Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Blackpink enter your area and two Louisville favorites log yet another collaboration. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.
Blackpink — “Shut Down”
Blackpink have been one of K-pop’s premiere groups for years now, so naturally, their new album Born Pink was hotly anticipated. It arrived last week to much fanfare, as did a video for “Shut Down,” of which Uproxx’s Lai Frances notes, “The themes of ‘Shut Down’ can play off as a celebration to Blackpink’s power in the music industry and a big flip-of-the-finger to the haters and wannabes since their debut.”
Rina Sawayama — “Hurricanes”
Speaking of strong albums from last week, how about Rina Sawayama? Her final pre-release tease before Hold The Girl‘s drop was “Hurricanes,” a pop-rock ballad on which she reflects on behind hard on herself and the consequences of that way of being, all wrapped in an optimistic-sounding and gorgeously sung package.
Bleu and Nicki Minaj — “Love In The Way”
It’s a good time to be Nicki Minaj, who is just weeks removed from “Super Freaky Girl” debuting on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Blue managed to ride that momentum wave last week with his new Minaj collab, “Love In The Way,” an afro-fusion tune on which Minaj contributes a verse that mirrors the themes of Bleu’s lyrics about moving on.
Marcus Mumford — “Stonecatcher” Feat. Phoebe Bridgers
While Mumford & Sons leader Marcus Mumford’s debut solo album Self-Titled is more, well, solo than his previous output, that doesn’t mean he went about it with no outside help. Phoebe Bridgers plays a complementary role on “Stonecatcher,” contributing backing vocals that wonderfully help prop Mumford up.
EST Gee — “Backstage Passes” Feat. Jack Harlow
Louisville rap is having a bit of a moment right now and two of the scene’s biggest figures linked up last week. EST Gee just dropped his new album, I Never Felt Nun, last week, and he teamed up with hometown hero Jack Harlow on “Backstage Passes,” the pair’s fourth collaboration on which they continue to be perfect complements to each other.
Charlie Puth — “I Don’t Think That I Like Her”
Puth may have become a major social media icon since his previous album, 2018’s Voicenotes, but he hasn’t lost the understanding that ultimately, it’s still all about the music. He’s less than a month away from dropping his third album, Charlie, and the pre-album singles have so far delivered. “I Don’t Think That I Like Her” is a dainty pop-rock tune that sees Travis Barker assisting on drums.
Carly Rae Jepsen — “Talking To Yourself”
Carly Rae Jepsen made herself a quarantine album with the appropriately named The Loneliest Time, which is set to drop in October. If the album’s about isolation, it appears Jepsen has found a fun and upbeat way to express that, as is the vibe of last week’s advance single, “Talking To Yourself.”
Weyes Blood — “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody”
2019’s Titanic was intended to be the first part of a trilogy of albums and that saga will continue soon, as Weyes Blood announced And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow last week. The album is preceded by the single “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” a lush and evocative seven-minute tune that Natalie Mering called a “Buddhist anthem, ensconced in the interconnectivity of all beings, and the fraying of our social fabric.”
Fred Again.. — “Danielle (Smile On My Face)”
UK favorite Fred Again.. is releasing a new album again, as Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9, 2022), his third LP since early 2021, is set to drop in October. Last week brought the uplifting club banger “Danielle (Smile On My Face).” The tune samples 070 Shake (real name Danielle Balbuena) and Uproxx’s Danielle Chelosky notes of the tune, “The airy vocals add to the ethereal atmosphere; though it’s jittery and upbeat, there is an undertone of melancholy that makes it endearingly bittersweet.”
Death Cab For Cutie — “Pepper”
Death Cab have remained consistently solid for years and now they have another worthy new entry to their discography, their just-released milestone tenth album, Asphalt Meadows. Among the highlights, aside from the pre-album singles, is “Pepper,” a relatively calm and reflective number that features some introspective and idiosyncratically phrased lyrics from Ben Gibbard.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.