Career versus family. Artistic inspiration vs. a stable life. “The end of the world and the magnitude of my ambition.” Florence Welch takes them all on in “King,” confirming both the risks and benefits of her choices. Like many of the songs Welch writes and sings for Florence + the Machine, “King” moves from confession to archetypal in a grand, liberating crescendo, as the video elevates her from a tortured partner to something like a saint. JON PARELES
Bonnie Raitt, ‘Made Up Mind’
It’s an old story: the bitter end of a romance. “Made Up Mind”, written and first recorded by a Canadian band called the Bros. Landreth, tells it succinctly and often in one-syllable words: “It goes on and on and for far too long.” On the lead single off an April 22 album, “Just Like That,” Bonnie Raitt sings it deliberately and tenderly, after a scraping guitar sound announces how hard it’s going to be. PARELES
Kehlani, ‘Little Story’
Kehlani has long told tales of devastating romance, but “Little Story,” the latest single from forthcoming album “Blue Water Road,” opens a portal to a world of candor. The singer (using she/she pronouns) sounds more confident and tender than they’ve done in years, curling the honeyed swing of their voices over the delicate strum of an electric guitar. “You know I love a story, only when you’re the author,” Kehlani sings, advocating the return of a lover. Strings crescendo into blooming petals and Kehlani promises to embrace tenderness. “We’re working on getting softer,” they sing. “Because you are a dream to me.” ISABELIA HERERA
Carter Faith, ‘Greener Pasture’
A bluesy lite-country simmer in which the cowboy doesn’t linger: “I was his Texaco/A stop just along the road/I shoulda know I ain’t his last rodeo.” JON CARAMANICA
Norah Jones, ‘Come With Me (Alternate Version)’
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Norah Jones’ million-selling debut, “Come Away With Me,” comes a “Super Deluxe Edition” featuring this previously unreleased alternate version of the title track, with the band purchasing the song. There’s a constant lurching guitar part in this version, befitting songwriter Jesse Harris’s soothing bass figure and propelling the band forward. Ultimately, you can see why this recording didn’t make it: the main draw is Jones’ matte desert pink voice, and he seems most at home when he’s not in a rush, in a lower contrast to the rest of the band. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO
Pap Radio, ‘Back to Radio’
An electric guitar chord is plucked in what appears to be a 4/4 time, repeated, distorted and suffused with extra noise for the first full minute of “Back to the Radio”. Dana Margolin begins to sing, decisively turning the 4/4 into a waltz as the lyrics confront someone who matters: “We almost got better / We’re so unprepared for this / Going straight for it. ” The song is pure catharsis. PARELES
Mahalia, ‘Letter to your ex’
The threat is both subdued and powerful in English songwriter Mahalia’s “Letter to Ur Ex.” She sings to someone who is trying to maintain a disconnection: ‘You can’t do that anymore,’ she warns. “Yeah, I get it / that doesn’t mean I’ll always be forgiving.” Acoustic guitar chords grow into a programmed beat and strings; her voice is soft, but its sharpness is unmistakable. PARELES
Esty, ‘Pegao!!!’
Dominican-American artist Esty clashes with genres and aesthetics like a child scribbling on paper. “Pegao!!!”, from her new “Estyland” EP, mixes the singer’s light-hearted, restrained raps and towering melodies with razor-sharp synths and a skittish, percussive dembow-riddim. She explains her imminent ascent in the music industry, whispering, “They say I’m late / But I feel like I’m on time.” Her visual choices are also part of the plot: Between the anime references, her love of roller skating (which made her famous on TikTok), and a head full of two-tone braids, Esty’s aesthetic is sort of punkdebow, her own little slice of chaotic good. . HERRERA
Mura Masa with Lil Uzi Vert, PinkPantheress and Shygirl, ‘Bbycakes’
Here’s how layered things can be in 21st century pop. The English producer Mura Masa discovered “Babycakes” by the British group 3 of a Kind. He put it on and accelerated it, keeping the catchy chorus. He also linked up with Pink Pantheress, Lil Uzi Vert and Shygirl. The new, multi-track song is still both a come-on and a declaration of love, but who did what is a blur. PARELES
R3hab with Saucy Santana, ‘Put Your Hands On My ____ (Original Phonk Version)’
Saucy Santana’s “Material Girl” is the optimal viral hit – easy to scream along, organized around a catchy phrase, full of performative attitude. For Saucy Santana, former makeup artist for the rap duo City Girls turned reality TV star, emerging as a TikTok phenomenon a few months ago (more than a year after the song’s initial release) was a classic case of water that reached its level. And now a future full of promising party-rap club anthems beckons. This simple collaboration with DJ producer R3hab is an update of Freak Nasty’s “Da Dip”, one of the most important tracks of Atlanta bass music, and also a bona fide pop hit from the mid-1990s. It doesn’t beat the original, but it doesn’t have to be an effective sing-along either. CARAMANICA
Lil Durk, ‘Ahhh Ha’
The first single from Lil Durk’s upcoming album, ‘7220’, is full of exuberant menace. Lil Durk raps with crisp energy and grit as he tackles horrific topics, including the murder of his brother DThang and the rapper King Von, and stirs tension with YoungBoy Never Broke Again. In the midst of the chaos, he sounds almost excited. CARAMANICA
Kiko El Crazy, Braulio Fogon and Randy, ‘Comandante’
On “Comandante,” two generations of eccentrics — Dominican newcomers Kiko el Crazy and Braulio Fogón, alongside Puerto Rican reggaeton titan Randy — join forces to dispatch a cop who threatens to arrest them for smoking a little weed. Randy drops a wonderfully light-hearted, baby-voiced hook, and Fogón’s offbeat, anti-flow arrives with surprising agility. When that timeless feverish riddim strikes, you’ll want every intergenerational police satire to go this hard. HERRERA
Charles Goold, ‘Sequence of Events’
Drummer Charles Goold and his band are hard at work on ‘Sequence of Events’, the opening track of his bandleader debut album, ‘Rhythm in Contrast’. He starts it off with a four-on-the-floor drum solo that contains as much calypso and rumba as swing. As the band walks in—Andrew Renfroe’s cutting guitar leading the way, with Steve Nelson’s vibraphone, Taber Gable’s piano, and Noah Jackson’s bass at his heels—that open approach to its rhythmic options persists. Goold graduated from Juilliard, probably the premiere conservatory for traditional jazz pedagogy, but he also tours with hip-hop royalty. It’s all clear here, as he goes into a heartfelt update on the mid-century modern jazz sound. RUSSELLO
