Spotify is truly the “big brother of music” and I mean that in a 1984 kind of way - not the protective sibling kind of way. It’s no secret that streaming services are slowly destroying the way that music is consumed and only encourages a carefully calculated, less creative approach to something as complex as music. Did you know that, due to Spotify’s “new music Friday’s” - artists are now mostly only releasing on a Friday.

Whilst the face of this doesn’t sound particularly wrong, the concept of that terrifies me. Every decision has to take grand master Spotify into account who will reward you with less than 1% of your earnings. My grumbling with Spotify aside, let's turn this around on its head and talk about the latest “New music Friday” which brought out the largest number of albums to be released this month. The good news?

We can use this feature as a tool to discover new artists. In a MEDiA report “Why virality is not building fandom” it shows that social media, which is how bands and artists are relying on marketing their music, does not encourage people to consume new music.

“Almost half of consumers (48%) did not stream music they heard on social media in the last month, and fewer than a third became fans.”

Popular artists are relying on virality over hard work and talent. Consumers are less likely to find new artists due to the constant stream of music being shown to them. Plus, the study shows that when they do find new music, ‘Gen Z’ are less likely to listen to the artists other songs and become a fan.

In my opinion, this is due to accessibility on streaming platforms. Instead of owning a record or cd, people now have temporary access to any music they want.

10 or more years ago, if you discovered an artist you liked, you would go and buy their album. A physical ownership of a record leads to deeper connections with the music.

Please note: I’m not stating that all popular artists lack talent nor am I saying that you are some brainless zombie who just follows trends if you do like popular artists.

Friday the 9th Of January was the first “New Music Friday of the year and brought 30 new albums (that I could find) these all vary in genre and level of popularity. Most of these I either haven’t heard of or are artists I don’t usually listen to so let’s hope I find some new artists that I enjoy. I want to encourage everyone to try listening to new genres, music that isn’t viral and finding a real connection to music that you enjoy.

Note: in the interest of getting this article out in this decade, I haven’t had the chance to listen to the full albums from front to back and instead relied on skim listening and concept research. There’s some really amazing artists that I found that I’ll definitely be adding to my playlist. If you’re an artist or a press manager of one of the artists on this list, well done for all your hard work. Feel free to reach out and request a photographer at a live show in/near Manchester or send over a press kit and ask for a more in detail review to be published :)

List is ordered alphabetically by artist

ALTER BRIDGE -ALTER BRIDGE

The self titled album by Alter bridge was described as their “self-actualisation.” Myles Kennedy, Vocalist and guitarist, informed that they’re keeping their signature sound and “doing it unapologetically.”

It’s clear that Alter bridge are aware of who they are and what their music is. Their opening track “Silent divide” is my personal favourite that I think will become iconic. It’s slower with more gothic influences that culminate into a dramatic bridge. The guitar talent on tracks like “power down” are astounding. The band show throughout the whole album that they know how to make a headbanger.

If you’ve never listened to Alter Bridge before, their lead singers vocals are like a mixture of Matt Bellamy from Muse, Bruce Dickinson from iron maiden and even little hints of Bowie. If that hasn’t sold you, their dramatic anthems have previously gone gold in the US and they will be sharing the stage with IRON MAIDEN later this year.

Would I recommend this album? Yes. Especially if you’re already a fan. Even if you’re not I imagine you will be once you’ve heard it. It’s a mature tribute of their already established 20+ years of musicianship.

Beyond The Black – Break The Silence

Break The Silence is German metal band Beyond the Black’s sixth album. Their brand of metal is symphonic and pop oriented, fronted by former girl-group singer Jennifer Habben. Their debut album released in 2015 was an instant hit and was even presented with the “Metal Hammer award for Best debut.” They have also warmed up for bands such as “Aerosmith” and “KORN.”

After listening to Break the Silence I can completely understand their fame. The bands dramatic guitars, and drum beats are perfectly matched with lead singer Jennifer Haben’s theatrical vocals leading to headbanger after headbanger. The vocals are where the band truly shine. Habden’s vocals are powerful and unique - just harsh and gutteral enough for metal with a sweet feminine edge to juxtapose the heavy instruments. Take the bridge of “The art of being alone’ for instance where they pair Habden’s angelic, almost operatic vocalisations with Christopher Hummels deep screams.

