NPR Music

Our shortlist of the week's best new albums includes a career-defining release from singer Jamila Woods, the sparkling guitar rock of Charly Bliss and Holly Herndon's genius work with the AI "Spawn."FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Charly Bliss: Young Enough; 2. Holly Herndon: Proto; 3. Jamila Woods: Legacy! Legacy!; 4. HÆLOS: Any Random Kindness; 5. Tim Hecker: Anoyo; 6. Lowland Hum: Glyphic. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MAY 10: A.A. Bondy: Enderness; Ciara: Beauty Marks; Dehd: Water; Lydia Ainsworth: Phantom Forest; Mac Demarco: Here Comes the Cowboy; Maps: Colours, Reflect. Time, Loss.; Radiator Hospital: Sings Music for Daydreaming; The Get Up Kids: Problems; Mourning A BLKstar: Reckoning.

This week's episode of All Songs Considered is a show of contrasts — cotton-candy pop one moment (from mxmtoon), raging punk sung in Farsi the next (from Khiis) — and then calming, instrumental, prog rock courtesy The Quiet Temple. For All Songs Considered's nearly 20 years, we've tried to live up to our namesake and on this show, we consider more drastic ends of the song spectrum than we have in recent memory. This week I'm joined by NPR Music's Lars "Vikings Choice" Gotrich and Joshua (cotton candy) Bote for five tunes that explore the rich polarity of making music in 2019. — Bob Boilen

Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Lars Gotrich and Stephen Thompson as they share their picks for the week's best new albums. FEATURED RELEASES: 1. Judah & The Lion: 'Pep Talks,' 2. Caroline Spence: 'Mint Condition,' 3. Big Thief: 'U.F.O.F.'; 4. SYML: 'SYML,' 5. Vampire Weekend: 'Father of the Bride,' 6. Joy Williams: 'Front Porch,' 7. Rhiannon Giddens: 'There is no Other,' 8. Unwed Sailor: 'Heavy Age,' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR MAY 3: Barrie: 'Happy to Be Here;' Empath: 'Active Listening, Night on Earth;' Fury: 'Failed Entertainment;' Jesse Mac Cormack: 'Now;' L7: 'Scatter the Rats;' Lucy Spraggan: 'Today Was a Good Day;' Protomartyr: 'No Passion All Technique;' Tacocat: 'This Mess is a Place;' Tank and the Bangas: 'Green Balloon.'

Have you ever had Persian cotton candy? It looks like Muppet hair and tastes like pistachio — well, at least the one we ate in the studio. We begin our show with one of the great poets of the day, Kate Tempest. The British playwright, novelist and spoken word artist has a new record coming called The Book of Traps and Lessons. We play "Firesmoke," a song dedicated to her lover. We also have new music from Japanese Breakfast, and as NPR Music's Marissa Lorusso tells us, the entire song was written and recorded by Michelle Zauner in a hotel in Bali.NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna brings us music from Mannequin Pussy and a song about what happens on the downside of romance, called "Drunk II." Lyndsey also brings us "Emotional Bachelor" from Future Teens, a band that calls its style "Boston bummer pop." And I have the shortest song in recent memory from a new trio I love called Patio. This 1:35-minute gem takes inspiration from a dream and features the winning line, "I think I'm gonna go home and listen to Washer / Instead of spending any more time with you."

FEATURED ALBUMS: Nick Murphy: Run Fast, Sleep Naked; Rodrigo y Gabriela: Mettavolution; Jackie Mendoza: LuvHz; Josh Ritter: Fever Breaks; The Mountain Goats: In League With Dragons; SOAK: Grim Town; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR APRIL 26: Aldous Harding: Designer; Bailen: Thrilled to Be Here; Bear's Den: So That You Might Hear Me; The Cranberries: In the End; Craig Finn: I Need a New War; Kevin Morby: Oh My God; King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Fishing for Fishies; Local Natives: Violent Street; Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky: Droneflower; Otoboke Beaver: Itekoma Hits; Schoolboy Q: CrasH Talk; Sunn O))): Life Metal

