New Music Friday: The best new albums out today

Last month, Drake and 21 Savage surprise-announced their collaborative project Her Loss during a music video for their hit "Jimmy Cooks," released this year on Drake's solo album Honestly, Nevermind. It's the most extensive collaboration from the rap superstars after a handful of singles stretching back to 2016's "Sneakin."

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After debuting as the YouTube comedian Filthy Frank, George Kusunoki Miller made the improbable journey to alt-R&B superstar under the alias of Joji. His third album, Smithereens, contains the top 10 hit "Glimpse of Us" and arrives after a sold-out tour and a rapturously-received performance at Coachella 2022.

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The new project from Mount Kimbie is a double album recorded separately by each member of the electronic duo. On Die Cuts, M.K.'s Dom Maker takes inspiration from his move to L.A. and taps a formidable list of collaborators, including James Blake, Danny Brown, slowthai, wiki, KeiyaA, and Liv.e. For the second album City Planning, Kai Campos doubles down on the sleek electro aesthetic Mount Kimbie is renowned for.

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The soundtrack for the Marvel superhero sequel is produced by Ludwig Göransson, who helmed the original Black Panther‘s score. The project marks Rihanna’s return to music after an extended hiatus with “Lift Me Up,” with over 40 other artists from around the world joining her on the tracklist, including Burna Boy, Future, Tems, Rema, Fireboy DML, and more.

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New Orleans synth-punk four-piece Special Interest share their first album for Rough Trade today. The group’s fearsome blend of industrial rhythms and radical sensibility have made them a band to watch for years, and two of their latest singles, “(Herman’s) House“ and “Foul,” were both picked as Songs You Need.

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Reunited in their hometown of Atlanta after a few years apart, Coco & Clair Clair find themselves with a new surge of momentum after viral success on TikTok. For Sexy, though, the lo-fi glamour-rap duo seeks to make a name for themselves beyond the world of catchy snippets and flex their songwriting capabilities.

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Norwegian-American experimental pop songwriter Okay Kaya dropped her debut album Watch the Liquid Pour Itself in 2020, then spent some time in Europe creating art installations and recording new music. Last year she dropped the mixtape The Incompatible Okay Kaya. And today’s new full-length Sap was recorded in New York and enlists Nick Hakim, L’Rain, Eli Keszler, Leta, and many more.

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Earlier this year, R.A.P. Ferreira took a break from underground hip-hop to release If I don't have red I use blue, a country blues album released under the alias Crow Billikin. He returns to rap today with 5 to the Eye With Stars, a nine-track project with beats from Kenny Segal, Rose Noir, Wylie Cable, and more.

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Caleb Landry Jones, an acclaimed actor best known for his roles in Get Out, Nitram, and probably the Joker at some point down the line, shares his third studio album, Gadzooks Vol. 2. His affection for the psychedelic singer-songwriters of the ’70s is apparent in the new project, on which Jones plays every instrument himself.

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For his fifth solo album, Daniel Avery made a conscious effort to strip out the plainly rapturous moments of his electronic production and aim for something a bit darker. "This is an intentionally heavy and dense album, the hooks often hidden in dusty corners," he says. "I’m no longer dealing in a misty-eyed euphoria. Ultra Truth is a distorted fever dream of a record: riled, determined, and alive.” We selected "Wall of Sleep" featuring H.A.A.i as a Song You Need in September.

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Kel Tinariwen is a reissue of the Toureg collective’s debut album, released on cassette in 1992 in Mali. The desert blues that the group eventually became known for isn’t present on the album’s lead singles. Instead, they adopt a playful and entrancing synth-pop sound.

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Turnover's fifth studio album was co-produced by frontman Austin Getz and Will Yip. Known for their jangly take on dream-pop, Turnover upped the sonic polish on the singles "Tears of Change," "Ain't Love Heavy," "Myself in the Way," "Wait Too Long," and "Mountains Made of Clouds."

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dal Forno’s third studio album was recorded in the small Australian town of Castlemaine and comes out today on the post-punk artist’s own label, Kallista Records. The project was announced with the dream-dub lead single “Come Around,” followed by the swirling and spacious “Side by Side.”

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D.C.-based experimental soul musician dreamcastmoe releases the second half of his new album today. “Sound is Like Water is to me a true representation of the different patterns that water takes,” he told The FADER this past summer. “When I describe water, it’s not just describing me as a person. ‘Sound is like Water’ is really descriptive of how I’ve been able to move in and out of different life changes.” His song “El Dorado,” released in August, was a Song You Need.

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Horse Lords have never strayed far from their noble musical mission, hewing close to the just intonation system and the principles of harmonic rhythm since their 2010 inception. On Comradely Objects, their fifth album, they take on a near-impossible task of conveying political theory through purely instrumental music. “The comradely object should promote collective, egalitarian ideals,” the band explained in the press release announcing the new record. Comradely Objects works through what this means for the material of sound, for music, for the album, and for artistic production in the 21st century.” The project’s lead single, “Mess Mend,” was a Song You Need back in August.

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Members of the metal band Vein.fm branch out to anthemic shoegaze in their new project Fleshwater. "The Razor's Apple," the second single from We're Not Here To be Loved, was one of the best rock songs in October.

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From a Story Now Lost is the first solo LP form classically trained Norwegian electronic composer and pianist Anja Lauvdal, who’s spent the decade since she graduated from the prestigious Trondheim Conservatory performing with over a dozen groups, including Jenny Hval’s backing band. The new record is produced by Laurel Halo and comprises 10 tracks, most of them evocative synth sketches — though the two that approach the five-minute mark show promise of more expansive efforts to come. “The Dreamer,” in particular, is a dark masterpiece, imbued with a sense of impending doom that hangs just above the titular sleeper’s head.

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John Mark Lapham, the Abilene, Texas songwriter and composer, has shared his second album as Old Fire. Voids is a genre-blending, 12-track trip that features Emily Cross, Bill Callahan (three times), Adam Torres, and Julia Holter.

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