It reminds me of what people like about the band “Evanesence” - however, they are quite different. Beyond the Black are a bit heavier and aim for a more metal sound. Amy Lee and Jennifer

Blue - Reflections

Blue are an iconic staple band of the 90’s. Cheesy love songs, campiness and choreographed group dancing. I’ve even seen them live a Butlins Adult weekender. Their stage presence and performance style was admirable and worked for the wide age range of people at the event.

Their new album “Reflections” is just pure 90s boy band magic, extreme cheese, air grab worthy choruses and enough camp that you could call the backstreet boys serious and formal. I had the best time listening to this album!

Bullet – Kickstarter

With 8 years between their last album “dust to gold” and their newest album, the wait was so long that they really needed a “Kickstarter” to get things going. Get it? Because the album is called Kickstarter?

Bullet are a Swedish heavy metal band that present just pure, heavy rock and roll bangers. It’s fun and fiery. Bullet are [their home town] Växjö, Sweden’s claim to fame (alongside being “the Greenest city in Europe) and they are known for rocking the city up and down.

Bullet don’t necessarily do anything revolutionary to change heavy metal forever but they’re still tons of fun.

The Cribs - Selling a vibe

Cult favourite indie band return from their hiatus with their album Selling a vibe and it does exactly what it says on the tin. The vibe is funky and packed with Brit pop influences, older and newer combined. Each track is so much fun with the elongated syllables and swagger of “Oasis” with the electronic synths and guitars reminiscent of more recent musicians such as “Two door cinema club.”

Though this may be a niche reference, if you enjoyed the gritty reverbs of “Frank Iero’s” (rhythm guitarist for My Chemical Romance) 2014 solo album “Stomachaches” then you’ll love the song “Looking for the wrong guy.” Another standout song from the album is “Looking for the wrong guy.” It’s got a fun sound and I love the stilted chorus.

As a big fan of this type of music, I thought this album was fantastic and I’d highly recommend it.

Denominate – Restoration

Typically, an album would be more than 6 songs. You could argue that Denominate’s 6 song record Restoration actually counts as an EP. However, with the 6-10 minute track lengths, the total length is 46 minutes.

Denominate is a progressive death metal band from Oulu, Finland. Their first record was released in 2015 - EP “realms of confusion.”

Immediately, I needed to see who designed this cover. This cover is probably one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The colours, the concept and the emotions it evokes is so visually stunning and really intrigued me to hear the album to see if they’ve picked the artwork that fits the sound. I expect vibrant and conceptual with a layer of morbidity. The art is done by @erskine.designs on Instagram who has an entire portfolio of amazing concepts just like this.

This album is classic death metal with a cinematic twist. It’s worth a listen if you’re a fan of the genre.

Devon Allman - nightvision

Devon Allman usually goes for bluesy folk music or r&b. Nightvision, however is something completely different and experimental for Allman. He makes a cinematic, instrumental soundtrack. It’s an ambient 80’s sci-fi inspired alt-rock treat for the ears.

It’s hard not to relax into the singing instruments of the sensory experience and picture the vibrant scene wash around you.

I’d love to find out more information about what Allman has done with his instruments and techniques to match the Middle Eastern imagery.

d00mscrvll (Diplo) – d00mscrvll

You’ve likely heard of Diplo, the household name in the EDM scene. d00mscrvll is his newest project, a collaboration with many other household names such as Juicy J and Kodak Black. It explores “Phonk” which is a 90s sub genre of trap music. The first volume came out late 2025 and January 9th brought around disk 2, finishing the whole project.

It is a creative choice for Diplo that deviates from his usual sound. Diplo is smartly aware of the impact that 90’s and 00’s nostalgia has on the media right now and knows that if he puts his unique spin on the 90s trend he could start something revolutionary.

Essentially “phonk” is modern funk-inspired hip hop. The actual genre was created in the 90’s but wasn’t named and popularised until the 2010’s when “SpaceGhostPurrp” coined the name and made multiple tracks and even an album using it in the title. It was described as dark and gritty with roots in Memphis rap. Around 2016/2017 it was noted that there was a shift in the way it was perceived and more people were creating cleaner, more mainstream and jazz inspired music and calling it “Phonk”

With short tracks that use Memphis rap style vocals, gritty basses and strong 90s influences, I can see he was aiming for the original style. The sound definitely has its moments where it hits like the original with hints of the new modern sound with occasional twinkling instruments that hint into advancing the genre.

DRY CLEANING - SECRET LOVE

Dry cleaning are an experimental quartet from London. They described their new album, Secret love as “evokes the sensory overload and hustle and bustle of what it feels like to walk through a city.” This truly shows.

