New Music Friday: The best albums out Sept. 26

Summary

All Songs Considered – New Music Friday: The Best Albums Out Sept. 26

Host: Lars Gottrich (NPR, subbing for Stephen Thompson)
Guest: Evan Miller (WYSO, Ohio)
Date: September 26, 2025

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Overview

This week's episode of New Music Friday dives into the standout albums released on September 26, 2025. Guest Evan Miller (WYSO) joins host Lars Gottrich to discuss new full-lengths from Neko Case, Jeff Tweedy, Robert Plant, Amanda Shires, and Cate Le Bon, as well as a robust lightning round of other notable releases. The episode explores how veteran artists and rising acts are navigating sound, songwriting, heartbreak, reinvention, and collaboration.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fall Albums, Mariah Carey, and Doja Cat (01:08–02:29)

• Fall listening traditions: Lars and Evan bond over their favorite albums for fall—Lars picks Arthur Russell’s Love Is Overtaking Me, Evan goes for early Grizzly Bear records.
• Big pop records not covered: Lars mentions Doja Cat’s V and Mariah Carey’s 16th album, Here For It All—but admits neither host has heard them.
  • “Are you part of the ‘Lambily,’ Evan?” (Lars, 02:12)
  • Evan: “I suppose not, but the name is very convincing.” (02:19)

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2. Neko Case – Neon Midnight Green (02:32–06:46)

• Neko’s first self-produced album and return after 8 years:
  • A re-appreciation of her “incredible discography” spanning Country, Americana, indie pop, and more.
• Production shines:
  • Evan: “For a first time producing her own album, knocked it out of the park. …has this very, kind of earthy, lived in sound.” (03:59)
• Poetry and lyricism:
  • Lars highlights Neko’s ability to evoke feeling through surreal, unconsciously resonant lyrics.
  • Quote: “Sometimes with Neko Case, I don’t really know what she’s singing about, but I get the feeling of it. That idea of it sounds first, it feels later.” (05:37)
• Notable Moment:
  • “You taste exactly like disbelief. Because who am I that I don’t die when you kill me?” (Lars quoting, from title track, 06:00)
• Evan notes desire to read Neko Case’s memoir, inspired by lyrical richness.

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3. Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override (06:46–13:18)

• A massive triple album (30 songs, nearly 2 hours):
  • Lars: “This is approximately the one millionth album from Jeff Tweedy.” (07:36)
• Blurry boundary between Wilco and Tweedy solo work:
  • “The structure of the song feels a little too inside for Wilco… so maybe that’s what makes a Jeff Tweedy solo song.” (Lars, on ’Mirror’, 09:49)
• Meta songwriting and personal reflection:
  • Evan: “There are a few songs…very meta about writing songs, how he’s doing it and what he’s doing. It’s a love song, but it’s also about writing a love song.” (10:49)
• Highlight: “New Orleans” and Steve Albini:
  • Lars tells the story (11:36): Tweedy was working on the song the same night Steve Albini died; the song (“I’d trade all four limbs for a parade in New Orleans”) becomes eerily prescient.
    • “That’s just some cosmic stuff, man. There’s no better way to put it.” (Lars, 12:44)

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4. Robert Plant & Saving Grace – Saving Grace (16:31–21:35)

• Robert Plant’s post-Zeppelin reinvention, curation, and collaboration:
  • Lars recounts Plant’s pivot to American roots music since 2007’s “Raising Sand.”
• Highlights include covers and new interpretations:
  • Evan: “One of the things I like about these later career Robert Plant records is… especially the way he’s become an interpreter and curator of old American music.” (18:22)
  • Talk around the inventive cover of Low’s “Everybody’s Song,” adding a Persian flavor.
• Group effort, not just Plant’s show:
  • “There are songs where other members of the band take a lead vocal for extended periods of time… Robert Plant takes the back seat or essentially almost disappears…” (Evan, 20:45)
  • Lars: “He’s the spiritual gut, he’s the conductor, he’s the band leader. It’s a good look on him.” (21:35)

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5. Amanda Shires – Nobody’s Girl (22:09–29:33)

