because it varies the lead vocalists and features just ever expansive instrumentation. It's kind of moody in parts. It's the first full length in nine years. So I'm. This is my entry, if only for the comeback of it all and. And I'm vibing with this six minute track which, you know, is pretty extended for indie rock. The Briefest Kiss is my recommended track as entry point and they're gonna soon embark on the all the Feelings tour with fellow beloved Canadian groups Metric and Stars. So triple threat on that tour, Go check it out and listen in to the new Broken Social Scene record. It's called Remember the Human.

[Stephen Thompson]

All right, let's bring in our colleague and pal and Nashvillian Ann Powers. Anne, what do you got for us?

[Celia Gregory]

I'm excited about this week's Lightning Round because a band that I'm truly obsessed with is releasing its debut lp. It's Please Stop Laughing by Ray Bull. Rabel is two guys, Tucker Elkins and Aaron Graham. Ray Bull has always been a concept as much as a band, making these totally weird short form videos and perfecting this off kilter image of themselves as two kind of losers who are also pop geniuses. Every song on Please Stop Laughing is just so deliciously strange. These songs are full of unreliable narrators, stories of drifters and broken dreams and drinking and family conflict.

[Stephen Thompson]

Just messes.

[Celia Gregory]

But everything is just beautiful. But then it's also kind of a joke or maybe a lie. This is music for the mirror world. This is where we live. You know I love it.

[Music Clips/Artists]

All that you want is a lie so throw away the key or give it back to me.

[Stephen Thompson]

Let's bring in Robin Hilton. Robin Hilton, what do you got for us?

[Celia Gregory]

All right, Stephen, I'm gonna go with Anastasia Christensen. She's an electronic producer and DJ from Denmark and her new one is called Bestiarium Somber. So the album title roughly means the Book of Grim Beasts and the songs

[Stephen Thompson]

are all named after animals. Like there's one called the Black Footed

[Celia Gregory]

Ferret and Sulphur Mustang. But you know, it's not like these songs are full of nature sounds or anything really that even sounds like it came from the earth. It's all very alien and pulsing. The polyrhythms and textures totally gets your head spinning in all kinds of different directions. But it's not overwhelming. Mostly, I think, because Anastasia Christensen just has a gift for creating a universe of sound that never stops moving. It really comes right at you, but it just still sounds so warm and inviting. Anastasia Christensen the album Bestiarium Somber.

[Stephen Thompson]

Let's close it out with our dear pal and colleague Lars Gottrich. Lars, what do you got for us? I have three queens in my life. Mariah Carey, Linda Ronstadt, and Amy Grant. Amy Grant has been called the queen of Christian pop and she is. For decades she's been both a pioneer and a pariah of faith based music. But it's been over a decade since her last album of original material and in that time she's had open heart surgery and survived and recovered from a bike accident. The me that remains takes the long view of life, but doesn't remain stuck in memory. Amy Grant wants us to consider what matters most while we are here on this earth and what that means in word and in deed. It's a challenge offered tenderly in only the way that Amy can. And for this lifelong listener, it's her best album since House of Love. That's the new album by Amy Grant. The Me that remains Life cut me

[Music Clips/Artists]

wide open when my head hit the ground it wasn't my time for dying Guess my soul just stuck around and out of this I'm beginning to claim the gifts in the healing and the me that remains.

[Stephen Thompson]

So I think it's safe to say, Celia, you co sign Lars Gotrich's Amy Grant love.

[Celia Gregory]

Yeah, I shared within and if somebody wants to me on on Instagram, I might just share with you my picture from my first backstage experience ever when I was 11 years old, had bracelet and got to meet Amy Grant. I love that she's still making music. She's an amazing, upstanding Nashville citizen. I just can't say enough good things. So thanks for letting me add on my 2 cents to Lars. What a great pick for this week.

[Stephen Thompson]

She is a source of good in the world. That is our show for this week. Thank you, Celia Gregory, for taking time out of your week at WNXP in Nashville.

[Celia Gregory]

Thank you. It's always such a pleasure to talk about new music with you, Steven.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, ah, likewise always a joy 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. We'll be back next week to discuss more new music with Joe Kendrick from WNC Del. In North Carolina. Until then, take a moment to be well. Don't forget to call your favorite moms and mom like and mom adjacent figures on Sunday and treat yourself to lots of great music.

[Music Clips/Artists]

Coming out of the dark Coming out of this grave it's taken me months of days and years so far Finding my way, my smile in the mirror is enough for today Reflecting the light deep down inside the never will fade.

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