New Music Friday: The best albums out May 1

Kacey Musgraves. American Football. Tori Amos. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Jewly Hight from WPLN in Nashville about their favorite albums out Friday, May 1. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round. The Starting 5 (00:00) Kacey Musgraves, 'Middle of Nowhere' (08:41) American Football, 'American Football (LP4)' (16:25) Isaiah Rashad, 'IT'S BEEN AWFUL' (21:42) Tori Amos, 'In Times of Dragons' (28:09) Ana Roxanne, 'Poem 1' (33:38) The Lightning Round - Jesca Hoop, 'Long Wave Home' - Casper Sage, 'PATINA' - duendita, 'existential thottie' - Maisy Owen, 'Dark on a Sunny Day' - Octo Octa, 'Sigils For Survival' Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.org . Credits: Host: Stephen Thompson Guest: Jewly Hight, WPLN Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell Digital Producer: Dora Levite Editors: Otis Hart, Elle Mannion Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed Special thanks to Ann Powers and Hazel Cills See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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New Music Friday: The best albums out May 1 is an episode from All Songs Considered by NPR.

This episode is 40:44 long.

This episode was published on May 1, 2026.

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