• Divorce record with raw, unsparing detail:
  • Amanda’s turbulent marriage and divorce from Jason Isbell is documented song by song.
  • “Yeah, it just hit me like a brick.” (Evan, 25:12)
• Devastating specifics in “The Details”:
  • Evan nearly had to pull over while listening, moved by lines like, “Forget me not Niagara Falls, I never had my ringer on even if you called… you erase the details and I history…” (25:43)
  • Lars notes: “What was it all for? Putting your dreams over mine…” is the record’s recurring inquiry. (26:37)
• Creative vulnerability:
  • “I have so much respect for people like her that make something that’s so emotionally raw and bare…” (Evan, 27:42)
• Musical tone:
  • Quiet, restrained—mainly ballads, but two rockers, especially “Lose It for a While,” where Shires literally screams out her pain.
    • “Maybe the only time at the record she actually does lose it.” (Lars, 29:00)

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6. Cate Le Bon – Michelangelo Dying (30:55–36:12)

• Oblique, artful heartbreak:
  • “It’s a lot more oblique. It’s less right on the surface… she has a certain way about her lyricism that is a little less direct.” (Evan, 31:56)
  • Lars compares her approach to Salvador Dali’s surrealism—a “dripping clock’s length” away from emotional directness.
• Evolution and directness:
  • This album brings out a new, more personal side of Cate Le Bon.
  • Highlights her use of saxophone as a second voice (34:18); band member is a key collaborator, able to “intuit what your musical partner is looking for.”
• Saddest birthday song ever:
  • “There’s a line… I thought about your mother. I hope she knew I loved her. It’s like, ugh, I remember that. Yeah, that hurts.” (Lars, 35:26)
  • Evan: “Your relationship is not just with the one person, it’s with the people around them. So when you lose that, you lose so many other kinds of relationships simultaneously.” (35:26)

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7. Lightning Round: Albums Out Sept. 26 (36:12–41:14)

Picks include:

• Josie — A Life of Sweets Alone
  • “Short, sweet, and raucous. They whiz by with chaotic glee.” (Lars, 36:56)
• Bitchin Bajas — Inland Sea
  • “American kraut-rocky music with this long, nearly 20-minute track at the end.” (Evan, 37:11)
• M. Sage — Tender Waiting
  • Ambient jazz/minimalist, inspired by parenthood; “cozy and domestic underpinned by the uncertainty that comes with caring for new life.” (Lars, 38:17)
• Geese — Getting Killed
  • “If you’re not on the Geese train yet, get on now. It’s a good time.” (Evan, 39:07)
• Lady Wray — Covergirl
  • “Lady Wray’s voice is just so piercing and powerful…she leans into her gospel roots on this one a little bit more, but she can also get really funky.” (Lars, 40:21)

Personal Song Highlights

• Evan:
  • Robert Plant’s cover of Low Anthem's “Ticket Taker” – “The way Robert Plant and the Saving Grace group rearrange that is really captivating. It’s a standout track.” (41:39)
• Lars:
  • Jeff Tweedy’s “New Orleans” – “There’s something about the way that guitars take on their own voice… Sometimes I don’t want to know exactly what a song is about. I just need to be able to feel it. And so that song did it for me.” (42:27)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “For a first time producing her own album, knocked it out of the park. It sounds unbelievable.” (Evan, 03:59, on Neko Case)
• “Sometimes with Neko Case, I don’t really know what she’s singing about, but I get the feeling of it.” (Lars, 05:37)
• “If you’re not obsessed with the band, you’re not keeping up with every single thing that every member does over the years.” (Lars, 08:43, on Wilco/Tweedy overload)
• “He’s the spiritual gut, he’s the conductor, he’s the band leader. It’s a good look on him.” (Lars, 21:35, on Robert Plant)
• “I have so much respect for people like her that make something that’s so emotionally raw and bare and then take this out on the road…” (Evan, 27:42, on Amanda Shires)
• “She has a certain way about her lyricism that is a little less direct than others. And I think that’s just as on display here [with heartbreak].” (Evan, 31:56, on Cate Le Bon)
• “Your relationship is not just with the one person, it’s with the people around them. So when you lose that, you lose so many other kinds of relationships simultaneously.” (Evan, 35:26)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:08 — Fall albums, Doja Cat & Mariah Carey mention
• 02:32 — Neko Case (Neon Midnight Green) deep-dive
• 06:46 — Jeff Tweedy (Twilight Override) discussion
• 16:31 — Robert Plant & Saving Grace (Saving Grace)
• 22:09 — Amanda Shires (Nobody’s Girl)
• 30:55 — Cate Le Bon (Michelangelo Dying)
• 36:12 — Lightning Round: album recommendations
• 41:33 — Single song highlights
• 42:27 — Lars’ closing remarks

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Closing

Lars and Evan wrap the episode by reflecting on the emotional power of these new albums, the joy of discovery, and the way music can surprise and move listeners in unexpected ways. The team encourages listeners to dive into these records and join the ongoing quest for the perfect fall soundtrack.