Most songs have a haunting whispering tone accompanied by experimental instruments and effects. These aren’t placed randomly, though, they’re designed to perfectly fit with their concept and vision. It’s genius. Even the opening song “Hit my head all day” begins sounding like a normal song, when the guitar solo places a whiring effect that sounds like the banging and clashing of machines or roadworks in the street. It fills your ears from all sides before slowing down to a quiet chant of “Hit my head all day.” Which I also interpreted as “In my head all day.”

This album is conceptual and realised and pushes/experiments with the boundaries of music.

Ectovoid – In Unreality’s Coffin

Death Metal band from the United States Ectovid released their 3rd full length album. Formed in 2010 they released two albums before their guitarist Michael Stewart unfortunately passed in 2016. Last year they honoured him with a rerelease of their second album. Stating “it also sadly represented […] the last recorded ectovoid output of our late founding guitarist Michael Stewart. Which gave the album a tragic but important legacy.”

Though they have released singles and EP’s since Stewart’s passing In unreality’s coffin will be the first to release, following. It’s an accidental coincidence (due to lineup changes and developmental issues that pushed the albums appearance) that the release date is only a couple of months prior to the 10-year anniversary of the passing. I want to express my respects and condolences to the band members and friends and family. The album has a sad undertone to it where Stewart has left his imprint.

Late 2024, Charlie Southern, who had taken over for Michael Stewart, had to leave the band for personal reasons. They announced their new guitarist Shawn Staszko in March 2025. Just a few months later, they also announced that they were signing with Everlasting Spew Records. 2025 also brought their 15th anniversary show at Saturn in Birmingham, Alabama. Following the big year of 2025 and an album release early 2026, it’ll be interesting to see where Ectovoid go next. From what I can see, they have only done one tour of the East coast USA in 2022 and one appearance at a festival in 2019.

In unreality’s coffin was an unexpected surprise of fantastic musicianship. I have never been a big listener of the genre unless I hear it live, just my own personal tastes. I feel like the vocals are usually too harsh for, say, my morning run. However, Ectovid’s performance is so fun and heavy that it’d probably get me a PR on my morning run and also make people ask ‘why is she running and headbanging?’

Will 2026 bring more opportunities for Ectovoid? Perhaps a tour or more festival/larger venue appearances? Stay updated with their Facebook page to find out.

Fear Of Domination – Katharsis

The layered mixture of female and male vocals melts well together for Finnish industrial metal band Fear of Domination. They’re known for their spectacular theatrics, UV lights, pyrotechnics and more. Each band member wears a mask for promotional and live appearances. They’re a big name in the European metal scene and have toured major Northern European countries. Following their new album Katharsis, they will be doing a tour, mainly around Finland.

Fear of Domination have stated that their philosophy is to give the audience a visual spectacle and wow their fans with their fantastic live shows.

The best way to describe Katharsis is if 'Bring me the Horizon’s newer, technologically industrial music like ‘Kingslayer’ merged with the heaviness of their older music like ‘Chelsea smile’ and was also dad rock? Give it a listen, it’s a lot of fun

For My Pain… – Buried Blue

It appears that Finlands Rock and metal scene are all part of a secret society where they all decide to release their albums and new music on the same day. For My Pain… formed as a side project in 1999 and have only put out one album previous in 2003. Their was a long gap of no released music for the project until 2024.

Moving out of traditional metal to gothic metal due to the rise in popularity in Finland, the band reunited in 2024 after the 20 year anniversary of their first album “Fallen.” They’re known for their atmospheric and haunting melodies and powerfully immersive sounds. Vocalist Juha Kylmänen explains that they loved the artistic process of creating the album, stating “It was like opening a good bottle of wine and listening to the sound as it pours into the glass.” However, he also doesn’t shy away from the grueling process of the logistical side of making the album. “When we started tripping over our own eye bags toward the final stretch, we realized we were physically quite exhausted.”

The lead singers vocals fit the new genre extremely well with the elongated syllables, dark tones and unique musical choices.

Home Star – A Binding Life

A binding life has been described as power-pop alt-rock. I can definitely hear influences of both genres and more in Home Star’s debut album. Home star is Evan Lescallette’s [from the band Marietta] Solo project.

His label states that: “Though the bulk of A Binding Life was written from 2020 to 2023 as the COVID-19 pandemic settled into an unnerving routine, traces of Home Star’s debut album go all the way back to 2015.”

