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Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
All the small things Truth care truth.
Stephen Thompson
Brings Happy Friday everyone from npr. Welcome to NPR Music. It's NEW Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Liz Warner from WDET in Detroit. Welcome back to the show.
Liz Warner
Liz hi Stephen. So glad to be here.
Stephen Thompson
It is a pleasure to have you back. For those wondering about the music that we are hearing behind us, one of my favorite singer songwriters is a woman named Maddie Diaz. And just like a month ago she put out this amazing record called Fatal Optimist. And a month later she she kind of sort of has a new record. You can find it on Bandcamp. It is an album length cover of Blink 182's Enema of the State. Those like big ferocious pop punk songs. Matty Diaz kind of puts her own Matty Diaz twist on them. It is a benefit album for charity and you can find it on Matty Diaz's Bandcamp page. I like to start any given day with Matty Diaz singing anything and Blink182 fits that bill.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
Turn the light.
Stephen Thompson
All right, first up, we have a new album from FKA Twigs. FKA Twigs's new album is called you Sexua Afterglow.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
I do what you want, I do what you you.
Stephen Thompson
So usexua Afterglow is FKA Twigs second album this year. If you're at all familiar with FKA Twigs, she makes really dense and mysterious and creative kind of dance pop, R and B. She's extremely creative and no two records are the same. And you know, she put out this record in January called you Sexua, which we talked about on this show. You know, this, this like, you know, very sexy, danceable, but kind of weird and mysterious pop music. And this record she kind of originally intended to be part of a deluxe edition of you Sexual. You know, so many pop records now get these deluxe editions to put them kind of back on the charts or get people talking about around awards season. She was kind of putting this project together and realized it was kind of its own record. It's not a remix album. It's not an extension of you Sexua so much as like a companion, you know, a woozy dance pop centric companion that leans into her kind of smoky, mysterious, euphoric side.
Liz Warner
STEPHEN it's, it's kind of like this extension of the record, but an extension of A night. It talks a lot about sort of like this rave after rave post rave feeling, inspired in fact, by rave. And it gets into this kind of weird zone, starting out maybe closer to Usexua, the original. And then we start to delve into these dips and these ebbs and flows that get really, really tripped out. You can especially tell when you head to the song Cheap Hotel.
Stephen Thompson
Oh yeah.
Liz Warner
It's basically just like a party session from who knows what. And it gets very strange, but then it gets kind of upbeat and you don't quite know where you are, but it's done in the most brilliant way. She really has a way of finding her own place. She has a way of saying, hey, this is me and I am really unlike any other. And it's just a really beautiful, beautiful thing.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
All night.
Stephen Thompson
It's useful to think of this record almost as if it's 3:30 in the morning. She's wandering through a house where a party is being thrown. And each song is like her entering a different room. And whatever room she has walked to in Cheap Hotel, you know, it's just very warped and frenetic and choppy and distorted and like, it's a very strange room, but it's still of a piece with the rest of this record, you know, you've also got a song like Hard, which, you know, in spite of its title, has this kind of soft, springy lightness to it. There's a lilt in her voice and so you really get a sense, you know, with all these different songs on this record, it. It's maneuvering through a lot of different vibes. It's not staying in one place for very long.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
I gotta know something about you Just tell me what you do is Hard.
Liz Warner
Another song that really stood out to me, Stephen, is Stereo Boy. It really shows her depth and the regions that she can go. I mean, she always has this way of going in between different spots on her records, but this one finds her in that kind of cranes 4ad a little bit of My Bloody Valentine feel, which I didn't. I had to really think about that for a minute as I was listening. I was like, wow, is she really doing this? And that's another reason why I just love listening to what she has to present, because you really don't know what she's going to do next.
Stephen Thompson
That is Usexua Afterglow, the new album from FKA Twigs. Next up, Liz, something very different. The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton have a new collaborative album. It's called Avett Patton. Every Day and every dark night so how do I speak?
