Early this morning, the "blood worm moon" lunar eclipse was visible in some parts of North America. But that's not all that graced the Earth's sky this Friday, March 14.
Matt Reilly of Austin public radio station KUTX joins NPR Music's Stephen Thompson to discuss the new releases that made their debut on streaming services while you were watching that eclipse. (Our hearts go out to those who stayed up all night waiting for Playboi Carti's I Am Music, which finally dropped after 7 a.m. ET.)
The Starting Five
Stephen and Matt give you the backstory and best songs on the following albums:
- Charley Crockett, Lonesome Drifter (Stream)
- Twin Shadow, Georgie (Stream)
- Courting, Lust for Life, Or: 'How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story (Stream)
- Étienne de Crécy, WARM UP (Stream)
- Throwing Muses, Moonlight Concessions (Stream)
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
Six more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:
- Playboi Carti, I Am Music
- clipping., Dead Channel Sky
- Womb, One is Always Heading Somewhere
- Circuit des Yeux, Halo on the Inside
- The Mexican Standoff, Hola, Texas!
- Spiral Deluxe (Jeff Mills, Yumiko Ohno, Kenji 'Jino' Hino and Gerald Mitchell), The Love Pretender
Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple.
The Long List
For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:
Rock/Alt/Indie
- Bambara, Birthmarks
- Blasé, BLABLABLA
- cleopatrick, FAKE MOON
- Coheed and Cambria, Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe
- Dana Gavanski, Again Again EP
- Das Beat, Frau Fatal
- Dead Rabbitts, Redefined
- Dorothy, The Way
- Edwyn Collins, Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation
- Flora from Kansas, Homesick EP
- Hekla, Turnar
- Huremic (Parannoul), Seeking Darkness
- KEG, Fun's Over
- Mia June, Brain Like Computer
- Neal Francis, Return to Zero
- Neal Morgan, PAW
- Nico, Chelsea Town Hall (Live)
- of Montreal, The Sunlandic Twins (20th Anniversary Edition)
- Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid Box Set
- Steven Wilson, The Overview
- The Faint, Blank Wave Arcade (Reissue)
- The Faint, Wet From Birth (Reissue)
- The Loft, Everything Changes Everything Stays the Same
- The WAEVE, Eternal EP
- Weaving, Webs
Classical
- Jan Lisiecki, Preludes
- Kronos Quartet / Mary Kouyoumdjian, WITNESS
- Owls, Rare Birds
- Patrick Demenga, Knaifel: Chapter Eight
- Steve Reich, Collected Works 27-Disc Box Set
Country/Folk/Americana
- Carly Pearce, Hummingbird: No Rain, No Flowers
- Rose Cousins, Conditions of Love
- Ruston Kelly, Dirt Emo Vol. II
- Warren Zeiders, Relapse, Lies & Betrayal
- ZZ Ward Liberation
Electronic/Out There
- Loraine James (as Whatever the Weather), Whatever The Weather II
- anamē, Hopes & Fears
- Cinema Royal, Cinema Royal
- COUSIN KULA, AFTER SUN
- Golem Mecanique, Siamo tutti in pericolo
- Intensive Care + The Body, Was I Good Enough?
- Joni Void, Every Life is a Light
- Jorg Kuning, Elvers Pass
- Ploy, It's Later Than You Think
- Zoe McPherson, Upside Down
Global
- Anoushka Shankar, Chapter III: We Return to Light
- Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, Yarın Yoksa
- Valvin, Incoming
Jazz
- Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet
- Art Pepper, Geneva 1980
- Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes, Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes
- Hayes Greenfield, Gravity Unplugged
- Nicolas Masson, Renaissance
- Ray Suhy / Lewis Porter Quartet, What Happens Next
- Silke Eberhard, Trio Being-A-Ning
- Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells
Pop
- LE SSERAFIM, HOT
- Maybe Happy Ending, Original Broadway Cast Recording
- No Guidnce, Confessions of a Loverboy EP
- St. Lucia, Fata Morgana: Dawn
- Westislonely, Even a Worm Will Turn EP
- Yael Daila, EP
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Curren$y & Harry Fraud, Never Catch Us
- Dano, Nuevos Trapos
- insyt., Dancing by Myself
- Jasiah, NO HOLDS BARRED
- PARTYOF2, we owe you an explanation EP
Credits
- Host: Stephen Thompson
- Guest: Matt Reilly, KUTX
- Producer: Simon Rentner
- Editor: Otis Hart
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Vice President, Music and Visuals: Keith Jenkins
Copyright 2025 NPR
