With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums from Arooj Aftab, Bat for Lashes, Belly, Shaboozey, Ayra Starr, Thou, Ezra Feinberg, and Crimeapple. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.)
Arooj Aftab: Night Reign [Verve]
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Arooj Aftab returns with Night Reign, her fourth solo album and the follow-up to 2021’s Vulture Prince. Aftab once again brings a jazzy, dreamlike touch to her unique take on chamber folk, drawing out sensations like losing track of time during a hangout with a friend (“Whiskey”) and exchanging glances while craving more (“Raat Ki Rani”). Across the nocturnal album, Aftab gets lost in the emotive allure of all that nighttime has to offer, as do collaborators like Moor Mother, Vijay Iyer, Cautious Clay, and Kaki King.
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