New Music Friday: The best albums out May 15

Jobi Riccio. Dua Saleh. Tank and the Bangas. Plus, others not named Drake! NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with J oe Kendrick of WNCW in North Carolina about their favorite albums out Friday, May 15. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round. The Starting 5 (00:00) Introduction & Jobi Riccio, 'Face The Feeling' (07:49) Dua Saleh, 'Of Earth & Wires' (15:38) Tank and the Bangas, 'The Last Balloon' (21:41) Cocanha, 'Flame Folclòre' (26:50) Tamikrest, 'Assikel' (33:01) The Lightning Round - Eluvium, 'Virga III' - Kevin Morby, 'Little Wide Open - Martyn, 'Music for Existing' - Julieta Venegas, 'Norteña' - Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, 'Happy Today' 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: Joe Kendrick, WNCW Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell Digital Producer: Dora Levite Editors: Otis Hart, Elle Mannion Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed Special thanks to Lars Gotrich and Anamaria Sayre 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 15 is an episode from All Songs Considered by NPR.

This episode is 42:57 long.

This episode was published on May 15, 2026.

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