Kevin Morby's new album is unlike anything he's done before. Gone is the guitar (for the most part) from his earlier recordings. In its place are more droning instruments — sounds more suited for church than the concert hall, including a recurring, small choir. The subject for the album is God and our culture's relationship with God, from deep introspection to the trivial, everyday use of that ever-present expression "oh my God."The origins of his album Oh My God began in 2016 with events at the forefront of American politics, including mass shootings at the Bataclan and Pulse nightclubs, the death of Freddie Gray and, for Kevin Morby, the day-to-day news, including the Presidency of Donald Trump. (Kevin Morby wrote a one-off song about the heartbreak of the world called "Beautiful Strangers," and donated proceeds to charity.)On this edition of All Songs Considered we look at the origin story behind Oh My God, including Nina Simone's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," music from Ethiopia and the quirky, groundbreaking New York duo Suicide.

Our list of the best albums out this week includes Lizzo's long-awaited debut, the rousing, infectious anthems of Johnnyswim, new music from The Tallest Man On Earth, Loyle Carner and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: Lizzo, Cuz I Love You; Johnnyswim, Moonlight; Kelsey Lu, Blood; The Tallest Man On Earth, I Love You. It's A Fever Dream.; Loyle Carner, Not Waving, But Drowning; Wand, Laughing Matter. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR APRIL 19: Anna Tivel, The Question; Cage the Elephant, Social Cues; Diane Coffee, Internet Arms; Drugdealer, Raw Honey; Fat White Family, Serfs Up; Heather Woods Broderick, Invitation; Jade Bird, Jade Bird; The O'Jays, The Last Word; Sad Planets, Akron, Ohio.

Don't worry! Everything's going to be alright. But if you need more reassurance than that, look no further than "Set of Stairs," from the Amsterdam-based band Pip Blom. It's a burst of frenetic joy to lift you up whenever life deals you a bad hand. Its singular message: You got this!That's just one of the songs we're featuring on this week's show. We've also got wild and wonderful new music from former Tiny Desk contest winners Tank and the Bangas, gorgeous harmonies and an uplifting message of unity from Jesca Hoop with Lucius, and the singer known as Sevdaliza has a dark and mysterious reflection on love gone bad.All that plus singer-songwriter Chris Staples announces his new album Holy Moly and shares a tale of young love called "Everybody Said;" and singer, multi-instrumentalist and poet Vera Sola pairs with Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids on "Loving, Loving (Acoustic Reprise)."

Anderson .Paak drops his followup to Oxnard, Norah Jones collaborates with Jeff Tweedy, and Sia joins Labrinth and Diplo for "LSD." Those and more make our shortlist of the week's best new albums. FEATURED: Shovels & Rope: By Blood; Damien Jurado: In the Shape of a Storm; Norah Jones: Begin Again; Anderson .Paak: Ventura; Glen Hansard: This Wild Nothing; Odonis Odonis: Reaction; LSD: Labrinth, Sia, Diplo Present LSD. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR APRIL 12: BTS: Map of the Soul; The Budos Band: V; Chris Forsyth: All Time Present; Emily Reo: Only You Can See It; Fontaines D.C.: Dogrel; Inter Arma: Sulphur English; John Paul White: The Hurting Kind; Jeff Tweedy: Warmer (vinyl only); Melissa Etheridge: The Medicine Show

On this episode of All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen and Lars Gotrich talk about the music released in the first part of 2019 that for Lars soundtracked nap time, quick rides to the grocery store for eggs (and an excuse to get out the house) and whatever else perked my ears while blissfully stuck to the couch with a sleeping babe. There are buzzing Ethiopian hymns and Tuareg folk songs, but also white-hot psych-rock and anguished black metal when I just needed some paternal catharsis. Psychedelic Speed Freaks "Redline"• Sosena Gebre Eyesus "Aser Awetar": Catherine Watine "Verrophone" (Géométries sous-cutanées) Keith Fullerton Whitman "Apollo Museumhotel Generators" (Generatorss) Griefloss "Anneliese" (Griefloss) Ahmed Ag Kaedy "Akaline Kidal" (Akaline Kidal)Ronin Arkestra "Redeye Reprisal" (First Meeting)