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New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On Sept. 24

Anthony Hamilton's Love is the New Black leads off this week's shortlist of the best new albums out Sept. 24. Antwon Maxwell/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Antwon Maxwell/Courtesy of the artist

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On Sept. 24

September 24, 2021 • NPR Music's picks for the best albums out this week include new ones from R&B singer Anthony Hamilton, a Sufjan Stevens collaboration with Angelo De Augustine, country singer Mickey Guyton and more.

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Marvin Gaye's hit record "What's Going On" encapsulates the political turmoil of 1971 while also inspiring hope for change. Soul Train/Getty Images hide caption

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NPR's 50 Favorite Songs Of 1971

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What Lorde's Te Reo Maori Songs Mean For The Effort To Revive The Language

Lorde performs at a late show on August 23, 2021. CBS via Getty Images hide caption

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CBS via Getty Images

What Lorde's Te Reo Maori Songs Mean For The Effort To Revive The Language

Pop singer Lorde has released an EP in te reo Maori, the Native language in her home country of New Zealand. Maori artists say that this is just one branch of a larger movement to revive the language.

The Magnetic Fields' '100,000 Fireflies' Sounds The Way Being Lonely Feels

Detail view of Wendy Smith's cover art for Distant Plastic Trees, The Magnetic Fields' debut album, on which the song "100,000 Fireflies" was released in 1991. Wendy Smith/Courtesy of Merge Records hide caption

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Wendy Smith/Courtesy of Merge Records

The Magnetic Fields' '100,000 Fireflies' Sounds The Way Being Lonely Feels

Susan Anway, the singer on The Magnetic Fields' early albums, died this month. For many, her legacy is the remarkable "100,000 Fireflies," a desolate love song that finds the comfort in emptiness.

This French Pianist Has Been Playing For 102 Years And Just Released A New Album

Colette Maze, now 107 years old, began playing the piano at age 5 and defied the social conventions of her day to embrace it as a profession rather than as a pastime. Her son first arranged for her performances to be recorded when she was in her 90s. She has just released her sixth album. Family Photo; Eleanor Beardsley/NPR hide caption

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Family Photo; Eleanor Beardsley/NPR