New Music Weekend / 8/29-8/31/25
(New Music Weekend Intro)
Happy Weekend! Happy Labor Day Weekend which officially concludes our summer of 2025. But the real question that needs to be answered now – what was our song of the summer? My vote has consistently been for Benson Boone’s “Mystical Magical” (clip) which by the way, it was pointed out to me sounds an awful lot like (“Physical” clip) My parents were very disappointed with Olivia Newton-John after she released that song. I loved it though. (quick “Physical” clip) Nevertheless, the undisputed winner in terms of pure numbers. The song that topped multiple charts and was the most-streamed song of the summer on Spotify. “Ordinary” from Alex Warren (clip)
Who’s coming up! The Hives, Sabrina Carpenter, Nova Twins, Alabama Shakes, and Belinda Carlisle
(Countdown Video)
New Music Weekend:
- I’ve been a fan of The Hives since (“Tick Tick Boom” clip) Well – that was 2007. True fans of The Hives would probably want me to go deeper into the archive (“A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T” clip) and that’s from their debut album in 1997. But now, we officially have their 7th studio album, produced by (“I’m Mike D, and I get respect” clip) Yup, Beastie Boys Mike D. This new album is called: The Hives Forever Forever The Hives (“Enough is Enough” clip) That’s the album’s opening track and was the first release back in April called “Enough is Enough” I’ve also been enjoying the anthem song against living a “boring, austere” life called “Legalize Living” (“Legalize Living” clip) Ladies and Gentlemen, The Hives have delivered to us a pure, unadulterated garage rock album with a healthy side of punk attitude. It’s delicious. I’ve got one more for you to hear and it hasn’t been released yet as a single. It’s a song about how a small mistake can snowball into a giant screw-up – “Bad Call” (“Bad Call” clip)
- Speaking of songs of the summer (“Espresso” clip) A lot of people felt that “Espresso” was last year’s Song of the Summer. I know that I’ve pounded this into the ground, but just one more time? (“A Bar Song” Shaboozey) Yeah – Shaboozey’s Tipsy Song was mine and the way my daughter sings along to it – can’t beat it. Back to Sabrina Carpenter (“Manchild” clip) Men, Men, and More Men – that basically summarizes the album’s overall central theme on: Man’s Best Friend. Here’s a song that describes her excitement when a man acts responsibly (“Tears” clip) Sabrina’s risqué lyrical style is back, but so is that layer of humor. (more “Tears” clip) “Tears” is the song being pushed right now on all the streaming platforms along with the entertaining video to go with it. Going to play one more and it’s a fun ’80s-inspired song that uses the concept of a house tour as a fun, sexual metaphor – called “House Tour” (“House Tour” clip)
- The South London Duo of Amy Love and Georgia South form the group: Nova Twins (“Monsters” clip) Earlier in their career, the duo coined the phrase “urban punk” to describe their unique sound. They have sinced broadened their musical influences and want to “drop the labels.” Basically, let the listener define the music. (“Soprano” click) The hook in that song “Soprano” is really good. For some reason, listening to this new album which by the way is called: Parasites & Butterflies – it’s stirring up a memory sound of Cibo Matto (“Beef Jerky” clip) Hey, they said let the listener define the music and I thought of that song “Beef Jerky” from 1996. I’ve got another song from Nova Twins that’s giving me thoughts of another band (“Parallel Universe” clip) That’s “Parallel Universe” which to me is sending off some strong Emily Armstrong vibes with Linkin Park (“The Emptiness Machine”) I gotta a lot of crowded musical info going on up here. One more song that I’ve really enjoyed off this Parasites & Butterflies album from Nova Twins is their rather angry anthem song – “N.O.V.A.” (“N.O.V.A.” clip)
- Several quick hits of new music: Alabama Shakes – I was told about this one and then had to go hunting for it. Alabama Shakes have officially released their first new song in over a decade. It’s titled “Another Life.” With the band’s reunion and a new tour, there is a highly anticipated third studio album expected in the future // Five new albums to check out during this long holiday weekend: The Beths, Blood Orange, Margo Price, Marshall Crenshaw, and Christian McBride Big Band // And finally, this one was NOT on my radar but she has always had a space in my heart for music with this classic of hers (“Heaven is a Place on Earth” clip) Belinda Carlisle has a new record out called Once Upon a Time In California where she covers ten classic songs from the ’60s and ’70s – here’s “Get Together” (“Get Together” clip)
I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that! Anything that I really messed up and missed – well, that’s why I’ll be doing Missed Music Monday on Monday.
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