Guest Vocalist / Poet
Every birth is the ending and every life is dying Here in the spaces Here in the shadows behind the faces Beneath the souls Everyone has it everyone knows the dread of eternal love.
Stephen Thompson
So this is one of the unlikelier collaborations we've heard in 2025. The Avett brothers, you know, a terrific kind of, you know, folk, pop, bluegrass, punky, rootsy, full of like kind of thoughtful ruminations about trying to be a good person in the world. You know, a pretty earnest band, one that I've really loved for many years. Mike Patton was the lead singer of Faith no more and Mr. Bungle. Very, very kind of aggressive and aggressively strange punk, Prague metal.
Liz Warner
Absolutely.
Stephen Thompson
Very, very, very unpredictable. And I would never have thought to put these two together other than the fact that they have both had fruitful second lives kind of running their own record labels. I don't really know how I ever thought to put them on a record together.
Liz Warner
Yeah, it's an interesting idea that seemed to have come out of a. Almost mutual admiration. They even. They don't actually know the exact roots of how they got together, which actually makes a lot of sense when you think about Mike Patton.
Stephen Thompson
He woke up in one of those rooms in FKA Twigs house.
Liz Warner
Yeah, just spin the wheel. So they finally then put their heads together and the result is super cool. The mix up is the craziest blender that I've heard. It's another one of those records in a way where you're like, wait, what's going to happen next? It's that unpredictability that is actually quite thrilling.
Guest Vocalist / Poet
Knock knock knocking on the door of the house of work Once before Please let me in I'm tired and it's cold as hell I've been moving non stop all night long and I'm following the arrows Something is wrong or maybe right it's getting hard to tell.
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Stephen Thompson
And you, you really get a sense. There are songs that feel like, okay, this feels like an Avett Brothers song with maybe a little more grit. This maybe feels like a little bit more of a Mike Patton excursion. You know, the first couple songs on this record feel pretty avet coded, right? Like Dark Night of My Soul and To Be Known. You know, those are the tracks that open the record and they, they feel they're in that reflective space, maybe with a little bit more of a bluesy undercurrent than you get on an Avett Brothers record. Then you get thrown into the song Heaven's Breath, which is much grimier kind of Gutter Blues. And that's where you're bringing out Mike Patton, whose voice just has a lot more sand in its pants.
Guest Vocalist / Poet
Who is the mother of ice and.
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Guest Vocalist / Poet
What if my soul has been lost to have it bad what will it cost? Come back down, come back down.
Liz Warner
I really like how brave of a record it is. I think collaboration to me is one of the it puts you in one of the most vulnerable spaces and it really leads to some serious musical discoveries. And I think that these musicians, all of them, by putting themselves in that space together, have really kind of approached new ground, new territory, new discoveries of what it is that each of them can do. And so it's just really, really cool to hear the whole record.
Stephen Thompson
That is avet Patton, that is stylized avtt pttn all caps the Avett Brothers and Mike Patton. We've got a bunch more great records out today, November 14th. We're gonna get to them in just a moment, but first let's take a quick break.
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Stephen Thompson
It's NEW Music Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Liz Warner of WDET in Detroit. Liz, tell us what's going on at the station.
Liz Warner
We're doing well. You know, we have so many great supporters and we're so grateful and it's been a great week for Detroit. As you probably saw at the Rock Hall, Jack White was on stage accepting the induction for the White Stripes and the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. His record label, Third Man Records, has been a big supporter of wdet and he gave such a beautiful acceptance speech. And then wouldn't you know, Don was was on stage, co founder of Detroit's Was, not Was, who's played, of course, with the Wolf Brothers. He's done so many things and he is a host right here at WDET as well. He's one of the the best storytellers that you can find on radio anywhere. So it was a real nice surprise to see him on stage and in my mind representing WDET and then Detroit all around.
Stephen Thompson
Yeah, it's a big night for Detroit. I love it. I'm so glad that when you were saying things are going so well for Detroit that you did not talk about the Lions, as a currently disgruntled Packer fan, I'm having none of it.
Liz Warner
So sorry.