Each track feels whole and thought out. There are lots of 2000s widwest/emo vibes in his vocals and some choruses. The rest of the instrumentals feel like a fresh new take on classic, American punk rock. Think of a modern take on 00’s “Jimmy eat world” or “sum41.” Which brings me, in a really satisfying way, onto his single “The middle.” Not a cover of the iconic classic but likely a nod to it - with the hook line of the bridge being “Hey, Take me back to the middle.”

Honestly, this album is really fun. Jam packed full of bangers and nostalgia. Emo is back baby 😎

Jenny on Holiday - Quicksand heart

Jenny Hollingworth is one half of the duo “Let’s eat grandma” who are British experimental pop artists. Jenny on Holiday is Jenny’s first solo venture.

The opener “Good intentions” is a swaying song that makes you want to be in a field. Followed by the more dramatic and euphoric title track “Quicksand heart.” This song, in my prediction, along with “every ounce of me” will be an anthem of this modern synth-pop genre.

There’s something strong about the tone of Jenny’s vocals when she sings into her higher register. Without sounding strained, you can hear the amount of effort and emotion she’s putting into her performance.

A major criticism of the album is that its not as experimental as the work she does with “Let’s eat grandma.” As someone who’s not listened to that work, it does intrigue me and make me want to listen to their earlier work. I think as a standalone it works by itself with similar sounds to “Pale Waves” “Aurora” and “Lizzie Mcalpine.”

Kadavrik – Erde 666

Germany’s melodic death metal band Kadavrik released their 5th full length work and first in over 10 years, with their last album being in 2015.

Their song "The End of the Anthropocene" was the first single to be released with the caption:

“In times of AI slop, it's fun to just play around with the smartphone, some mud packs & a lighter again. This is how our second music video for the album Erde 666 was made.”

The music video for their title track song is extremely political, their concept for the album which translates to “earth 666” is: “In an age of parallel universes, is our Earth the best of all worlds? Probably not. Welcome to Earth 666! The title track is lyrically dedicated to the cycle of apocalyptic destruction, reconstruction and renewed destruction by a human being who is incapable of learning from his mistakes.”

The video shows scenes of our own world through a distorted lens, highlighting how close we are to this apocalyptic dystopian world. It’s thought provoking and makes you feel nauseous with unease. Music and art can make you uncomfortable if it has to. The lead singers' vocals create a painfully evil sound - as this genre of music often does. It just adds to the eerie feeling of the statements they’re making. I can’t see many interactions with the band though their live performances seem packed with energy and they have some interesting concepts. I’d be curious to listen to their album “Grimm I & II” as it is based off the Grimm Fairytales.

The Kid LAROI - Before I forget

Probably most people know him from his collaboration with Justin Bieber on the 2021 hit “STAY” (no I can’t believe it’s been that long either.) LAROI uses his velvety vocals in his new album to his advantage, evoking R&B nostalgia in the moody yet seductive record. The sound is pleasing and good for when you’re in a chill mood with his head bopping beats and smooth voice.

I’d recommend this album for sure, it’s not always my cup of tea as I prefer more upbeat music but I’d definitely add it to my “chill vibes” playlist. If you like the song “Coffee” by “Miguel” then you’ll like this album.

Lionheart – Valley Of Death II

Valley of Death II feels like listening to the song “X gon’ give it to ya” if it was metal. What I mean by that is it gets you absolutely pumped up, action movie montage sequence and all.

Lionheart are an Oakland, California based “hardcore punk” band. Their critical reception from (in my opinion) haters that don’t enjoy fun is that they’re “corny” or “cringey.” I know for a fact I’d love to see these guys live and I’d have a great time. If they’re corny I’m corn on the cob because I’ve just become a huge fan of this band.

A little moment that I found quite funny was the abrupt ending of opening track Bulletproof with 3 seconds of silence. I imagine they did this on purpose to make you question whether you had a problem loading the song.

Maya Delilah - The Long Way Round

Maya Delilah’s tender vocals feel like a warm hug in her latest album “the long way round.” The reverberating guitar in tracks like “Begin Again”, “Man of The House” and “Jeffrey” is so soul catching and beautiful that it sinks into your bones.

Delilah’s lyrics are poetic and authentic.

This album is authentic for cozy mornings where it’s cold outside and you’re sat in your kitchen with a blanket and a cup of tea.

Miasme – Keep Them At A Distance

Keep up with me here. Miasme started as a Polish one-man post-black metal project. There are really 3 people involved. Igor Bińkowski’s controlling all instrumental aspects, Bryce V on vocals and Alex Sedin on mastering. It blends the harshness of black metal with experimental and melodic elements of modern styles. The trippy sounds and instruments create an eerie horror sound.

