Paste is the place to kick off every New Music Friday. We follow our regular roundups of the Best New Songs by highlighting the most compelling new records you need to hear. Find the best new albums of the week below.
Alabama Shakes: I Must Be Dreaming
I Must Be Dreaming is at its best when its bittersweet songwriting melts and enfolds itself into the hazy instrumentation. On “Garden,” Brittany Howard sings about the importance of nurturing a loved one’s needs, a feeling enhanced even further by Lewis Wright’s heavenly, indelible vibraphone and Zac Cockrell’s delicate drumming. Howard’s emotional honesty, Cockrell’s funky bass playing, and Heath Fogg’s fuzzy, distorted guitar riffs also add rich color to the devastation of “Friends,” which poignantly captures the betrayal and loss of someone you thought you could trust yourself around. And closer “Tied to You,” which Howard described as a “psychedelic Sade” in the press notes, does feel inspired by the famed R&B singer’s smoky-sad sonic textures. On “American Dream,” Howard’s raw emotions about the state of current events match the craggy reverb and menacing thrum of the beat that buoys them. The song’s righteous anger is the most alive I Must Be Dreaming sounds, bringing the preceding gestures toward its political undertones into full force.
Asher White: Love Aggregates
Asher White’s second album of 2026, Love Aggregates, is as eccentric and catchy as anything she’s ever done. The album is defined by White’s light, airy touch and her revelatory earnestness, which fills the songs with memories half-forgotten and the stories we create to replace them. “White Castle sad” is buoyed by a lo-fi guitar arpeggio, while “Health techniques” features a gentle drumbeat that sails forth as White sings of heaven and self-reliance. Love Aggregates is bare and brave, proving that the mundane is profound when carved out in loving detail.
Dinosaur Jr.: There Near
Four decades since the band’s inception, Dinosaur Jr. returns with There Near. J Mascis notes that he took Rick Rubin’s advice to revisit the band’s original sound, and the result is a record that reckons with modern grievances. Lou Barlow’s “Blowin’ Up” offers pointed commentary on the digital age, while Mascis’ guitar tones remain as rough and fuzzy as ever, utilizing the same Mesa Boogie MK 1 amps from the band’s earliest days.
Erykah Badu / The Alchemist: Before the World Blows
There aren’t many people that have enough sheer aura to announce an album sans title, but if anyone does, it’s Erykah Badu and The Alchemist. Badu’s voice seems to exist outside of time itself, now cushioned in bombastic beats from The Alchemist. With guest appearances from Earl Sweatshirt, Westside Gunn, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, and Thundercat, the record oscillates between low-churning grit and surreal psychedelia. It’s a melting pot of sound that feels like a transcendence of the mortal plane.
Mastodon: Marrow Deep
The new Mastodon album is bittersweet, serving as the band’s first release since the sudden death of frontman Brent Hinds. Recording for Marrow Deep began shortly after Hinds’ passing, and their grief bleeds into the songs. With drummer Brann Dailor and bassist Troy Sanders stepping up to the mic alongside collaborators like Josh Homme and Joe Duplantier, the album acts as a powerful, unmissable tribute to both Hinds and Dailor’s late mother.
Saul Williams: Leap Life
Saul Williams returns with Leap Life, a project that tackles questions of colonialism, technology, and ancestry. Drawing on the collaborative efforts of producer Carlos Niño and Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, the album is an act of experimentation. Opener “Baobab Constellations” features a full band working to stretch their sound to its corners, with Kamasi Washington’s tenor saxophone providing an incisive, essential layer to the tapestry.
