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 Taylor Swift bring Red to 2021 and Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak absolutely deliver on all the hype they generated for the debut Silk Sonic album. 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.
Taylor Swift — “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”
Despite not being a single, “All Too Well” became a defining song from Red, and now, it’s one of the key tracks from Red (Taylor’s Version), too. That’s due to the new ten-minute version, which is how Swift originally wrote and envisioned the song before truncating it for the album. She’s pushing this version hard, too, as she shared a cinematic short film for it and performed it on Saturday Night Live.
Silk Sonic — “After Last Night” Feat. Bootsy Collins and Thundercat
For months, “Leave The Door Open” was the only Silk Sonic available for fans to enjoy. Sure enough, though, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak gradually shared more songs, and last week, they shared all of them by releasing An Evening With Silk Sonic. The album is mostly just Mars and .Paak (because who needs more than those two?), but as far as collaborators, they got a couple of them (Thundercat and album narrator Bootsy Collins) on the highlight “After Last Night.”
Rosalía and The Weekend — “La Fama”
The dynamic duo behind the Latin-flavored 2020 remix of “Blinding Lights” has reunited, as The Weeknd and Rosalía linked up on “La Fama” last week. The track is the first one from Rosalía’s upcoming album Motomami, and if the smooth new number isn’t enough for some reason, the video has a wonderful Danny Trejo cameo.
Beyonce — “Be Alive”
Whenever Beyonce drops a new song (or does just about anything), there is much rejoicing. So, last week, there was much rejoicing when she dropped “Be Alive” last week, her spirited and punchy contribution to the movie King Richard that finds itself a strong groove and runs with it.
Juice WRLD — “Already Dead”
Juice WRLD seems to have left a ton of music behind because last week, the late rapper’s team announced that his second posthumous album, Fighting Demons, is on the way later this year. Alongside that announcement arrived the eerily titled “Already Dead,” on which Juice sings, “Voices in my head / All I can hear them say / is everyone wants me dead / B*tch, I’m already dead / I’ve been dead for years.”
Mitski — “The Only Heartbreaker”
Mitski season is approaching and it’ll fully arrive in early 2022 when she drops her new album, Laurel Hell. She announced that LP last week, at which time she also shared “The Only Heartbreaker,” a driving rocker that sees Mitski confronting some realizations she’s had in her romantic life.
Saweetie — “Get It Girl”
Saweetie dropped a preview of “Get It Girl” in a Beats By Dre commercial last month, and while many figured the full track would appear on her upcoming album, it’s actually going to be on the Insecure soundtrack. That news came as the full song was shared last week and it’s a confident dispatch ahead of Saweetie’s SNL appearance this weekend.
Rick Ross — “Outlawz” Feat. Jazmine Sullivan and 21 Savage
Rick Ross has a new album, Richer Than I Ever Been, on the way, and fans who wanted an early look at it got one last week with “Outlawz,” which features contributions from 21 Savage and Jazmine Sullivan. Uproxx’s Wongo Okon notes of the track, “The song is carried by soulful production supplied by producer AraabMuzik. Hard-hitting drums and soaring vocals sit under Ross and 21 Savage slick raps and Sullivan’s show-stealing hook.
Polo G — “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal)”
Hall Of Fame was Polo G’s first No. 1 album this summer, and he’s ending the year with even more of it: Hall Of Fame 2.0 is set to drop in December and it’s a deluxe edition of the original album that boasts 14 new tracks. He shared one of those last week with “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal),” which will sound instantly familiar as it samples the Michael Jackson classic referenced in the title.
Beach House — “Once Twice Melody”
The last we heard from Beach House was their 2018 album 7, but 2022 will bring more goodies from the defining dream-pop duo. Indeed, said goodies will be plentiful, as the group’s upcoming album, Once Twice Melody, boasts a hefty 18 tracks. The group plans to share the songs in periodic chunks ahead of the album’s release and they started last week with “Once Twice Melody,” “Superstar,” “Pink Funeral,” and “Through Me.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.