Billboard’s Friday Music Information serves as a helpful information to this Friday’s most important releases — the important thing music that everybody will probably be speaking about at the moment, and that will probably be dominating playlists this weekend and past.
This week, Kacey Musgraves facilities her songwriting, Justin Timberlake returns to the dance flooring, and Cardi B has her enemies on alert. Try all of this week’s picks under:
Kacey Musgraves, Deeper Nicely
Though Deeper Nicely may very well be construed as an antidote to Kacey Musgraves’ 2021 album Star-Crossed, contemplating how the jagged edges of that divorce meditation have been smoothed down on songs about quiet pleasures and self-love, Musgraves’ stellar songwriting has all the time remained the North Star of her craft, and prevents her newest album from feeling like a pointy flip. There are many earthy delights to be discovered deep into Deeper Nicely, however the opening run of the ‘70s-indebted “Cardinal,” rustic title observe and blissed-out “Too Good to Be True” ranks among the many strongest 10-minute stretches in Musgraves’ discography.
Click on right here to learn a full overview and observe rating of Musgraves’ Deeper Nicely.
Justin Timberlake, All the things I Thought It Was
Six years have handed since Justin Timberlake’s final full-length, 2018’s Man of the Woods, and the pop supsertsr has re-emerged with an album that plucks him out of the woods and higher understands his core appeals. All the things I Thought It Was finds Timberlake taking part in the hits to a level — shimmering rhythmic pop; crackling, Timbaland-helmed beats; disco grooves that aren’t contained to radio-single lengths; even the return of *NSYNC — but additionally doesn’t characterize a retreat into secure territory. Timberlake could also be squarely in his forties at this level, however he nonetheless goals to have each second of a sprawling, 76-minute album be thought of thrilling. He’s a consummate entertainer who is aware of what he’s greatest at, and nonetheless finds events to function within the margins of his aesthetic.
Click on right here to learn a full overview and observe rating of Timberlake’s All the things I Thought It Was.
Cardi B, “Sufficient (Miami)”
Cardi B is uninterested in paying thoughts to her rivals: “I see my opps linking up, I’m like, ‘What within the f–ok?’” she spits on new single “Sufficient (Miami),” which shortly follows one other solo observe, “Like What (Freestyle),” that equally took intention at an adversary and her swiftly conglomerated cohorts. “Sufficient (Miami)” is stuffed with eye-rolls from Cardi, in addition to killer strains; she could also be rising weary of taking part in protection, however tossing out references to each Dr. Seuss and “Knuck if You Buck” on the identical observe is all the time going to entertain.
Zayn, “What I Am”
Zayn has now spent extra years as a solo artist than as an lively member of One Course, and over the course of that run, he’s allowed his curiosity to roam with out committing to a single pop blueprint. “What I Am” adopts a folksy method that we haven’t heard from Zayn earlier than — nation nice Dave Cobb co-produced the brand new observe, which precedes upcoming album Room Underneath the Stairs — however his voice continues to resonate, and his lyrics recommend a wholesome reinvention: “Take me as I’m,” he cries, “I’m uninterested in dancin’ across the level.”
PARTYNEXTDOOR, “Actual Girl”
“That is the toughest I’ve ever labored on an album,” PARTYNEXTDOOR advised Billboard in a current cowl story. Certainly, new single “Actual Girl,” which previews PARTYNEXTDOOR 4, options the R&B singer-songwriter sounding reinvigorated whereas lavishing the lady who’s captured his creativeness. Rumbling, luxurious percussion and backing harmonies help PND as he climbs into his falsetto, and “Actual Girl” instantly turns into a candidate for heavy rotation on R&B radio.
Editor’s Choose: Willow, “Symptom of Life”
On Willow’s charming new single “Symptom of Life,” the juxtaposition of the whooshing refrain — fast-moving, chattering, stuffed with unanswerable questions concerning the that means of life — and the mild, wordless breaks of piano and drums demonstrates Willow’s savvy as a pop creator, able to filling area with commotion after which pulling again for an exhale. “Symptom of Life” carries a whiff of Kate Bush’s wizardry; let’s hope Willow retains plunging down that rabbit gap on her upcoming studio album.