A sweet note is that his wife painted the cover art. It’s an interesting modern art piece using black, pink and dark green. My interpretation is that there are 4 ghost-like figures. 3 of them are standing in a darker void-like section looking upon the figure that stands alone in the sea of pink. To me (again, art is all up to interpretation) this figure is looking towards the audience. I think it represents how you can be alone and in a better place than people that stick with crowd? I’d love to hear your own interpretations or even hear from the artistic couple themselves.

Keep them at a distance feels strangely calm considering its genre and style. Each aspect of experimentation feels intentional, a change of direction to bring back the listener to the story he’s trying to tell. It can feel purposefully overwhelming at points and soft (as soft as a Polish one-man post-black metal project can be) almost serene at others.

Mon Rovia - Bloodline

Mon Rovia writes politically-charged lyrics that juxtapose smooth folk music. He sprinkles in hints of his Liberian roots with sounds of Appalachia where he currently resides.

His lyrics are not afraid to talk about hard subjects, using poetic metaphors and hard hitting story telling. All with feathery, relaxing backing and vocals.

Bloodline is heartbreaking. It’s music that’s perfect for mornings in the kitchen eating toast but has an emotional punch when you really listen to it. Mon Rovia pours his soul out for this album.

Orchid Throne – Buried In Black

Orchid Throne is the solo doom metal project of Nicholas Bonsanto. Honestly, this is one of the rawest and most emotionally driven doom metal albums I’ve ever heard. The lyrics feel like a stream of painful consciousness that Bonsanto has opened up his heart to allow us to watch him bleed. His feelings are embedded into every word, scream and note of guitar. It’s gothic, melancholic and downright beautiful to hear. As someone who’s never listened to much doom metal or black metal before, I’m shocked by how it can hold such an emotional impact.

The Protomen – Act III: This City Made Us

I had never heard of The Protomen before and was extremely intrigued by their concept. This album is the third act in their rock opera science fiction series. The band perform their songs in character and they released 1-2 tracks per week in the weeks previous to the album.

It did not disappoint - using cinematic storytelling techniques I've never seen in a commercial album before. Opener ‘The calm’ does an amazing job at building anticipation with its spine tingling lulls and silences that end with a dramatic siren - carrying you forward into the rock of the rest of the album. I’m sold as I LOVE this concept. I will be going back and listening to their other albums because this one felt like watching a sequel before you see the first one.

Push! – Plowing Ahead

Push! Are a Portuguese metal band from Lisbon. They really like to PUSH the boundaries! Get it? Because their band name is Push! ? I really wish I could see all of your laughing faces.

It’s sound is classic and hardcore. The track lengths are short and snappy, a punch of energy that throws heavy drums and guitars straight at you and PUSH (I did it again) you right into headbanging territory.

SAULT – Chapter 1

Sault are a mostly anonymous group that makes songs about black-centric issues. They won the Ivor Novello award for “best album” with 11 in 2022 and MOBO Awards “best r&b/soul act” in 2023. They’ve also been nominated for 5 further awards including a Brit award in 2024.

Chapter 1 is their 12th album that vows to shuffle soul and funk’s boundaries.

It combines beautiful vocals and swaying beats that make you sway without even realising.

Uuhai – Human Herds

Blending authentic Mongolian traditions with modern rock music. The name represents a tradition in which: “Shouting “uuhai” in unison has roots as a spiritual mantra as a sign of goodwill leading to good fortune and was used as a way of releasing energy, emboldening one’s spirits and stimulating the elements of one’s body.”

The band formed in Mongolia’s capital city Ulaanbaatar and comprises 5 members who use a mixture of national instruments. Frontman Ts. Saruul is the vocalist and accordion player. B. Zorigoo and D. Shinetsog-Geni both play an instrument called morin khuur which is a two string bowed instrument. He also performs traditional Mongolian throat singing called khoomei. D. Batbayer is on percussion and D. Otgonbaatar is songwriter, composer and producer.

I thought this album was so beautiful to listen to as I never hear throat singing or traditional Mongolian instruments in modern metal music. It was a delightful listen.

Various Artists - We are friends Vol 12

Completely changing it up, we are friends is a reoccurring dance album that compiles a selection of new tracks from artists signed by the Mau5trap label.

It opens with Ciauru’s “Supersonic Electronic (on acid)” and ends with “Strobe” by deadmau5, &friends and Moeaike. Each song between does a great job at standing on its own feet as an original track and flowing from the previous like a basement set.

