Amid the excitement of first-round voting for the 2025 GRAMMYs, we've reached the end of another week that's been filled with new music.
Case in point: eschewing the traditional Friday release schedule, Maggie Rogers and J. Cole both dropped singles midweek to help fans get over the proverbial hump with new tunes.
In other news, James Blunt marks the 20th anniversary of his 2004 breakout debut Back to Bedlam — which spawned global smash "You're Beautiful" and remains the best-selling album of the 2000s in his native UK — with a special re-release. Plus, Rod Wave hits a new stride with his latest LP Last Lap, rising country stars Erin Kinsey and Carter Faith each deliver new EPs, respectively titled Gettin Away With It and The Aftermath, and EARTHGANG team up with T-Pain for "Love You More," the lead single off their upcoming album, Perfect Fantasy.
Below, dive into 10 of the best new releases of the week from JENNIE, The Kid LAROI, GloRilla, and more.
Remember late September? Maggie Rogers sure does. On her wistful new single "In The Living Room," which arrived by surprise on Tuesday (Oct. 8), the former Best New Artist GRAMMY nominee reflects on a lost relationship as she belts out, "All of the things, we pulled apart/ I let it go, it doesn't matter/ The seasons change, it broke my heart/ But I will always remember you/ When we were dancing in the living room."
Directed by Grant Singer, the accompanying music video brings Rogers' lyrics to life as she performs in a wood-paneled apartment complete with green carpet, a bare mattress and a brooding love interest played by Luka Isaac.
"It's a song about the beauty and pain of memory, and the way that interweaves with reality when you're processing the exit of a person in your life," the "Alaska" singer/songwriter said in a statement upon the song's release.
Attention, BLINKs and RUBIES! JENNIE's first solo single since launching her Odd Atelier label is more than a "Mantra," it's a bonafide playbook for all the pretty girls to live by. "Pretty girls don't do trauma, no more drama/ We already got a full day/ Pretty girls that you gon' remember, know that you could never/ nothing ever trigger me/ This that pretty girl mantra, she's that stunna/ Everyone knows she is me," the K-pop idol sings over horn blasts and thumping bass on the chorus.
The high-fashion visual accompanying the track's release, meanwhile, is filled with fiery choreography and a cavalcade of colorful vehicles, from a creamy white Mercedes covered in a lace sheath to a cherry-red big rig. The latter might just rival the size of the glittering disco ball of a tank Jennie's famous for riding atop in the videos for BLACKPINK smashes "DDU-DU DDU-DU" and "Shut Down."
On his new single "Aperol Spritz," The Kid LAROI is double-fisting the fizzy orange cocktails on a trip to the club with his latest flame. While the singer doesn't explicitly name-drop girlfriend Tate McCrae on the swaggering track, he's certainly not shy about showing off his new love — as fans have recently seen everywhere from the MTV Video Music Awards to a romantic getaway in Bora Bora.
"There's a whole lot of girls up in here/ But can't nobody f— with my b—," he brags on the chorus, while the song's music video fittingly sees the Australian chased around a studio by a mass of shrieking female fans. Only when he trips and falls does the chase give way to an editorial-ready dogpile, with The Kid LAROI surrounded by the dozens of models as they all gaze coolly up at the camera.
After building substantial buzz for the past two-and-a-half years as one of the most explosive rappers to come out of Memphis, GloRilla finally delivers her debut album, GLORIOUS, via Interscope Records.
The long-awaited LP lives up to its title with a star-studded roster of guest features to support the viral sensation born Gloria Hallelujah Woods. For starters, girl power is out in full force, with the rapper's close pal and recent tourmate Megan Thee Stallion joining the fun for highlight "HOW I LOOK," while Latto and Muni Long each show up on respective cuts "PROCEDURE" and "DON'T DESERVE." Plus, GloRilla assembles Kirk Franklin, Chandler Moore, Kierra Sheard and Maverick City Music for gospel-infused outlier "RAIN DOWN ON ME" and declares herself "QUEEN OF MEMPHIS" with an assist from Fridayy on the album's triumphant closer.
Kane Brown slows things down to what's most important on his heartwarming new single, "Backseat Driver." The country star paints a sweet picture as the ballad opens early in the morning in a McDonald's drive-thru, "two muffins, one coffee and a little, bitty orange juice."
