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 PartyNextDoor & Drake, Skaiwater, Frog, Venturing, Mereba, Marshall Allen, Westside Gunn, Horsegirl, John Glacier, Richard Dawson, and Civilistjävel! 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.)
PartyNextDoor & Drake: $ome $exy $ongs 4 U [OVO Sound]
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Drake and PartyNextDoor offer up $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. Their announcement arrived just one day after Kendrick Lamar won a bunch of Grammy Awards for his scathing and popular Drake diss “Not Like Us.” But Drake seems to back away from the duel on the new project, mostly sticking to vague allusions to “fake intimidation” rap beefs on “Gimme a Hug.” Song titles range from low-key—“Moth Balls,” “Nokia,” “OMW”—to ultra-Drake: “Crying in Chanel,” “Meet Your Padre.”
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Skaiwater: #MIA [GoodTalk/Capitol]
Eight months after Skaiwater dropped their debut full-length album, #Gigi, they’re back with yet another record, #MIA. The British rapper turns blown-out beats into digitized pop hits, led by the appropriately titled and cinematic “Pop,” which swells with strings during its moving outro. Over eight tracks, the album explores love, excess, and emotional instability while tapping into online rebellion.
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Frog: 1000 Variations on the Same Song [Tapewormies]
Singer-guitarist Daniel Bateman and his brother, drummer Steve Bateman, return barely two years after their last project under the Frog moniker, 2023’s Grog. The New York duo burrows deeper into the freewheeling folk-rock and Americana musings of past songs on its sixth album, but with a twist: 1000 Variations on the Same Song embraces the feeling of being stuck and churning out similar material, with Bateman refusing to scrap the songs and, instead, finding ways to dress them up. From the jaunty piano on single “Just Use Yr Hips Var. VI” to the banjo in the background of “Mixtape Liner Notes Var. VII,” Frog go beyond the songwriting exercise to find something special.
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Venturing: Ghostholding [DeadAir]
Venturing, a project of digital purveyor Jane Remover, makes their full-length debut with Ghostholding, a 13-track collection of shoegaze-indebted pop, guitar-heavy hooks, and digitally speckled vocals. Held up by the singles “Dead Forever,” “Famous Girl,” “Halloween,” and “Sister,” the LP gives more color to the already intriguing backstory of Venturing, which is propped up as a fictional band formed in a small town in South Dakota—despite Jane Remover writing, performing, recording, and mixing it all themselves.
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Mereba: The Breeze Grew a Fire [Secretly Canadian]
The Breeze Grew a Fire is the second solo album from former Spillage Village member Mereba. The singer and songwriter recorded her Secretly Canadian debut with producer Sam Hoffman. The Breeze Grew a Fire follows Mereba’s 2019 full-length, The Jungle Is the Only Way Out, and 2021’s Azeb EP. “I was trying to find my way back to myself,” Mereba said of conceiving her new music in press materials. “What do I like? What do I want to hear? What do I want to say to people now?” She teased the 13-song project with the singles “Counterfeit” and “Phone Me.”
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Marshall Allen: New Dawn [Week-End]
Free jazz legend, alto saxophonist, and Sun Ra Arkestra bandleader Marshall Allen just turned 100, but he isn’t slowing down. His latest record, New Dawn, is also a first in his career: his debut solo album under just his own name. Allen views the record as the beginning of a new chapter, not a bookend on a century-long life well lived. Across its seven tracks, including the Neneh Cherry–featuring single “New Dawn,” his improvisational and creative spirit guides the passages that make up New Dawn and present transcendence as a possibility for all.
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Westside Gunn: 12 [Griselda]
Rarely does a year go by without Westside Gunn dropping a new project. Lately, though, the Buffalo emcee and Griselda head honcho has been on an especially prolific kick, putting out the 11 EP last Halloween and DJ Drama–hosted Still Praying just a day later. Gunn’s new full-length, 12, puts him back in the driver’s seat and firmly in his lane, delivering his trademark flex raps over an assortment of luscious boom-bap beats (while avoiding the trap digressions of 2023’s And Then You Pray for Me altogether). The album’s cover photo—snapped outside Carbone, famously one of New York’s hardest tables to land—just adds to the feeling of exclusivity.
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Horsegirl: Phonetics On and On [Matador]
After migrating east, for two members to attend New York University, indie-rockers Horsegirl returned to their native Chicago to make their second album, Phonetics On and On, with producer Cate Le Bon at Wilco’s studio, the Lot. The 11-track LP follows their 2022 debut, Versions of Modern Performance. Horsegirl teased the album with singles like “2468” and “Frontrunner.” They’ll tour behind the LP starting with a February 22 hometown show at Chicago’s Metro.
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John Glacier: Like a Ribbon [Young]
John Glacier is releasing her debut album, Like a Ribbon, after years of underground hype. The London-based rapper, producer, and poet dips her toes into post-punk and electronica, maintaining her trademark flow through contrasting verses with guests like Sampha (“Ocean Steppin’”) and Eartheater (“Money Shows”). Like a Ribbon also includes the singles “Steady as I Am,” “Cows Come Home,” and “Found.”
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Richard Dawson: End of the Middle [Weird World]
Richard Dawson returns with a new album of tangled prog-folk and singular storytelling. On End of the Middle, his eighth studio LP as a solo artist, the English musician dives headfirst into rich allegories and fascinating protagonists across nine lingering songs. Its led by the lead single “Polytunnel,” a tale of gardening and grief, as well as “Gondola,” a grandmother’s retelling of her life while watching daytime TV shows. From front to back, the album is detailed, deeply visual, and a testament to narrative songwriting.
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Civilistjävel!: Följd [Felt]
Swedish electronic producer Civilistjävel!, aka Tomas Bodén, is back with another serving of brooding, ambient dub. Released on Fergus Jones’ Felt imprint, Bodén’s Följd is a continuation of last year’s Brödföda, with seven more numerically demarcated compositions—titled “XIII” through “XIX”—that pick up where that record left off. But, at 43 minutes, Följd stands on its own as a monolithic and immersive listening experience. Rap’s Thomas Bush guests on closing track “XIX,” his vocal turn lending a rare warmth to Civilistjävel!’s icy instrumental textures.
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