POP/ROCK
Sabrina Carpenter, "Espresso"
Rising pop artist Sabrina Carpenter scored a hit with the breathily sung disco throwback "Feather," but she seems poised for an even bigger smash. Enter "Espresso," a cheeky, summery tune that just might have the juice to propel her to the next level. Atop a midtempo beat that lightly recalls the muffled retro-funk of "Say So," the song that made Doja Cat a star, Carpenter plays the unbothered temptress with winking humor: "Say you can't sleep, baby I know, that's that me, espresso." Make it a double and get ready to hear this one everywhere.
LINDSAY ZOLADZ, New York Times
girl in red, "I'm Back"
In "I'm Back," girl in red — Norwegian songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim — defies the cycles of depression. "It's not like I wanna die," she whisper-sings. "At least not now/I love being alive." Quasi-Baroque keyboard arpeggios pace a track that holds back, recognizes that "Time doesn't stop for a sad little girl" and surges as she decides, "This time I think I'm found." One-syllable words; deep breakthroughs.
JON PARELES, New York Times
Maggie Rogers, "The Kill"
A highlight from singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers' loose and casually confident third album, "Don't Forget Me," "The Kill" is a soft-rock breakup song that switches perspective halfway through, assigning mutual responsibility for a near-miss relationship's demise. "We were both so difficult," Rogers sings soulfully, "but so invincible."
LINDSAY ZOLADZ, New York Times
Lizz Wright featuring Angelique Kidjo, "Sparrow"
Lizz Wright promises sanctuary, consolation and strength in "Sparrow" from her new album "Shadow." Folky guitar and fiddle and a quietly insistent six-beat rhythm support Wright's benevolent, ever resolute voice as she calls on a lover to return. With Angelique Kidjo singing incantatory lines in the background, summoning African roots, Wright recalls stormy, fearful times and vows, "We gonna rise up singing."
JON PARELES, New York Times
Phish, "Evolve"
Trey Anastasio sings as a genial voice of God in "Evolve," which will be the title track of Phish's first studio album since 2020. The tune is from Phish's countryish side, lilting behind a deity who's having second thoughts about the results of creation: "A million little things to solve/Or not — I'll let them all evolve." Phish fans have already heard one version of "Evolve" on Anastasio's 2020 album, "Lonely Trip," and lately the band has been playing it on tour. The studio version has changed key and grown a bit too formal, adding vocal harmonies and a string section. No doubt it will loosen up at concerts, still evolving.
JON PARELES, New York Times
New releases
• A Certain Ratio, "It All Comes Down to This"
• Cloud Nothings, "Final Summer"
• Pearl Jam, "Dark Matter"
• T Bone Burnett, "The Other Side"
• Taylor Swift, "The Tortured Poets Department"