“Take a moment to be well, join Mariah Carey’s Lambily, and treat yourself to lots of great music.” (Lars, 43:23)

Transcript

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To show my appreciation for your support.

[Lars Gottrich]

Happy Friday, everyone. From NPR Music, it's me, New Music Friday. I'm Lars Gottrich, subbing in for an under the weather Stephen Thompson. Which means this is an all metal show now. So I apologize in face. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm here today with Evan Miller of WYSO in Ohio. Welcome to the show, Evan.

[Evan Miller]

Thank you so much for having me. Happy to be here.

[Lars Gottrich]

So you're in Ohio. Has fall hit where you live yet?

[Evan Miller]

Yes, we came off a week of high temps, almost hitting 90 degrees after our fake fall period. Now it's in the 70s and raining about every day. So we've just crash landed directly into what fall looks like now.

[Lars Gottrich]

You know, I'm already thinking about what kind of music I want to be playing. Do you have a Go to Fall record?

[Evan Miller]

Ooh, right now. Maybe one of the earlier grizzly bear ones, which is great timing because they're touring for the first time in six, seven years. I'm finally gonna catch them after never seeing them in their original run.

[Lars Gottrich]

Wonderful. I love that for you. Mine is personally Love is Overtaking Me by Arthur Russell. Beautiful, Absolute fall classic. So we're here for New Music Friday, and before we get into a lot of the music, we do wanna mention two big pop records that we haven't heard this week. There's the new record by Doja Cat called V. And then there's a record by my queen, Mariah Carey, here for it all. It's her 16th album. I've enjoyed some of the singles. Are you part of the lammily, Evan?

[Evan Miller]

Part of the what?

[Lars Gottrich]

I guess that answers the lammily. Have you part of the lammily? That's what Mariah Carey fans are called.

[Evan Miller]

I suppose not, but the name is very convincing. I think I maybe should hop aboard.

[Lars Gottrich]

Okay. All right. I'll give you a playlist after this and you can join us.

[Poetry Reader]

Thank you.

[Evan Miller]

Sound like I'm dangerous.

[Lars Gottrich]

But we are going to kick off with an album we did get to hear early. Nico Case. Her new album is called Neon Midnight Green.

[Poetry Reader]

Hello, stranger. You remind me of someone. Jangling lust pouncing on a sliver of a dusty pool of light. Your fire's hue is a maraschino cherry room temperature eye.

[Lars Gottrich]

Backlit by the bar.

[Poetry Reader]

Your tongue a chew straw. You're all period blood and Soundcheck Blue.

[Lars Gottrich]

Nico Case. This is her first album in eight years, her first album this decade. She's put out albums with the New Pornographers, the indie rock band that she's been with basically for the last 20 some years. And she has this incredible discography full of records that span country, Americana, indie pop, doo wop, kind of whatever is her will. And this is a record that I think has made me not reconsider her, but reappreciate her talents as a singer, as a songwriter, and for the first time a record that she's produced entirely herself. What are your initial impressions of this record?

[Evan Miller]

Evan, for a first time producing her own album, Knocked it out of the Park. It sounds unbelievable. I saw in press when the album was announced, she wanted it to sound like people. People are all over the record, like brushing of sleeves and chairs moving and that sort of thing. It has this very kind of earthy, lived in sound that I really like. The second track, Tomboy Gold, sounds almost like Scott Walker to me. It's just like her and Saxes. I didn't know that she was cool like that. So.

[Lars Gottrich]

I mean, she's only one of the coolest persons. Al.

[Evan Miller]

Yeah, she does a lot on this record and really stretches in a lot of directions. It's brilliant.

[Poetry Reader]

Where is the hog triangle made by the highway and the exit and the overpass? In the triangle made by the highway.

[Lars Gottrich]

And the exit and the overpass?

