The Best New Albums Released on April 18, 2025

The Best New Albums Out April 18, 2025

Friday marks another robust week of new music, with familiar names and exciting newcomers releasing fresh projects. Artists associated with groups like TV on the Radio, Carolina Chocolate Drops, boygenius, and Bon Iver’s touring band have unveiled new solo or collaborative records—each with its own distinct sound and story.

Stephen Thompson of NPR Music sat down with Brian Burns from North Carolina’s public radio station WUNC for the latest edition of the New Music Friday podcast. Together, they explored standout albums from a mix of indie icons and beloved regional musicians.

Here’s a deeper look into this week’s must-hear releases.

The Starting 5: Spotlight Albums

These five records stood out for their creativity, emotional depth, and strong connections to fan-favorite acts:

• Julien Baker & Torres – Send a Prayer My Way
  A heartfelt collaboration blending introspective songwriting with raw indie-rock textures.
  Recommended if you like: boygenius

• Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson – What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow
  A lush, rootsy album from two founding members of Carolina Chocolate Drops, fusing traditional folk with poetic lyricism.
  Recommended if you like: Carolina Chocolate Drops

• Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz
  A bold, genre-bending solo record from the TV on the Radio frontman, rich in experimental flair and vocal mastery.
  Recommended if you like: TV on the Radio

• Beirut – A Study of Losses
  Zach Condon returns with introspective chamber pop melodies and melancholic horn arrangements.
  Recommended if you like: The Magnetic Fields, Jens Lekman

• Sarah Siskind – Simplify
  Ethereal and grounded in equal measure, this album bridges Appalachian folk and modern minimalism.
  Recommended if you like: Alison Krauss, Bon Iver

The Lightning Round: Hidden Gems

Beyond the main highlights, here are five more releases that deserve your attention:

• Davido – 5ive

• Adrian Younge – Something About April III

• Avery Friedman – New Thing

• Jess Sah Bi – Jesus-Christ Ne Déçoit Pas

• Neil Young – Coastal: The Soundtrack

The Long List: New Albums by Genre

For those ready to dive even deeper, here’s a comprehensive breakdown of this week’s releases across different styles:

Electronic / Experimental

• Lucy Railton – Blue Veil

• Divide and Dissolve – Insatiable

• Gryphon Rue – I Keep My Diamond Necklace in a Pond of Sparkling Water

• Hieroglyphic Being – Dance Music 4 Bad People

• jives – At Eternity’s Gate

• LDS – power of 2 EP

• Olivia Belli – Intercosmia Vol. 2

• Quade – The Foel Tower

• Shell Company & Older Brother – Shards

• Sieren – Emergence

Rock / Alt / Indie

• Arcy Drive – The Pit

• Batpiss – There’s A Place In My Mind Where We All Burn Alive

• Beddy Rays – Do What Ya Wanna

• Cumulus – We’ve Got It All

• Dallas Ugly – See Me Now

• Fotoform – Grief is a Garden (Forever in Bloom)

• Funeral Commercial – dead before i die

• Gentle Leader XIV – Joke in the Shadow

• Heavy Lungs – Caviar

• Iron Lung – Adapting//Crawling

• John Dwyer – CHIME OBLIVION

• Johnny Skin – s/t

• Kinsella & Pulse, LLC – Opening Night

• Little Barrie – Electric War

• Mamuthones – From Word To Flesh

• Melvins 1983 – Thunderball

• Michael Marcagi – Midwest Kid EP

• MIEN – MIIEN

• Mystery Dungeons – OPEN WORLD

• Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – Live at the Capitol Theatre

• quickly, quickly – I Heard That Noise

• Sawyer Hill – Heartbreak Hysteria EP

• Scrounge – Almost Like You Could

• Sunnbrella – gutter angel

• Swell – Too Many Days Without Thinking (Reissue)

• The Concrete Boys – Everything’s Better Than You

• The Convenience – Like Cartoon Vampires

• The Pale White – The Big Sad

• TV Sundaze – Plastic Bags / Packing Tape

• Witch Post – Beast EP

Global

• Legado 7 – L7X

• Wolfgang Pérez – Memorias Fantasmas EP

• Yzoula and Louis Fontaine – Des Animaux Pires Que Moi

Country / Folk / Americana

• Ally Venable – Money & Power

• Chaparelle – Western Pleasure

• Henhouse Prowlers – Unravel

• Ian Munsick – Eagle Feather

• Taylor Rae – The Void

• Tony Holiday – Keep Your Head Up

• Tony Kamel – We’re All Gonna Live

Rap / Hip-Hop

• Blu – Forty

• Chip – Grime Scene Saviour

• G Perico – LA Gangster: Gangsta Grillz

• Kool Keith – Karpenters

• Cappadonna – Godly Wealthy & Beautiful

• That Mexican OT & Sauce Walka – Chicken & Sauce

• Millyz – Blanco 7

• Mozzy – Intrusive Thoughts

• The Underachievers – Homecoming

• ThisisDA – Fast Life

• Trim – No Caller ID EP

• Wiz Khalifa – Kush+Orange Juice 2

R&B / Soul

• Keri Hilson – WE NEED TO TALK: LOVE

• Alex Isley – WHEN EP

Classical

• Stewart Copeland – Wild Concerto

Jazz

• Ikue Mori – The Bagatelles Vol. 4

• Mark de Clive-Lowe – past present (tone poems across time)

• Rindert Lammers – Thank You Kirin Kiki

• Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange – Inspire // Radicalise