Chuck Varga, a founding member of the costumed heavy metal band GWAR, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 68.

Varga’s death was announced Friday (Sept. 25) in a social media post by GWAR bassist Casey Orr, who performs as Beefcake the Mighty.

“He was one of a kind. As an artist, as a performer; as a scholar and a gentleman,” Orr wrote on Facebook, noting that Varga died peacefully alongside his wife, Bambi. “I’m better for having known him and the world is lesser for his leaving.”

Varga was best known for creating and portraying GWAR’s Sexecutioner character, beginning in 1985. He left the band in 1997 but continued to make occasional appearances with the group before retiring from performing in 2021, according to the band’s website.

In his tribute, Orr wrote that Varga is “most likely being welcomed into Valhalla right now” by the late GWAR members Dave Brockie, the band’s longtime frontman who performed as Oderus Urungus, and Cory Smoot, the guitarist who performed as Flattus Maximus.

“Raise your glass and tell his tales. Legends never die. Hail Varga! Hail Sexicutioner!” Orr concluded.

In June, GWAR launched a fundraiser to help Varga’s family cover the mounting costs of his medical care, including cancer treatments, hospice care, specialized medical equipment and additional nursing support.

Donors who contributed to the fundraiser received access to exclusive merchandise created for the campaign, including a new T-shirt designed by Varga.

Born in 1958, Varga studied at Virginia Commonwealth University before co-founding Slave Pit Studios in Richmond, Virginia, where he helped develop the art-driven project that became GWAR. A multidisciplinary artist, Varga created and portrayed Sexecutioner while also contributing costumes, sets, props and comic art to the band’s elaborate world. He left GWAR in 1997 but continued to make occasional appearances before retiring from performing in 2021.

“Chuck Varga’s contributions to the GWAR and Slave Pit collective are enormous,” Bob Gorman (aka Bonesnapper) wrote in a statement posted on the donation page. “The influence of his illustrations, character designs, performances, and artistic vision can still be felt throughout GWAR today.”

Ella Langley had a sharp response after a fan asked her out on a date in public.

The 27-year-old country star — whose “Choosin’ Texas” recently made history on the Billboard Hot 100 — didn’t mince words when responding to TikTok user Tiki after he attempted to court her outside her Knoxville, Tennessee, show on Thursday (Sept. 24).

In a video that has since gone viral, Tiki can be heard shouting through a gate, “Ella, how many likes to take you on a date?” Langley, who was standing in a parking lot surrounded by a group of people, looks toward him with a straight face before replying, “Not enough in the world,” then turning away.

The sports-centric digital creator took the rejection in stride, crossing his arms and looking into the camera before replying, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

The exchange sparked a range of reactions in the comments, with some viewers criticizing Langley’s response. “This rubbed me the wrong way. And I like her,” one person wrote, while another questioned, “Literally what is her problem?” A third commenter took issue with the way Langley delivered the rejection, writing, “She could have laughed and said no in a whole different way.”

The singer-songwriter — who is reportedly dating fellow country singer Tucker Wetmore — later offered some context in the comments, writing, “It was meant to come off as dark humor. You said that and it got quiet and I got nervous,” according to TMZ. The comment now appears to have been deleted.

Earlier in the week, Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” smash notched a 23rd week atop the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. chart.

The song debuted in the top 40 of the Hot 100 at No. 39 in November and surged to spend 23 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1, dethroning Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” as the record-holder.

She celebrated with a heartfelt video posted to Instagram, thanking her fans.

“I’m genuinely trying to find the words to help explain what’s going on in my brain today,” Langley began. “Thank you so much for loving this song, for listening to it… I’m running out of hyperboles to describe how I feel.” She added, “Just thank you so much, it’s changing my life, it’s changing the lives of the writers of this song. It’s changing the lives of my family and it is truly growing an atmosphere for something I’m gonna be able to do the rest of my life.”

Michelle Branch has reimagined her 2002 hit “Goodbye to You” as a duet with Maren Morris, pairing the new version with a Laguna Beach-inspired music video starring reality star Kristin Cavallari.