[Poetry Reader]

In a triangle made by the highway and the exit and the overpass.

[Lars Gottrich]

The thing that like, I think has always really floor at me about Nico Case is not only the way that she approaches her lyrics, but the way that she delivers them. My favorite one is I'm a meteor shattering around you and I'm sorry I've become a solar system.

[Evan Miller]

This is a really fun one to sit with the lyric sheet and read along and just listen to how she delivers everything, try to pick apart all the things she's rapping into. Some of these lyrics, like sometimes with.

[Lars Gottrich]

Nico Case, I don't really know what she's singing about, but I get the feeling of it. That idea of it sounds first and it feels later. She's always been such a master of evocation, where these unconscious images that anyone can understand but they don't get spelled out. So the title track from Neon Grey, she says, you taste exactly like disbelief. Because who am I that I don't die when you kill me me I'm like, what?

[Evan Miller]

Yeah, what? This album has really also motivated me to do is. I recall that she has a memoir that came out earlier this year. Reading her lyrics while listening to this, I really would like to see how she writes a book now. I think that would be just as compelling as what she puts to music.

[Lars Gottrich]

I'm gonna find out that is Nico Case. Her new album is called Neon Midnight Green. Next up, an album from Jeff Tweedy. The Wilco frontman's new album is called Twilight Override.

[Singer]

The grass is growing all over town from the cracks in the sidewalks where the shops shut down One tiny flower I'm jumping over One tiny flower I'm jumping over One tiny flower I'm jumping over One tiny flower I'm jumping over.

[Lars Gottrich]

This is approximately the one millionth album from Jeff Tweedy. I think we're at the point where we don't talk about how many songs Jeff Tweedy has written, but how many songs Jeff Tweedy hasn't written.

[Evan Miller]

The number is getting smaller and smaller every day.

[Lars Gottrich]

Anyway, Jeff Tweedy, the front man of Wilco, the great Chicago rock band, he's had tons of other different projects over the last three decades of music, including several solo albums. And this one is. This one's a triple record, Evan. There are three of them, and there are 30 songs, and it is nearly two hours long. And I am wondering, did you manage to get through it more than twice in our time in our prep, or were you. Were you skipping around and hoping to find the gems?

[Evan Miller]

I think twice was about as much as I could do. I enjoy it, and there's a lot to dig into, but in one sitting for two hours, it's a little easier to chop it up.

[Lars Gottrich]

I. You know, I love Wilco.

[Evan Miller]

Me too.

[Lars Gottrich]

Have wrote hard for them for many years. But, you know, at a certain point, if you're not obsessed with the band, you're not keeping up with every single thing that every member does over the years. And Wilco's one of them. So they're a band that I kind of like, drop in and out when. When I feel like it's time. And so it's been a while. It's been a while since I've spent. Like, I've actually sat down with a Wilco or Jeff Tweedy solo record. You know what? I'm actually glad that I ran through this record twice because I found these little spots that I wasn't expecting, because I never know the difference. What's the difference between a Wilco song and a Jeff Twige song?

[Evan Miller]

I don't know that line with his solo stuff seems to blur pretty quickly. Like, this is a Jeff Tweedy solo record. Because he says it is.

[Lars Gottrich]

I think, where I've sort of landed. And there are a few songs that do this for me. There's a song called Mirror.

[Evan Miller]

I flagged that one. Also.

[Lars Gottrich]

The structure of the song feels a little too inside for Wilco, where the textures are more on the stranger side of what they might have done in the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot era, which Wilko doesn't really do much anymore, at least as far as I can tell. And so it's nice to hear him explore those textures and ideas. This is a song that loves to expand, but it likes to creep into itself. And I thought, well, maybe that's the way into understanding what makes a Jeff Tweedy song a solo Chef Tweety's song.

[Evan Miller]

One thing that he does multiple times on this record that I really, really appreciated, there are a few songs that are. They're at a kind of very meta about writing songs, how he's doing it and what he's doing. It's like halfway through the record, a throwaway lines. It's like very spare. It's a love song, but it's also about writing a love song.

[Singer]

I don't wanna write about all the things I'm still working out, terrible things you wouldn't believe. So I'll just leave you with these.

