Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
Last week, we featured Olivia Rodrigo, Alex Warren, JENNIE and more.
This week, Miley begins her new era as a mononym with the lead single of her forthcoming album; Beyoncé celebrates the 20th anniversary of B’Day with an expanded 27-track edition (plus B-sides and Spanish-language versions of her songs); and ADÉLA shares her debut album PRIMA… plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Miley, “Bass Persuades”
Days after announcing her 10th studio album (and first on new label home Atlantic), Miley — yes, just Miley now — dropped its title track and lead single, “Bass Persuades.” The synthy bass-bumping track is a hypnotic dance-pop song about how “the kids don’t wanna dance” while simultaneously showing them how it’s done. Here, Miley is not only sharing wisdom like the icon she is (“Glued your eyes to the telephone screen…Just look out the window and what do you see?”) but she’s also subtly nodding to that icon status by referencing, well, herself with the line “chaos is king,but you know that you can’t stop, won’t stop.” If a song this catchy (paired with a video that is arguably inspired by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance sequence) doesn’t make the kids wanna dance… well, then that’s on them. — LYNDSEY HAVENS
Beyoncé, “CAN I WATCH YOU (feat. Pharrell)”
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of her knockout second album, B’Day, Beyoncé treated fans to an expanded edition that includes previously-unreleased bonus tracks, and also tacks on “Morning Dew (Donk)” that she surprise dropped on July 4. Of the new material, features include Jay-Z on “Welcome to Hollywood” and Pharrell on “Can I Watch You,” plus Maluma, Selena and more on the Spanish-language additions. The latter is a sultry, R&B-infused indie-rock song on which the question posed in its title is repeatedly answered with a whispered “yes.” — L.H.
ADÉLA, PRIMA
Fast-rising pop artist ADÉLA drops her debut album PRIMA, led by focus single “Nicole Kidman.” The downtempo song opens with a beat that resembles “Bound 2” by Ye, and it lingers in the background until the outro gives it some shine back. Previously-released singles include “KGB,” “Red Bottoms” and “Ain’t In LA,” which earned the Slovakia-born artist her first Billboard Hot 100 entry in August. Read Billboard‘s tracks ranked here, in which Kyle Denis calls PRIMA “one of the most concise, clear-eyed debut pop albums in recent memory.” — L.H.
Medium Build, “It’s Not Easy (Falling In Love)”
On his new album, King Of Having Fun, Medium Build digs deep for what is his sharpest album to date; He really had no choice, after hitting rock bottom following the release of his 2024 album Country. Now in a much better headspace, the artist tells Billboard his latest full-length was made “after getting all the dreams, realizing they don’t satisfy, and then burning out, taking a break, getting sober, getting on meds, changing my life, deciding I do want to live, and I don’t care if music is my life.”Turns out, caring less sounds really great. — L.H.
Ellie Goulding, “For You Entertainment”
“For Your Entertainment” is perhaps the song that best proves the title of Ellie Goulding’s sixth album, I Know Too Much, to be true. Having released her debut single 17 years ago, Goulding has surely learned a lot over the years — and “Entertainment” is her own version of a song like Taylor Swift’s “Mirrorball.” While differently sonically, the two songs tread similar lyrical ground, pulling inspiration from the toll of performing. As Goulding sings with stark honesty: “I’ll be posing all and smiling/ My eyes are like a waterfall, whеn you look away/ Can you see how hard I’m trying just to give it all?” — L.H.
Mau P, “Just A Little Bit More”
Mau P’s second track of 2026 is the slinky “Just A Little Bit More.” A staple of his sets over the last few months, the house production is essentially the Mau P take on ’90s R&B, with the soulful vocals — crisply recorded and deployed —giving the song a throwback feel while the rest of the production keeps it fresh and festive. (The whistles!) “Just A Little Bit More” is out on Interscope Records and drops just ahead of the Dutch producer’s set at ARC Music Festival in Chicago this weekend. —KATIE BAIN
Amelie Lens,Aura
A decade after her first official release, Amelie Lens releases her debut album,Aura. The 13-track project contains the same kind of sharp, throttling and often quite cerebral techno that’s made Lens one of the genre’s leading names, with highlights including the previously release Angèle collab “run” and the relentless “the energy is us.” Lens callsAura“a moment I’ve been waiting for my whole career,” with the project landing before a set in her native Belgium this weekend and shows in Washington D.C., Denver and Los Angeles later this month. These shows precede another major project from Lens, with the artist due to give birth to her second child this winter. —K.B.