Out now via BMG, the reworked track turns the song into a full duet rather than a straight re-recording, with the two Grammy winners trading its lines about change, independence and letting go. “Beyond thrilled to be joining Maren on her beautiful rendition of ‘Goodbye to You,’” Branch said. “Call me crazy, but I prefer her version to the original.” Morris, who has cited Branch as a formative influence, added: “Michelle was really encouraging to let me make it my own… Her songwriting has always been ahead of its time.” The pair first previewed the collaboration last month when Branch made a surprise appearance during Morris’ 10th-anniversary celebration of her debut album Hero at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

The accompanying video leans hard into early-2000s nostalgia, recreating the prom scene from MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County — the reality series that famously featured “Goodbye to You” in its first season, with cast members singing along in a limo. Cavallari, who rose to fame on the show, appears alongside Branch and Morris. “‘Goodbye to You’ is one of those songs that immediately takes me back to a very specific time in my life,” she said, calling the shoot “a fun, full-circle experience.”

The release is the second confirmed track from Everywhere and Back Again, Branch’s EP marking 25 years in music, due Nov. 6 via BMG. The project revisits songs from across her catalog through new recordings with guest collaborators; it launched earlier this year with a reworked “The Game of Love” reuniting Branch with New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander. The EP arrives as Branch launches her Everywhere and Back Again Tour — a nearly 20-date fall run that sold out nationwide within a week, prompting a 17-date 2027 leg.

“Goodbye to You” originally appeared on Branch’s 2001 debut album The Spirit Room, which sold three million copies worldwide and was certified double-platinum in the U.S., establishing her among a new generation of young women writing and performing their own songs.

The song became her third top-40 hit, peaking at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002. Branch went on to win a Grammy for her 2002 Carlos Santana collaboration “The Game of Love,” which reached No. 5 on the Hot 100, and topped the Hot Country Songs chart with “Leave the Pieces” as one half of the duo the Wreckers in 2006. Morris, a Grammy winner with a string of country and pop crossover hits, reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 with her Zedd and Grey collaboration “The Middle.”

Stream “Goodbye To You” below.

Kylie Minogue delivered on her promise of “the biggest spectacle” at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday (Sept. 26), headlining the AFL Grand Final pre-game entertainment with a career-spanning, high-flying show in front of more than 100,000 fans — and millions more watching at home.

Performing in her hometown for the first time at the event, the pop icon packed more than three decades of hits into a 20-minute set, undeterred by the rain that had soaked the venue for much of the day. “A homecoming like this? I should be so lucky,” she told the crowd, as the letters “K” and “M” lit the stadium’s floodlights.

The show opened with a video montage of home footage from Minogue’s Melbourne childhood, a young schoolgirl walking onto the turf before the real Kylie launched into “Love at First Sight.”

From there she moved through “Love at First Sight,” “In Your Eyes,” “Get Outta My Way,” “On a Night Like This,” “All the Lovers” and “Spinning Around,” backed by dancers and pyrotechnics through multiple costume changes.

The set made room for guests and surprises: Kalkadunga songman William Barton joined her for a dramatic, orchestral-backed rendition of 1994’s “Confide in Me,” and G Flip — who had opened the pre-game entertainment with their own three-instrument set — returned to trade a rock-leaning “Padam Padam.”

After a fake-out ending on “The Loco-Motion,” which sent the crowd into the dance en masse, Minogue emerged from a giant bedazzled “KYLIE” football and soared through the air above the stadium to close on “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” incorporating a remix by Melbourne DJ Dom Dolla, who appeared as her “aircraft marshaller.”

Minogue is the first solo Australian act to headline the Grand Final since Paul Kelly in 2019, and the first Australian at all since a 2021 medley during the pandemic-relocated Perth final; recent years had featured international headliners including Robbie Williams, KISS, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg.