It’s the sort of music you’d picture at a rave with strobe lights and crazy antics going on and it does have a “close your eyes and just feel the music” energy to it.

All in all, I’d suggest this album for a pres or the later hours of a house party.

Venger – Times Of Legend

Venger’s - Times Of Legend is heavy metal influenced by horror films and children's books that have a different story each chapter. Each song has a different plot. Venger are an international group who formed in 2024 when Doug Scarratt (Guitarist) and James Fogarty (Guitar and Synths) met at Doug’s sons gig. James was the networker for other contributors to the album such as drummer Sven Rothe and vocalist Franz Bauer. They love to mix pop culture and escapist media with heavy metal and good vibes.

Times of legend’s is classic metal with a fun sci-fi twist.

Viagra Boys – Viagra Boys [Japanese Deluxe Edition]

I will be honest, I did scream in music-lover when I first heard the brain scratching guitar hook of the opening song “man made of wheat.” The lyrics are funny and relevant.

Originating from Stockholm, Sweden, Viagra boys are a post-punk house of chaos. I’m technically cheating here because the full album actually released on April 25th last year, with the new release only being the extension of 4 songs. However, my research didn’t let me down. I knew I wanted to discover new bands and I have easily found a new favourite.

The new disk has 3 funky, upbeat bangers and 1 slower, grittier tracks. It’s a beautifully emotional ballad with a comically inappropriate name (if you know, you know.) They all fit the delightful absurdity of the original release perfectly and provide a fantastic full circle moment, turning the LP into an album.

Yung Bleu – THERAPY

31 year old American rapper “Jeremy Bidder” also known as Yung Bleu is best known for his 2020 single “you’re mines still.” He was born and raised in the state of Alabama, USA and started making music in 2013.

The album cover states “Therapy Pt 1” and the bottom of the album has the words “Love. Acceptance. Regret.” It’s clear that this album is the “love” part because each song is about… adult relations. Just make sure you read the “parental advisory, explicit” sticker in the top right corner. It’s interesting to see whether the next album is going to centre around regret connected to said lover in Therapy Pt 1.

You’ll like this album if you like smooth r&b backings with slow rap.

Zach Bryan - With Heaven On Top

Zach Bryan’s new album With Heaven on Top has been blowing up on social media. Before doing research for this post, I’d never heard of him. Perhaps I’m living under a rock but after doing a lot of research it’s not hard to tell he’s a bit of a controversial figure often getting in fights of messy, public breakups. In my personal opinion, unless someone proves themselves to be a bad person with problematic actions or ideas - then these sort of things aren’t really any of my business as the press often likes to hide the full story or even fabricate these sort of things to create an “image.”

Bryan begins the album with a spoken word poem “Down, Down stream” in which he recalls a meeting he has with an elderly gentleman who explains how his emotions and experiences pass him like a stream of water. Bryan’s then looks back at his experiences through the year with the eye of this metaphor.

Part of me wonders if there’s a double meaning in the metaphor and “streaming” represents his “music streams” and the flow of water is his lyrical writing. Of course, like all poetry, this is up to interpretation. I like the use of spoken word to open the album, it sets the tone and works as a biographical introduction.

The songs that follow showcase Bryan’s emotionally charged songwriting, his lilting voice with a country twang and even his political stances.

The song “Bad news” has made its way into discussion with it’s lyric “and ICE is gonna come bust down your door” which has sparked conversation about customs enforcement and immigration.

His vocals and lyrics throughout the album are pleasing and he is truly able to pack an emotional punch with his raw lyrics. I think is best songs are the slower, folk-inspired ballads.

Was I a little worried going into it, a “country album” of someone who’s been publically labelled a cacophony of rude names? Yes. Was I pleasantly surprised? Yes. Would I recommend this album? Yeah, sure. Bryan’s voice is calming and his lyrics strong. Give it a try if you’ve never heard of him.

Final thoughts

I had the best time going through this list listening to new artists. My main takeaway is that if you look around, there are still plenty of great musicians with interesting concepts and fun music. You just have to step out of your comfort zone and listen for it.

Let me know your favourite albums that came out on the 9th of January and what music you’re looking forward to seeing for the rest of the year!

This month, we have plenty of albums and new music to look forward to so make sure you stay tuned and let me know who you want to hear about next.

The First “New Music Friday” Of The Year - Friday the 9th Of January And All The Albums It Brought To Us