[Lars Gottrich]

And there's another song that caught me by surprise, and I caught my colleague Robin Hilton by surprise. So if you scroll up in your All Songs Considered feed, you'll see an interview that he did with Jeff Tweedy about Twilight Override. And he specifically pointed out the song New Orleans. It's a song where you don't really know what it's about. And I don't think you have to, but the guitar sort of does the speaking for it. And Jeff Tweedy tells this beautiful story in that interview with Robin. He was working on this song during the day, and then at night he went to go see Steve Albini and he died that night. And it's just like the song almost feels like a premonition because it's. The lyrics are, I trade all four limbs for a parade in New Orleans. And so, you know, New Orleans famously likes to celebrate those who have passed on to another life. And that's just some cosmic stuff, man. There's no better way to put it.

[Singer]

In the four winds digging a grave.

[Lars Gottrich]

That is Jeff Tweedy. His new album is called Twilight Override. We've got three more exciting records that we want to dig into, plus a lightning round of recommendations. But first, we're going to take a quick break.

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[Lars Gottrich]

From NPR Music, It's New Music Friday. I'm Lars Gottrich sitting in for Stephen Thompson. I'm here with Evan Miller of WYSO in Southwest Ohio. Evan, WYSO is not a full time music station, but you still seem to have your hands full. Tell our audience a little bit about what you do.

[Evan Miller]

Absolutely. I'm the assistant music director and host of our midday music program at WYSO as well as our sister music channel, novafonic FM that we launched last November. So it's almost a year old. WISO is a mixed format station. We've been that way since we were founded in 1958. We like to say we have like four news, storytelling, preservation and of course, music. We have over 20 local hosts making 17 locally hosted shows, a little bit of everything, blues, hip hop, jazz, funk and R and b. We have a Cajun music show. We have folks in our Haitian community next door in Springfield hosting a Caribbean music show. Now we like to get as much of anything as we can to serve our community. All right, without further ado, ladies and.

[Lars Gottrich]

Gentlemen, enjoy this first music and right after this one, we're gonna Have PDX on the mic. Let's go. Okay, next up, we've got a new album by a man who needs no introduction. Robert Plan.

[Singer]

I won't buy you what you change Just do something for you now baby Just do something for you Buy you Chevrolet I won't buy you Chevrolet Won't buy you Chevrolet Just do something for you now I want to do something for you now Build your house and home I'm going to build your house and home Build your house at home Just do something for you now so.

[Lars Gottrich]

Obviously I said no introduction, but if you need something to go on. Robert Plant, he is the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin, and in 2007, he put out this album that basically re sculpted his entire career. Raising sand, the record that he did with Alison Krause, where Robert Plant really dug into his heels about the history of American music. And ever since then, Robert Plant has been digging into that area for more gold. And he's had a lot of different bands that he's worked with. The name of this record is Saving Grace, but the band is also called Saving Grace. And this record is doing a lot of what he does, but where he is looking at the history of American blues music. So I'm curious, Evan, what was your big takeaway from this record?

[Evan Miller]

One of the things that I like about these, like, later career Robert Plant records is especially the way he's become, like, an interpreter and a curator of, like, old American music and traditional music. I think the Low cover, which is obviously not a blues tune or a traditional song, but not his first time doing a Low song either. The direction they take that song is fascinating.

[Singer]

Live your life with the stupid luck the stupid luck the stupid.

[Lars Gottrich]

I have to talk about Low for just, like, a minute because Low is one of my three favorite bands of all time. So I still remember when Robert Plant, he covered Silver Rider and Monkey on the Band of Joy record. I liked that record, but I think those songs by lo challenged him. And so I'm hearing that again with this version of everybody's song where they keep the melodies, they keep the guitars, but they add a quarto and they add a lot of Persian instruments. So it has a very Persian flavor to the whole song. And there is another song where I thought, oh, they're stretching out what that traditional song is all about. So as I've roved out was another highlight on this record for me.

[Singer]

Sigh Roll down on a cold winter's.

[Lars Gottrich]

Night.

[Singer]

Drinking all the sweet wine.

[Lars Gottrich]

I.

[Singer]

Spied that girl Sweet little girl.

[Lars Gottrich]

Who.

[Singer]

Broke this heart of mine.

[Evan Miller]

I think the way this record is built is really fascinating because it's just billed as a Robert Plant solo record, which I guess that's not untrue, but it really is a full group effort. Songs where other members of the band take a lead vocal for extended periods of time. They're set several instances where Robert Plant takes the back seat or essentially almost disappears when he is there. He is such a defining presence. And it's interesting, as he's gotten older and gone through his career, he seems more willing to step back and be in the shadows of the song.

