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 Madonna, Sienna Spiro, Riley Green and more.
This week: Beyoncé surprise drops a new R&B-leaning single; Suki Waterhouse releases her third album Loveland; and Teddy Swims shares a tender summer breakup ballad while teasing a new album in the works…plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Beyoncé, “Morning Dew (Donk)”
Over the weekend, Queen B decided to surprise drop her new R&B-coated single — much to everyone’s delight. “Morning Dew” is a gorgeous, downtempo track from Beyoncé, showing yet another side to the singer following ventures into country and dance music on her previous two albums (granted, this is a side we already know well). And while it’s long been speculated that her ACT III could lean rock, this single might just prove otherwise — or at least keep us on our toes a while longer. — LYNDSEY HAVENS
Suki Waterhouse, Loveland
Following the 2024 release of her memorably-titled second album (Memoir of a Sparklemuffin), dreamy singer-songwriter Suki Waterhouse is back today with her third full-length, Loveland. As the British artist shared on X earlier this week: “Loveland is memorialization of the places that made me. The realisation that reality is not a given and must be continually pursued. The best and worst nights of my life. The move towards aliveness.” — L.H.
Teddy Swims, “Break Up In Reverse”
For anyone not experiencing summer lovin’, Teddy Swims has you covered with his new heartbreak anthem for the season. The downtempo ballad is all about hitting rewind and yearning to be loved when a relationship ends in the same way he felt at its start. “Upon writing this song and my next album I’ve been going through it with my relationship with my baby’s mother coming to an end,” Swims shared in a statement. “We were super inspired by an old NAS song called ‘Rewind.’ We loved how the whole song takes place in reverse. So we thought, ‘how beautiful would it be if we took the same idea, but wrote it about my relationship.’” — L.H.
The Rolling Stones, Foreign Tongues
As only a legendary act can do, The Stones shares its 25th studio album today, a fresh and tight set for the veteran rockers clocking in at just over an hour across 14 songs. Mick Jagger’s vocals are clear-eyed while the band’s instrumentals are just as driving as ever, resulting in an album well worth listening to from top to bottom. — L.H.
The Linda Lindas and Hayley Williams, “Closer”
It’s fitting, really, that Williams would help The Linda Lindas with its major label debut single. The band goes back with the rock icon, citing Williams as a longtime inspiration and even welcoming her onstage last year to perform their breakout hit “Racist, Sexist Boy” at London’s O2. Now, that relationship has been formalized with a collaboration; “Closer” is the band’s first release since signing to Reprise/Warner in June, and the midtempo alt-rock track surely signals more new music ahead. — L.H.
Chris Lake & Tiga ft. Aatig, “Party Time”
The release of the first ever Chris Lake and Tiga collab finds each producer on a respective hot streak, with Lake recently moving 55,000 tickets across shows in New York and L.A. and remixing Taylor Swift’s “Opalite” just prior. Tiga, meanwhile, released his excellent new album, Hot Wife, in April. So yes, it’s party time indeed on this new single, which finds Lake leaning into the weirder, squelchier area of his sound, a realm in which Tiga has permanent residency. Vocals come from Aatig, the artist name of Lake’s wife, Gita, and the song is out on his own Black Book Records. — KATIE BAIN
Chris Avantgarde, Hyperreal
German-born, London-based producer Chris Avantgarde releases his debut album with a confident statement, calling the project “an album that moves through genres with the energy of a night out. The build, the peak, the sunrise on the roof. On my own terms, with my own sonic identity. I’ve done that for plenty of other artists over the years, never really for myself. This time it’s mine, and I’m standing behind it.” Indeed, while Avantgarde has worked on myriad projects by Anyma, along with music by artists including Kölsch and Adam Beyer, Hyperreal marks the most complete statement of his 15-year career thus far. Coming on the heels of Avantgarde becoming a father for the first time, Hyperreal is cool and pristinely made, a nearly 90-minute journey traversing throttling club beats to spacey, emotional ambient for the afters. — K.B.
Melanie Santiler, “Gataza”
Melanie Santiler delivers a hard-hitting reggaetón single laced with ethereal, futuristic pop sounds that transition into an alternative, reparto melody, sampling Karen Paola’s 2004 hit “Toma Que Toma.” Lyrically, the edgy fusion (blessed as “Gataza”) makes references to the contemporary Cuban culture, as well as a childhood memory of Santiler’s with her aunt Tata. But beyond its special connection to the Cuban newcomer — a former 2025 Billboard On The Radar Latin artist — “Gataza” is a powerful reminder about the importance of self-love, confidence, authenticity, and living fearlessly and unapolagetically. The single will be included on Santiler’s upcoming studio album, MAMI FINA. —JESSICA ROIZ
Feid, “A Xon De Que”
Feid has opened up about life after a breakup in “A Xon De Que.” Though the new single is powered by an uplifting, electronic dance melody, the Colombian artist is clearly melancholic and reminiscing about his ex-girlfriend, who has disappeared like a shooting star. “Why did you leave, what was the reason?” he chants in the lyrics, also singing: “I wouldn’t want to see you with anyone other than me.” “A Xon De Que” marks the first single off of Feid’s upcoming EPEl Club de las 19 Flores, set to drop on his birthday, Aug. 19. — J.R.
