NPR Music's Top 15 Albums From May
Tyler, The Creator. His latest album, IGOR is on our list of the best albums out in May. Sam Rock/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
May had a ridiculous amount of stellar music to offer just before summer arrives. Some of the tracks are ripe for backyard parties (Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated and Ari Lennox's Shea Butter Baby) while others dig into the self (Jamila Woods' LEGACY! LEGACY! and Vampire Weekend's Father of the Bride). We couldn't just stop at 10 picks, especially in such a strong month for hip-hop, including crucial albums by DUCKWRTH, Injury Reserve and Tyler, The Creator.
NPR Music's Top 15 Albums For May
Shea Butter Baby
- by Ari Lennox
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Ari Lennox's honey-dipped delivery might crib notes from Erykah Badu's late-'90s book of neo-soul. But you have to go all the way back to '70s soul queens like Betty Wright and Millie Jackson for the down-to-earth confessionals and cheeky sexual confidence she embodies on her infectious debut Shea Butter Baby. — Rodney Carmichael
U.F.O.F.
- by Big Thief
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
It's not like Big Thief went mellow on its third album; and yet, for a band that's always been incessantly tender, U.F.O.F. is somehow even more so. Continually prodding intimacy and asking eternal questions, here, Big Thief peels back its careening indie rock sound for a powerfully and hauntingly delicate album. — Marissa Lorusso
Dedicated
- by Carly Rae Jepsen
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Carly Rae Jepsen famously writes hundreds of songs for each album. But for all of her handpicked bops that have soundtracked our lovesick nights, Dedicated has a singular vision — love yourself before you can love others — with a sophisticated synth-pop palette that opens our deepest desires. — Lars Gotrich
État
- by Daniel Wohl
Inching toward a more song-like format – with a few danceable beats and an airy vocal from Poliça's Channy Leaneagh – Daniel Wohl's latest music remains a Pandora's box of unknown sounds and concussive juxtapositions. The Los Angeles-based Parisian is among the most spirited electro-acoustic composers working today. — Tom Huizenga
The Falling Man
- by DUCKWRTH
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Somewhere between God and gangsta rap, DUCKWRTH has constructed an epic hero's journey in The Falling Man. One minute he's losing his religion, turning over tables in the temple like Jesus. The next, he's questioning a lost generation's allegiance to the trap. It's a Shakesperean tragedy squeezed into an EP. — Rodney Carmichael
PROTO
- by Holly Herndon
Science fiction has long shown us that dystopias can be beautiful. The future-now that composer and tech wizard Holly Herndon shows us on her third album is that kind. Equally rooted in the ancient magic of choral music and the post-human affinities artificial intelligence makes possible, it is the sonic equivalent of great movies like Arrival and Annihilation: haunting, deeply moving, showing what's strangely possible. — Ann Powers
Injury Reserve
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Nothing's weird about weirdo rap anymore. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. But Phoenix trio Injury Reserve's experimental-yet-accessible approach — led by producer Parker Corey's kitchen-sink approach — feels more refreshing than cliché. It's not so much about where they're going, but how they get there that makes this studio debut worth the ride. — Rodney Carmichael
LEGACY! LEGACY!
- by Jamila Woods
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
"You can't police my joy," Chicago hip hop poet and songmaker Jamila Woods insists on "Basquiat," one of twelve tracks named after the ancestors and elders with whom she communes on this rich and funky second album. Woods effortlessly communicates how history lives in the present moment — in sound and in feeling — and, like joy, cannot be erased. — Ann Powers
KingMaker
- by Joel Ross
What are the odds that a vibraphonist in his early 20s would emerge as this year's breakout jazz talent? Pretty good, if we're talking about Joel Ross — whose highly anticipated Blue Note debut suggests a sort of Millennial post-bop manifesto, bursting with deft maneuvers and sincere emotion. — Nate Chinen
Front Porch
- by Joy Williams
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
One of Nashville's most emotionally daring vocalists finds her balance on this lovely, understated, yet revealing collection of songs. Keeping things simple under the guidance of Milk Carton Kid Kenneth Pattingale, Williams offers insights into longstanding love, family, and desire; its her strongest work since her former duo, the Civil Wars, called it quits. — Ann Powers
Painted
- by Lucky Daye
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Painted comes off as Lucky Daye's one shot at making an impression. The New Orleans singer-songwriter and his producer D'Mile lay out their entire repertoire through a myriad of influences in R&B, producing a project that satisfies a range of tastes. This debut should be a springboard to a long and fruitful career, but if this is his last ditch-effort, point well taken. — Bobby Carter
Cut & Stitch
- by Petrol Girls
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Cut & Stitch fuses post-hardcore furor and thoughtful feminist interrogation. How does feminist praxis relate to the environment? To national identity? To masculinity? To mental health? In a month of exhausting news about women's rights, Petrol Girls delivered a powerful set of questions and a needed rallying cry. — Marissa Lorusso
IGOR
- by Tyler, The Creator
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Up until 2019, if you were to describe Tyler, The Creator, lovesick would likely not be the adjective that first came to mind. But in the wake of IGOR, his stellar and entirely self-produced display, the young class clown has grown up, gotten his heart broken and is left reeling in the wake of what this all means without the one he loves. — Sidney Madden
Father of the Bride
- by Vampire Weekend
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
Ezra Koenig turns his attention to how we forge forward with the ones we love in a fallen world. Working with producer Ariel Rechstaid and featuring vocals from Danielle Haim, Father of the Bride draws on many of the same sonic reference points of earlier Vampire Weekend albums, but applies a looser approach, sprawling across its airy 18 tracks. — Lyndsey McKenna
4REAL 4REAL
- by YG
♬: APPLE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / AMAZON
It's been two months since the untimely death of Nipsey Hussle and hip-hop is still mourning. So, as much as 4Real 4Real is a greezy, gangsta reminder to hold down your set and enjoy the moment, it's also YG's sonic eulogy for Neighborhood Nip, one of his closest friends. — Sidney Madden