Mary J. Blige’s Daily Confirmation and 12 more new songs

Once again, Mary J. Blige fights and overcomes self-doubt. “I’m so tired of feeling empty,” she sings in a gritty croon over a slow-rolling, vintage-style soul track, assisted by a moody string arrangement. But she has the solution: To look in the mirror every morning with the self-affirmation: “Good morning, beautiful.” She adds, “I’m not talking about getting no hair and makeup / I’m talking about as soon as I wake up.” The video makes it clear that she wakes up in a mansion, toned and bejeweled, far removed from “all the times I hated myself”. JON PARELES

“Jupiter’s Dance” is an exercise in tenderness. It’s a welcome departure for Alynda Segarra, who makes typically warm folkpunk like Hooray for the Riff Raff, who trades grit for cosmic reverie here. Breathing, Segarra whispers, “Seven revolutions around the sun / Blessings in our way, it’s only just begun.” The video juxtaposes celestial NASA images with found images of people dancing to the Afro-Puerto Rican genres of bomba and plena. It is a galactic prayer, a belief in the promise of the future, rooted in the vitality of the past. ISABELIA HERERA

Kali Uchis and Ozuna, ‘Another Day in America’

“Another Day in America,” which was released emphatically on Thanksgiving Day, borrows the tune of “America” ​​from “West Side Story,” in anticipation of the Steven Spielberg remake’s release next week. Over syncopated guitar and a boom-bap beat, Kali Uchis sings and raps in English, keeping her tone upbeat but not the slightest words: “Say ‘land of the free’/But the land was always steal.” Ozuna, from Puerto Rico, sings rap in Spanish, saying: “Quisiera tumbar las fronteras de México a Nigeria”: “I would like to lower the borders from Mexico to Nigeria.” It’s a conversation starter. PARELES

Aurora, ‘Pagans’

Norwegian songwriter Aurora has announced that her next album, out January 21, is titled “The Gods We Can Touch”, and on “Heathens” she sings about Eve, Eden and falling from grace in a life on Mother Earth. . It’s a glittering, widescreen production, with booming harp, Aurora’s choral harmonies and a seismic beat that comes and goes. It is also a warning that paradise is lost. “Everything we touch is bad,” Aurora sings. “That’s why we live as pagans.” PARELES

Recently “semi-divorced” from Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, with whom she has a child, Grimes (Claire Boucher) harbors club-ready reproaches in “Player of Games,” which she sometimes sings as “play your love games.” Written and produced with Illangelo over a solid house song, she asks questions like “Baby, will you still love me?” and “How can I compare to the adventure out there?” as the arpeggios repeat and the four-on-the-floor thump. “If I loved him less, I’d make him stay,” she says, teasing the gossip-industrial complex. PARELES

Kim Petras, ‘Coconuts’

A frenzied comedic, sexually playful disco song by Kim Petras, arguing for, you might say, one fruit above the rest: “Strawberry, mango, lime/uncomparable to this one.” JON CARAMANICA

Kerozen, ‘Motivation’

Keozen, from Ivory Coast, praises patient, diligent hard work in ‘Motivation’, but the song gives instant gratification anyway. A galloping six-beat groove carries exuberant close-harmony vocals, boosted by clattering snare drums and bursts of synthesizers and simulated horns – pure positive energy. PARELES

The latest find from Analog Africa’s tireless craters is “Essiebon Special 1973-1984: Ghana Power House”, from the archives of the Essiebons and Dix labels. It’s Ghanaian highlife staged with funk, afrobeat, synthesizers and psychedelia, such as “Ahwene Pa Nkasa”, a groove that arises from a funk backbeat, turns into a chatter, competitive stereo dialogue between two synthesizer keyboards and finally comes to its call -and- response vocals, fading before the chorus is finished. PARELES

Cordae with Lil Wayne, ‘Sinister’

A casually excellent rhyme workout from Cordae, who honors the complexity of the 1990s – “Eight months without a phone, dog/we strive for genius” – and Lil Wayne, who, during his mixtape peak in the late 2000s, which he remembers here, the complexity turned to aliens. CARAMANICA

Eladio Carrion and Luar la L, ‘Socio’

A strategically placed beat change is more than a secret weapon: it can turn a standard rap song into a delightful deviation. Elado Carrión’s “Socio” opens with a soulful piano intro and snare-driven beat reminiscent of something Drake’s go-to producer Noah “40” Shebib could pull from his hard drive. But soon the barbs come. A muffled echo of Russell Crowe’s infamous “Gladiator” line “Are you not entertained?!” crashes into production, and a muscular, loudspeaker-thumping beat unravels. Gastrapper Luar la L shoots punchlines like bullets from silver bullets, with his all-tone baritone landing each with jagged precision. HERRERA

A nice old-fashioned power country duet, with references to the grim daily work, a fast-moving car and the heavy intensity of a rough-hewn love. CARAMANICA

Christian McBride and Inside Straight, ‘Gang Gang’

At The Village Vanguard, bassist Christian McBride first performed over a decade ago with Inside Straight, which has become arguably jazz’s preeminent acoustic quintet. McBride’s last release with Inside Straight, “Live at the Village Vanguard”, was recorded there years later, in 2014, during another weeklong run. ‘Gang Gang’, written by vibraphonist Warren Wolf, is the longest and most intense track on the album. The group centers around the heavy, spiraling swing feel of drummer Carl Allen, and Wolf takes a solo full of pelted, bluesy tones and paints a cloud of energy in pointillist strokes. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

Sara Serpa and Emmanuel Iduma, ‘First Song’

Portuguese singer Sara Serpa draws an etched, wordless line as Sofîa Rei and Aubrey Johnson circle her with their own sung melodies, and ambient street sounds gurgle below. Soon, Serpa begins to sing words from the Nigerian writer Emmanuel Iduma’s book, “A Stranger’s Pose”, about his travels across the African continent: “I can recite distances by heart, foot remembrance / I can see wanderlust around as the eyes,” she sings. Then Iduma’s voice comes in, accompanied by pianist Matt Mitchell, who reads a passage about the power of language to create a space ‘between reality and dream’. ‘First Song’ opens Serpa and Iduma’s impressive new collaboration album ‘Intimate Strangers’, a collage of her swimming melodies and his words – many of which describe the experiences of workers seeking their destiny en route, sometimes heading north to Europe, but in many cases staying they wait for something around them to change. RUSSELLO