Stephen Thompson
All right, next up, we have a new EP from Gabriel Jacoby. It's called Got a Child.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
I heard that you wanted healing something might not feel it tell me what's wrong. And I heard they ain't your man Let me come round I can make sure he's gone Can I show you off and put you on like I know that you deserve? Can I give you my attention? Baby, slowly where it hurts. Can I help you out every now and then I'm sure it works Just trust me ain't it I ain't gonna wish to find you Just trust me Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby.
Liz Warner
Jacoby was born in Anderson, S.C. raised in Tampa, Florida. He's young, he's 26 years old. A multi instrumentalist, self taught. He first learned piano, then he learned bass, drums, guitar, production. I hear a lot of d', Angelo, I hear Jamiroquai, I hear Sly Stone, I hear Amp fiddler. For those who pay attention to Detroit sounds, I hear Stevie Wonder, a lot of sounds integrated throughout. One of the standout cuts is Baby, it is just this really soulful cut, but somehow reserved, which is kind of where I draw my Sly Stone reference, because so few musicians can really capture that zone so well. And as well as Gabriel Jacoby.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
Baby, Baby.
Stephen Thompson
Yeah. He sounds like a star to me. Like, you really get kind of right out of the gate. You know, these songs that are like maybe two minutes long, but just have everything to them. Like, he has a real gift for brevity. This is eight songs in 20 minutes. The title track, Got a Child. Sleek, timeless, Horns everywhere, record scratches. It is cluttered in a classic way. The song is 1 minute and 48 seconds long.
Guest Vocalist / Poet
And if it ain't gonna be that way if it ain't gonna be. I just need you to understand you're never gonna find another man like me. And if it ain't gonna be that way if it ain't gonna be my mind I wanna try and lie.
Stephen Thompson
What you get here is 20 minutes of proof of concept that this is an incredibly talented dude. And he's, you know, at times, you know, he's like coming in and just like, rocking the falsetto, right?
Liz Warner
Absolutely.
Stephen Thompson
Same sign is just this funky, falsetto driven soul. And you just get a sense of, like. You can just picture this guy rocking an arena stage. You can picture this guy rocking a club stage. I feel like for the next couple years, I don't know if this is his trajectory. I don't know his life, but I feel like the next couple years, I'm going to see a lot of the words in parentheses featuring Gabriel Jacoby and, like, where this guy's gonna get brought in as a hired gun to liven up people's songs. I can't wait to hear more. That is Gabriel Jacoby. His debut EP is Gabriel Gut a Child. Next up, the artist K Lone has a new record. It's called Sorry, I thought you were someone else.
Liz Warner
All right. K Lone is the music of Josiah Gladwell. He kind of got his start in the London clubs. He has his own label, Wisdom Teeth. He has a smooth, hypnotic groove sound, sort of with space to drift within. That's what quote. Actually, I stole that one, Stephen, from his band, Camp Page. It works really, really well. The record was made, this particular record after the passing of his father. So you have a lot of introspection, a lot of depth, a lot of places to go. It does have a mix of A sort of a cavernous side room club feel with those kinds of excursions. And it also has these heady contemplations, I guess, as you would imagine, with such a serious situation that you're remembering.
Stephen Thompson
Yeah. And lyrically speaking, like, this is a mostly instrumental project. You know, mellow, vibey, kind of throbbing, hypnotic, you know, house music. And when there are voices, they tend to be distant in the background. They're almost functioning more as instruments. But the heavy themes that you're talking about are still evident. You can still feel them even in these songs that are kind of, you know, moving incrementally, kind of shifting incrementally and allowing your mind to wander.
Liz Warner
Yeah. There's this song, slk, picking up from some classic warp sounds, but with today's really updated production skills, it gets kind of crunchy at times. It has sound likeness to something Andrew Weatherall would put out there, but it just has this really nice drift to it. And it's something that is kind of like an endless listen. You could listen to this through eternity. It's probably something that would end up on my. I have a personal. I don't know about you, Stephen, but I have a study jams list of songs. Yeah. Even if it's not exactly studying that I'm doing. But for those moments that I really want to focus on something and have the right mood and in the background, that is what I put on. And this song would definitely hit that zone.
