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New Music Friday: The best albums out July 4

Kesha's new album is titled . (pronounced "period').
Brendan Walter
/
Courtesy of the artist
Kesha's new album is titled . (pronounced "period').

Kesha. Kae Tempest. Nilüfer Yanya. It's an abbreviated Independence Day edition of New Music Friday. Stephen Thompson gives you a quick rundown of the new albums that caught his ear, including:

  • Kesha, . (pronounced "period")
  • Kae Tempest, Self Titled
  • Nilüfer Yanya, Dancing Shoes EP

Other notable albums out July 4

Rock/Alt/Indie

  • Double Virgo, Shakedown
  • The Reds, Pinks and Purples, The Past Is A Garden I Never Fed
  • Dropkick Murphys, For The People
  • Charlie Forrest, Moon Is Bright EP
  • ZZ Top, From The Top (1979-1990) (box set)
  • The Sisters of Mercy, First And Last And Always (40th Anniversary Reissue)
  • Jonathan Richman, Only Frozen Sky Anyway
  • Ben Folds, Live with the National Symphony Orchestra

Pop

  • Cerrone and Christine and the Queens, Catching Feelings EP

Rap/Hip-Hop/R&B

  • JID, GDLU Preluxe
  • Smoke DZA, On My Way To Berlin
  • Ramirez, The Playas Manual II
  • NoMBe, DIÁSPORA

Country/Folk/Americana

  • Jesse Welles, Pilgrim
  • Tucker Zimmerman, Music By River Words By Ear

Global

  • BNXN, Captain
  • Blanco Teta, La Debacle De Las Divas
  • KAPO, Por Si Alguien Nos Escucha
  • Natanael Cano, Porque La Demora

Electronic/Out There

  • Rival Consoles, Landscape from Memory
  • Paul Banks (Interpol), Sister Midnight (OST)
  • Mayurashka, LSI Dreaming EP
  • Cosmin TRG, Aquator EP
  • Ronnie Makebelieve, Summer Triangle EP
  • SJUSH, Temper Shift EP
  • Niño Árbol, Psiconomimesis

If you enjoyed this week's show, we always appreciate a positive review on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you're listening to right now.

This episode was hosted by Stephen Thompson, produced by Noah Caldwell and edited by Otis Hart. The executive producer of NPR Music is Suraya Mohamed.
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.)