Malie Donn, The Golden Child
Malie Donn’s debut studio album is finally here. Billboard’s Caribbean Up-And-Comer of the Month for August first broke through with 2023’s “V6,” and now he’s dropped a sprawling 20-track set featuring contributions from fellow dancehall stars Byron Messia, Javo Donn, DJ Frass and Squash. From the inspirational, autobiographical title track to the sultry, aptly titled “Rated R,” The Golden Child spans the gamut of all the different sounds and themes Malie Donn does best. — KYLE DENIS
Johnny Venus, “Nightmares”
Johnny Venus, one-half of Grammy-nominated rap duo EARTHGANG, has shared the latest preview of his forthcoming debut solo studio album. Co-produced by Courtlin Jabrae and Poplord, “Nightmares” finds Venus delivering his signature disarming songwriting, zeroing in on the specific anxiety of dreading the loss of a cherished love. The 11th Hour can’t come soon enough! — K.D.
Kenia Os & Xavi, “Malas Mañas”
In an unexpected but very much-needed collaboration, Kenia Os and Xavi drop “Malas Mañas.” Blending both musical worlds, the track fuses Xavi’s melodious música mexicana requintos and Kenia’s lush pop sound, before transitioning into a surprisingly-good merengue song. In “Malas Mañas,” which translates to bad habits, both Mexican breakout stars sing about living life to the fullest, wild and carefree, without worry about what the haters think: “me vale madre!” (I don’t give a damn) they repeatedly say in the song. — JESSICA ROIZ
Low Clika, El Primer Álbum de Low Clika
Low Clika’s debut album turns música mexicana into a heart-on-sleeve space where longing, lust and softboy bravado coexist. Across 12 tracks, the six-member group bends its traditional foundations without making a show of the seams: “Wow,” the project’s focus track, captures the disorienting rush of being completely taken by a girl, while “La Triste” pares heartbreak back to a piercing tololoche riff and wounded, near-wailing vocals. On “Julieta,” plucked strings with an almost Hawaiian lilt and bursts of brass cushion a midtempo Romeo-like promise; “Asesina,” featuring corridos-kawaii singer NXNNI, makes its explicit fantasies feel unexpectedly exposed and tender. Elsewhere, “Vudú” brings accordion-led cumbia into contact with a brief Latin trap pulse, turning romantic fixation into the feeling of being spellboundl. El Primer Álbum de Low Clika finds a group making emotional music with swagger, letting its genre shifts land as naturally as a subtle change in mood. — ISABELA RAYGOZA
Benjamin Tod, Country Is Dead
Benjamin Tod puts his own spin on several country classics on his new covers project, wrapping his warm, rustic vocal around songs from Jimmie Rodgers (“Waiting For A Train”), Keith Whitley (“Turn This Thing Around”) and George Jones (“Color Of The Blues”). Accompanied by slabs of steel guitar, fiddles and piano throughout, Tod eschews overly-polished approaches, instead infusing the songs with his own brand of lived-in, authentic connection. — JESSICA NICHOLSON
Randy Travis, “Same Old Way”
In November, the Country Music Hall of Famer will release a new album, Same Old Way, filled with previously unreleased “from the vault” songs he recorded prior to suffering a stroke in 2013. Spanning sessions recorded between 1986 and 2013, the collection is led by the title track, a sultry blues-country number. Velvety instrumentation and a sensual groove provide a warm foil for his unmistakable voice, creating a nostalgic, must-hear song for fans of classic country. — J.N.
LISA, “SaWaDiKa”
As LISA prepares for her upcoming solo EP, Press Play, which arrives on Oct. 23, the BLACKPINK artist is sharing a taste of what’s to come. “SaWaDiKa” is a hard-hitting pop-rap track, on which LISA owns her star status as she sings, “I’m that bitch on your TV…La Lalisa, la diva.” — L.H.
JISOO, “CLICK”
JISOO has yet to unveil her own solo full-length (she dropped her solo EP Amortage, in Feb. 2025) but is preparing to do just that this year. After teasing the LP for months, she now shares “CLICK,” a melodic, catchy pop track about the moment lips lock or, as the title suggests, when two people just “click.” — L.H.