Stephen Thompson
You know how we mentioned when we were talking about FKA Twigs, you know, this house full of rooms and each room is a different sound.
Liz Warner
Yeah.
Stephen Thompson
The basement of that house is where that SLK song lives. It absolutely transports you to this, like, sweaty late night basement. It's of full. Full of smoke and foreboding lighting. And that is the song that's playing.
Liz Warner
I kind of like our playlist this week. It's. It's a lot of fun. The haze. That's a good one to start talking about right now. Right. It's upbeat, you know, with enough flow to activate those electrical impulses in the brain. And it just becomes one of those instant essentials.
Stephen Thompson
There's also, you know, in some of these songs, there's almost like a liquid quality where the song is kind of bubbling or percolating. And you can almost imagine in a song like Slide By Side, you can imagine, like, it accompanying like an elaborate indoor water feature at a luxury hotel, you know, where it's got this like, slightly pinging quality. But there's some effect in the song that feels like there's a waterfall quality that is K Lone. K Lone's new album is called Sorry, I Thought yout Were Someone Else. 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 songs out today, November 14th. But first, first, let's take a quick break.
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Stephen Thompson
From NPR Music, it's NEW MUSIC Friday. I'm Stephen Thompson here with Liz Warner of WDET in Detroit. Before we get to our lightning round, there's one more record we wanted to discuss in depth, and that is by the group Sword 2. The album is called Electricity Hour.
Liz Warner
Sword 2, this is their second release. They're a trio from Atlanta. They're very much, Steven, an all hands on deck type of band. Everyone's doing everything. You hear vocals at all times. You hear whatever instrument needs to be played. But what you really hear is this updated version of Shoegaze. In a way, it's this indie pop, shoegaze, psychedelic rock, emo, you name it. And it really is just thrown out all into the mix. It's really cool.
Stephen Thompson
I mean, one thing that becomes clear if you listen to this show every week, which I highly recommend, listening to this show every week, one thing you'll hear is I will compare any number of things to records that would have absolutely crushed on college radio in the early 90s. Cause, Liz, I lived on college I lived in the college radio space in the early 90s at the university of Wisconsin. And this band, I get little kicks of like Swerve Driver, you know, like those great 90s guitar bands, but also with like a little bit of a gnarled and jagged quality. This mix of voices, you know, Mary Gonzalez comes in and gives this kind of sweeter but still salty lilt, you know, to some of these songs, the kind of rotation of voices I think work really well against these big billowy guitars. Just the mix of salty and sweet and blustery. I get transported, a, to the 90s, which means to my youth. But B, I'm like dying to hear what they do. Next. You know, this record really left me want, like, left me wanting more in a good way. Like, not wanting more. Like, I wish this were better. I just want more of it.
Liz Warner
I really like this record. It is so energetic. I really like the cut, even if it's just a dream. Very shoegazy, very pop. And a bit abstract as well. The whole video is basically based around a surgery of trying to change somebody so that maybe they can have a child when they weren't naturally going to have a child, that type of thing. And it becomes this very almost uncertain territory.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
Surgeries and batteries. I'll take the scalpel. Stretch to nucleus. The needle.
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Stephen Thompson
There's such a big mix of sounds here. You get sweet, almost poppy songs like Sugar Cane, you know, which has this kind of chugging, churning quality, but still a certain amount of. Of light kind of being thrown into the room. And then you have bigger, blusterier songs. Like there's a track called who's Giving youg Love? That's building up to a real frenzy. And you have multiple compelling voices. You know, the song who's Giving youg Love? The vocals really reminded me of this band I love, you know, that just put out a record a couple weeks ago, Saint Seneca. You know, a band that is not like super duper well known. But every time I hear them, I'm thrilled, you know, to like, conjure images of bands I loved in the 90s and bands I love now all swirled together, kind of coexisting in the same song. Moving through these different phases, different styles, different sounds in ways that are compelling all the way through. I love this record.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
Jesus giving you love.
