NPR Music New Music Friday: The best albums out March 20
19 snips
Mar 20, 2026 Francesca Harding, KCRW broadcaster and LA music curator, guides listeners through the week's standout releases. Conversations cover BTS's return and collaborators. They spotlight Alex Isley’s late-night R&B, underscores' dubstep-infused hyperpop, Zéna’s Ethiopian-jazz fusion, Grace Ives’ cinematic growth, Suitor’s raw post-punk, plus rapid-fire picks from critics.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Alex Isley Crafts Late Night R&B Suite
- Alex Isley's When The City Sleeps is a 15-song late-night R&B record that balances sultry 90s textures with existential lyricism about insomnia and love.
- Standouts like Micon and PCH (featuring Syd) mix buttery vocals with dynamic songwriting and Los Angeles homages.
Underscores Builds Hyperpop From Liminal Spaces
- Underscores' You fuses dubstep-infused hyperpop with clubby, glitchy production written in liminal spaces like airports and malls.
- Production blends aggressive metallic pop hooks with dubstep cores, making some tracks feel Top 40-ready in an alternate universe.
Francesca's KCRW Show Is Cross-Genre and Personal
- Francesca Harding describes her KCRW show as a cross-genre, cross-generational two-hour Tuesday program that plays music that 'moves' her.
- She uses the archive when listeners can't tune in live and highlights local LA indie and world music.