One of the most successful pop artists in history, Minogue has sold more than 80 million records worldwide and scored nine No. 1 albums in Australia across a nearly four-decade career. While her U.S. presence peaked with the crossover smash “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” — which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 — she has been a fixture on Billboard’s dance charts, where the same track became the first of her 14 No. 1s on the Dance Club Songs tally. A two-time Grammy winner and 18-time ARIA Award recipient, she returned to the global spotlight in recent years with “Padam Padam” and her Grammy-winning album Tension, and toured Australia in 2026 on her Tension Tour.

Clearly, Swifties stuck around for The Encore.

On Friday (Sept. 25), Spotify announced that Taylor Swift became the most-streamed female artist in a single day in 2026 on the platform thanks in part to her four new bonus tracks released on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. In addition, “Patient Zero” — the focus track of the new quartet of songs — became Spotify’s most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day this year so far.

Spotify announced the news Friday evening via social media. “On September 25th, ‘Patient Zero’ became Spotify’s most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day in 2026 so far, and Taylor Swift became the most-streamed female artist in a single day this year,” reads the Instagram caption.

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In addition to “Patient Zero,” the extended Showgirl project also adds “Babylon,” “Pink Clouding” and “Cleveland!” to the original set — which is no stranger to setting records. The Life of a Showgirl spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last year and opened with a record-shattering 4.002 million equivalent album units in the United States in its first week.

Now, Swifties are waiting until Sunday’s (Sept. 27) MTV Video Music Awards, as the pop star is planning to premiere a cinematic music video for “Patient Zero” during the ceremony. In the meantime, she’s released a teaser revealing that Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson co-star in the visual, which she directed. Swift will receive the inaugural Artist Director Honors at the 2026 VMAs.

John Legend and Pharrell have been friends for over two decades, and they’re gearing up for their first collab album with Skateboard P producing the entirety of Legend’s upcoming Muse LP, which will be released on Oct. 23 via Republic Records.

The duo teamed up to release the second single from the project as “Fireflies” arrived on Friday (Sept. 25). For the classy music video, Legend hops behind his Yamaha piano to perform the ethereal track with some help from the Hollywood Cinematic Orchestra, who are suited and booted.

The seamless white backdrop is reminiscent of the visual from John Legend’s “Ordinary People,” which originally served as a single for his 2004 Get Lifted album.

The will.i.am-assisted ballad peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy for best male vocal R&B performance, while receiving nominations in the song of the year and best R&B song categories.

In a similar vein, “Fireflies” finds Legend singing about turning hardship to hope while navigating the turbulence and hurdles life has thrown his way.

“Pharrell’s idea from the beginning was that we would create something with all of these classic, cinematic elements, this Black James Bond aesthetic,” Legend said in a statement. “But with a modern backbeat at its foundation. You can hear traces of me and traces of him, but it sounds like something new for the both of us. The combination of me and Pharrell, on paper, I think, is a good idea. And the execution is even better.”

“Fireflies” follows “Daylight,” which was the lead single for Legend’s Muse album. The project boasts 16 tracks in total and features an appearance from Clipse.

The Ohio native was set to perform at Global Citizen Festival on Saturday (Sept. 26) before the festival was canceled due to the inclement weather punishing the Northeast this weekend.

Watch the “Fireflies” video below.

“Bittersweet” is Marc Almond’s term for Danceteria, the sixth and final Soft Cell album which is out Friday (Sept. 25), 11 months after longtime partner David Ball passed away at the age of 66.

“It wasn’t a complete surprise, but I thought we still would’ve had more time together to see through this album, at least, and who knows what for the future,” Almond tells Billboard of Ball’s death, which came after years of extensive health issues. “I’d been in contact with him just two days before and we both ticked off the album and said how pleased we are with it, then two days later he passed away. So the album’s finally coming out, and I just wish Dave was around to enjoy it.”

Almond, 69, had an early chance to witness how Danceteria would be received on this summer’s Generations Tour with the Human League and Alison Moyet, during which he previewed three of its 14 songs, including the title track and the album-closing remake of Was (Not Was)’s “Out Come the Freaks” recorded with Nona Hendryx. The album was actually a couple of years in the making and originally planned to be released during the spring, but Ball’s health matters complicated those plans.

As far as Almond is concerned,  Danceteria puts a cap on the Soft Cell story, which began during 1979 in Leeds, while he and Ball were attending Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University). They borrowed money from Ball’s mother to make a limited-edition EP called Mutant Moments and contributed a track to a Some Bizarre label compilation before the duo’s cover of Gloria Jones’ 1965 single “Tainted Love” hit No. 1 in 17 countries and for a time held a Guinness World Record for its 43-week stay on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 8 in 1982. Soft Cell released three albums before splitting up in 1984, then reunited from 2000-2005 and again from 2018 to Ball’s death. Ball also contributed to Almond’s solo efforts.

In conversation, Almond told us about how the Danceteria album came together and went down memory lane to talk about the New York scene of the ‘80s that inspired the duo’s final statement.

There must be considerable emotion, for obvious reasons, as you put Danceteria out.

It’s relief, to be quite honest. We started recording the album heading on two years ago now. It’s been an on-and-off process, due to Dave’s health and various things, and of course him passing away last year. It held things back for quite a bit and came out later than we’d planned. I’d planned, alongside with Dave, to do a small tour around what would have been March this year, but of course all that didn’t happen.

You’ve said his passing wasn’t a surprise, but nevertheless…

I think it was a matter of timing. His health had been very bad for awhile, but he was really on an up, healthwise. We’d done the album. He was very positive about it. He was feeling better than he had been in awhile. He was looking forward to doing some dates in the U.K. What makes me most sad about everything is Soft Cell’s been getting a little bit of a renaissance recently, whether it’s through Danceteria or (2022’s) Happiness Not Included… there’s been a bit of an upsurge in interest. I would’ve loved for him to at least be able to enjoy that a little more.

Do you feel like that idea of mortality was on both of your minds in any way, and had an impact on the album?

I’m not too sure. I expected (Happiness Not Included) to be our last album, really. I didn’t think we’d get to make another. Then (Ball) had a really bad scare; he’d fallen and broken his back, which is what put him in a motorized chair most of the time. I didn’t think I was ever gonna get any music from him again, and then I got the music from him for this album and it was, “Hurray! I’ve got a file of music from Dave!” And it was really, really great. I was really happy and loved the music and felt infinitely inspired to start writing, as I always did when Dave sent me music. We were off again making another album that I never expected to make — but inside my heart, I think, I knew we wouldn’t make another.

Did that steer Danceteria lyrically at all? There is a song called “In Heaven (When I Dance With You).”

It did, really. I really thought the music he sent me was much more uplifting than the last album’s music, which we wrote and recorded all the way through COVID, in lockdown, swapping files and things. That album had a different attitude to it; it was a little downbeat at times, a little cynical and angry. It reflected the mood of the times. It was good to get a lot of music from him this time that felt more uplifting. And immediately I thought back to a track I did on Happiness Not Included called “Polaroid,” which was about going to meet Andy Warhol in 1982 at the Factory (in New York). And then I thought back to that period of time, which was such an amazing time for Soft Cell in New York. We recorded our first three albums there, so I wanted to go back to that time and write a love letter to New York at that time, our experience of being in the U.S.A., as well as about Soft Cell. I thought if this was going to be the last album, it ties things up and comes around full circle.

So for sure this is the last Soft Cell album?

We have a live album that might come out, but there will never be another album of new Soft Cell material. I’ve got a file of some great music he left me for my solo stuff that we were working on together, so at some point more Dave Ball songs will come out, co-written with me. But it won’t be Soft Cell. I just can’t make a Soft Cell record without Dave Ball being in this world. So as far as Soft Cell, new music, this is it.

What kind of memories do you have of Soft Cell in New York 40-plus years ago?

It was so exciting for us, what New York was like in the early ‘80s, which was a pretty chaotic, somewhat dangerous place. But we just loved it; we were so inspired. It really set us free as musicians, and as people. We’d had a huge hit in England with “Tainted Love,” an enormous hit, and Mike (Thome), who produced the track, said, “I don’t want to do the (album) in London. I want to record in New York,” and we thought, “Great! Amazing!” The record company wanted us to be pop stars and carry on the “Tainted Love” torch, and we were two belligerent art students. We still thought of ourselves as an underground band, a cult band, and we were influenced by bands like Suicide and people like that, New York punk and Andy Warhol, John Waters, all these things we really loved. So when we were in New York and not under the watchful eye of our record company, we had a great sense of freedom to grow. And we were introduced very quickly to the New York nightlife.

Sounds like trouble…

[Laughs] I think on the first day or second day I was taken to Studio 54, which in those days was the dying days of Studio 54. It was just hanging in there. Then we got taken to another club, this place called Danceteria. To me, I felt like I’d come home; there was different music on each floor, playing Latin, salsa, punk, all kinds of eclectic music. There was video work going on. There was performance art going on. There was cabaret, very transgressive, out-there stuff. I’d found a place I always wanted to be, all my life. I made friends there, met people. It was great … but also a weird time for us. It was making us as a band or duo, whatever you want to call it, but it was also the beginning of the end of us.

How so?

It was the start of the separation of both of us, really, because we wanted to do different things, meet different people. We were great friends, we had loads of affection for each other, we had a lot in common. But we were like chalk and cheese, too. In New York we found our own groups of friends, our own people. Dave went on to stay with another producer guy, Phil Ramone, and went to stay with him. We worked together great and did those first three albums, but we finished before we thought we would, too.

Legend has it you saw Madonna’s first performance during that time.

Well, I remember a couple of appearances. There were so many performers coming on and off at the cabaret they did at Danceteria; Madonna came on and you could tell she was slicker than most. She had it more together than most of the acts that were coming on. And later I was having a party at a club called Tunnel — I think I was celebrating a birthday or something — and Madonna was performing with some dancers. I think she was doing “Everybody” or “Holiday,” “Into the Groove,” one of those early songs. Seymour Stein had just signed Soft Cell to Sire Records and I was standing with him and Seymour said to me, “This girl on the stage, I just signed her to Sire Records and she’s gonna be absolutely massive. You can’t believe how big she’s gonna be” – and when Seymour said somebody was gonna be massively big and enormous, you took him seriously. After the show Madonna came over and Seymour introduced me; I thought she was incredibly sweet and incredibly nice. We already had some mutual friends, but I didn’t know her apart from that. But I really was thrilled that I got to see her in those very early days.

Have you crossed paths since?

No, but I do know she has a track called “Danceteria” on her (latest) album. I think that’s great. It’s all in the zeitgeist. It’s all fantastic. She name-checks different people on hers than we name-check on ours, so it’s all a great thing. I don’t know whether she’s too aware of Soft Cell’s existence these days, although I think she’s aware of most things in the world, actually. She’s really clued up on everything. I don’t know whether she’s heard ours or not, but I’m a huge fan. I still think she’s great. All through the years I’ve really loved watching her. I feel in a lot of ways she’s like a David Bowie figure; the music is different, but the way she reinvents herself and has tuned into so many different things that are happening and producers and art people and video people is in that same kind of spirit (Bowie) had.

“Out Come the Freaks” here is inspired — and unexpected.

I used to DJ around ’81 in Leeds and I loved the mutant disco ZE Records was putting out around that time. “Out Come the Freaks” was a track I really loved and played then. When I started writing lyrics to Danceteria I wanted to imagine it was like a suite of songs in a way, a song cycle, taken from a nighttime in New York, 1982. So you’d be at the dance club Danceteria, go through this strange night and you’d end up in the darker parts of New York, this weird, kind of druggy no man’s land. Then you start the next day, “Wave to America,” with a couple of coffee and then you’d go back in the same cycle, ending up with “Out Come the Freaks.” It just came into my head; I thought it fit into Soft Cell world, just a great, amazing track. I love the whole vibe of it.

How did Nona Hendryx get on the track?

