Friday Music Guide: New Music From Childish Gambino, Stray Kids, Jimin and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

This week, Childish Gambino takes a bow, Stray Kids eat up their new material and Jimin continues to innovate. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Childish Gambino, Bando Stone and the New World 

Donald Glover will likely be present in popular culture for a long time, but his Childish Gambino alter ego takes a bow on Bando Stone and the New World, a bold, 17-song project with an ultra-hip guest list (Flo Milli, Jorja Smith, Yeat and Amaarae all stop by) and that makes sure a beloved hip-hop personality goes out with sound-bending gusto.

Stray Kids, ATE 

The K-pop group’s new mini-album continues to showcase the upward trajectory of their confidence as both hit-makers and studio technicians: the 8-song set, helmed by their in-house production team 3RACHA, brims with effortless cool, particularly on the electro-shock of “Chk Chk Boom.”

Jimin, Muse 

Jimin may have dominated stadiums alongside his BTS brethren and scored a No. 1 solo hit last year with “Like Crazy,” but he’s not resting on his laurels, as sophomore solo project Muse offers meditations on love and creative inspiration while still serving up cross-continental potential hits like with snappy rhythmic pop track “Who.”

Various Artists, Twisters: The Album 

What’s more formidable than one Twister? Multiple Twisters — and a big-budget soundtrack to go along with the natural-disaster epic invading multiplexes this weekend, with superstars like Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and Miranda Lambert headlining the country project (although Benson Boone also sneaking in, with the genre-straddling stomp-along “Death Wish Love”).

Glass Animals, I Love You So F***ing Much 

Following up a record-breaking smash like “Heat Waves” is no easy task, and on the charming new album I Love You So F***ing Much, Glass Animals shrug off chart expectations while still baking oversized hooks and harmonies into the 10 songs, particularly on the opening run of “Show Pony,” “whatthehellishappening?” and “Creatures in Heaven.”

Koe Wetzel, 9 Lives 

The country-leaning Texas singer-songwriter’s profile has been rapidly growing, and new album 9 Lives — featuring previous hits “High Road” with Jessie Murph and “Sweet Dreams,” as well as new standouts like “Hatchet” and “Depression & Obsession” — arrives at an opportune time and with a more mature version of his rootsy storytelling.

Khalid, “Ground” 

Khalid’s long-awaited third album, Sincere, gets another sumptuous jam, with “Ground” making the most of the singer-songwriter’s velvety tone and a hypnotic beat while leaning more toward traditional R&B; this is a head-knocker that you don’t want to end.

Alessia Cara, “Dead Man” 

“If you really care, then why am I feeling you slip right through my hands?” Alessia Cara asks on “Dead Man,” as the former best new artist Grammy winner kicks off a new era with some vibrant jazz-pop, complete with mournful trumpet blasts, that suits her voice and newfound perspective to a tee.

Joe Jonas, “Work It Out” 

A lifetime removed from his 2011 solo debut Fastlife, Joe Jonas sounds an refreshed on energetic new single “Work It Out” as Jonas Brothers did on their comeback single “Sucker,” addressing his issues with anxiety and intrusive thoughts over some kicky pop production for late-summer streaming.

Editor’s Pick: JADE, “Angel of My Dreams” 

“I didn’t want to do a safe first single, that was really important to me,” Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix says of her solo debut in a press release. No worries on that end: “Angel of My Dreams” is a shape-shifting, wholly thrilling first step that effervesces before collapsing then rising back up, and JADE handles all of his wild movements with veteran skill.

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Written by Mr. Nimbus