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 music released in the last week.
This week saw a consistently exciting new album from Dua Lipa and Rihanna’s first guest appearance on a song in a while. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia
Dua Lipa kicked off a disco-inspired new era with “Don’t Start Now,” and the stylistic shift paid off, as the song is her highest-charting single in the US thanks to its peak at No. 2. The full Future Nostalgia album is out now, and it is a front-to-back banger fest thanks to songs like the aforementioned lead single, the title track, “Physical,” “Break My Heart,” and the Tove Lo-co-written “Cool.”
Waxahatchee — Saint Cloud
Katie Crutchfield told Uproxx of making her new Waxahatchee album, “I got sober and really focused on that for a year. I think in the past I’ve leaned into making music as a way to help myself heal from things. I tried to not do that with this record. I tried to do the work outside of music and have an identity outside of music. […] I would definitely say that the mood of the album came first, and then the songs swiftly followed. Then it just snowballed from there.”
Read our interview with Crutchfield here.
PartyNextDoor — Partymobile
PartyNextDoor had been quiet for the past few years before he dropped his first new songs in a while, “The News” and the Drake collaboration “Loyal.” A few months later, he’s back with a new album, and while most of the songs don’t have features, he went big when he did include guests: A “Loyal” remix also features Bad Bunny, and Rihanna pops up on “Believe It.”
Nav — “Turks” Feat. Travis Scott and Gunna
Nav’s sophomore album, Bad Habits, arrived a year ago last week, and the rapper celebrated in a big way, dropping the Travis Scott- and Gunna-featuring “Turks.” The track is the fourth collaboration between Nav and Scott, and one of those songs, “Yosemite,” also featured Gunna. On the latest from the trio, Nav raps about his opulent lifestyle, bragging about his valuable jewelry and the time he spends in Turks And Caicos.
Run The Jewels — “Ooh La La”
El-P has been forthcoming with progress updates about Run The Jewels 4, saying recently that while he hopes he doesn’t have to delay the album, he’s not yet sure when it’s coming out. One thing we know for certain is that RTJ dropped a new song last week, “Ooh La La.” Featuring rap icons DJ Premier and Greg Nice, the track previews the album’s Golden Era hip-hop influences.
Nine Inch Nails — Ghosts V-VI
Life has been full of surprises over the past few months, and last week, Trent Reznor provided a positive one: Out of nowhere, he dropped a pair of new Nine Inch Nails albums, Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts. Continuations of the Ghosts series (which improbably served as the origin of 2019’s biggest hit), the records hit different moods. As Reznor put it, “Some of it [is] kind of happy, some not so much.”
Pearl Jam — Gigaton
Uproxx’s Steven Hyden notes that when it comes to Pearl Jam’s latest album, its strength is in its familiarity, especially given the time during which it was released: “My main takeaway from this album is that I am grateful for how familiar it sounds. Yes, Gigaton sounds like a Pearl Jam record. […] During a moment when nothing that we rely upon seems to be working properly, a Pearl Jam record that competently delivers abundant Pearl Jam-ness suddenly seems revolutionary.”
Read our review of Gigaton here.
Bright Eyes — “Persona Non Grata”
Conor Oberst has been teasing a big 2020 for Bright Eyes, and finally, he delivered last week. The group shared “Persona Non Grata,” their first new song in almost a decade, and it’s an appealing teaser for the next album. It’s pure Bright Eyes, but it brings new elements into the mix: The song has some surprisingly appropriate bagpipes, which the band insists “is a first for us.”
Rosalía — “Dolerme”
Social distancing isn’t the easiest thing for everybody to manage, and for those people and others, Rosalía penned a new song, “Dolerme.” It was accompanied by a statement, in which Rosalía said, “I am in quarantine and I have lost track of time a bit because I decided that I was not going to think about it too much and that instead I was going to put my energy and my heart into doing something for others, in my own way.”
Jessie Reyez — Before Love Came To Kill Us
Jessie Reyez is well-established at this point, and part of the reason for that is the co-signs she has received from big-time collaborators. She and Eminem linked up for multiple tracks on Eminem’s Kamikaze, and now Em returns the favor on “Coffin,” from Reyez’s fresh album Before Love Came To Kill Us. The bluesy ballad isn’t exactly Eminem’s natural habitat, but as always, Eminem highlights the track with his idiosyncratic style.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.