The best new albums out Nov. 21

It's Friday, and there's a new De La Soul album in the world. Cabin In The Sky is the pioneering hip-hop group's first full-length release since founding member Trugoy the Dove died in 2023. The rapper appears on several of the 20 songs, as do guests Black Thought, Killer Mike, Q-Tip and Nas — so we imagine your morning is pretty sorted.

That's not the only triumphant return on this week's episode of New Music Friday. Tobias Jesso Jr., a songwriter to the stars who co-wrote 2025 hits like HAIM's "Relationships," Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" and Justin Bieber's "First Place", released his first solo album in 10 years.

We also have two gorgeous albums by British jazz composer SHOLTO and funk collective Snarky Puppy, and a protest album by Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover that had us digging out our Pete Seeger albums. All that, plus surprise EPs from Tems and Skrillex.

Each week, we welcome a different DJ from the NPR Music network of public radio stations, and this episode's guest is Justus Sanchez, host of The Lounge on KNKX in Seattle and Tacoma, Wash.

Keep scrolling to see our long list of albums out today and sample the best via our New Music Friday playlists.

The Starting 5

🎵 Tobias Jesso Jr., s h i n e

• Recommended If You Like: Randy Newman, Adele

🎵 Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover, What of Our Nature

• RIYL: Woody Guthrie, Peter, Paul and Mary

🎵 SHOLTO, The Sirens

• RIYL: David Axelrod, Alice Coltrane

🎵 Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest, Somni

• RIYL: Ennio Morricone, James "Blood" Ulmer

🎵 Odeal, The Fall That Saved Us

• RIYL: D'Angelo, Wizkid

New Music Friday is a feature of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast. Hear the discussion on the NPR App, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Lightning Round

Six more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:

⚡ De La Soul, Cabin In The Sky

⚡ Keaton Henson, Parader

⚡ John Scofield and Dave Holland, Memories of Home

⚡ Fabiano do Nascimento, Cavejaz

⚡ Magic Fig, Valerian Tea

⚡ Max Richter, Hamnet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Listen to each album's best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple, or wherever you stream music.

The Long List

For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week's new albums sorted by genre:

Global

• Tems, Love is a Kingdom EP
• Awich, Okinawan Wuman
• Aye Nakamura, Destinée
• Julio LV, Loco y Vago
• María Becerra, QUIMERA
• Pabllo Vittar, Prazer, Mamãe Noel
• Stray Kids, DO IT EP
• Victony, Very Stubborn EP

Electronic/Out There

• Skrillex, hit me where it hurts x EP
• Animal Collective, Jetty (Original Soundtrack)
• Anthony Moore with AKA & Friends, On Beacon Hill
• Danny Daze, ::BLUE:: [REMIXES]
• DJ Q, Foundations
• duval timothy, you go to the middle of nothing EP
• Grey Streak, Soft Courage
• Grouper, Way Their Crept (Reissue)
• Horse Lords & Arnold Dreyblatt, FRKWYS Vol. 18: Extended Field
• Ioa Beduneau, Mélodies pour Clairons
• Joseph Shabason and Thom Gill, Mississippi River Styx
• Kara-Lis Coverdale, Changes in Air
• Kelly Lee Owens, Kelly EP
• Kelman Duran, Daily News
• Lawrence English & Stephen Vitiello, Trinity
• Ma Sha and Hodge, No One Moves Alone
• Mischa Blanos, Take Control
• Morning Seance, Eternal Life Makes Your Past Grow Too Big
• Natasha Pirard, Fernande, Cecile
• Oneohtrix Point Never, Tranquilizer
• Ozzy Jones, Between You and Me
• Red Axes, LOUD
• Samson A.K, Heavy Birds Drop
• Shygirl, ALIAS is ME
• Soar, s/t
• Stiletti-Ana, Stiletti City Tape Archives
• Sub Focus, Contact
• The Black Dog, Loud Ambient
• The Bug vs Ghost Dubs, Implosion
• Yellow Magic Orchestra, YMO TRANS ATLANTIC TOUR PARIS 10/18/1979
• V/A, Eternal Volume 1

Classical

• Tristan Perich and James McVinnie, Infinity Gradient
• Víkingur Ólafsson, Opus 109 (Beethoven , Bach, Schubert)
• Wu Wei, Martin Stegner and Janne Saksala, Pur ti miro

Rap/Hip-Hop

• 1300SAINT, Savior
• Emmeline, LIFTGOINGUP
• Lihtz, HOPELESS
• Ransom & Conductor Williams, The Uncomfortable Truth
• SoFaygo, Mania

Rock/Alt/Indie

• The Replacements, Let It Be (Deluxe Edition)
• Sharp Pins, Balloon Balloon Balloon
• Aerosmith & YUNGBLUD, One More Time EP
• Big Bill, Sick Myth
• Boys Life, Ordinary Wars
• Chip Kinman, s/t
• Ella Eyre, everything, in time
• Flaccid Mojo, s/t (Reissue)
• Fuzz Lightyear, Zero Guilt EP
• Glyders, Forever
• Lou Salome, Something You Cared About In High School
• Pet Shop Boys, Disco 5
• Queen Quail, Narcissus EP
• Spanish Love Songs, A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time EP
• Stiff Little Fingers, Inflammable Material (Box Set)
• Teen Daze, Splashes Of Colour EP
• The Dead Betties, Whitey EP
• The Futureheads, Christmas
• The Salt Collective, A Brief History of Blindness
• The Smith Street Band, Once I Was Wild
• Tropical F*** Storm, Live At 3RRR FM, 25 July 2025
• Twin Shadow, Cadet
• Wreckless Eric, England Screaming

Pop

• Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo & Wicked Movie Cast, Wicked: For Good: The Soundtrack
• Flight To London, Instructions For Losing Control
• Goldfrapp, Supernature (20th Anniversary Reissue)
• MAJOR LAZER, GYALGEBRA
• Obongjayar, Paradise Now & Forever (Deluxe)
• Parris Goebel, A Girl is a Drug EP
• Rufus Wainwright & Pacific Jazz Orchestra, I'm a Stranger Here Myself -- Wainwright Does Weill
• The xx, s/t (Deluxe Edition)
• Tommy Richman, WORLDS APART* EP

Country/Folk/Americana

• Lisa O'Neill, The Wind Doesn't Blow This Far Right EP

Jazz

• Bill Evans Trio, Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings
• jaime branch, FLY or DIE: bird dogs of paradise (IA11 Edition)
• Max Jaffe, You Want That Too!

R&B/Soul

• Elujay, A Constant Charade
• Lance Ferguson, Rare Groove Spectrum Vol 3
• Sabri, What I Feel Now EP

Credits:

Host: Stephen Thompson

Guest: Justus Sanchez, KNKX

Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell

Digital Producer: Elle Mannion

Editor: Otis Hart

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed