Congratulations, you've made it to the weekend. Friday marks the final day of meteorological winter (look it up) and we're shaking off the chill with the hottest albums out Feb. 28.
KCRW's Travis Holcombe joins NPR Music's Stephen Thompson to discuss all of the essential records that made their debut on streaming services while you were sleeping.
The Starting Five
Stephen and Travis give you the backstory and best songs on the following albums:
- Panda Bear, Sinister Grift (Stream)
- Mdou Moctar, Tears of Injustice (Stream)
- DARKSIDE, Nothing (Stream)
- Hope Tala, Hope Handwritten (Stream)
- Marie Davidson, City of Clowns (Stream)
Hear the discussion on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Lightning Round
Five more albums worthy of immediate attention:
- serpentwithfeet, GRIP SEQUEL
- Everything is Recorded, Temporary
- Yves Jarvis, All Cylinders
- bdrmm, Microtonic
- Miya Folick, Erotica Veronica
Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple.
The Long List
For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:
Rock/Alt/Indie
- Andy Bell, pinball wanderer
- Architects, The Sky, The Earth & All Between
- Cloakroom, Last Leg of the Human Table
- Deep Sea Diver, Billboard Heart
- Domestic Drafts, Only the Singer
- Edith Frost, In Space
- Kristin Daelyn, Beyond the Break
- Nervous Verbs, Pony Coughing
- Sahara Grim, Fable
- Sports Team, Boys These Days
- The Chills, Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs
- The Lathums, Matter Does Not Define
- The Men, Buyer Beware
- Unknown Mortal Orchestra, IC-02 Bogotá
- Venamoris, To Cross or To Burn
- Yo La Tengo, Old Joy (OST)
Pop
- corook, committed to a bit
- Rebecca Black, SALVATION EP
- Aloe Blacc, Stand Together
- BANKS, Off With Her Head
- G-DRAGON, Übermensch
- LISA, Alter Ego
- TORS, Never Give Up
Country/Folk/Americana
- Polly Paulusma, Wildfires
- Charles Wesley Godwin, Lonely Mountain Town
- Craig Morgan, American Soundtrack
- Echolalia, Echolalia
- Kasey Tyndall, Kasey Tyndall
- Kip Moore, Solitary Tracks
- Redferrin, Some City Somewhere
- Sean McConnell, Skin
- The Devil Makes Three, Spirits
R&B/Soul
- Celia Wa, Fasadé
- Fridayy, Some Days I'm Good Some Days I'm Not
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Paris Texas, They Left Me With a Gun EP
- Boldy James & Chuck Strangers, Token of Appreciation
- G-Eazy, Helium
- Jim Jones, At the Church Steps
- Reason, I Love You Again
Jazz
- Artemis, ARBORESQUE
- Billy Hart Quartet, Just
- Ella Fitzgerald, The Moment Of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (Live)
- Chick Corea, Trilogy 3
- Hot 8 Brass Band, Big Tuba
- Justin Tyson, The Paper Doors
- Mark Turner, We Raise Them To Lift Their Heads
- Takuya Kuroda, EVERYDAY
Classical
- Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Ubique
- Mystery Sonata, Aequora
Electronic/Out There
- Daniel Bachman, Moving Through Light
- David Grubbs, Whistle from Above
- Goat + MC Yallah, Nimerudi
- Le Motel, Odd Numbers / Sô Lè
- Lucrecia Dalt, cosa rara EP
- Michi, Dirty Talk
- PINK MUST, PINK MUST
- Rattle, Encircle
- Ruthlss, Northern Lights EP
- Shygirl, Club Shy Room 2 EP
- Tu m', Monochromes Vol. 3
Credits
• Host: Stephen Thompson
• Guest: Travis Holcombe, KCRW
• Producer: Simon Rentner
• Editor: Otis Hart
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Vice President, Music and Visuals: Keith Jenkins
Copyright 2025 NPR
