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The best new albums out May 23

Stereolab released their first album of original material in 15 years on Friday.
Joe Dilworth
/
Warp Records
Stereolab released their first album of original material in 15 years on Friday.

It's Friday, which means we're waking up to a new Stereolab album for the first time in almost 15 years. The last time Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier released new music together, a fab foursome from Liverpool stole all the headlines. Luckily for the group's excellent new record, Instant Holograms On Metal Film, Stereolab's return looks to be the biggest music story of the week.

That's not to say there aren't other albums worth adding to the queue this weekend. Robert Moore of 90.9 The Bridge in Kansas City, where he hosts the excellent radio show Sonic Spectrum, joined Stephen Thompson to share his love for the new album by Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens and much more.

Scroll down to see our long list of albums out May 23.


The Starting Five

  • Stereolab, Instant Holograms On Metal Film (RIYL: The Velvet Underground, Air; stream)
  • Ganavya, Nilam (RIYL: Alice Coltrane, Arooj Aftab; stream)
  • Robert Forster, Strawberries (RIYL: The Go-Betweens, Peter Bjorn and John; stream)
  • Marc Ribot, Map of a Blue City (RIYL: Lou Reed, Mark Knopfler; stream)
  • Thalia Zedek Band, The Boat Outside Your Window (RIYL: Yo La Tengo, Mary Timony; stream)

The Lightning Round

  • rusowsky, DAISY
  • Moontype, Let The Wind Push Down On Me
  • Cola Boyy, Quit To Play Chess
  • Witchcraft, Idag
  • Death and Vanilla, Whistle and I'll Come To You

The Long List

Rock/Alt/Indie

  • Green Day, Saviours (édition de luxe)
  • Couch Prints, Pitbull 2
  • pablopablo, Canciones En Mí
  • Smerz, Big city life
  • Sparks, MAD!
  • Sophia Kennedy, Squeeze Me
  • These New Puritans, Crooked Wing
  • Shamir, Ten
  • Skunk Anansie, The Painful Truth
  • Private Function, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • 7SECONDS, New Wind (Deluxe Reissue)
  • MSPAINT, No Separation EP
  • bob junior, friends, vol. 2
  • Cindytalk, Camouflage Heart
  • Cool Sounds, Party Punisher
  • Dirty Nice, Planet Weekend
  • Earth, WEM Dominator (Live in London NW1, 2016)
  • Florry, Sounds Like...
  • Home Is Where, Hunting Season
  • Koenjihyakkei, Double Live
  • Morcheeba, Escape the Chaos
  • Sports Team, Boys These Days

Pop

  • Joe Jonas, Music For People Who Believe In Love
  • Myles Smith, A Moment, A Minute EP
  • Julia Michaels, Second Self EP
  • Ella Vos, ROSEBUDS
  • Julia Wolf, Pressure
  • Sedona, Getting Into Heaven

Country/Folk/Americana

  • Quinie, Forefowk, Mind Me
  • Amble, Reverie
  • Taj Mahal + Keb' Mo', Room on the Porch
  • The SteelDrivers, Outrun

Rap/Hip-Hop

  • Fredo Bang, The Big Bang
  • Pan Amsterdam, Confines
  • Rob49, Let Me Fly

R&B/Soul

  • Estelle, Stay Alta

Electronic/Out There

  • emptyset, Dissever
  • Sleepdial, RV Lights
  • Lindstrøm, Sirius Syntoms
  • Kareem Ali, Mawimbi EP
  • NEW CHANCE, A Rock Unsteady
  • Quelza, Pensa Poetico
  • Ron Trent, Lift Off
  • Margaux Gazur, Blurred Memories
  • Georgie and Joe, What I Made With Joe
  • Mike Cooper, Eternal Equinox

Global

  • Pachyman, Another Place
  • Reyna Tropical, Malegría en la Oscuridad EP
  • Mora, LO MISMO DE SIEMPRE
  • Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, Church of Kidane Mehret
  • Francis Bebey, Trésor Magnétique
  • Les Abranis, Album No 1 (Id Ed Was)
  • RIIZE, ODYSSEY
  • Tanya Ekanayaka, 16 Sri Lankan Piano Isles

Jazz

  • Ayman Fanous and Joe Morris, Zuhour
  • Chris Cheek, Keepers of the Eastern Door
  • Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons, Live In Philadelphia
  • Resavior & Matt Gold, Horizon

Classical

  • Erkki-Sven Tüür, ÆRIS
  • Jesse Quebbeman-Turley, Hosana: The Messe de Nostre Dame
  • Pablo Ferrández, Moonlight Variations
  • Franceso Tristano, Bach: The 6 English Suites

Credits

  • Host: Stephen Thompson
  • Guest: Robert Moore, 90.9 The Bridge
  • 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.)
Robert Moore