When I was playing “Out Come the Freaks” as a DJ, I was also playing “Bustin’ Out” by Nona Hendryx (with Material). I became friends with Nona, and her partner Vicki Wickham, who booked all the bands for the pop show Ready Steady Go!, was my manager for awhile. So when we decided to do “Out Come the Freaks” we thought it would be great to have (Hendryx) on there, too. I actually have a version, which I think they may release as an extra at some point, of Dave doing the whole vocal to “Out Come the Freaks”; on the record his voice is at the beginning and the end of the track. The very last thing you hear on Danceteria is Dave Ball’s voice singing “woodwork squeaks and out come from the freaks,” which was another nice, full-circle way to end things.

Will we be seeing more of Soft Cell live in the future?

We’re coming back to California in the autumn around the Darker Waves festival (Nov. 14 in Huntington Beach). The Generations Tour was quite a short, friendly show; you get 40 minutes, so you compact as much as you can, but this will give us a chance to do some of the stuff I know fans really like that I didn’t get to do, some of the darker stuff and things from The Art of Falling Apart period and things like that. We’ll probably come to the East Coast early next year and then see what else. I don’t know how long it will go on, to be honest; I’d certainly like to see out the life of Danceteria and keep Dave’s music that we did together alive a bit longer.

And then what will we be hearing from you after this?

I’ve got an album with Barry Adamson [Magazine, Visage, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds] coming out next year, and there are a few other little things I’ve got bobbling around that I’d like to do. And as I’ve said, I do have a lot of music Dave left me, which is great. I’m 70 next year; I’d like to do a glut of recording projects, even if I just sit on them for awhile, ’cause you never know what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t want to sound morbid or moribund or anything; I’m still lucky enough to have a pretty OK voice. I still enjoy the live performances a lot. You get to a place where you think, “How much longer can I do this?” As long as is possible, I hope.

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 Miley, Carly Rae Jepsen, Riley Green and more.

This week, Taylor Swift returns with “Patient Zero,” one of four new bonus tracks from The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, out today; Tinashe releases her edgy and energetic eighth album; and Maren and Morris and Michelle Branch rework a 2001 classic with “Goodbye To You”… plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Taylor Swift, “Patient Zero”

We knew something was coming ever since Taylor appeared in an Emmys sketch alongside host and friend Mariska Hargitay, during which Swift dropped a few easter eggs (that some of us are still decoding). Still, it came as a surprise when, this week, she announced a new single titled “Patient Zero,” one of four bonus tracks on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, out tonight. The song opens with country-inspired strings that quickly fade into the back of more expected pop production; the tempo, however, is less familiar for the Showgirl era. As a result, the midtempo song seems to connect where Swift has just been with where she’s heading next (possibly toward country?) in a really refreshing way. Because after an encore the show really, truly, is done. Right? — LYNDSEY HAVENS

Tinashe, Popstar

Just two years ago, Tinashe released Quantum Baby — and shifted her career. That album’s lead single, “Nasty,” earned the singer her first solo Hot 100 hit and soon after, album track “No Broke Boys” shot to No. 36 thanks to a Disco Lines remix. Now, she’s back with her poppiest album yet, aptly titled Popstar. And on standout track “Nobody Wanna Dance Anymore,” she doubles down on the same point Miley makes on “Bass Persuades” — get on your feet, already, and dance. As Kyle Denis writes in Billboard‘s Tracks Ranked of the album, “Popstar is sneakily sarcastic and gloriously sassy, but Tinashe, unlike quite a few of her contemporaries, can actually commit — and back it up.” Read the full tracks ranked here. — L.H.

Madonna and Charli xcx, “Danceteria Afterhours“

In perhaps one of the most obvious and clubbiest pairings in recent memory, Madonna taps Charli xcx to help deliver a fresh take on “Danceteria,” a track from Madonna’s July album Confessions II. On the original, Madonna sings of the famed New York club where she got her start, Danceteria; on this version, Charli shares her own starter story from a club across the pond, recalling being “sweet 15 in a weird outfit.” Clearly, things worked out just fine for them both. — L.H.

