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The best new albums out Feb. 6

Ratboys.
Miles Kalchik
/
Courtesy of the artist
Ratboys.

Welcome to New Music Friday, NPR Music's podcast dedicated to sharing the best albums out each week. We listen to dozens of new releases in advance, identify the ones we think you need to hear, and highlight our favorite five in a brisk mix of clips, context and commentary.

The podcast is hosted by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, and each episode features a member of the NPR Music Network of public radio stations. This week, our guest is Erin Wolf from Radio Milwaukee's 88Nine, where she hosts What's All This: Adventures In New Music.

Scroll down to see which albums we discussed this week, plus Dora's Corner, where NPR Music production assistant Dora Levite shares her favorite albums that didn't make the podcast.

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


The Starting 5

  • Ratboys, Singin' To An Empty Chair (RIYL: Wednesday, Waxahatchee)
  • Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Laughter in Summer (RIYL: Laraaji, Mary Lattimore)
  • Daphni, Butterfly, (RIYL: Caribou, Four Tet)
  • Charlotte Day Wilson, Patchwork (RIYL: SAULT, KAYTRANADA)
  • John Craigie, I Swam Here (RIYL: Nathaniel Rateliff, Hiss Golden Messenger)

The Lightning Round

  • Melissa Carper & Theo Lawrence, Havin' a Talk (Warner)
  • Alice Costelloe, Move On With The Year (Moshi Moshi)
  • vegas water taxi, long time caller, first time listener (PNKSLM)
  • Ulrika Spacek, EXPO (Full Time Hobby)
  • Music City, Welcome to Music City (Redundant Span)


Dora's Corner

Dora Levite is New Music Friday's production assistant, an occasional All Songs Considered guest, and 17 years old according to her Spotify wrapped. Below are her picks for the best albums not featured on the show.

  • Mandy, Indiana, URGH (Sacred Bones Records)
  • Asher White, Jessica Pratt (Joyful Noise)
  • Joshua Chuquimia Crampton, Anata (Puro Fantasía)

Credits

  • Host: Stephen Thompson
  • Guest: Erin Wolf, Radio Milwaukee
  • Audio: Noah Caldwell
  • Producer: Elle Mannion
  • Production Assistant: Dora Levite
  • Editor: Otis Hart
  • Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
  • Executive Director: Sonali Mehta

Copyright 2026 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.)
Erin Wolf