This week’s New Music Friday single and album releases appear in full at the bottom of the page. Some highlights:
- Megan Thee Stallion continues her exciting ascent to megastardom with the release of B.I.T.C.H. She’s now 2/2 for A+ bangers this year following Diamonds ft. Normani and it’s still (still) only January.
- J Hus has semi-surprise-released his new album Big Conspiracy, emphasis on the piracy given most of the album was leaked online earlier this week. The rapper has built up a fiercly loyal following since his 2017 debut Common Sense; his recent single Must Be became his best-performing track landing at Number 5, so expect big things from this follow-up.
- Hayley Williams’s debut solo single was released on Wednesday, but we’ll let her off on this occasion. Simmer mixes Paramore’s rock-pop melodies with Billie Eilish-styled ASMR, which is a very good place to start her solo career, right?
- Pet Shop Boys are one of the only major album releases this week, back with their 14th studio album Hotspot. It’s the last in a trilogy of albums produced by Stuart Price, so if infectious, electronic anthems are your thing, soak it up!
- Promising new artist alert: Dublin-born, London-based dance producer Daniel Blume has launched his first proper bid for mainstream success. Nights Like This is a sort of Calvin Harris-meets-Lauv affair which we’re betting will feature on Love Island by the end of next week.
- Calvin Harris is back! Well, sort of. He’s (temporarily, we think) rebranded as Love Generator and released two songs, Hypnagogic (I Can’t Wait) and CP-1. If the not-so-catchy titles weren’t a clue, this is Calvin having a go at something a little more techno-y than his recent Big Pop Bangers.
- Lion Babe have released a cover of Nelly’s Hot In Herre and turned it into a slinky dance number, the kind made for a 2am journey home in an Uber.
![IT'S OVER [VINYL]](https://d35iaml2i6ojwd.cloudfront.net/img/small?url=https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51GGzjYFNWL.jpg)
