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National

New Music Friday: Our Top 7 Albums Out On March 29

By Robin Hilton,  Ann Powers,  Stephen Thompson
Published March 29, 2019 at 2:00 AM PDT
This story was published more than 5 years ago.
<em>When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? </em>from the singer Billie Eilish is on our short list of the best albums out on March 29.
Courtesy of the artist
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? from the singer Billie Eilish is on our short list of the best albums out on March 29.

Billie Eilish is already a veteran pop artist at the age of 17, with a clear vision for her sound and image, even if that sound is sinister and the image a bit demented. (Have you seen her videos?) Her brilliant debut full-length, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is finally out and way more cryptic and complicated than the lead-up singles might have suggested. On this week's New Music Friday host Robin Hilton is joined by Rodney Carmichael, Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson as they dig into the Eilish record and more on their short list for the best new albums out March 29, including Deserted from the legendary punk group Mekons, the off-kilter, lyrical rap of Quelle Chris and a "lost" album from the late Marvin Gaye.

Featured Albums:

  • The Mekons: Deserted
    Featured Songs: "Lawrence of California" and "How Many Stars"

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  • Billie Eilish: When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?
    Featured Songs: "Bad Guy" and "Goodbye"

  • Quelle Chris: Guns
    Featured Songs: "Guns" and "Spray And Pray"

  • Shafiq Husayn: The Loop
    Featured Song: "It's Better For You"

  • Marvin Gaye: You're The Man
    Featured Song: "The World Is Rated X"

  • Fennesz: Agora
    Featured Song: "Rainfall"

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  • Son Volt: Union
    Featured Song: "While Rome Burns"

    • Other notable albums out on March 29: Beth Gibbons & The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra: Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3; Billy Woods & Kenny Segal: Hiding Places; Choosey & Exile: Black Beans; DJ Muggs & Mach-Hommy: Tuez-Les Tous; Joni Void: Mise En Abyme; Karyyn: The Quanta Series; Laura Stevenson: The Big Freeze; MED & Guilty Simpson: Child of the Jungle; Mdou Moctar: Ilana; Saweetie: Icy; Small Feet: With Psychic Powers; Steve Earle & The Dukes: GUY.

    Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    National
    Robin Hilton
    Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.
    Ann Powers
    Ann Powers is NPR Music's critic and correspondent. She writes for NPR's music news blog, The Record, and she can be heard on NPR's newsmagazines and music programs.
    Stephen Thompson
    Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)
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