Billboard’s Friday Music Information serves as a useful information to this Friday’s most important releases — the important thing music that everybody shall be speaking about right now, and that shall be dominating playlists this weekend and past.
This week, Woman Gaga places on her Joker make-up, The Weeknd joins forces with Playboi Carti and Stevie Nicks meets the second. Take a look at all of this week’s picks beneath:
Woman Gaga, Harlequin
Though Harlequin will not be precisely a brand new Woman Gaga album — the 13-song challenge is basically a mixture of lined present tunes and rearrangements that serves as a companion piece to subsequent week’s big-budget movie sequel Joker: Folie à Deux — the unique observe “Completely happy Mistake,” a panoramic ballad in the identical sonic universe as Gaga’s A Star is Born work, greater than justifies this stopgap earlier than the following official full-length.
The Weeknd with Playboi Carti, “Timeless”
Two weeks after The Weeknd and Playboi Carti individually returned with extremely anticipated solo tracks “Dancing within the Flames” and “All Pink,” respectively, the pair of A-listers have linked up on “Timeless,” which is able to seem on The Weeknd’s upcoming album Hurry Up Tomorrow however pushes the famous person extra in the direction of Carti’s synth-heavy futuristic rap, courtesy in a part of co-producer Pharrell Williams.
Stevie Nicks, “The Lighthouse”
Stevie Nicks wrote new single “The Lighthouse” following the overturning of Roe v. Wade final yr, however the legendary singer’s voice resonates whatever the historic context, as she sings, “I’ve my scars, you’ve gotten yours / Don’t allow them to take your energy.”
Tommy Richman, Coyote
Tommy Richman may have coasted on new-school R&B bangers like “Million Greenback Child” and “Satan is a Lie” by means of the remainder of 2024; as an alternative, debut album Coyote (which stunningly incorporates neither of his first two hits on its observe record) is decidedly a extra daring affair, refracting funk, synth-pop, New Jack Swing and hip-hop by means of the lens of Richman’s singular croon.
Rosalía feat. Ralphie Choo, “Omega”
Whereas a justifiable share of Rosalía’s implausible 2022 challenge MOTOMAMI boasted flamable rhythms and dance hooks, “Omega,” a brand new team-up with Ralphie Choo, serves as a potent reminder of the singer’s vocal would possibly, with handclaps floating her melisma right here and every syllable of the refrain delivered with piercing emotion.
Luke Bryan, Thoughts of a Nation Boy
A press launch for Luke Bryan’s album describes Thoughts of a Nation Boy as “the end result of a profession spent learning songs and residing the searching, fishing, and loving on a regular basis life-style he sings about”; certainly, there’s an authenticity intrinsic to Bryan’s newest that separates the longtime star from his nation brethren, significantly on tracks like “Kansas” and “Nation On.”
The Treatment, “Alone”
The Treatment’s first new track in 16 years is actually a best-case situation for longtime followers of the all-time greats: “Alone” is a beautiful, almost seven-minute rock epic, with a sweepingly mournful association and Robert Smith sounding like he by no means stepped away from the recording studio.
Linkin Park, “Heavy is the Crown”
If “The Vacancy Machine” reasserted Linkin Park’s rock-solid songwriting and launched new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong into the combo, follow-up “Heavy is the Crown” absolutely unleashes the newly reformed band, recalling the bruising rap-rock of “Faint” and “Bleed It Out” whereas permitting Armstrong to unveil her personal prolonged scream.
Editor’s Choose: SOPHIE, SOPHIE
In her too-brief time within the highlight, SOPHIE reconstructed the very material of dance and digital music with a singular verve and boundless expertise; SOPHIE, a bittersweet posthumous album which her household helped get throughout the end line, honors her brilliance with wondrous moments that recall her profession peaks, and glimpses of what may have been.
