NPR Music New Music Friday: The best albums out March 13
13 snips
Mar 13, 2026 Amelia Mason, arts and culture reporter at WBUR who covers music, joins to review new album releases. They discuss Sturgill Simpson’s country-funk alter ego and its protest songs. James Blake’s dreamy, anxious record and notable collaborations come up. Conversations also cover Anjimile’s lyrical craft, Kim Gordon’s experimental rock, and Blessing Jolie’s genre-bending debut.
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Sturgill Simpson's Country Funk Protest
- Sturgill Simpson uses country-funk to deliver explicit protest songs about contemporary malaise.
- Tracks like Make America F Again and Ain't That a B? mix boogieing grooves with blunt political lines about wages, cages, and fascism, making protest musical and quotable.
James Blake's Interior Take On Turbulent Times
- James Blake's Trying Times blends dreamlike production with interior reflections on living through political anxiety.
- Songs like Trying Times and Death of Love pair fragmented, unreal sonics with lyrics about psychic effects of news and relationship survival.
WBUR's Tiny Desk Panel Helped Launch Anjimile
- Amelia Mason recounts how WBUR's Tiny Desk local panel helped discover Anjimile years ago.
- Anjimile entered Tiny Desk in 2015 and WBUR's early attention contributed to his later success and NPR ties.