New Music Friday: The best albums out Aug. 7
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What new releases are highlighted at the start of New Music Friday?
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Happy Friday, everyone, from 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.
Thank you, Stephen. I'm so glad to be back with you. It's so wonderful to see you. There's been some great music that's been coming out. You know, it's kind of summertime. A lot of people are checking out. But I think that the music is still happening. And we're finding out, especially with this episode, that there's a lot to talk about. So I'm really excited.
Yeah, we are firmly in, you know, what's technically considered the dog days of summer. And sometimes that means the release schedules kind of slow down, whether you're talking about movies or TV shows or music. But music wise, it's still a pretty busy week. We got a lot to get to. So let's kick things off with Raven Linnae. Raven Linnae's new record is called Blue Island.
Don't it sound so sweet? Never let me go, never let me go Never let me go, won't you come for me? Never let me go, wrap your arms around me Keep it going, don't it sound so sweet? Never let me go, never let me go Now I got you in my life All I know is that it feels right Work all the way ain't good, better twice It's just me and you, I'll never move by All the ones that came before you
You should always be my
So Raven Lanai is a singer from Chicago. She's had a fascinating career. She's been, you know, signed to labels for the last decade or so, but really broke out last year with a song from 2024 called Love Me Not, which was just this really vibrant, catchy throwback to a lot of like 90s and aughts R&B. It achieved this kind of TikTok virality and that really caused her to blow up, but she hasn't really had chart hits before or since. And, you know, her music typically traffics in, you know, like I said, R&B, a lot of kind of throwback pop sounds. But this record is pivoting a little harder into pop than I would have expected from the sound of Love Me Not.
You know, it's really interesting because this, coming back with such a massive hit like that, she had some choices, right, about how she wanted to present herself. And although you're right, there are these pop moments, I'm actually really impressed with some of the underground flavor that's happening as well. There's Kareem Riggins, who is a drummer from Detroit and a producer, and he's enlisted for a couple of the cuts, which make it really nice.
Absolutely. And yeah, there's not just one sound being deployed here. The record kicks off with a song called Handle, which is straight up pop rock sugar rush. And, you know, coming into this record, I was really surprised by it, you know, because I was expecting, okay, she's had this giant hit. You're going to try to kind of regenerate those same vibes. And those vibes do turn up later on this record. But right out of the gate, It's rock, it's pop. There's a brightness to it that is more like R&B inflected than R&B focused.
you can trust me
You know, it's interesting because when you look at her influences and you think about someone like Janet Jackson, she also is just as equally influenced by Blondie, you know, artists like that. But she is someone who has opened up her mind to the possibilities, and that's what is really amazing. I know you and I have had discussions about some of these artists, and it's really interesting to see their paths. They're so early. She's so early. You know, she's starting out. It's going to be incredible to find out what's happening with her 10 years from now.
Absolutely. And it's interesting, yeah, you kind of refer to these influences. And I'm glad you mentioned Janet Jackson, because I really picked up Janet Jackson several times kind of in the back half of this record.
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