1. Lana Del Rey: “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”
Lana Del Rey doodles her own offbeat and highly personalized image of domesticity on this track from her long-promised new album “Stove”: “I know it’s strange to see me cooking for my husband,” she coos, before admitting, “I imagine you do know how absolutely bad I am with an oven.” Like her best songs, the whole thing seems to unfurl like a transmission straight from her very peculiar subconscious, and the effect is hypnotic, deeply romantic and a little bit spooky. As ever, no one’s doing it quite like Lana.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Grace Ives: “Avalanche”
I’m over the moon about the prospect of a new Grace Ives album. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter’s last release, the exuberant “Janky Star,” was my favorite album of 2022, and the wait for its follow-up has felt excruciatingly long. But the time has come at last: Ives’s new album “Girlfriend” will be out on March 20. This single finds her picking up right where she left off, crafting melodic but idiosyncratic electro-pop that has the intimacy of a softly whispered secret.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Yaya Bey: “Blue”
Last June, the Brooklyn-based R&B artist Yaya Bey released her latest in a string of excellent LPs, the conversationally introspective “Do It Afraid.” No excruciating wait for her follow-up, though: She’s back less than a year later with a new album, “Fidelity,” which is slated to come out on April 17. This flute-kissed leadoff single is a lovely ode to feeling and accepting sadness, rather than running from it: “Baby, you look blue,” Bey sings, “and baby, the sky is, too.” I love this song, and I love the specificity of Bey describing the production as “like something red-haired Kelly Rowland would sing over on one of her solo projects.” I hear it!
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Ella Langley: “Dandelion”
When “Choosin’ Texas,” the gorgeously melancholy lament by the rising star Ella Langley, hit No. 1 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart two weeks ago, it was a landmark moment for women in country music. Technically Langley is only the fourth female country artist to top the Hot 100 this century, but the other three (Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood) did so with songs that blurred the line between country and pop. Langley, on the other hand, crossed over with a traditional-sounding country song, making her sudden rise to the mainstream a delightful surprise. She’ll try to prove she has staying power with a new LP, “Dandelion,” which is expected on April 10.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Friko: “Seven Degrees”
The Chicago band Friko makes thoughtfully composed, unabashedly impassioned indie rock that wears its bleeding heart on its sleeve. The title of its forthcoming second album, out on April 24, makes a bold claim: It’s called “Something Worth Waiting For.” But judging from this anthemic, ever-escalating leadoff single, Friko just might fulfill that promise.
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