The Weeknd may be the biggest release of the week, but is it the best? We run down five other albums you should hear, with NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and John Morrison, host of Culture Cypher Radio on partner station WXPN.
Featured albums for January 31
- Cymande, Renascence
- Ambrose Akinmusire, honey from a winter stone
- Lilly Hiatt, Forever
- Pink Siifu, BLACKIANTIQUE
- Damon Locks, List of Demands
Other notable albums out January 31
Pop
- Kim Wilde, Closer
- Qing Madi, I am the Blueprint
- The Weeknd, Hurry Up Tomorrow
Rock/indie/alternative
- Adrian Quesada, Home Free OST
- ASkySoBlack, Touch Heaven
- Assistant, Certain Memories
- Charlie Houston, Big After I Die
- Circa Waves, Death & Love Pt. 1
- Freckle, Freckle
- Geologist & D.S. (from Animal Collective), A Shaw Deal
- Kawala, Kawala Collection
- L.S. Dunes, Violet
- Last Train, III
- The Laughing Chimes, Whispers in the Speech Machine
- Manic Street Preachers, Critical Thinking
- moe., Circle of Giants
- Prison, Downstate
- Quicche, Frisia
- RØRY, Restoration
- Sweet Pill, Unraveled
Hip-hop
- EST Gee, I Aint Feeling You
- FearDorian, Leaving Home
- Madvillain, Madvillany Demos
- MIKE, Showbiz
- Tyga, NSFW
R&B/soul
- Brooke Combe, Dancing at the Edge of the World
- Eddie Chacon, Lay Low
- V/A, Eccentric Soul: The Cobra Label
Country/folk/Americana
- Bonnie "Prince" Billy, The Purple Bird
- Heather Maloney, Exploding Star
- Penny & Sparrow, Lefty
- Sierra Ferrell, Trail of Flowers (Deluxe Edition)
Jazz
- Isaiah Collier, William Hooker, William Parker, The Ancients
- Joe McPhee, I'm Just Say'n
- Johanna Summer / Jakob Manz, Cameo
- Joona Toivanen Trio, Gravity
- Julia Hulsmann, Under the Surface
- Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr, Safe Place
Classical
- Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Khachaturian: Piano Concerto
- Ludovico Einaudi, The Summer Portraits
- Max Richter, The Blue Notebooks (20 Year Edition)
- Renaud Capucon, Petr Popelka, Seiji Ozawa, Richard Strauss
Global
- Jupiter & Okwess, Ekoya
- Khalil Harrison, Uzwile Bathini
- Nyron Higor, Nyron Higor
Electronic/other
- Architectural, Good Night, Whatever That Is
- Decius, Decius Vol. II (Splendour & Obedience)
- General Magic, Bosko
- Les Rallizes Dénudés, 屋根裏 YaneUra Sept. '80
- Maribou State, Hallucinating Love
- Memory Pearl, Cosmic-Astral
- Ocean Moon, Ways to the Deep Meadow
- Peter Rehberg, Liminal States
- Radart, Blips & Bleeps
- Sectra, Through the Static
- Shackleton, In the Cell of Dreams (Live)
- Wojciech Rusin, Honey for the Ants
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