Black Star’s First Album in 24 Years and 11 New Songs

Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) are reunited as Black Star 24 years after their first and only previous full album with “No Fear of Time” with the encouragement of an ideal producer choice: chest digging, funk loving Madlib. Much of the new album is exclusive to subscription podcast app Luminary, but the opening track “OG” – “On God” – is on YouTube. Over a dogged bass line and puffy organ chords, the rap is equal parts boasting and adoring, insisting that “time is relative, because truth is eternal.” Both rappers balance mortality and persistence by rightfully flaunting their own “Encyclopedia Britannica stream” by mixing references (and examples) of Brooklyn pride and reggae. “The Ruler” by Gregory Isaacs), sounding self-congratulatory but still determined to instruct. JON PARELES

The most soulful voice on “Vegas” is – by far – the example from Big Mama Thornton and said, “You’re nothing but “Beagle,” The song that Elvis Presley clings to. “Hound Dog” was about a materialist disguised as a sweetheart and the rap and multi-part vocal harmonies of Doja Cat’s “Vegas” – from the soundtrack to Baz Lurhman’s “Elvis” – updating him to the life of a 21st century star: “Your arm You’re sitting on the edge of the court, hugging me.” The basic three chords are a classical blues structure; Doja Cat borrows their archetypal power. PARELES

Carly Rae Jepsen, “West Wind”

Carly Rae Jepsen’s bright, bold pop is making an impressionistic return in her new single, “Western Wind,” thanks in part to production by Rostam Batmanglij. It’s a hypnotic hit and Jepsen’s enchanted, eyes-closed vocals make it all feel like an idyllic daydream – an intriguing new direction for her. Jepsen sings a dreamy song: “First flower, you know spring is coming/Reminds me that love is interconnected. Solar energy is powerful with this one. LINDSAY ZOLADZ

Holly Humberstone, ‘Good Sleep’

Holy Humberstone22 is the current opening act Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour Tourand the two share a passion for emotionally resounding songwriting and music, similar to whatever was on the radio shortly before they were born. Humberstone’s “Sleep Tight,” co-written with 1975 lead singer Matty Healy and longtime collaborator Rob Milton, is the story of that gray area and mixed feelings between friends and lovers, where acoustic guitar chords reminiscent of ’90s pop music flow. Rock. “Oh my God, I did it again, I almost killed our friendship,” Humberstone says. His speech is as casually conversational as a text message and as shy as an internal monologue. ZOLADZ

Lady Gaga is probably the only contemporary pop star who can convincingly narrate Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” and Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone,” so her theme in the upcoming “Top Gun: Maverick” is a little bit of both. appropriate to talk about. “Hold My Hand” is as flamboyant and romantic as any of her torch songs. The soundtrack of the movie “A Star Is Born” but it’s also powered by soaring electric guitars and huge ’80s drums that sound like they were recorded in an airplane hangar. “So cry tonight, but don’t let go of my hand,” she buckled her belt, pulling off the solemn pastiche in a pompous manner, as if her life depended on it, as only Gaga could. ZOLADZ

070 Shake, ‘Web’

Recording as 070 Shake, singer and rapper Danielle Balbuena delivers her voice into a stepped chorus on “The Web,” a cryptic call for personal contact and honesty. “This thing isn’t working / Let’s be here in person,” she cheers. “I want to reach you.” Maybe the song is a reaction to too many Zoom meetings; It’s an amazing response. PARELES

Sharon Van Etten, ‘Come Back’

Confessions of need and uncertainty lead to monumental choruses in songs. Sharon Van Ettenher new album “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong”, which considers how the performance artist can reconcile her life with motherhood, relationships and self-actualization. A humble acoustic guitar strum starts “Back” as a trembling Van Etten meditates on “The fine moments of the past/What a wonderful time”. However, the chorus reaches a huge wall of sound, like drums, keyboards, guitars, vocal harmonies on cavernous reverb, as Van Etten yearns to go back to being “wild and uncertain/And bare and pure.” PARELES

“Put your finger in the socket!” by Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna “Mirrorball,” he counsels, is the first eruption of “Land Trust”’s post-punk mayhem. North East Color FarmersIt acquires land for indigenous and minority farmers. During the pandemic, Bikini Kill’s current guitarist Erica Dawn Lyle and drum technician Vice Cooler collaborated with many generations of feminist rockers; Released June 3, the album is inspired by members of the Raincoats, the Breeders, Deerhoof, Slant 6, Palberta and Linda Lindas, along with pioneer riot grrrl Hanna. While “Mirror Ball” hurls cynical late-capitalism advice like “Stay true to your personal brand,” it’s no nonsense to choke drums and crank guitars. PARELES

Lyricist Leyla McCalla played banjo, guitar and cello on Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters; her parents were Haitian immigrants and she spent time with her grandmother in Haiti. His new album, Breaking the Thermometer, began as a musical-theatre work commissioned by Duke University. Radio Haiti and brought them online. The album examines Haiti’s history of exploitation, revolution, dictatorship and turmoil, mixing Haitian songs and McCalla’s own songs with clips from broadcasts and interviews. “Le Bal Est Fini” (“Party Over”) is based on an editorial by a Radio Haitian journalist in 1980, when the government shut down the station. The music is upbeat with syncopated undercurrents of rara carnival rhythms. PARELES

ASAP Rocky, ‘DMB’

ASAP is “bitch” love for Rocky. “DMB” — “Daddy is my bitch” — is a love song; The video clip features the gaze of his girlfriend, Rihanna. “Slut” is also a useful percussion syllable in a multi-layered production that constantly distorts itself with dizzying cross currents of pride, defense, affection, and machismo. Rocky raps and sings through “DMB” with a varying flow, and for all his aggression he sounds really endearing. PARELES

Tirzah, ‘Rib’

London based artist Tirza makes abstract love songs: freely flowing and formless meditations on intimacy and interconnection. As with her 2021 album “Colourgrade,” her first recording since becoming a mother, the unconditional relationship she sings on her hazy new single “Ribs” can be between a parent and child. lots. “You see things I can’t see, you see love and the in-between,” says Tirzah candidly. “Hold on to me.” ZOLADZ

Glasser, ‘New Wounds’

“New Scars” is an eerie, enveloping tribute to Glasser, also known as songwriter, singer, and producer Cameron Mesirow. It begins with sparse, bell-like, electronically altered and harmonically indistinct piano notes, a counterpoint that Glasser continues and repeats a kind of mantra: “Try to stay with love/no room for shame.” Eventually, the orchestral strings swell around him, and his vocals turn into a chorus as he moves on to a brief but somewhat encouraging thought: “We carry life.” PARELES