Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best music released in the last week.
This week saw an anticipated collaboration between three of pop’s finest, and an unexpected new Drake song (that some fans may have heard before). Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Charli XCX — Charli
Charli XCX’s new album was preceded by a bevy of singles featuring a bevy of guests: Featured on the record are Sky Ferreira, Kim Petras, Tommy Cash, Haim, Lizzo, Big Freedia, Cupcakke, Brooke Candy, Pabllo Vittar, Clairo, Yaeji, and Troye Sivan. Charli has long been an expert collaborator, able to get the best out of her musical partners on tracks that are distinctly Charli. That said, she also thrives by herself, like on the anticipation-heightening album opener “Next Level Charli.”
Top Boy (A Selection Of Music Inspired By The Series)
Drake is an executive producer on the just-released reboot of Top Boy, so when a soundtrack album was announced last week, fans figured that at least one new Drake cut would be on the album. Well, one was: “Behind Barz,” which started as a freestyle in 2018, closes out the record that also features Popcaan, Little Simz, Nafe Smallz, Fredo, Heady One, Baka, Giggs, M Huncho, Youngs Teflon, Dave, SL, Quada, AJ Tracey, Ghetts, Avelino, and Teeway.
Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey — “Don’t Call Me Angel”
Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey have made some of the most fascinating and culturally important pop music of the past decade, so having them together on one song really is something special. “Don’t Call Me Angel,” the trio’s collaboration for the Charlie’s Angels reboot, finally dropped after it was first teased months ago, and the track gives all three the opportunity to leave their mark.
Gucci Mane — “Richer Than Errybody” Feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again and DaBaby
Gucci Mane just released a new album this summer, but his recent activity suggests that his next one might not be so far away. Last week, he shared a song that boils down the theses of many a hip-hop track into its three-word title: “Richer Than Errybody.” If you’ve ever wanted to hear Gucci Mane, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, and DaBaby do a lot of flexing on one track, here you go.
Halsey — “Graveyard”
Halsey’s new era has started, and it began with a livestream of her creating a giant painting for over seven hours. This was all a build-up to the announcement of her upcoming album Manic and its lead single, “Graveyard.” The single sees Halsey singing about how devoted a lover she is, with lyrics like, “I know when you go down all your darkest roads / I would’ve followed all the way to the graveyard.”
FKA Twigs — “Holy Terrain” Feat. Future
Speaking of new eras, FKA Twigs is also in the opening phase of one. She just revealed that her new album, Magdalene, is coming in October, while also sharing “Holy Terrain,” which features Future as well as behind-the-scenes contributions from Jack Antonoff and Skrillex. If that trio of collaborators tells you anything, it should be that it seems FKA Twigs is creatively pushing herself as much as she ever has.
Alex Cameron — Miami Memory
Alex Cameron has described his new album as “the story of a couple balancing sex with contemporary family values,” and it definitely approaches sex and love in a number of different ways. Some examples: “Far From Born Again” is about sex work, “Stepdad” is about the role a third parent plays, and “Divorce” is about, well, divorce.
Read our review of Miami Memory here.
Lil Nas X — “Panini” Feat. DaBaby
Now that “Old Town Road” is no longer the top song in the country, it looks like Lil Nas X has halted his endless stream of remixes of the song. That doesn’t mean he’s done with the remixes altogether, though: He’s just focusing on “Panini” now. His latest new version of the track is a DaBaby-featuring remix, and now it remains to be seen how many new versions the current apple of Lil Nas X’s eye gets.
Long Beard — Means To Me
Leslie Bear took a while between albums, and that’s because she was actually focused on her career as a programmer, she recently told Uproxx’s Caitlin White. The opportunity to play bass for Japanese Breakfast on tour got her back into music and back on track making what became Means To Me, so thank you Michelle Zauner, because Means To Me is one of the year’s finer indie records.
Find our interview with Long Beard here.
Angel Olsen — “Lark”
All Mirrors is coming out in October, and when it comes to the tracklist, it all starts with “Lark.” Angel Olsen shared the track last week, and it has apparently been in the works for years. Olsen describes the track, “The disjointed feelings and verses of this song began to make sense as a way for me to exercise a kind of journey through grieving, a kind of personal struggle.”
Some artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. .
