New Music Friday: Listen To Releases By Jin, Rihanna, Morgan Wallen & More

As we reach the midpoint of May, new albums abound, including Jin's sophomore solo effort Echo, Morgan Wallen's gargantuan I'm The Problem, Måneskin frontman Damiano David's debut solo album FUNNY Little FEARS and BOYNEXTDOOR's EP No Genre.

Elsewhere, Britney Spears' smash sophomore album Oops!... I Did It Again gets a much-deserved 25th anniversary re-release featuring remastered bonus tracks, remixes and a bevy of new vocal ad-libs from the Princess of Pop; and Avicii is remembered seven years after his passing with his first posthumous compilation, Avicii Forever. Plus, Charli xcx celebrates the five-year anniversary of her fan-favorite pandemic LP How I'm Feeling Now by dropping a surprise music video for standout single "party 4 u."

Rihanna also makes an unexpected musical return courtesy of the new Smurfs movie on top of full-length releases like Rico Nasty's Fueled by Ramen debut LETHAL, SOFI TUKKER's guest-filled set butter, Tyler Braden's debut album devil and a prayer and Xzibit's long-awaited Kingmaker — as well as new singles from the likes of Jessie J ("Living My Best Life"), Lola Young ("One Thing"), Kesha ("BOY CRAZY.") and Sabrina Claudio ("Memory Foam").

Below, press play on 10 new releases to head into the weekend, including a deluxe edition of Linkin Park's latest album, a covers project by Prince Royce, an ice-cold kiss-off from Laufey and more.

Jin has certainly kept busy since being the first member of BTS to complete his mandatory military service in the summer of 2024. That November, the idol unveiled his debut solo EP, Happy, and six months later, he's back with its follow-up Echo.

The seven-track mini-album kicks off with single "Don't Say You Love Me," a wistful mid-tempo love song that puts JIN's fluttering falsetto front and center, while its music video takes the K-pop star and Korean actress Shin Sae Kyeong on a lovelorn tour of Singapore's most dazzling sights, from views of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the otherworldly Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay to Singapore's National Gallery and the lovely Emerald Hill neighborhood.

Other highlights on Echo include the vulnerable "Nothing Without Your Love," spirited YENA collab "Loser," heartfelt closer "To Me, Today" and more.

While her ever-devoted Navy anxiously waits for the long-awaited, ever-elusive R9, Rihanna offers up "Friend Of Mine," a slice of entertainment for the whole family off the soundtrack of the upcoming Smurfs reboot, in its place.

The superstar, who also voices Smurfette in the big-screen adventure, turns a single couplet into a trance-y, danceable earworm as she sings, "Ooh, I think the word here is 'deja-vu'/ Just met you tonight, but you feel like a friend of mine" — adding a few delectable vocal flourishes as the track climaxes in its final moments.

Morgan Wallen — 'I'm The Problem'

Following in the vein of 2021's Dangerous: The Double Album and 2023's One Thing at a Time, Morgan Wallen continues to build on his tradition of releasing supersized albums with his fourth full-length effort, I'm The Problem, which clocks in at 37 tracks across its total run time just short of two hours.

In addition to previously released singles like "Lies Lies Lies," "Love Somebody," the Post Malone-assisted "I Ain't Comin' Back" and the defiant title track, the massive LP features collaborations with Tate McRae (pop-country crossover "What I Want), HARDY ("Come Back As A Redneck") and ERNEST ("The Dealer").

Linkin Park's release of From Zero at the tail end of 2024 marked a regrouping for the band as their first album since the death of frontman Chester Bennington in 2017 and the departure of drummer Rob Bourdon, featuring the new additions of vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain.

Six months later, the nu metal stalwarts have added three bonus tracks — including emotional singles "Up From the Bottom" and "Unshatter" — to the 11-track collection that originally featured cuts like "The Emptiness Machine," "Heavy Is the Crown" and "Two Faced."

For his first covers album, Prince Royce adds a tropical flair to everything from the Beatles' "Yesterday" and Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" to Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" and the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love."

ETERNO also gives the Dominican-American singer a chance to flex his bilingual talents by delivering verses of classic tracks like "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" in Spanish.

The 15-time Latin GRAMMY nominee sounds particularly at home on his warm, bachata-tinged take on Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" and the boy band groove of the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" — the latter of which also receives an official music video to coincide with the album's release.

Only eight months after their debut with "MEOW," The Black Label girl group MEOVV have unveiled their very first mini-album, MY EYES OPEN VVIDE.

The rising K-pop idols' six-track EP is anchored by that infectious, purring single, as well as follow-ups like the fluttering, down-tempo "TOXIC," the swaggering "BODY" and opener "HANDS UP." Meanwhile, new focus track "DROP TOP" receives a music video treatment that puts Sooin, Gawon, Anna, Narin, and Ella in the proverbial (and literal) driver's seat with booming production and soaring vocals.

Hell hath no fury like Laufey scorned. The GRAMMY winner may have been happy to sit in purgatory on her last single, "Silver Lining," but on follow-up "Tough Luck," she's not mincing words as she tells a lying, cheating ex exactly where to go.

The hushed kiss-off is all the more affecting in its restraint, as the Icelandic sensation drops the mic with damning lyrical poetry like, "Since we're spilling secrets/ Does your mother even know?/ You demoralized, effaced me/ Just to feed your fragile ego."

Country hits the dance floor for more than a line dance on "Forget Tonight," Steve Aoki's new genre-busting collaboration with Tyler Hubbard.

Notably, the party-ready track serves as the Florida Georgia Line alum's very first guest feature as a solo artist. Over a relentless beat driven by the superproducer, Hubbard details an unforgettable evening of love at first sight as he sings, "Still got the scuffs on my boots where you stood on 'em while we danced/ I saved your number in my phone under 'Angel' and it made you laugh/ I said, 'Look around: it's the first night of forever, but it sure won't be the last."

Almost exactly two years after teaming up with Kaytranada on their collaborative album Kaytraminé, Aminé is back with his third solo effort, 13 Months of Sunshine, and an accompanying road-trip-style visualizer.

On top of singles like "Familiar" and "Arc de Triomphe," the rapper enlists a diverse array of guest stars for the LP's many dynamic collaborations, including Leon Thomas (opener "New Flower!"), Waxahatchee (the pulsating "History"), chlothegod (the laidback "Changer") and 454 and Toro y Moi (closing track "Images").

Fresh off covering her 2010 GRAMMY-nominated ballad "The House That Built Me," Hudson Westbrook recruits Miranda Lambert to reinvent his own 2024 breakout single "House Again."

In addition to taking the reins on the second verse, Lambert adds indelible harmonies to the song's heartbroken chorus as she and the teenaged upstart lament, "I guess you were right/ I should've left when you did/ The house you made home/ Is now just a house again."