New Music - the songs you need to hear this week

New music week got crowded fast: Halsey is back, Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter are circling and now the internet is convinced Taylor Swift might be headed for the “Toy Story 5” soundtrack after her site launched a 47-hour countdown framed by some very familiar-looking clouds.

Halsey — “The Great Impersonator (Deluxe),” Album

We’ll begin with Halsey, back in the world of “The Great Impersonator” (a world we really, really liked the last time around) for a deluxe version stacked with six extra tracks. Factor in “Alice of the Upper Class,” the low-key drop for fans from last year’s release week, and suddenly it’s seven.

You might remember Halsey’s rollout for the original record: a shape-shifting promo cycle where she slipped into the silhouettes of canonized music voices—channeling everyone from Stevie Nicks to Fiona Apple. The original run paired each impression with a thesis track; the deluxe cuts skip the lineage and find Halsey digging deeper into the sound she already claimed. Fans of “Lonely is the Muse” will find these songs cut from the same cloth.

Unsurprisingly, the moodiest songs are the ones that stick. Halsey has a knack for alchemizing pain into language that fits neatly inside the “great impersonator” she’s built. “Afraid of the Dark - Demo” plays like an extension of “Life of the Spider (Draft),” which didn’t need any extra weight to hit as hard as it does. Out of everything this week, this was the song that had us rewinding instantly to re-hear the lines.

“You spineless girl/You should donate your legs because you never stand/You should throw a f*cking party/You should hire a band,” she sings.

Round of applause and let the room shake a little. 

Maya Hawke — “MAITREYA CORSO,” Album

Today sees the release of the fourth album from Maya Hawke. She expands her folky world here, and the distance from “Blush” is starting to show—in a good way.

With Maya Hawke, especially on this record, she isn’t really background music. You’ll probably want to sit down and follow along with the lyrics as they unfold. Hawke packs a lot into them.

“You're different now than I remember/Salt and pepper, piss and vinegar/Think this little light of mine has gone out,” she sings on “Term of Estrangement.” The songs feel less like entries in a journal and more like Hawke picking up the phone and walking you through everything.

“Last Thoughts on Morning Star” is more tongue-in-cheek and Hawke slips in a verse where she has a bit of fun at her friends’ expense. “Slacker in the Rye” already has a literary pull in the title and it’s a soft kind of love song, even if it’s wrapped around something painful. “I haven’t done much/But I did it for you,” she sings.

The album feels like cracking your hands and finally reaching out. “Calling my brother/He's got a lot going on,” she tells us on “Dream House,” hanging just before the record lets slip what really matters.

“I am falling in love with my life,” she sings.

“The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Music From The Motion Picture),” Album

The long-awaited “The Devil Wears Prada 2” lands with a soundtrack that actually feels curated by Lady Gaga (she contributes at least three original songs to the film’s soundtrack). We haven’t seen the movie yet—it’s in our weekend plans!—so we’re not entirely sure how these songs actually slot into it yet.

Right off the back of her “Mayhem” Grammy win, “Shape of a Woman” feels like a confident way to start. Maybe there’s still more “Mayhem” to strip away. We can feel the energy, the hips, the bounce and that slow strut starting to creep in.

“Glamorous Life” leans more into drama, like the curtains are dragging a little lower. There are clear ties to fame running through this and it’s the track that feels most like Gaga showing up. If “A Star Is Born” proved anything, it’s that Gaga knows how to turn a soundtrack into its own emotional arc.

Of course, the album doesn’t exist in isolation, with cuts pulled from across pop’s recent canon, including appearances from Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, SZA and Olivia Dean. It’s a good way to slide into the weekend, sure.

Zara Larsson — “Midnight Sun: Girls Trip,” Album

Zara Larsson reimagined “Midnight Sun” as a full remix project, pulling in PinkPantheress, Robyn and Shakira. The rollout is always fun when it comes to Larsson, sometimes even more fun than the music itself. She even brought in Paris Hilton to announce the tracklist in a full Y2K-themed trailer.

She’s calling the album a “girls trip” now and maybe that’s exactly what it feels like. If you’re going to listen to this, you’ll probably start with her “Stateside” collaborator PinkPantheress, who now features on “Midnight Sun.” They work off each other well, and the track is already strong on its own.

We can’t ignore “Eurosummer,” where Shakira adds her stamp to the track. It’s pretty cool that she managed to land that feature.

So pop the CD in the car and head out for the weekend.

Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter — “Bring Your Love”

What started at Coachella in a surprisingly powerful moment of “Like a Prayer” has only grown from there. Carpenter brought Madonna on stage where they also debuted a new song that we finally get to hear properly on headphones today.

There’s a clear lineage between Carpenter and Madonna, each who perform with a teasing edge and an instinct for total command. This is especially clear on “Bring Your Love.”

The song opens with a sly whisper from Madonna. “I got something I wanna talk about,” she sings. What feels refreshing here is a pop icon letting a newer one meet her on the same track. “Bring it Sabrina!” Madonna drops mid-track. The moment feels like an endorsement of sorts.

The song comes out of Madonna’s “Confessions” revival, which is set for full-release July 3. If there’s a wider pattern here, like “Bring Your Love,” an album of the year conversation isn’t out of reach.

— Dawson Therre

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