# New Music Friday: The best albums out July 17

An episode of [NPR Music](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/79687345), 17 Jul 2026, 42 min.

Audio: https://prfx.byspotify.com/e/play.podtrac.com/npr-510019/npr.simplecastaudio.com/afbbcc66-ab00-44f2-903d-1a96ab240270/episodes/8a2f8c78-e918-4b7a-8aa7-ea52a2ebcc2b/audio/256/default.mp3?awCollectionId=afbbcc66-ab00-44f2-903d-1a96ab240270&awEpisodeId=8a2f8c78-e918-4b7a-8aa7-ea52a2ebcc2b&feed=VUaq3kJJ&t=podcast&e=nx-s1-5894856&p=510019&d=2491&size=79742477

Gracie Abrams. Nia Archives. Steve Lacy. On a release day full of catchy earworms, host Stephen Thompson chats with Tshego Letsoalo of KALW in San Francisco about their favorite albums out Friday, July 17. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round. The Starting 5 (00:58) Album No. 1 - Gracie Abrams, 'Daughter from Hell' (08:13) Album No. 2 - Steve Lacy, 'Oh Yeah?' (16:38) Album No. 3 - Nia Archives, 'Emotional Junglist' (22:27) Album No. 4 - Lido Pimienta, 'Caribenya' (28:04) Album No. 5 - Swapmeet, 'Mount Zero' (33:13) The Lightning Round - Catherine Moan, 'CM Ultra' - Helado Tropical, 'Helado Tropical' - Orquesta Akokán, 'América!' - Nao Yoshioka, 'Self' - Quicksand, 'Bring On The Psychics' Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist and see our Long List of notable releases on NPR.org Credits: Host: Stephen Thompson Guest: Tshego Letsoalo, KALW Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell Digital Producer: Dora Levite Editors: Elle Mannion, Otis Hart Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed Special thanks to Felix Contreras, Lars Gotrich and Ann Powers See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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