[Lars Gottrich]

He's the spiritual gut, he's the conductor, he's the band leader. It's a good look on him. That is Robert Plant. His new album is called Saving Grace. Evan. We're about to tackle two records about heartbreak that go at it from very different ends. This first one from Amanda Shires is called Nobody's Girl.

[Poetry Reader]

I could show you how he left me Paint a picture going Flowers for nobody But I'd rather you. You see me thriving Vi in my way back up I could say it's a leviathan of lonely Hanging around the whole place Haunting don't care if no one ever wants me again.

[Singer]

Oh, you.

[Poetry Reader]

Know there's a way love goes.

[Lars Gottrich]

It.

[Poetry Reader]

Goes away Away it goes it just takes off and up In a way love goes.

[Lars Gottrich]

For those who don't know Amanda Shires, she got her start very far early playing fiddle. Eventually she made her way into Billy Jo Shaver's band, the Country Music Legend. And it was actually Billie Jo Shaver who convinced her not to be a sideman, to step out on her own and make her own music. She started making her own Music in 2005, and very quickly she started to make records with Jason Isbell, who at that point had been away from the Drive By Truckers for some years. And they put out a slew of critically adored fan loved records together, both solo. And they played on each other's records and also in the band, the 400 unit. Amanda Shires is also in the High Women. Who needs to put out another record? I'll just say it. And then she put out a record called Take It Like a Man. I remember thinking at the time, this is probably one of the boldest records I think I've ever heard. It was a record about the difficulties and the struggles of marriage, very specifically her marriage with Jason Isbell. They had gotten married while they were making records and making music together. And just A year later, 2023, Jason Isbell filed for divorce. The fans felt very much a certain way. And earlier this year, in March, Jason Isbell put out his record Foxes in the Snow, which touched on the divorce, sort of. But he spent most of his time talking about the divorce in interviews. Basically. This record does not shy away from the divorce in any particular way. I'm not going to lie. This is a tough listen. Evan, I'm curious where you came down after your first listen through this record.

[Evan Miller]

Yeah, it just hit me like a brick.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yes.

[Evan Miller]

Unsparing in its detail of how the divorce went, how she was feeling, how she processed the time during and after the split. It was tough. There's one song in particular, literally called the Details that.

[Lars Gottrich]

Ooh, that one.

[Evan Miller]

I was driving listening to that, and I almost had to pull over for a second. I was like, wow, the storm come.

[Poetry Reader]

On in the rosy dawn I was sitting on the front porch watching a pale ray the wind got blow late My mind went a lot of ways Forget me not Niagara Falls I never had my ringer on even if you called how am I to respond? Been avoiding it so long you erase the details and I history no matter how clear I keep the memories.

[Lars Gottrich]

You.

[Poetry Reader]

Rewrite them so you could sleep.

[Lars Gottrich]

She has that line. What was it all for? Putting your dreams over mine. And much of the record is about this idea that Amanda Shires wanted to make great music with her partner, her musical partner, with her romantic partner. And in service of that, she put herself to the side. There is this great interview in Texas Monthly that published this week where, when she was living with Isabel, she said she was in the habit of writing songs in a closet.

[Singer]

Oh.

[Lars Gottrich]

Which. That's brutal and, like, heartbreaking. And it's. There are so many reasons why a person would feel the need to do that. And it's not my place to say why they had that dynamic, but it's. That's a tough thing to hear. That's a tough thing to say. I can't imagine performing this group of songs.

[Evan Miller]

I have so much respect for people like her that make something that's so emotionally raw and bare and then take this out on the road as their new thing and have to relive it while they play these songs, have to communicate all of it to the audience and not just to themselves in a studio. I do not have the wherewithal to do such a thing. My hat's off to the folks that are willing to be that artistically, creatively vulnerable in such a public way.

[Lars Gottrich]

And I'll say this, too, for a record, this painful. I will say that musically it's quite restrained in a way that I wasn't.

[Evan Miller]

Yes.

