It's Friday and, boy, are we ready to put this week behind us. Luckily, distraction abounds, with a bunch of highly anticipated new albums hitting streaming services today.
Indie cult hero Alex G makes his major label debut on RCA Records. Jim Legxacy, one of British music's most creative mischief makers, released his first full-length record for the tastemaking XL Recordings label. Paramore dummer Zac Farro steps up to the microphone for his solo debut. Lord Huron — the atmospheric rock band behind one of Spotify's most streamed songs of all time — unveils its new album. And the duo of Rachika Nayar and Nina Keith released one of our favorite under-the-radar albums of the year under the moniker Disiniblud (and gave us one of the year's best press photos in the process 👇).
Keep scrolling to see our long list of albums out July 18 and listen to our New Music Friday episode, featuring guest Chelsea O of Buffalo/Toronto Public Media, beginning at 3 a.m. ET wherever you get your podcasts.
The Starting Five
Our hosts share the backstories and best songs from the following albums:
💿 Alex G, Headlights (Stream)
- Recommended If You Like: Animal Collective, Mac DeMarco
💿 Jim Legxacy, Black British Music (2025) (Stream)
- RIYL: A$AP Rocky, Fred again..
💿 Zac Farro (of Paramore), Operator (Stream)
- RIYL: Paramore, AM Radio
💿 Lord Huron, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 (Stream)
- RIYL: The Lumineers, Hozier
💿 Disiniblud (Rachika Nayar and Nina Keith), s/t (Stream)
- RIYL: Julianna Barwick, Sigur Rós
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
Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:
💿 Cam, All Things Light
💿 Forth Wanderers, The Longer This Goes On
💿 Jess Ribeiro, Mixtape
💿 Billie Marten, Dog Eared
💿 Two Shell, Iicons
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
For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:
Pop
- Jessie Murph, Sex Hysteria
- Alex Warren, You'll Be Alright, Kid
- Fletcher, Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me?
- Avalon, permanent californian EP
- Elijah Waters, Violence!
- Jackson Wang, Magicman 2
- John K, SALT + LIGHT
Country/Folk/Americana
- Jade Bird, Who Wants to Talk About Love
- Dylan Gossett, Westward
- Doke, Fowler and Veale, Deadwood Guitar Sessions: Volume One
- Trisha Yearwood, The Mirror
- Koko Taylor, Crown Jewels
- Dominique Adams, To Keep
- Alex Williams, Space Brain
- Niko Moon, AMERICAN PALM
- The Maes, Abreast
Electronic/Out There
- Slikback, Attrition
- rRoxymore, Juggling Dualities
- Håvard Volden, Small Lives
- KILN, Lemon Borealis
- DJ Haram, Beside Myself
- Jamie Lidell, Places of Unknowing
- Vines, I'll be here
- Above & Beyond, Bigger Than All Of Us
- Ement, Choice Paralysis
- Hannah Holland, Last Exit on Bethnal
- Khaled Kurbeh, Likulli Fadāin Eqāéh
- Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka, Hiraeth
- Terence Fixmer, Magnetic North EP
- V/A, Tectonic Sound
Global
- Hamid Al-Saadi, Maqam Al-Iraq
- J Balvin, Mixteip
- Myke Towers, Island Boyz
- Wolfgang Pérez, Só Ouço
Jazz
- Nat Birchall, Liberated Sounds
Classical
- Niklas Paschburg, Mexican Alps
- Signum Quartett, A Dark Flaring: Works for String Quartet from South Africa
R&B/Soul
- Sly & The Family Stone, The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967
- Kanii, #BLUE
- Nectar Woode, it's like I never left EP
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Raekwon, The Emperor's New Clothes
- Benny The Butcher, Summertime Butch 2
- $ilkmoney, WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO LONGER BEAR?
- Che, Rest in Bass
- GELO, League of My Own
- hard life, onion
- Joyner Lucas, ADHD 2
- Loe Shimmy, Rockstar Junkie
- Young Deji, When Are You Coming Back To Houston
Rock/Alt/Indie
- Laura Jane Grace, Adventure Club
- Madeline Kenney, Kiss from the Balcony
- Natalie Bergman, My Home Is Not In This World
- Cleo Reed, C***ry
- Kitty Craft, Bits + Bobs from the Flower Patch Vol. II
- Coral Grief, Air Between Us
- Don't Worry, Idealism
- Borderline, Crysalis
- Bush, I Beat Loneliness
- Dead Tooth, s/t
- Dream, Ivory, When You Come Back I Have So Much To Tell You
- Message To Bears, Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts
- One More Satellite, s/t
- Panic Shack, s/t
- Rio Romeo, Good Grief!
- We Are Scientists, Qualifying Miles
Credits
- Host: Stephen Thompson
- Guest: Chelsea O, The Bridge (Buffalo Toronto Public Media)
- Producer: Simon Rentner
- Editors: Otis Hart
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Copyright 2025 NPR
