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The best new albums out May 30

On Cover The Mirrors, Ben Kweller remembers his late son, Dorian Zev, who died in a car crash at age 16.
Lizzy Kweller
/
The Noise Company
On Cover The Mirrors, Ben Kweller remembers his late son, Dorian Zev, who died in a car crash at age 16.

It's Friday, and there are some remarkable new albums out in the world today. Enigmatic alt-pop star yuele released one of our team's favorite records of the year, Stars vocalist Amy Millan returns with a set songs that will have you recalling "Ageless Beauty," and Low's Alan Sparhawk and Ben Kweller return with impeccable albums about living with grief.

NPR Music's Stephen Thompson welcomes Jackson Wisdorf from Member station KXT in North Texas to the May 30 edition of New Music Friday. They get into the above albums, a solo outing from The National's Matt Berninger and much more. Listen to the show below and scroll down to see our long list of albums out this Friday.


The Starting Five

  • Matt Berninger, Get Sunk (RIYL: The National; stream)
  • yuele, Evangelic Girl is a Gun (RIYL: SOPHIE, Cocteau Twins; stream)
  • Ben Kweller, Cover The Mirrors (RIYL: Pavement, MJ Lenderman; stream)
  • Alan Sparhawk, With Trampled By Turtles (RIYL: Low, Galaxie 500; stream)
  • Amy Millan, I Went To Find You (RIYL: Stars, Broken Social Scene; stream)

The Lightning Round

  • Obongjayar, Paradise Now
  • Lionmilk, WHEN THE FLOWERS BLOOM
  • caroline, caroline 2
  • CIVIC, Chrome Dipped
  • Qasim Naqvi, Endling

The Long List

Rock/Alt/Indie

  • Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell (10th Anniversary Edition)
  • Pavement, Pavements (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  • Ty Segall, Possession
  • Foxwarren, 2
  • Faun Fables, Counterclockwise
  • Shura, I Got Too Sad for My Friends
  • Grateful Dead, The Music Never Stopped (Live)
  • illuminati hotties, Nickel on the Fountain Floor EP
  • KEEP, Almost Static
  • Léa Sen, LEVELS
  • Lung, The Swankeeper
  • Matthew Young, Undercurrents
  • MRCY, Volume 2
  • Mt. Joy, Hope We Have Fun
  • Planning For Burial, It's Closeness, It's Easy
  • Sea Lemon, Diving For the Prize
  • SWANS, Birthing
  • The Minus 5, Oar On, Penelope!
  • Trigger, Second Round
  • W. Cullen Hart and Andrew Rieger, Leap Through Poisoned Air EP
  • David Lowery, Fathers, Sons and Brothers
  • Garbage, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
  • guccihighwaters, Death by Desire
  • Sally Shapiro, Ready To Live A Lie

Pop

  • Grace Potter, Medicine
  • Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi (20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Miley Cyrus, Something Beautiful

R&B/Soul

  • Leon Thomas, MUTT Deluxe: HEEL
  • The Budos Band, VII
  • Tuxedo, Spring Bliss EP
  • Honey Bxby, Raw Honey EP

Rap/Hip-Hop

  • Oddisee, En Route EP
  • Bruiser Wolf, POTLUCK
  • Ovrkast., While The Iron Is Hot
  • Aesop Rock, Black Hole Superette
  • Billionhappy, DIǍO EP
  • EBK Jaaybo, Don't Trust Me
  • Rome Streetz & Conductor Williams, TRAINSPOTTING

Country/Folk/Americana

  • Anderson East, Worthy
  • Dylan Scott, Easy Does It
  • Faith Eliott, dryas
  • Josiah Flores, Doin' Fine
  • Moonrisers, Harsh & Exciting
  • Preston Cooper, Toledo Talkin'
  • The Shootouts, Switchback
  • Watchhouse, Rituals

Electronic/Out There

  • Bella Wakame, s/t
  • Ellen Arkbro, Nightclouds
  • Laura Cannell, LyreLyreLyre
  • Etyen, My Goddess
  • Jameszoo, Music for 17 Musicians
  • Kathryn Joseph, WE WERE MADE PREY.
  • Photographic Memory, I look at her and light goes all through me
  • Quantic, DJ-Kicks
  • Repetition Repetition, Fit for Consequences: Original Recordings, 1984-1987
  • StabUdown, Tinge of Ascension
  • Tohji, zero-two
  • Verraco, Basic Maneuvers EP
  • WheelUP, Inner Light
  • V/A, Não Estragou Nada
  • Anyma, The End of Genesys

Global

  • Braye, I Wish I Had More Time EP
  • Chicarica, Invierno en la playa
  • Maurice Louca, Barĩy (Fera)
  • Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Heavier Yet [Deluxe Edition]
  • Seventeen, Happy Burstday

Jazz

  • Brad Turner Trio, It's All So
  • Pedrito Martinez, Ilusión Óptica

Classical

  • Simone Dinnerstein, Complicité
  • Anna Lapwood, Firedove

Credits

  • Host: Stephen Thompson
  • Guest: Jackson Wisdorf, KXT
  • Producer: Simon Rentner
  • Editors: Otis Hart and Elle Mannion
  • 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.)
Jackson Wisdorf