Maren Morris and Michelle Branch, “Goodbye to You (2026 Version)”

Nearly 25 years after Michelle Branch released her breakout ballad “Goodbye To You” — which she famously performed on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and hit No. 21 on the Hot 100 — the singer has tapped Maren Morris for a modern-day revamp. Given the country singer’s presence, the music leans into the genre with softer, twangier strings that lift the effortless harmonies from the two singers. Who knew this classic could hit even harder? — L.H.

Blondshell, Violins

Indie rocker Blondshell shares her third album, Violins, and with it delivers a new trove of angsty, relatable songs all performed in her signature, mellow tone. While previously-released single “Heart Has To Work So Hard” remains a standout, focus track “Stone Fruit” packs a rocking instrumental bridge while “Two Fried” is the most upbeat song on the album (even opening with an Addison Rae-esque scream). In all, Violins is a welcome addition to Blondshell’s discography, building on her familiar sound while digging deeper into her already precise and poignant songwriting. — L.H.

Kenny Chesney, Silver Sands Marina

On his 21st studio album, a concise collection of 11 songs, the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee continues placing a premium on top-shelf songwriting that balances lyrical wit and emotional resonance. He welcomes Lily Meola on the quirky heartbreaker “Goldfish,” Megan Moroney on the heartfelt “It Just Got Weird,” and Colbie Caillat on “What We Got Going On.” One of the album’s strongest tracks comes with “Remember Me That Way,” a song that looks back on a fizzled relationship through the softer lens of some of its happier days. Linking each of the songs is Chesney’s warm, conversational vocal approach that makes each song feel even more lived-in and credible. — JESSICA NICHOLSON

Kirk Franklin ft. GloRilla, “This Time”

Twenty-time Grammy-winning gospel icon Kirk Franklin is back with the latest taste of his forthcoming I Am What I Am album — and he’s bringing GloRilla along for the ride. Over a sample of Shawty Lo’s classic “Dey Know,” ebullient brass and his signature choir, Kirk delivers an anthem of inner peace and contentment with God’s timing. Building on 2024’s “Rain Down On Me,” her first collaboration with Franklin, GloRilla flaunts her versatility and exalts her church roots in her winning guest verse. — KYLE DENIS

Leon Bridges, Happiness Anytime

Grammy-winning soul crooner Leon Bridges has returned with Happiness Anytime, the official follow-up to 2024’s Leon. Assisted by Jungle’s Josh Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto on production, Bridges has delivered a groovy collection of tunes that traverse the globe, from notes of cumbia (“Light the Way”) to reggae (“Take My Hand”). — K.D.

Jae Stephens, Audacity

Jae Stephens is back with a whole lotta Audacity. The rising, Issa Rae-cosigned pop star dropped her sophomore album, featuring contributions from long-time collaborator and producer Dallas Caton, Grammy-nominated pop architect MNEK and dance-pop maestro Pinkpantheress, who delivers backing vocals on “Crush.” From the soaring “I Miss the City” to the sassy “Expensive & Difficult,” Audacity is an audacious pop offering that blends a Coyote Ugly-esque fantasy land with the best parts of ‘00s rhythmic pop. — K.D.

Nanpa Básico, “No Me Morí”

Nanpa Básico is well and alive, and his new single “No Me Morí” (I didn’t die) is proof of that. If his previous bangers, such as “Hasta Aquí Llegué” with Beéle, are any indication, the Colombian rapper knows exactly how to overcome a heartbreak: through his powerful and mature lyrics. In “No Me Morí,” a sensual Latin afrobeats with slow reggaetón undertones, Nanpa gives fans a nearly three-minute therapy session, singing with his raspy and demanding vocals: “y mirame aquí, yo no me morí, estoy bien sin tí/ claro que lloré, pero me curé/ la vida es así” (And look at me here—I didn’t die, I’m fine without you/ Sure, I cried, but I healed; that’s how life is). — JESSICA ROIZ