New Music Friday: The best releases out on Aug. 18
Jon Batiste's World Music Radio tops our shortlist for the best new albums out on Aug. 18. Emman Montalvan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
After beating out Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and others for the 2022 album of the year Grammy — and after stepping down as the bandleader for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Jon Batiste is back with a new album this week called World Music Radio. As the name suggests, it's a sprawling exploration of what global music can sound like, guided by the fictional DJ, Billy Bob Bo Bob. We kick off this week's show with a listen and talk about the ways Batiste finds his center through deep grooves and a powerful sense of community.
Hear The Songs
We've also got an epic, often euphoric and deeply conceptual album from Hozier, a breathless convergence of disco and punk in the work of Genesis Owusu, Rhiannon Giddens' feel-good You're The One, a jazz debut from Cautious Clay and more. NPR Music's Ann Powers joins Atlanta-based culture critic Gavin Godfrey, writer and critic LaTesha Harris and host Robin Hilton as they share their picks for the best albums out on Aug. 18.
Featured Albums:
- Jon Batiste — World Music Radio
Featured Songs: "BOOM FOR REAL," "Hello, Billy Bob," "Be Who You Are (feat. JID, NewJeans & Camilo)," "Uneasy (feat. Lil Wayne)" - Hozier — Unreal Unearth
Featured Songs: "Anything But," "De Selby (Part 1)," "Eat Your Young," "Butchered Tongue," "Who We Are" - Genesis Owusu — Struggler
Featured Songs: "Leaving The Light," "Stay Blessed," "Freak Boy," "That's Life (A Swamp)" - Rhiannon Giddens — You're the One
Featured Songs: "Way Over Yonder," "You Louisiana Man," "If You Don't Know How Sweet It Is" - Cautious Clay — KARPEH
Featured Songs: "Fishtown," "102 Years Of Comedy (Intro)," "Karpehs Don't Flinch"
Lightning Round:
- DeYarmond Edison — Epoch
- Quavo — Rocket Power
- Reneé Rapp — Snow Angel
- Talking Heads — Stop Making Sense (Deluxe Edition)
Other notable releases for Aug. 18:
- Alana Springsteen — Twenty Something
- Birdy — Portraits
- Bobby Rush — All My Love For You
- Fiddlehead — Death is Nothing To Us
- Grace Potter — Mother Road
- Margaret Glaspy — Echo The Diamond
- Mick Jenkins — The Patience
- Panda Bear, Sonic Boom & Adrian Sherwood — Reset In Dub
- Russ — SANTIAGO
- Shamir — Homo Anxietatem
- Tash Sultana — Sugar EP.
- Teddy Thompson — My Love of Country