3 New Albums Out This Week You Should Listen to Now: Field Medic, Amaarae, and Ethel Cain
There’s so much good music out in the ether that sometimes it’s difficult to parse through all of it. Every week The Daily Music Report will do the hard work for you and highlight the best releases available on streaming services.
This week we’re highlighting new music from Field Medic, Amaarae, and Ethel Cain.
Field Medic – surrender instead
On Surrender Instead, Field Medic’s Kevin Patrick Sullivan channels years of sobriety, therapy, and self-reflection into his most grounded work yet. The self-released album navigates a range of styles, from shimmering bedroom pop (‘simply obsessed’) to raw acoustic confessionals (‘castle peaks’), all while grappling with the delicate balance between art and self. After stepping back from the relentless touring grind, Sullivan uses Surrender Instead as both a creative refresh and a personal reset, searching for a healthier way to exist beyond the Field Medic persona.
Standout Songs: ‘tricks & illusions,’ ‘castle peaks,’ ‘simply obsessed,’ ‘MELANCHOLY,’ ‘INFERNO,’ and ‘coffee in the morning.’
8.5
Artist Links:
Amaarae – BLACK STAR
Amaarae’s BLACK STAR, her third album and follow-up to 2023’s Fountain Baby, trades that record’s airy pop for a kinetic, globe-spanning dance odyssey. Drawing from Ghanaian highlife, baile funk, and four decades of club music, the project is as playful as it is intentional, nodding to icons from Cher to Soulja Boy while weaving in cultural touchstones of Black musical heritage. PinkPantheress joins for the pulsing ‘Kiss Me Thru the Phone Pt. 2,’ Naomi Campbell delivers a closing monologue on ‘ms60,’ and lead single ‘S.M.O.’ celebrates the beauty of the Black body with Donna Summer–meets–Janet Jackson flair. Co-produced with Kyu Steed and El Guincho, BLACK STAR channels Amaarae’s newfound confidence and deepened connection to her Ghanaian roots into a vibrant, endlessly danceable statement.
Standout Songs: ‘Starkilla (with Bree Runway & Starkillers),’ ‘Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2 (with PinkPantheress),’ ‘B2B, Girlie-Pop!,’ ‘S.M.O.,’ and ‘Fineshyt.’
7.7
Artist Links:
Ethel Cain – Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You
Ethel Cain’s third album, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, serves as a prequel to her breakout debut Preacher’s Daughter, diving into the doomed romance between its narrator and first love Willoughby Tucker. Arriving just eight months after the challenging, ambient-heavy Perverts, it blends sprawling folk epics like ‘Nettles’ and ‘Tempest’ with moody interludes, fan-favorite live staples ‘Dust Bowl’ and the 15-minute ‘Waco, Texas,’ and even an ’80s-set synth-pop ballad, ‘Fuck Me Eyes.’ Equal parts tender and fatalistic, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You deepens the Southern Gothic world she’s been building—where love feels inseparable from loss.
Standout Songs: ‘Janie,’ ‘Fuck Me Eyes,’ ‘Nettles,’ ‘Dust Bowl,’ and ‘Tempest.’
7.4
Artist Links:
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