The arbitrary barriers dividing the track into genres, localities, and charts have all but eroded. This month’s collection of songs is a small, however first-rate, piece of proof. Lil Nas X, the tons-ballyhooed yeehaw rapper, upended u. S. A .’s conventional gatekeepers with a clever SoundCloud placement and the aid of one Billy Ray Cyrus. Beyoncé recruited Memphis producer du jour Tay Keith for a modern-day and historical spin on a generation-transcending cookout jam. The duo of Wilma Vritra pulls apart the liminal and geographic area among the U.K. And American jazz and hip-hop broached upon with the aid of the likes of Earl Sweatshirt and BADBADNOTGOOD. Now not to be outdone, electro-chaabi pioneer Islam Chipsy weaves together tradition and modernity on his present-day imparting.
Even with the much less radical songs in this listing, consisting of Little Big Town’s quietly subversive paean to The Daughters,” K-pop golden boys BTS’ trendy inroads into the hearts and minds of worldwide pop purchasers and FKA Twigs’ stunning, gutting inventive rebirth, there is a reckoning underway. Below you’ll discover an entire, alphabetized listing of NPR Music’s favorite 20 songs for April, as well as a Spotify playlist to pay attention to them. And be sure to check out the ten first-class albums we heard in April, too
Anderson .aak, “Make it Better.
There’s not anything easy, approximately admitting you’ve got fallen out of affection. But FaceTime fights, transferring expectancies and awkward silences apart, Anderson. Paak’s “Make It Better” makes its case for placing the paintings in love’s most pivotal moments. —Sidney Madden ♬
Beyoncé, “Before I Let Go
Maze and Frankie Beverly’s 1981 hit “Before I Let Go” has long been synonymous with uniting circle of relatives cookouts in matrimony of intergenerational two-steps and (off-key) excessive notes. But on this 2019 cowl, Beyoncé infused the conventional with present-day touches of a coronary heart-pumping, double-timed bassline courtesy of Tay Keith, marching band horns, an academic rap verse, and sonic nods to Mr. C, Cameo, and Aaliyah.
What a beneficiant queen. —Sidney Madden
♬ BTS, “Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey)”
“Boy With Luv” glistens, coy and simply sultry enough for the largest boy band within the world. Balmed by using smooth blips, guitar loops, and Halsey’s candy, worldwide crossover-geared up harmonies, BTS’s world domination is right here, and it is sinfully sweet. —Joshua Bote ♬
Cave In, “All Illusion”
Simultaneously jangly and throttling, heartfelt and cryptic, Cave In’s “All Illusion” is the metallic-turned-area-rock band’s go back, which arrives with a patina of sorrow. The presence of Caleb Scofield, the band’s former singer and bassist who died the final year in a vehicle twist of fate, is felt throughout, with lyrics cribbed from his journal and majestic bass out the front, especially in the ones excellent very last moments. —Lars Gotrich ♬
Cienfuegos, “Shining in the Dark”
For the first time, the surfer and Panamanian singer/songwriter Camilo Navarro Quelquejeu sings his new album Sunset Sesh completely in English. Recording beneath the call Cienfue, he channels his signature tropical psychedelia into a catchy, guitar-pushed little bit of pop. It’s a superb instance of Cienfue’s method if you’re not already familiar with his music. —Felix Contreras. ♬
Tom Demac, “Second Skin”
The British techno manufacturer is not afraid to imbue his practical rhythms with wistful chord progressions, and this minimum cut from his Serenade EP brims with restrained emotion. —Otis Hart ♬
FKA Twigs, “Cellophane”
FKA Twigs doesn’t need a lot of burns; however, simmer through this phoenix-esque rebirth. “Cellophane” friends at, and through, a damaged and determined love with an arrangement that turns down her signature Cubist clatter, locating her gasping and hovering through a crushed ballad as an alternative. —Lars Gotrich ♬