The backseat driver in question is Brown's 4-year-old daughter Kingsley Rose, who adorably peppers her famous dad with crucial questions like whether or not squirrels have houses in the trees and why God put stingers on honey bees. "It's crazy all the things she sees on the side of the road/ Out of that window beside her," he sings before concluding, "I wish I could be more like her/ My little danglin' feet, pretty in pink backseat driver."
The heartfelt track is the lead single from Brown's upcoming fourth studio album, The High Road, which will arrive Jan. 24, 2025. Along with revealing the album news on Oct. 9, the singer also announced a North American tour that will kick off March 13.
On Wednesday (Oct. 9), J. Cole dropped his latest single, "Port Antonio." Built over dual samples of Lonnie Liston Smith's spacey keyboard track "A Garden of Peace" from 1983's Dreams of Tomorrow and a pitched-up version of Cleo Sol's 2021 deep cut "Know That You Are Loved," the rapper revisits his autobiography by referencing "young Jermaine," who worked minimum wage jobs while watching everyone around him spend thousands on designer duds.
However, the root of the downtempo song — which precedes Cole's highly anticipated forthcoming project The Fall Off — sees him removing himself from the headline-making, diss track-filled feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar that erupted earlier this year. (Back in April, Cole removed his own diss track "7 Minute Drill" after publicly apologizing to Lamar.)
Later in the song, Cole even name-drops Drake and gives credit where credit's due ("I ain't ashamed to say you did a lot for me"), before pointing out to his hip-hop peers and everyone listening, "F— all the narratives/ Tappin' back into your magic pen is what's imperative/ Remindin' these folks why we do it, it's not for beefin'/ It's for speakin' our thoughts, pushin' ourselves, reachin' the charts/ Reaching your minds, deep in your heart screamin' to find/ Emotion to touch, somethin' inside to open you up."
It's been almost exactly one year since BoyWithUke revealed his face to the world in October 2023, and the TikTok star who once wore an LED mask to conceal his identity is already preparing to burn it all down. "Gaslight" serves as the TikTok star-turned-independent artist's latest single off his upcoming fifth album Burnout, which he's promised will be his final body of work under the stage name that made him famous.
Following fellow singles "Can You Feel It?" and "Ghost," "Gaslight" is a volatile, churning breakup track dedicated to a sociopathic love interest that BoyWithUke is determined to cut ties with…but not before getting a little revenge of his own. The accompanying music video plays out like a haunted horror show, but the musician gets the last laugh with a lyrical twist of the knife that you simply have to hear to believe.
Samara Joy — 'Portrait'
Eighteen months after winning Best New Artist at the 2023 GRAMMYs, Samara Joy returns with her latest full-length album, Portrait. Co-produced by Brian Lynch and recorded at the hallowed Van Gelder Studio, the LP contains eight new tracks including pre-release singles "You Stepped Out Of A Dream" and "Autumn Nocturne."
Portrait paints a lively picture of the Bronx-born jazz starlet's prodigious talents, as well as her electric chemistry with her eight-piece touring band. In fact, the entire body of work was conceived and fine-tuned during the GRAMMY winner's near-constant touring schedule in the two years since she released her 2022 breakout album, Linger Awhile. "I'm often the fifth voice, the fifth horn," Joy said in a statement coinciding with Portrait's release, adding, "I hope listeners will see that I'm a musician too."
It's been 15 years since Major Lazer dropped their debut album, 2009's Guns Don't Kill People… Lazers Do, and they're marking the milestone with a 15th anniversary re-release featuring unreleased tracks from the era.
The first track the trio — now consisting of Diplo, Walshy Fire and Ape Drums — are dusting off from the vault is "Nobody Move," another collaboration with Vybz Kartel, who previously appeared on the original album's second single "Pon De Floor" alongside Afrojack. On the bonus cut, the group crafts a swaying tropical groove over Kartel's laid-back but threatening refrain of "Nobody move, nobody get hurt."
Love has Dylan Gossett's head in the clouds — or at least the foliage — on his toe-tapping new single "Tree Birds." In fact, the rising Americana sensation employs the perfect amount of harmonica to properly communicate just how head over heels in love he is on the giddy track, which follows his recent Songs in the Gravel EP.
"You remind me that there's something up above/ Do I deserve all your love?/ I swear I don't/ When you need me, just know that I'll show up/ Oh I'll go anywhere, state, city or town/ I promise you're the best damn thing from the South," Gossett vows before letting out an ecstatic "hey yeah!" on the final chorus. The jubilant love song is sure to be a highlight of the Austin, Texas native's ongoing Back 40 Tour, which runs across North America through the end of November.