[Lars Gottrich]

I wasn't expecting. It's a lot of ballads, so if you need a quiet cry, this is probably the album for you. But then there are two songs that break with the ballad mold, Peace of Mind, which is a big rocker. It sounds like a Stevie Nick song hating on Lindsey Buckingham, which is a great energy. But my favorite of the songs that kind of break with the ballad mold is a song called Lose it for a While.

[Poetry Reader]

I'd like to lose it for a.

[Lars Gottrich]

While, Lose It For a While, which starts out acoustic. Then about halfway through, there's this big Pink Floyd psychedelic like Exorcism. And maybe the only time at the record she actually does lose it. Like she is like literally screaming the lyrics toward the end of that song. That is Amanda Shires. Her new album is called Nobody's Girl. We've got one more record to discuss, plus our lightning round of recommendations. But first, we're going to take a quick break.

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[Lars Gottrich]

It'S New Music Friday. I'm Lars Gottrich here with Evan Miller of WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Our final topic today is the new album by Kate Laban. Kate Laban's new album is called Michelangelo Dying.

[Poetry Reader]

There's nothing you can hold for.

[Lars Gottrich]

So, Evan, we just heard a very direct and unsparing portrait of heartbreak from Amanda Shires. But Kate Le Bon's record does something very different with heartbreak. What were your initial impressions of this.

[Evan Miller]

Record in comparison to the Amanda Shires record? It's a lot more oblique. It's less right on the surface of how it presents heartbreak. If you're listening to it, you might catch it in lines here or there. She's a lot more I don't know how to say it other than Kate Le Bon. Like, she has a certain way about her lyricism that is a little less direct than others. And I think that's just as on display here. Talking about even such a universal thing.

[Lars Gottrich]

Like heartbreak, I feel like I need to back up because you said the Kate Laban of it all, the Kate Le Bonism. But who is Kate Le Bon? So Kate Le Bon, this is her seventh album. She's from Wales, and she made these kind of like abstract, strange, post punk records when she kind of first came on the scene. And she has a very specific sound, and it's one that I'm familiar with. But when I approached Michelangelo Dying, I felt like I was getting a whole new shade of Kate Le Bon because this one was dealing with something very personal in a way that I don't think she necessarily does in a lot of her songwriting. She kind of likes to keep things not in a arm's length, but kind of like a dripping clock's length. I don't know. It's very Salvador Dali, what she does.

[Evan Miller]

An abstract distance away.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah. Yeah. But this is one where she had been in a relationship, I think, for almost a decade. And she originally intended Michelangelo Dying to be a completely different record, but every time she went to go to write, it didn't feel right. And so she was like. It's like, well, damn it, I have to write an album about love. There's a song in here called Love Unrehearsed that feels like a Cocktail Twins song that's been flipped upside down, which I didn't know was possible. And it's got this gorgeous saxophone work basically throughout the record. The saxophone actually acts as another voice for her when I don't think she wants to sing. Yeah.

[Evan Miller]

And the saxophonist in her band has been a collaborator for a number of years, if I'm not mistaken. So I feel like in that way you could have this way to intuit what your musical partner is looking for. When they can't quite say the thing and they pass it to you to say instead.

[Lars Gottrich]

Then there's also moments where she is direct. And there's a song on here called Is It Worth It Parentheses, Happy Birthday. Which might be one of the saddest Happy Birthday songs I've ever heard. And there's a line on here that I, you know, I am a. I'm a happily married man. I have been with my partner for 14 years, but I still remember this feeling that she captures when she says, I thought about your mother. I hope she knew I loved her. It's like, ugh, I remember that. Yeah, that hurts.

[Evan Miller]

Yeah. Your relationship is not just with the one person, it's with the people around them. So when you lose that, you lose so many other kinds of relationships simultaneously. I think it's interesting to the whole breakup documentation to keep that in mind. It adds wrinkles to it that it's not just this direct one on one situation.

[Singer]

I make jealous talk, I break my.

[Lars Gottrich]

Heart.

[Singer]

Make a joke of love.

[Poetry Reader]

And of living.

[Lars Gottrich]

That is the album Michelangelo Dying by Kate Laban. Now, Evan, I could not possibly get to every album out today, September 26th. September is, as you probably know, a very, very busy month for new music. So we wanted to hit y' all with a particularly stacked lightning round of some other notable releases out today. I'm going to kick us off if a two hour triple album from Jeff Tweedy is too much, may I suggest 11 songs in 24 minutes? Josie is a Danish twee pop band very much in the Tallulah Gosh and Tiger Trap vein. The songs are short, sweet and raucous. They whiz by with a chaotic glee. Joe's new album is titled appropriately A Life of Sweets Alone.

