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The best new albums out April 25

By Stephen Thompson,
Ayana Contreras
Published April 24, 2025 at 9:01 PM PDT
David Murray, almost 50 years into his recording career, has a fiery new album on legendary jazz label Impulse!
Gregg Greenwood
/
Verve
David Murray, almost 50 years into his recording career, has a fiery new album on legendary jazz label Impulse!

It's Friday, which means if you forgot to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2 yesterday, you're going to need to console yourself. Luckily, we've got plenty of new music available immediately that will cost you far less than $450.

NPR Music's Stephen Thompson welcomed Ayana Contreras of Denver public radio stations KUVO Jazz and The Drop to our New Music Friday podcast to discuss the latest from rising R&B star Coco Jones, revered saxophonist David Murray and much more.

Listen to the episode or stream our recommended albums below.

Sponsor Message

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

The Starting 5

Fly Anakin.
Will Pippin / Lex Records
/
Lex Records
Fly Anakin.

Stephen and Ayana give you the backstory and best songs on the following albums:

💿 Coco Jones, Why Not More (Stream)

Sponsor Message

  • Recommended If You Like: Victoria Monét, Ashanti

💿 Samia, Bloodless (Stream)

  • RIYL: boygenius, Japanese Breakfast

Sponsor Message

💿 Emma-Jean Thackray, Weirdo (Stream)

  • RIYL: Meshell Ndegeocello, Parliament-Funkadelic

💿 David Murray Quartet, Birdly Serenade (Stream)

  • RIYL: Eric Dolphy, Ben Webster

💿 Fly Anakin, (The) Forever Dream (Stream)

  • RIYL: OutKast, Goodie Mob

The Lightning Round

Self Esteem.
Aaron Parsons Photography / Polydor
/
Polydor
Self Esteem.

Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:

💿 Self Esteem, A Complicated Woman

💿 Ledisi, The Crown

💿 Beach Bunny, Tunnel Vision

💿 Silas Short, LUSHLAND

💿 BRONCHO, Natural Pleasure

Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple or wherever you listen to music.

The Long List

Jensen McRae
Caity Krone / Dead Oceans
/
Dead Oceans
Jensen McRae

For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:

Rock/Alt/Indie

  • Jensen McRae, I Don't Know How But They Found Me!
  • Bells Larsen, Blurring Time
  • Ida, Will You Find Me (25th Anniversary Edition)
  • Deerhoof, Noble and Godlike in Ruin
  • Goose, Everything Must Go
  • Maria Somerville, Luster
  • Mobley, We Do Not Fear Ruins
  • The Moonlandingz, No Rocket Required
  • Uwade, Florilegium
  • Viagra Boys, viagr aboys
  • Wishy, Planet Popstar EP
  • Cloth, Pink Silence
  • Jo Schornikow, Quiet Excerpts EP
  • The Golden Dregs, Godspeed
  • Fib, Heavy Lifting
  • Rialto, Neon & Ghost Signs
  • Stereophonics, Make 'em Laugh, Make 'em Cry, Make 'em Wait
  • Sunflower Bean, Mortal Primetime
  • Tennis, Face Down In The Garden
  • Maria Usbeck, Naturaleza
  • Deeper, Live in Köln
  • Luke Titus, From What Was Will Grow A Flower

Electronic/Out There

  • Djrum, Under Tangled Silence
  • William Tyler, Time Indefinite
  • Salami Rose Joe Louis, Lorings
  • JakoJako, Tết 41
  • Nazar, Demilitarize
  • BIG WETT, RISK IT
  • Eliana Glass, E
  • Gloorp, Gloorp 'Em Up
  • Light-Space Modulator, The Rising Wave
  • Lila Tirando a Violeta, Dream Of Snakes
  • Natural Information Society & Bitchin' Bajas, Totality
  • Stimming, Friedrich
  • Rebekka Karijord, The Bell Tower
  • Somne, New Energy
  • Amanda Mur, Neu Om

Global

  • Vendredi sur Mer, Malabar Princess
  • Cazzu, Latinaje
  • -M-, Fatoumata Diawara, Toumani & Balla Diabaté, Lamomali Totem
  • Femi Kuti, Journey Through life
  • Satomimagae, Taba
  • DJ Dadaman & Moscow Dollar, Kagaza
  • Natalia Lafourcade, Cancionera
  • I-Octane, God & I

Country/Folk/Americana

  • Willie Nelson, Oh What A Beautiful World
  • Southern Avenue, Family
  • Randy Savvy, Rank Hours EP
  • Tucker Wetmore, What Not To
  • Joan Osborne, Dylanology
  • Mairi Morrison & Alasdair Roberts, Remembered in Exile: Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia
  • Samantha Fish, Paper Doll
  • Olive Klug, Lost Dog

Rap/Hip-Hop

  • thegoodnews. (Del The Funky Homosapien), This Just In! EP
  • Niontay, Fada<3of$
  • Kai Ca$h, CASH RULES
  • MoneySign Suede, Mi Familia Por Vida

R&B/Soul

  • Roy Woods, Dark Nights

Classical

  • Thomas Newman, Of Mice and Men: Music from the Original Ballet
  • Yo-Yo Ma, Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos
  • Eugene Ormandy, The RCA Victor Recordings 1935-42

Jazz

  • Jeff Goldblum, Still Blooming
  • Luke Stewart, Silt Remembrance Ensemble The Order
  • Cyrus Chestnut, Rhythm, Melody and Harmony

Pop

  • LU KALA, No Tears on this Ride
  • d4vd, WITHERED
  • Litany, Sadgirl
  • Sting, Sting 3.0 Live
  • Gigi Perez, At the Beach, In Every Life
  • WesGhost, Am I Dreaming?

Credits

  • Host: Stephen Thompson
  • Guest: Ayana Contreras, KUVO Jazz & The Drop
  • Producer: Simon Rentner
  • Editor: Otis Hart
  • Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
  • Vice President, Music and Visuals: Keith Jenkins

Copyright 2025 NPR

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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.)
Ayana Contreras
Ayana Contreras is a cultural historian, memory worker, radio DJ and archivist. An avid collector with over 8000 vintage vinyl records, she hosts the Reclaimed Soul program on WBEZ and at Vocalo Radio in Chicago (where she also serves as Director of Content). She is a columnist for DownBeat magazine, and her writings have been published in Chicago Review, Oxford American, Bandcamp Daily and Lit Hub among other publications. Ayana was a 2014/15 University of Chicago Arts + Public Life Artist-In-Residence. In 2017, she received the Clementine Skinner Award by the Vivian Harsh Society, and was chosen as an Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) New Voices Scholar in 2015.