Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

Last week, we featured Sam Smith, Stella Lefty, Weezer and more.

This week, Olivia Rodrigo shares a previously-released-CD-exclusive song digitally; Alex Warren releases his second album; JENNIE’s three-track EP arrives; and Rod Wave drops his mega 24-track seventh album, Don’t Look Down… plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Olivia Rodrigo, “Serena Joy”

Days before headlining her very own inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival in Irvine, Calif., superstar Olivia Rodrigo dropped a new song (which was originally cut from her third album, this June’s You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love) that will surely make its way into her setlist. “Serena Joy” — named after the antagonist from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale novel — is expectedly inspired by the character’s complexities. And while the dystopian-sounding song ends with Rodrigo repeating “everything is just fine,” it’s unclear if she means it — or just wants to believe it. — LYNDSEY HAVENS

Alex Warren, WILDCHILD

Alex Warren’s second album swiftly follows last year’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid that included his breakout hit and Hot 100 No. 1 “Ordinary.” And while WILDCHILD does include some downtempo pop ballads (“Fine Place To Die,” “I Miss You More”), his signature soaring vocals are best highlighted on the album’s more punchy uptempo songs (“Fever Dream,” “Emerald Eyes”). As the project’s title implies, Warren is living it up a bit more this time around — or should I say, getting a bit wild by his standards — and as a result, sneaks in a final few summer smashes. — L.H.

JENNIE, Fallen Angel

Imagine the bite of “like JENNIE” only stripped down and ethereal — that’s “Heaven.” JENNIE sounds entirely self-assured on the song, even if she’s singing of a toxic relationship: “If not crazy, then what fun would it be?” The song accompanies the acoustic-led title track and previously-released single “Less than a Lover.” Fallen Angel is JENNIE’s first solo project since the release of her solo debut with last year’s full-length Ruby. — L.H.

Rod Wave, Don’t Look Down

The prolific rapper-singer-songwriter puts all three to their best use across his new album, tapping R&B singer-songwriter Summer Joy, R&B artist Luv Von, Irish singer-songwriter Aimee Carty and Australian indie-folk artist Hazlett as the project’s only features. Don’t Look Down is Rod Wave’s seventh album, having only released his debut full-length (Ghetto Gospel) in 2019. — L.H.

flowerovlove feat. Willow, “girls will be girls”

Rising indie-pop singer floweroflove shares her debut album, Mini Skirt Warrior, led by focus track “girls will be girls” with the project’s sole feature Willow. While the uptempo song is the album’s 12th and final, it’s also one of its standouts alongside previously-released singles like “American Wedding” and “I’m your first.” — L.H.

Alabama Shakes, I Must Be Dreaming

Grammy-winning bluesy rock band Alabama Shakes is back — and with its first album in over a decade. I Must Be Dreaming is the act’s first full-length since its breakout second album Sound & Color, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 upon its 2015 release. Previously-released single “Another Life” remains a standout for vocalist Brittany Howard’s urgent vocals, as does “Waist Deep.” The band is currently on tour through the end of September, with a date at Radio City Music Hall Sept. 2. — L.H.

Natanael Cano, Natanael Cano, Vol. 1

Nearly a decade after helping bring corridos tumbados from the sierra to the global stage, Natanael Cano returns to the sound at the center of his story with Natanael Cano, Vol. 1. The 15-track set finds the Sonoran trailblazer sharpening his roots with live requinto, tuba-driven arrangements and the raw, intimate storytelling that first made his music feel so revolutionary. But it is also a record of emotional range: on the heart-wrenching “Mar Azul,” Cano turns a relationship gone awry into a gorgeous confession, his steely guitar solo tracing every ounce of regret and longing in the lyrics. Elsewhere, he respectfully redraws the outlines of two Spanish-language pop classics — Jeanette’s “Frente a Frente” and Cristian Castro’s “Por Amarte Así” — as stripped-back corridos tumbados, making room for their ache within his own musical language. Collaborations with Gabito Ballesteros, Adriel Favela, Crecer Germán and more round out the project, but after dabbling with trap and reggaetón, Vol. 1 is ultimately Cano’s homecoming: a return to the sound he helped invent, now delivered with greater control, vulnerability and conviction. — ISABELA RAYGOZA

