New Music Friday – May 23, 2025

May 23, 2025 Ben Pagani

This New Music Friday belongs to the popheads, the singles lovers, the in-depth album listeners, and whatever other kinds of music fans there might be. Read on to view a complete list of top singles, EPs and albums that have been shared this week. First things first: here’s an in-depth look at both a major pop single and a hot-topic album.

The Best of New Music Friday:

Reneé Rapp – “Leave Me Alone”

Reneé Rapp, at just 25-years-old, has her fans by the neck. Those fans are okay with that. Rapp just shared her highly-anticipated and highly-teased track “Leave Me Alone,” boldly kicking off a new era for her second studio album Bite Me.

For weeks, fans were led down a rabbit hole on a pop-up website created by Rapp. The url was BITE.ME and it took Rapp’s Young Ex-Wives to a mock non-disclosure agreement. Listeners quickly started asking what this NDA meant, flooding online forums. “Do the words in the NDA reveal the tracklist?” was a question posed. “This feels like she’s in her reputation era and I’m here for it,” was a thought shared.

On “Leave Me Alone,” Rapp throws punches at both the cancelled HBO Max series Sex Lives of College Girls and her record label for always demanding she supply new music. “Signed a hundred NDAs but I still say something // Leave me alone, bitch, I wanna have fun // Took my sex life with me, now the show ain’t fuckin’,” she sings over a rocking instrumental section. “Can I tell you a secret? // I’m so sick of it all.”

What Rapp is doing for pop music and culture is hardly seen these days. She’s captivated both the most dedicated and casual fans into following her every move. Everyone wants to know why she’s being sneaky online and everyone’s fascinated with her throwing digs at both her previous and current employer. It’s badass and it feels like it’s been a long time since someone with such a wide audience has cast such tricks. The spotlight is hitting Rapp again, and this time she’ll probably hit back.

Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film

Stereolab never “disappeared” The pop group (or groop, as they call themselves) has spent 15 years touring over and over again while also releasing compilations and box sets of previously unreleased material. But today, they’ve “returned” with their first studio-recorded album in 15 years, Instant Holograms on Metal Film. That’s a long time “away”, especially for newer fans of the band who’ve never experienced a timely Stereolab release. It might feel even longer for the fans who were there for Stereolab’s heyday in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Instant Holograms on Metal Film is a welcome record in these troubling times. Stereolab has always been a band that will address current events through singer Lætitia Sadier’s lyrics, pairing them with a dancey rhythm. Stereolab allows listeners to feel angry or inspired by their words, then offers them the chance to dance out those emotions

This is the case on the 7-and-a-half-minute track “Melodie is a Wound.” Sadier spends the first two minutes singing timely truths. “The war economy is inviolable // Violently suppresses all intelligence that conflicts with the stakes of those who drive it,” she sings in her iconic voice. Those lyrics relate to the current state of Western politics and the rise of authoritarianism in major countries. After fans connect with those brutally honest words, they are invited to get down to five minutes of jammy synths, guitars and whatever bells, whistles, dots and loops Stereolab could get their hands on. Even though the words on this song cut deep, at least there’s space held to heal the wound through dancing.

Another major treat from this record? Stereolab’s masterful mixing and production techniques are being brought into the present. The band has made a career off of using studio space to make unique sounds with their instruments. They are quite literally a stereo lab. While the band has released compilations over the past few years, many of those songs were recorded in prior decades. Instant Holograms on Metal Film is a showcase of newly produced Stereolab songs in modern studios with modern gear. That helps make instrumentally driven tracks like the dreamy “Immortal Hands” or extra fun “Electrified Teenybop!” all the more fascinating. It’s worth listening to this album on a nice pair of headphones or really good speakers.

Stereolab’s latest experiment may or may not have been intended to save the world, but it feels like it could. The band’s sound makes bodies dance and brains think. That might be the only way humanity can move forward in these polarizing times. If Stereolab are the ones offering their helping hand–then they are the heroes the world both deserves and needs. Instant Holograms on Metal Film is a rescue mission packaged as an album. In case of emergency, dance to Stereolab’s fascinating new record.

New Music Friday Top Picks:

Barry Can’t Swim – “About To Begin” b/w “Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts” [Ninja Tune]

Home Is Where – Hunting Season [Wax Bodega]

Joan – “Body Language” [Photo Finish]

MSPAINT – No Separation EP [Convulse]

Sparks – Mad! [Transgressive]

Wednesday – “Elderberry Wine” [Dead Oceans]

Winter – “Just Like A Flower” [Winspear]

Wombo – “Danger in Fives” [Firetalk]

Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you add to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Instagram!

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Ben Pagani

Music Projects Manager at Beyond The Stage Magazine

Ben is a music journalist living and working in Chicago. They joined Beyond The Stage as an intern and have stayed on the staff for several years. Now serving on the editorial board, Ben is proud to be BTS' Music Projects Manager, coordinating coverage between international record labels and our staff. Ben has interviewed, photographed and written about bands from across the world. Ben has lived all over the United States working in television and media. They are an Emmy Award-winning writer. Ben can be found spinning records as 'DJ Wearing Sunglasses' in clubs and basements across the US.