Girl Unit feat. Kelela, “WYWD (Remix)”
U.K. Manufacturer Phil Gamble, who facts as Girl Unit, helped outline the digital subgenre of the bass track with the 2010 juggernaut “Wut.” His “WYWD” remix, which became launched in shorter shape on final yr’s Night Slugs Allstars X compilation and now caps his debut LP, Song Feel, is a breezier affair than anything in his or Kelela’s discography. —Otis Hart ♬
Aldous Harding, “Fixture Picture”
In a string-sweetened ballad, it is as mercurial as it is lovely. The New Zealand singer-songwriter crafts a pristinely appointed reminder that “you can’t be natural and in love.” —Stephen Thompson. ♬
Islam Chipsy, “El Daynasour”
Together with his trusty percussionists, the Egyptian electro-chaabi artist unharnesses an incendiary – and impossible to resist – a fusion of traditional Arabic wedding ceremony dance tune beats and souped-up synths imitating nasally winds and brass. —Tom Huizenga ♬
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Julien”
“Julien” isn’t, notwithstanding the in all likelihood inevitable fanfic, an ode to Julien Baker (whose response to the music turned into perfection). No, it’s Carly Rae Jepsen shimmying into the corners of what may want to’ve been, with slinky synth-funk and the ache of whispering a lost lover’s call. —Lars Gotrich ♬
Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road (Remix)”
We do not pretty have track monoculture like we used to. But, towards all odds, a SoundCloud-savvy, yeehaw-rap outlaw, with the assistance of fellow vagabond Billy Ray Cyrus, became a folk hero for the lifestyle en masse with “Old Town Road.” Removed from its mummification or no longer, it actually slaps. —Joshua Bote ♬
Little Big Town, “The %aughters.”
As the use of a global maintains to reckon with the sexism built into its foundations, its greatest harmonizing quartet gives an intimate liberation anthem from a wondering mom’s factor of view. —Ann Powers ♬
Martha, “Mini Was a Preteen Arsonist”
Based on the authentic tale of an 11-12 months-antique malcontent, this ode to youthful revolt by one among Britain’s nice rock bands channels Against Me! And Thin Lizzy in identical degree. —Otis Hart ♬
Patio, “Boy Scout”
Patio’s publish-punk is stretched taut like cheesecloth over a jar; however, lines a vulnerability no longer usually heard in the styles now and then too-detached cool. “Boy Scout,” with a playful B-52s-style flourish, contemplates ennui and self-care, frequently in a unmarried line: “I think I’m gonna pass domestic and concentrate to Washer / Instead of spending any more time with you.” It’s a perfect plan. —Lars Gotrich ♬
Snoh Aalegra, “You”
Like a lace curtain dancing in a breeze or a silk-covered slip get dressed falling to the floor, the power of “You” lies in its simple, sluggish, trance-inducing softness. It gives the impression to be demure. However, it demands attention. —Sidney Madden ♬
Molly Tuttle, “Take the Journey”
Both a street song and a rousing call to dream your nice, this driving wide variety from bluegrass’s brightest young guitar expertise suggests off both her excessive lonesome voice and her excellent fingerpicking abilities. —Ann Powers ♬
Vampire Weekend, “Unbearably White”
Vampire Weekend shakes off its most damning albatross with a beautiful, self-aware devotional that yearns – a self-aware rebuttal sheathed in spare congas, tremolo strings, and Ezra Koenig’s gentle coos. —Joshua Bote ♬
Daniel Wohl, “Melt”
A sorcerer of electroacoustic sonorities, Daniel Wohl, is returned with a potent dreamscape of clicks, creaks, jagged interruptions, aching melodies, and enough new sounds to maintain the maximum tech-obsessed gear heads guessing. —Tom Huizenga ♬
Wilma Vritra, “The Hill”
“The Hill” is a love song as lovely and unexpected because of the move-seas collaboration among Pyramid Vritra of Odd Future and British manufacturer Wilma Archer. Their album Burd belongs on your earbuds, too. —Rodney Carmichael