Liz Warner
He'S giving you.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
Jesus giving you.
Stephen Thompson
That is Sword two. Their new album is Electric Hour. Highly recommended, Liz. Even as we get into November and the release schedule slows down quite a bit, we still cannot get to every terrific record that is out today, November 14th. So we are going to do a lightning round of some of the other records we couldn't get to. I'm going to kick us off with a record we have not heard in its entirety, which is. Is, you know, why we didn't put it higher in this episode. But it promises to be one of the biggest albums out today. The R B singer Summer Walker is back with the completion of a trilogy. She's had huge hits with her albums over it and Still Over It. Now she's backed with the star packed capper that she's been teasing for more than a year. The new album is packed with features too numerous to list here, but they include Lotto 21, Savage, Anderson, Paak, Sexyy Red and so many others after over it it and still Over It Summer Walker's new album is called Finally Over.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
It'll always choose you wanna give up on you but damn I know I can't I put the blame on me for giving you chance of the chance and I try to be strong much Can I put your words on your life this time.
Liz Warner
Stephen Eris Drew has a DJ Kicks series which is always an amazing series. Eris was born in Australia and hails from Chicago, which is renowned for its house music heritage. Eris gives an update to the sound of Chicago that takes a cosmic edge. After all, she describes herself as the high priestess of the Mother Beat. One of the great things about the DJ Kicks series is that the DJ who's making the mix always drops an original cut. In this case there are two on here and she has something called Momentary Phase Transition, which is really nice. It's an upbeat, punchy dance floor groove and a really great example of what she brings to the scene. That's Eris Drew with DJ Kicks.
Stephen Thompson
The arty Canadian electro pop band Austra has been around for more than 15 years, revolving around the work of its only consistent member, Katie Stalmanis. Her music is hugely dramatic and arty, dark and hip, hypnotic, and on Ostra's fifth album, her songs are big, throbbing, emotionally dense things with sadness and elation orbiting around each other like a binary star. Ostra's new album is called Chin Up Buttercup.
Liz Warner
Steven Everything but the Girl has a new collection out, the Best of Everything but the Girl. This collection is it's a really great expansion for even the casual fan. It digs into many aspects of their catalog, including their take on some classic standards like Corcovado, Night and Day. Those are some really cool surprises to be included on this collection. It also includes a fantastic cut from their surprise 2023 release views, the song called Run a Red Light. That's Everything but the Girl, the best of Everything but the Girl.
Musical Interludes / Song Vocals
It's the partake, not the dull Split.
Guest Vocalist / Poet
A few weeks and I can work it.
Stephen Thompson
Tony Molina has been releasing impeccable pop, folk, rock and hardcore records for more than 20 years now. His greatest trick is his ability to write brief fragments of music that somehow sound complete and timeless. His new record packs 21 of those fragments 21 songs really into just 23 minutes that evoke the likes of Guided By Voices and the Kinks. If you're a fan of Guided by Voices or the Kinks. I think you should check out this record. It's gorgeous. Tony Molina's new album is titled on this Day.
Guest Vocalist / Poet
To Me.
Stephen Thompson
Now, Liz, you and I listen to a ton of music. To prep for this conversation, this is where I put you on the spot and ask you to name the one song, your favorite song of everything that we talked about today.
Liz Warner
I think I'm gonna go with Sword two. Even if it's just a dream, it's so catchy. It's so poppy. It's kind of like dream pop at its finest. And it's brand new and it's so fresh. I love that cut. Even if it's just a Dream by Sword two.
Stephen Thompson
That is a great pull. I mean, I really, really love that record. Tempted to go with something from the FKA Twigs, which is pretty terrific, but I really want to call people's attention one more time to Gabriel Jacoby, who I think is a really exciting young talent. I'm coming in here. I came in. I had never heard of this guy. This record was sort of dropped into my lap by Otis Hart, our producer. And I just was immediately taken with his voice and with his kind of. Of ability to seamlessly blend so many eras so confidently. I'm just going to go with the song Gut a Child, which is just a. Which is just a pocket jam. And that is our show for this week. Thank you so much, Liz Warner, for taking time out of your week at WDET in Detroit.
