Friday Music Guide: New Music From Taylor Swift, Luke Combs, Leon Thomas and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves arsenic a useful usher to this Friday’s astir indispensable releases — the cardinal euphony that everyone volition beryllium talking astir today, and that volition beryllium dominating playlists this play and beyond. 

This week, Luke Combs is feeling wistful, Leon Thomas is feeling vindictive, and of course, the astir anticipated popular merchandise of the full twelvemonth is yet upon us. Check retired each of this week’s picks below:

Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl

Yes, Taylor Swift‘s yet backmost doing large pop, and yes she’s got Max Martin and Shellback successful tow again — but 1989, Pt. 2 this ain’t. The Life of a Showgirl has immoderate of the large drums and plentifulness of the large hooks of this trio’s extended collaboration a decennary earlier, but the songwriting and sonic palette are some updated for the mid-2020s, with galore tracks based astir an organic-skewing pop-rock dependable much reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac than Forever Your Girl. Plenty of its songs look destined to interaction connected a akin standard though: “Actually Romantic” and “Wood” volition beryllium the headline-grabbers for their provocative taxable matters, but “Ruin the Friendship” and “Eldest Daughter” whitethorn extremity up the instrumentality favorites for their idiosyncratic lyrics and wistful melodies.

Luke Combs, “Days Like These”

“When the entity is blue/ And the writer is green/ How overmuch amended tin it be?” Luke Combs has ever had a knack for expressing elemental lyrical sentiments arsenic profound truths — particularly erstwhile helium relies connected the powerfulness of his dependable to transportation the song, alternatively than dulling it with radio-ready overproduction. “Days Like These” features conscionable Combs and an acoustic guitar singing this ode to the halfway pleasures that marque up beingness — and you tin stake state vigor volition inactive find it perfectly undeniable.

Leon Thoma...