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New Music Friday: The best albums out March 21

Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast is back with a new album, "For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)."
Pak Bae
/
Dead Oceans
Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast is back with a new album, "For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)."

It's Friday morning, which means that shortly after the buzzer sounded during last night's March Madness games, dozens of new albums appeared on streaming services.

We begin this week's New Music Friday with some March Sadness, specifically Japanese Breakfast's highly anticipated return For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). It's Michelle Zauner's first album since becoming a New York Times bestseller for her memoir, Crying in H Mart, so there's a lot to unpack. We brought in J-Brek superfan Izzi Bavis of Baltimore public radio station WTMD, where she DJs every weeknight from 7-10 ET.

New Music Friday is a feature of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast. Subscribe on NPR App, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.


The Starting 5

  • Japanese Breakfast, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) (Stream)
  • Greentea Peng, TELL DEM IT'S SUNNY (Stream)
  • Tamino, Every Dawn's a Mountain (Stream)
  • My Morning Jacket, is (Stream)
  • YHWH Nailgun, 45 Pounds (Stream)

The Lighting Round

  • Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life
  • NO ID & Saba, From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID
  • Flying Lotus, ASH (Original Soundtrack)
  • More Eaze & claire rousay, no floor
  • Phil Cook, Appalachia Borealis

The Long List

Rock/Alt/Indie

  • Barry Hyde (of The Futureheads), Miners' Ballads
  • Benefits, Constant Noise
  • Brian D'Addario, Till the Morning
  • Clikatat Ikatowi, The Trials and Tribulations Of (Reissue)
  • Cross Record, Crush Me
  • Deacon Blue, The Great Western Road
  • Dutch Interior, Moneyball
  • Ed Kuepper & Jim White, After the Flood
  • Eliza Niemi, Progress Bakery
  • Floodlights, Underneath
  • Greer, Big Smile
  • Gustaffson, Black and White Movie
  • Jaco Jaco, Gremlin
  • Jeffrey Lewis, The EVEN MORE Freewheelin' Jeffrey Lewis
  • Kinlaw, gut ccheck
  • Lonnie Holley, Tonky
  • Men I Love, Equus Asinus
  • Ora The Molecule, Dance Therapy
  • Pictoria Vark, Nothing Sticks
  • Swami John Reis, Time To Let You Down
  • The Horrors, Nightlife
  • The Infinity Ring, Ataraxia
  • The Taxpayers, Circle Breaker
  • Weatherday, Hornet Disaster
  • Welly, Big in the Suburbs
  • Young Widows, Power Sucker

Classical

  • Ashley Jackson, Take Me To The Water
  • Macie Stewart, When the Distance is Blue

Country/Folk/Americana

  • David Ramirez, All the Not So Gentle Reminders
  • Jessica Simpson, Nashville Canyon EP
  • Lola Kirke, Trailblazer
  • Maddox Batson, First Dance
  • Ryan Hurd, Midwest Rock & Roll

Electronic/Out There

  • Amine Laje & Traumer, Datsha
  • Lucy Liyou, Every Video Without Your Face, Every Sound Without Your Name
  • Gnod & White Hills, Drop Out III
  • Graham Reynolds, Mountain
  • Hiroshi Yoshimura, Flora (Reissue)
  • Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Gift Songs
  • Loradeniz, SUN SHONE
  • nimino, Creek EP
  • Sarah Davachi, Banshee / Basse Brevis EP
  • Sopa Boba, That Moment
  • V/A, Eli Roth's Red Light Disco Dancefloor: Seductions From Italian Sexploitation Cinema

Global

  • LA NIÑA, FURÈSTA
  • NMIXX, Fe3O4: Forward
  • XIXA, XOLO

Jazz

  • Artturi Rönkä, Lost Threads
  • Timo Lassy Trio, Live In Helsinki

Pop

  • Ben Swissa, HUSH EP
  • Calum Bowie, Through the Window EP
  • Selena Gomez & benny blanco, i said i love you first
  • Tina Turner, Private Dancer (40th Anniversary Edition)

R&B/Soul

  • Annie & The Caldwells, Can't Lose My Soul
  • Bathe, Inside Voice(s)

Rap/Hip-Hop

  • Kevin Gates, I'm Him 2
  • Goya Gumbani, Warlord of the Weejuns
  • Mali, G-CODE
  • PremRock, Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…?
  • Previous Industries, Evergreen Plaza EP

Credits

  • Host: Stephen Thompson
  • Guest: Izzi Bavis, WTMD
  • Producer: Simon Rentner
  • Editor: Otis Hart
  • Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
  • Vice President, Music and Visuals: Keith Jenkins

Copyright 2025 NPR

Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson is a host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist and guest host on All Songs Considered. Thompson also co-hosts the daily NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created with NPR's Linda Holmes in 2010. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)
Izzi Bavis