New Music Friday: sombr, Muse, Katy Perry and more

What’s on this week’s New Music Friday playlists?

New Music Friday albums 💿

English rock veterans Muse unleash their 10th studio set The Wow! Signal. To date, the band have racked up an impressive seven Official Number 1 albums, including their last studio release, 2022’s Will Of The People. Is an eighth chart-topper on the horizon?

Catch Muse on The Wow! Signal European tour, which touches down in the UK this November.

East London multihyphenate kwn returns with her third EP and all pride aside, putting her pen to themes of grief, loss and healing.

Kettering-formed four-piece Temples deliver BLISS. Their fifth full length project, it fuses the melancholic melodies of the late ‘90s rave scene with psych-flecked riffs to level up the band’s signature sound.

Soulful South London singer-songwriter Sekou serves the second part of his In A World We Don’t Belong mixtape, including recent Official Singles Sales Chart entry Dangerous Lover. If you’re liking what you hear, Sekou headlines London’s KOKO on December 14 – but you’ll have to get yourself on the wait list, it’s a hot ticket!

New York rock outfit The Pretty Reckless are back with their fifth studio LP Dear God, as British-Ghanian Nectar Woode presents her journey to acceptance on new mixtape Naturally. “This project explores mistakes, frustration, a noisy brain, being in love and self-love,” explains Nectar. “Naturally feels like an honest title for all these themes.” Nectar will bring her Naturally Tour to the UK this autumn, kicking off at The Deaf Institute, Manchester on October 13.

Look out for more big new album releases from the likes of Downtown Boys (Public Luxury), Madeon (Victory), Truck Violence (The weathervane is my body) and Girl Trouble (As Is).

Now, let’s take a snoop at your singles.

New Music Friday singles 🎶

A sombr summer? Now six Official Top 40 singles deep, the artist sometimes known as Shane Boose drops his latest single My Body Isn’t Ready. Ours neither, mate.

Teasing an upcoming six-track project on socials, Cruz Beckham and his band The Breakers release Wear & Tear.

As he announces his first solo album in 11 years THRASHER, due August 21, Brandon Flowers teases the record with its first cut Plans. On his upcoming third LP, Brandon says: “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found my way back to my father’s music – ‘Country-Western’ (as he called it) – and discovered that the stories I carry really feel most at home in the skin of this beautiful American tradition.”

Brandon will play the UK and Ireland, including a night at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall, this October. Tickets go on general sale on Friday July 3 at 10am BST, with pre-sale tickets available to fans pre-ordering the LP from Wednesday July 1 at 10am BST.

Picking up where her last single bandaids left off, Katy Perry leans into her pop-rock roots on Watch It Burn. Can it earn the California Gurl a 29th UK Top 40 single?

With his debut album set to land this autumn, Haiden Henderson delivers NSFW, while soul singer Olympia Vitalis unveils Baby Blues.

Rising Bath-based artist Ruby Roberts releases Bad Girl July, saying: “I wrote Bad Girl July about female rage and the urge to destruct when your feelings are hurt. It was inspired and written from the perspective of a female assassin, however she realises in the chorus that she doesn’t want to kill and doesn’t want to be a ‘bad girl.'”

Carly Rae Jepsen ushers in a new era with The Wire, the first single lifted from her upcoming 24-track double album Day And Night, yours on September 18.

Tyler, The Creator has put THAT GUY, his 2024 track onto streaming services, while Tame Impala cover The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Hummer as part of a tribute album for the Chicago three-piece called Sending Hearts To All My Dearies, out Friday, 14 August.

Aussie Eurovision 2026 representative Delta Goodrem delivers Hologram, the latest taste of her forthcoming eighth studio album Pure, coming November 6. On the ABBA-inspired track, Delta explains: “What I love about Hologram is that it came from a place of spontaneity. There was no overthinking, just musicians in a room chasing a feeling.”

Sydnie Christmas unveils feel-good pop bop Lean On You, Marshmello recruits Kelsea Ballerini on summer-ready tune Another Drink and rising electro-pop artist SOPHIE GREY. unleashes Lunar Highs (Hands Go Up).

Speaking of which, it wouldn’t be summer without a Joel Corry banger. This time, Joel joins forces with West London rapper Scrufizzer on SIMPLES, working the Compare The Market meerkat’s iconic (and we don’t use that word lightly) catchphrase into a proper Ibiza anthem. Yup.

Ahead of the release of their seventh studio project Karaoke Bar, set for release September 4, Aussie duo Angus & Julia Stone reveal its latest single, Monroe.

England may not have put on the performance people were expecting against Ghana on Tuesday, but Southampton rockers Regent aren’t letting that dampen their spirits. The south coast four-piece The Best of Things, with vocalist Ben Rooke explaining: “I wrote the song for England and the World Cup. I didn’t want it to be cheesy, I wanted it to be punk, rock and pop. A cheeky, naughty version of an anthem as opposed to the typical Three Lions-type track.”

Announcing her new album Mammoth, landing October 16, London-born, Paris-based singer-songwriter Flora Hibberd releases Ache, featuring vocals from Sufjan Stevens. We also find new music from Django Django (Cameos), Opus Kink (Will It Come For You?), Abbie Ozard (Baby I’m Your Star), Makeshift Art Bar (Servant), Madra Salach (The Man Who Seeks Pleasure (Live From London)) and M. Woodroe (Sweetness, Sweetness).

Elsewhere, expect more big new releases from Montana folk duo Buffalo Traffic Jam (Too Young to Die), LP (Love Is All I Have), ISHMAEL (New Picasso), Joe James (Papercuts), Amy Shark (It’s Kinda Hot), Backstreet Boys‘ Howie D (Coquí), Cassidy Daniels (Crazy Love), Gabby Barrett (In On It), Matt Hansen (THINKIN BOUT ME), Tyler Braden (Horses & Hand Grenades), taves (Uche Jumbo) and Magdalene (Sexual Relations with a Wall Street Banker).