Lola Young, Wednesday, Sarah McLachlan : All Songs Considered : NPR

Alt-country band Wednesday’s new crunchy, cathartic and beautifully mundane album, Bleeds, is out today.

Graham Tolbert/Dead Oceans

hide caption

toggle caption

Graham Tolbert/Dead Oceans

It’s Friday, which unfortunately does not guarantee good tidings these days. Whether the unpredictability leaves you longing for a calm escape or craving a good scream into nothingness, today’s new music has you covered.

If you’re looking for the former, Stephen Thompson and Kyle Meredith from Louisville Public Media dive into Kentucky’s own tranquil and familiar Joan Shelley and her soothing new album, Real Warmth. And if it’s the latter you’re after, they wax praise for alt-country band Wednesday and their crunchy, cathartic and beautifully mundane, Bleeds.

Hear our hosts crack open these two albums, as well as Sarah McLachlan’s nostalgic return and a few more standouts wherever you get your podcasts, and make sure to scroll down for the complete list of today’s best albums.

The Starting Five

Joan Shelley.

Nick Rasmussen/No Quarter

hide caption

toggle caption

Nick Rasmussen/No Quarter

Our hosts share the backstories and best songs from the following albums:

💿 Joan Shelley, Real Warmth

Recommended If You Like: Hurray For The Riff Raff, Jess Williamson

💿 Lola Young, I’m Only F****** Myself

RIYL: Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan

💿 Wednesday, Bleeds

RIYL: The Drive-By Truckers, MJ Lenderman

💿 Sarah McLachlan, Better Broken

RIYL: Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette

💿 Yasmine Hamdan, I remember I forget بنسى وبتذكر

RIYL: Soapkills, Lucrecia Dalt

New Music Friday is a feature of NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast. Hear the discussion on the NPR App, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Lightning Round

Joy Crookes

Sony UK

hide caption

toggle caption

Sony UK

Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:

💿 Kieran Hebden & William Tyler, 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s

💿 Nine Inch Nails, Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

💿 Lawrence Matthews, Between Mortal Reach & Posthumous Grip

💿 Joy Crookes, Juniper

💿 Joanne Robertson, Blurrr

Listen to each album’s best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple, or wherever you stream music.

The Long List

Castle Rat

King Volume Records

hide caption

toggle caption

King Volume Records

For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week’s new albums sorted by genre:

Rock/Alt/Indie

Castle Rat, The Bestiary
Pavement, Hecklers Choice
ALA.NI, Sunshine Music
Golden Apples, Shooting Star
Maura Weaver, Strange Devotion
Total Wife, Come Back Down
Bad Cop Bad Cop, Lighten Up
Biffy Clyro, Futique
Black Heart Procession, Hearts & Tanks EP
Black Lips, Season Of The Peach
Boo Boos, Young Love
Charlie Pittman, okay.again? EP
Cuddle Magic, Underwater
Deaf Club, We Demand A Permanent State Of Happiness
Eades, Final Sirens Call
Hayden, Elk-Lake Serenade (20th Anniversary)
Jack Schneider, Streets Of September
Kadhja Bonet, Battlewear EP
Kamelo, Eternity (30th Anniversary Edition) [2025 Remaster]
KennyHoopla, conditions of an orphan// EP
Lawn, God Made The Highway
Los Straitjackets, Somos Los Straitjackets
Milo Korbenski, Sex Angel
MIRADOR, MIRADOR
Motion City Soundtrack, The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
Mud Slick, Keep Crawlin In The Mud
Múm, History of Silence
Nation of Language, Dance Called Memory
Native Sun, Concrete Language
NewDad, Altar
Novembers Doom, Major Arcana
Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Orua & Reverse Death, Reflectors Vol. 1
Paradise Lost, Ascension
Photo Ops, Opening Up To Strangers
Pompey, I’m Scared
pôt-pot, Warsaw 480km
R-Zac and MC Scallywag, F*** the F****** F****** EP
Reverse Yr Curse, Where are we going and when will we be there
Ripe, Play the Game
Scarlet Rae, No Heavy Goodbyes
Secret World, Tomorrow Is A Mystery To Me EP
Soulkeeper, Join Us In Creating Excellence EP
Species, Changelings
Summerbruise, Infinity Guise
The Divine Comedy, Rainy Sunday Afternoon
The Favors, The Dream
The Happy Fit, Lovesick
The Oxys, Casting Pearls Before Swine
The Prize, In the Red
The Sirens Of Titan, Lost Kingdom
The Third Mind, Right Now!
Toro y Moi, Unerthed: Hole Erth Unplugged
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Mossy Oak Shadow
Wilder Maker, The Streets Like Beds Still Warm
bloom effect, oscilón EP
Jordan Patterson, The Hermit
Tune-Yards, Tell the Future With Your Body EP
Max Winter, Mourning Routine
Evan Honer, Everything I Wanted
The Paradox, NSFW
Frazey Ford, Indian Ocean (Reissue)
maxine funke, Timeless Town

Classical

Christopher Stark, Fire Ecologies

Country/Folk/Americana

Bones Owens, Best Western
Briscoe, Heat of July
Cole Chaney, In The Shadow of the Mountain
Jackson Scribner, Depression Kids
John Calvin Abney, Transparent Towns
Jon Nolan, Slow Cooker
Josh Ross, Later Tonight
Mappe Of, Afterglades
Mike Miz, Sometimes by Surprise
Peter Stampfel, Song Shards
The Pink Stones, Thank The Lord, It’s the Pink Stones
Vincent Lima, To Love A Thing That Fades

Electronic/Out There

Muskila, JAH NAM
JASS, Eager Buyer
Ben Bondy, XO Salt Llif3
Elninodiablo, The Dawny Groove
Hideki Umezawa & Giuseppe Cordaro, Terrarum Murmur
Microcorps, Clear Vortex Chamber
Pegg, Presque Tout: Variations no. 435-514 “Baseball Season,” Pegg & Van Dyke Parks
Sammy Virji, Same Day Cleaning
Semtek, Four More Dubs
Shapednoise, Absurd Matter 2
Weathertunes, Umami EP
johnny sais quoi, Love On Ice
Byron Yeates, Pansy Beat