[Poetry Reader]

Please take me walking right now. It's a lovely afternoon and I'm with.

[Evan Miller]

Genuinely in my heart. My first Lightning Round pick is one I think you might be interested in too. Lars. We'll bring the Chicago crowdy trio Bitchin Bajas in here. Oh yeah, this record is exactly what you would expect from this trio. Weirdly like three shorter tracks and then they save kinda all the juice for this long nearly 20 minute track at the end of the record where they really kind of settle into this more driving thing. It's great, it's fantastic American Kraut Rocky music and you may have already heard some work from some of the members of this band already on the new Stereo Lab record earlier this year. So if you liked that and you have not heard Bitchin Bajas yet, you should go listen to Inland Sea.

[Lars Gottrich]

My next pick comes from Matthew Sage. He is a multi instrumentalist who records under the name M. Sage. His music inhabits several worlds, ambient jazz and minimalist music, and he kind of creates his own world that floats like a well tended garden. He told me that his new album was inspired by Parenthood and there is a very cozy and domestic quality underpinned by the uncertainty that comes with caring for new life. M Dotsage's new album is called Tender Waiting.

[Evan Miller]

My last Lightning Round pick is the new album from Geese. I saw Geese earlier this month at the Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh in North Carolina and I was very excited to finally Have a chance to see them. And I was not the only one. Because the crowd was packed, the excitement was palpable. They played one of the songs on this record for the first time live ever. I think it was A Hundred Horses. The first time I listened to this record, I felt like I was trying to understand a new language. Cameron Winter's voice is such a unique instrument in young rock bands right now. If you're not on the Geese train yet, get on now. It's a good time.

[Lars Gottrich]

And this is different than Goose, right?

[Evan Miller]

Yes. Goose and Geese are two different bands. They should do a dual tour and just get the confusion out of the way, maybe. The new album from Geese is called Getting Killed.

[Singer]

All people must smile.

[Lars Gottrich]

In times of war. I tend to follow whatever the R and B singer Lady Ray is doing. She first made her name on a Missy Elliott track many years ago on the record Super Duper Fly. Lady Ray's voice is just so piercing and powerful. Like, she knows things. Like, you feel the frequency of her knowledge in her voice. She's got a new album out today called Covergirl. She leans into her gospel roots on this one a little bit more, but she can also get really funky. So, Evan, you listened to a lot of albums out today, September 26th. This is the part of the show where we put each other on the spot and ask, what is the one song you discovered during your prep that you're holding closest to your heart?

[Evan Miller]

I really am stuck on one we didn't actually talk about from the Robert Plant record.

[Lars Gottrich]

Tell me.

[Evan Miller]

Tell me their take on the Low Anthem's ticket taker. And I don't really know the Low Anthem really at all, actually. And I went back and listened to the original, and it's like a. Almost like a Leonard Cohen, like, very spare voice and guitar thing. And the way Robert Plant and the Saving Grace group rearrange, that is really captivating. It's a standout track from the Robert Plant record.

[Singer]

Tonight's a night when the waters rise you're groping in the dark the ticket takers count the men who can afford the art the ticket takers will not board for the ticket takers are tired.

[Lars Gottrich]

The song that I think is going to stick with me, I already talked about it was New Orleans from the Jeff Tweedy record. There's something about the way that the guitars take on their own voice in the middle of the song that gave a meaning that I can't explain to. And that's usually a place that I like to inhabit in music. Sometimes I don't want to know exactly what a song is about. I just need to be able to feel it. And so that song did it for me. And that is our show this week. Thank you, Evan Miller, for taking time out of your week at WYSO in Ohio.

[Evan Miller]

Thank you so much for having me. This was a joy.

[Lars Gottrich]

If you enjoy this week's show, we always appreciate a positive review wherever you listen to your podcasts. This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell and edited by Otis Hart. The executive producer of NPR Music is Soraya Muhammad. We will be back next week to discuss new music with Skylar Rochelle from 90.9 the bridge in Kansas City. Until then, take a moment to be well, join Mariah Carey's Lamily and treat yourself to lots of great music.

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