It's Friday, which means we're waking up to a new Stereolab album for the first time in almost 15 years. The last time Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier released new music together a fab foursome from Liverpool stole all the headlines. Luckily for the group's excellent new record, Instant Holograms On Metal Film, Stereolab's return looks to be the biggest music story of the week.
That's not to say there aren't other albums worth adding to the queue this weekend. Robert Moore of 90.9 The Bridge in Kansas City, where he hosts the excellent radio show Sonic Spectrum, joined Stephen Thompson to share his love for the new album by Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens and much more.
Scroll down to see our long list of albums out May 23. Hear the discussion on the NPR App, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts beginning at 3 a.m. ET.
The Starting Five
Our hosts share the backstories and best songs from the following albums:
💿 Stereolab, Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Stream)
- Recommended If You Like: The Velvet Underground, Air
💿 Ganavya, Nilam (Stream)
- RIYL: Alice Coltrane, Arooj Aftab
💿 Robert Forster, Strawberries (Stream)
- RIYL: The Go-Betweens, Peter Bjorn and John
💿 Marc Ribot, Map of a Blue City (Stream)
- RIYL: Lou Reed, Mark Knopfler
💿 Thalia Zedek Band, The Boat Outside Your Window (Stream)
- RIYL: Yo La Tengo, Mary Timony
The Lightning Round
Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:
💿 rusowsky, DAISY
💿 Moontype, Let The Wind Push Down On Me
💿 Cola Boyy, Quit To Play Chess
💿 Witchcraft, Idag
💿 Death and Vanilla, Whistle and I'll Come To You
Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple, or wherever you stream music.
The Long List
For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:
Rock/Alt/Indie
- Green Day, Saviours (édition de luxe)
- Couch Prints, Pitbull 2
- pablopablo, Canciones En Mí
- Smerz, Big city life
- Sparks, MAD!
- Sophia Kennedy, Squeeze Me
- These New Puritans, Crooked Wing
- Shamir, Ten
- Skunk Anansie, The Painful Truth
- Private Function, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- 7SECONDS, New Wind (Deluxe Reissue)
- MSPAINT, No Separation EP
- bob junior, friends, vol. 2
- Cindytalk, Camouflage Heart
- Cool Sounds, Party Punisher
- Dirty Nice, Planet Weekend
- Earth, WEM Dominator (Live in London NW1, 2016)
- Florry, Sounds Like...
- Home Is Where, Hunting Season
- Koenjihyakkei, Double Live
- Morcheeba, Escape the Chaos
- Sports Team, Boys These Days
Country/Folk/Americana
- Quinie, Forefowk, Mind Me
- Amble, Reverie
- Taj Mahal + Keb' Mo', Room on the Porch
- The SteelDrivers, Outrun
Electronic/Out There
- emptyset, Dissever
- Sleepdial, RV Lights
- Lindstrøm, Sirius Syntoms
- Kareem Ali, Mawimbi EP
- NEW CHANCE, A Rock Unsteady
- Quelza, Pensa Poetico
- Ron Trent, Lift Off
- Margaux Gazur, Blurred Memories
- Georgie and Joe, What I Made With Joe
- Mike Cooper, Eternal Equinox
Global
- Pachyman, Another Place
- Reyna Tropical, Malegría en la Oscuridad EP
- Mora, LO MISMO DE SIEMPRE
- Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, Church of Kidane Mehret
- Francis Bebey, Trésor Magnétique
- Les Abranis, Album No 1 (Id Ed Was)
- RIIZE, ODYSSEY
- Tanya Ekanayaka, 16 Sri Lankan Piano Isles
Jazz
- Ayman Fanous and Joe Morris, Zuhour
- Chris Cheek, Keepers of the Eastern Door
- Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons, Live In Philadelphia
- Resavior & Matt Gold, Horizon
Pop
- Joe Jonas, Music For People Who Believe In Love
- Myles Smith, A Moment, A Minute EP
- Julia Michaels, Second Self EP
- Ella Vos, ROSEBUDS
- Julia Wolf, Pressure
- Sedona, Getting Into Heaven
Classical
- Erkki-Sven Tüür, ÆRIS
- Jesse Quebbeman-Turley, Hosana: The Messe de Nostre Dame
- Pablo Ferrández, Moonlight Variations
- Franceso Tristano, Bach: The 6 English Suites
Rap/Hip-Hop
- Fredo Bang, The Big Bang
- Pan Amsterdam, Confines
- Rob49, Let Me Fly
R&B/Soul
- Estelle, Stay Alta
Credits
- Host: Stephen Thompson
- Guest: Robert Moore, 90.9 The Bridge
- Producer: Simon Rentner
- Editor: Otis Hart
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Vice President, Music and Visuals: Keith Jenkins
Copyright 2025 NPR