Liz Warner
Stephen, it's been a pleasure, as always. Thank you.
Stephen Thompson
Such 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 edited by Otis Hart with a big assist from our pal Elle Mannion. The executive producer of NPR Music is Soraya Mohan. We'll be back next week to discuss new music with Justice Sanchez of KNKX in Seattle, Tacoma. Until then, take a moment to be well, resist the urge to break out the holiday music just a little bit longer and treat yourself to lots of great music.
Guest Vocalist / Poet
I could give a damn. This is what I am.
Stephen Thompson
Come on.
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Podcast: All Songs Considered
Host: Stephen Thompson (NPR), with guest Liz Warner (WDET Detroit)
Release Date: November 14, 2025
This episode of All Songs Considered focuses on the most exciting albums, EPs, and mixes released on November 14, 2025. Host Stephen Thompson and returning guest Liz Warner (WDET Detroit) dive deep into standout records across genres, offering thoughtful critique, scene-setting, and contextual insights to help listeners discover their next favorite artist. From genre-bending pop to adventurous soul, introspective house to forward-thinking shoegaze, the episode delivers a thorough guide to the week’s new music highlights.
Discussion Begins: [01:39]
Discussion Begins: [06:58]
Discussion Begins: [15:53]
Discussion Begins: [20:33]
Discussion Begins: [25:38]
Begins: [31:06]
Summer Walker — Finally Over
Completion of her R&B trilogy (Over It, Still Over It), packed with guest features (Lotto, 21 Savage, Anderson .Paak, Sexyy Red). [31:06]
Eris Drew — DJ Kicks
Acclaimed DJ delivers a cosmic, Chicago-rooted set for the storied mix series, including originals like "Momentary Phase Transition." [32:36]
Austra — Chin Up Buttercup
Katie Stalmanis returns with the fifth album of dramatic, dark, and emotionally charged electro-pop. [33:44]
Everything But the Girl — The Best of Everything But the Girl
Comprehensive new anthology covering hits, deep cuts, and standards renditions, including music from their 2023 return. [34:45]
Tony Molina — On This Day
21 brief but complete indie-pop/rock tracks in 23 minutes; for fans of Guided By Voices and The Kinks. [35:48]
Liz Warner’s Pick:
“I think I’m gonna go with Sword II — ‘Even If It’s Just a Dream,’ it’s so catchy, so poppy, it’s kind of like dream pop at its finest. And it’s brand new and it’s so fresh." [36:58]
Stephen Thompson’s Pick:
"Tempted to go with something from the FKA Twigs, which is pretty terrific, but I really want to call people's attention one more time to Gabriel Jacoby… I'm just going to go with the song Got a Child, which is just a pocket jam." [37:35]
On the unpredictability of collaborations:
Liz Warner: "They don't actually know the exact roots of how they got together, which actually makes a lot of sense when you think about Mike Patton." [08:49]
On K-Lone’s atmosphere:
Stephen Thompson: "In a song like Slide By Side, you can imagine, like, it accompanying like an elaborate indoor water feature at a luxury hotel, you know, where it's got this like, slightly pinging quality." [24:01]
On Sword II’s blend of old and new:
Stephen Thompson: "To like, conjure images of bands I loved in the 90s and bands I love now all swirled together, kind of coexisting in the same song." [29:29]
The conversation balances expert enthusiasm with humor and personal reflection. Both hosts champion curiosity and openness to musical surprises, highlighting the week's releases as invitations into new sonic experiences. Their language is friendly, knowledgeable, and deeply invested in the power of discovery.
This week’s episode is a vibrant roadmap through the best and boldest new music releases of November 14, 2025, offering thoughtful analysis with genuine excitement and plenty of playlist inspiration for music fans eager to explore what’s next.