Ladrones, Arriba La L

Ladrones’ third album, Arriba La L, puts the Guadalajara band’s self-proclaimed “flow pesado” into full force: a combustible collision of nu metal, hip-hop and música mexicana that refuses to settle into any one lane. Across 15 tracks, Zxmyr, Cirujano Resendez, José Macario and Diego Zornoza sharpen the sound they began carving out on Flow Pesado (2024) and Mexican Pesado (2025), balancing crushing guitars, rapid-fire verses and the emotional pull of regional Mexican experimentation. The result is heavier and more fully formed, but still rooted in the chemistry of four friends who built their sound from instinct rather than formula. The title track pairs trap and drill-leaning beats with pummeling, drop-tuned guitar distortion, “Ay Ay Ay” cuts through with piercing electric-guitar flourishes and driving drum patterns and “Pa Mis Carnales” distills their rap-metal force into a muscular salute to the inner circle. As Ladrones enter a new chapter with Rise Records and BMG, Arriba La L feels like a declaration of identity from a band increasingly confident in its place: proudly Mexican, emotionally charged and impossible to box in. — I.R.

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist, Before The World Blows

11 years after her last project (2015’s acclaimed But You Caint Use My Phone) and 16 years after her last official studio album (2010’s “Window Seat”-housing New Amerykah Part Two), Erykah Badu has returned with a new collection of ethereal tunes: Before the World Blows. Released via Control FREAQ Records and Young Recordings, Before the World Blows (subtitled The Abi and Alan Experiment) was co-produced by Badu and Grammy-nominated production maestro The Alchemist. The gorgeous 16-track set explores grief, passion, hope, lust and reflection across four movements, featuring a bevy of special guests, including Thundercat, Steve Lacy, DRAM, Westside Gunn, Kamasi Washington, Earl Sweatshirt and more. — KYLE DENIS

Ky-Mani Marley, Love and Energy

Where there’s a Marley, there’s music — and Ky-Mani just dropped a banging new collection of it. Love and Energy marks the Grammy-nominated son of Bob Marley’s first album in 10 years, and he celebrated by recruiting featured artists like Sizzla, Gyptian, Bugle, Lutan Fyah and Anthony B. The 16-track LP, which includes two spoken-word reflections, traces Ky-Mani’s evolution over the past decade while remaining rooted in the reggae foundation that has come to define his artistic profile. — K.D.

Angèle, “Une seule vie”

In February, Belgian artist Angèle released one of the best electronic songs of 2026 when she dropped her throttling Justice collab “What You Want,” (along with subsequent remixes of the song by SG Lewis and Fcukers.) Now, she’s opening up the world of Instinct, her new album coming Oct. 16 via Angèle VL Records/Sony Music. The project will include “What You Want” along with yet-to-be-released music with dance world A-listers including Caroline Polachek, Sebastian and Soulwax. These guests indicate the album’s electronic foundations, with the project also aiming to center Angèle in the pop realm. With the chic thump and silky vocals of her latest, “Une seule vie,” (which translates to “one life”) we’d say she’s well on her way. — KATIE BAIN 

Chase & Status ft. Debbie, “Gone Too Far”

For the first 45 seconds of Chase & Status‘ latest, you might forget that you’re listening to music by one of history’s great D&B acts. “Gone Too Far” starts gently, nearly acoustic, but then — then! — breaks into soaring electronica with serious emotional punch courtesy of vocals from British singer Debbie. This new song comes in tandem with the announcement of a new Chase & Status album, Generic Everything, the duo’s first long player since the 2023 mixtape 2 RUFF, Vol. 1. Coming Oct. 9, the album will feature collaborations with Skrillex, Little Simz, Giggs, D Double E, Blanco, Col3trane, Saam Sultan and more. — K.B.

Carly Pearce, Honest Woman 

On her fifth studio album, Carly Pearce dives more deeply into introspective songs that reveal her perspectives on faith and acceptance (“Church Girl”), the plans sacrificed for career ambitions (“Dream Come True”) and where her true affections lie (“He Don’t Like My Dogs”), while also paying homage to her bluegrass roots on songs such as the gorgeous Dan Tyminski and Molly Tuttle collab “What If I Loved You.” Throughout, Pearce’s unvarnished, warm twang gives the album an intimate, lived-in quality, while its overall feel is unmistakably anchored in country traditions. — JESSICA NICHOLSON

Billy Strings, So Much For Goodbyes

Bluegrass luminary Billy Strings co-produced his new 16-track album with T Bone Burnett (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Raising Sand), on which he pours out a personal time of grief into song following the passing of Strings’ mother in 2025. The album’s stellar collection of songs, such as the fiddle-laced “Remember To Cry,” the lonely “10,000 Miles From A Friend” and the melancholy, pain-filled “Still I Crash,” navigate themes of grief, loss and isolation while also putting his thoughtful, dexterous musicianship on full display. Read Billboard‘s tracks ranked here. — J.N.