Every Friday, the internet is swarmed with new tracks (on Spotify: 1.4 million), each promising to define your weekend mood. But which ones actually deliver? Welcome (back) to the weekly Arts & Culture column of the UNISVERSE, New Music Friday Reviews! Step inside this section of the paper to a world where music is discussed as the key to representing our modern-day culture, which, like music, evolves with every passing minute. Covering genres of music from Pop, Hip-Hop, R&B, Rap, Jazz, Alternative, Rock, to so much more, the goal of this column is to provide insight not only on how masterful today’s top-emerging art is, but to give you, as the reader, the deliberate declaration to a question that accompanies any song: is it worth the listen?
So, yes, while as a reader, you may be currently intrigued in discovering which music is truly the freshest zeitgeist of the week, month, year, or era, you must be wondering; what the heck even is ‘a’ New Music Friday? You might have seen the Spotify or Apple Music algorithm recommending this New Music Friday playlist to you, but are these playlists just a bunch of new songs released the day before the weekend? While cursorily, this may be the case, the act of publishing new music on a Friday has been the official global standard since 2015. This is mainly the reason why you’ve never heard of a New Music Tuesday: “ball out to the new, say, The Weekend album album while unwinding, getting ready for sleep, prepping for a meeting, and being ravenously joyful to survive yet another ‘Hump Day’ at school tomorrow!”) In addition, since the release of music on Friday also limits international piracy, boosts chart performance, sales, and aligns with the start of the weekend, the international music industry generally came to the consensus that Friday was the unanimous music-release day. And the rest was history.
To build atop this positive history this column aims to highlight today’s good (or bad) music, critically analyzed on a one-to-ten scale for a list of song categories: Most Streamed, Lyrical Standout, Sonic Standout, Hidden Gem, and Personal Favorite. Where the song selected for each category will be evaluated by the rubric below, the song selections and the responding commentaries will be parallel with the most recent New Music Friday releases. I hope that you’ll follow me on my weekly endeavors to discover the best music. Along the way you might even learn to critique the music yourself!
This week was a vibrant one. A few notable artists have released this week, notably: Selena Gomez, Kacey Musgraves, Demi Lovato, Tyla, Shakira, Megan Thee Stallion, Mac Miller, Lewis Capaldi, The Neighbourhood, mgk, Daniel Caesar, Cigarettes After Sex, Foo Fighters, Polo G, and Megan Moroney. Including tracks from the Netflix series, Nobody Wants This (Season 2), this week, there’s something for anyone’s playlist (well, maybe not much for Halloween playlists…). Excluding some tracks that seem to take away from the listeners’ life spans rather than provide enjoyment (Lewis Capaldi’s “Almost” for example), moments such as Sadie Jean’s “Know You Forever” or Selena Gomez’s “In The Dark.” contained a whirlwind of tracks from different styles and genres, which proved difficult to curate selections.
1. Most Streamed Song of the Week – “Root of all Evil” by Daniel Caesar (9.75/10)
Released this Friday with his fourth studio album, Son of Spergy, “Root of All Evil” is a type of unique song that allows Caesar’s creative identity to shine through. With references to notions of higher power and nature (“Root” references the root of a tree) the song conquers evils that are often hard to grasp. With every portion of the song sounding like they belong to the bible’s pages, Caesar, alongside Dylan Wiggins, is able to illustrate a Judaic-like cinematic masterpiece. Particularly existential in the production are the angel-sounding harmonies and wind sounds that represent the tree’s everyday life. With no moment of the song ever feeling flat or dry, Caesar is praiseworthy, and provides luxurious and melancholic comfort. “Root of All Evil” is truly a powerful song that questions the uncomfortable origins of evil, and is a much-needed sanctuary of good music in 2025.
2. Lyrical Standout – “Cable Box” by Mac Miller (9.75/10)
In celebration of Mac Miller’s 6th studio album, GO:OD AM’s 10th year anniversary, Mac Miller’s estate has released a new edition to the album, which features three new tracks, “Royal Flush,” “Cable Box,” and “Carpe Diem,” all recorded by Mac Miller before his unfortunate death in 2018. “Cable Box” is a nostalgic homecoming to Miller’s iconic 2015-era sound. With production styles practical of Miller, his soft, fierce, and swift rapping embarks on his struggles with drug addiction, showing his reliance on wealth for happiness through the metaphor of a TV Cable Box, and the numerous cables he needs to feel alive. With gut-wrenching lyrics like, “Standin’ there on judgment day like, ‘Was it all worth it?’” the track revitalizes Miller’s ability to convey tricky emotions through his lyrics, as well as the hidden pain he went through while alive. While “Cable Box” repeats certain themes already present in Miller’s discography, the fact that it is a demo meditates the time period in which it was created.
3. Sonic Standout – “My Muse” by Leon Thomas (6.25/10)
Being the popular Andre from the Nickelodeon teen-sensation show, Victorious, Leon Thomas has started his journey to musical stardom. His summer-smash-hit, “MUTT,” was particularly successful. This Friday, Thomas springs back with his newest album, PHOLKS, which shows more of his artistic capabilities. Merging neo-funk and 70s-inspired production together, “My Muse” mirrors a part two vibe to Bruno Mars’ Silk Sonic project, merging nostalgia with modernization. Sadly, though, the song wasn’t all so great. While the production on the track is beyond energetic, fun, and definitely meeting of Leon’s discography criteria, it fails to be exciting at multiple points throughout. Some lowlights, for example, include, “G’d up in her boss era…Make me wanna get my money up and spend it on you” and the–totally not repetitive—“My, my, my, my, my, my muse,” (oh my my my my my are the 30 my’s supposed to be the mark of a lyrical Einstein..?) With even the production feeling uninspired and derivative throughout much of the song, “My Muse” is not close to being a memorable song. Where the production shows promise of Thomas’ future career, it is with excitement that I anticipate to see how his music improves, because it’s more than okay that we weren’t all born as Einstein-like prodigies; practice makes perfect!
4. Hidden Gem – “Good Ol’ Days” by Hayley Williams (9/10)
As part of her third studio album, Ego Death at a Bachelor Party, Hayley Williams depicts the catharsis of longing for distant past memories through her track, “Good Ol’ Days”. Starting off the song with a summer-esque metaphor about being tied to mneomic waves and needing a surfboard to navigate through the struggles of not being able to experience the past in the same way, the song provides Lana Del Rey “The Greatest” adjacents in the mood and atmosphere it curates. Highlighting herself as a vivid “Miss Paramore,” the song weaves through the singer’s memories, and never attempts to chart into the boring lyric waters, constantly providing breeze and uplifting feelings, as well as melancholy to those who seek it. While some lyrics, such as “I miss the rage,” feel ingenuine, the overall world created through this track is truly underappreciated by mass media.
5. Personal Favorite – “I’m Not There For You” by Jessie Murph (7/10)
Providing tones of country and pop in her new track, “I’m Not There For You,” Jessie Murph continues the legacy of her recent successful album, Sex Hysteria. While lyrically shallow to an extent, the track highlights the best of Murph and her capabilities to use raspy vocals to the best of her talent. The track is fun, enjoyable, but nothing above or below fine. Envisionable in nearly any place, the track is my personal favorite because it provides the opportunity for a carefree mindset. In the future, I would be excited to see how Murph might sonically explore different genres and themes that feel a bit more mature than her current 21-year-old anecdotes–try anything but, “oh my god… we broke up… my life is over!!!!”
Evaluation Rubric
