Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Justin Bieber shows us more Swag, Lady Gaga dances into fall and Drake’s Iceman cometh. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Justin Bieber, Swag II
Less than two months after shocking the world with both a new album (Swag) and a new sound (sparse, chilled-out indie-R&B), Justin Bieber has unveiled another surprise: Swag II, a 23-song sequel that follows a similar sonic template but offers plenty of new lyrical musings on Bieber’s unique place in pop — as well as guest spots from Tems, Eddie Benjamin and, most amazingly, Hurricane Chris, of “A Bay Bay” fame.
Lady Gaga, “The Dead Dance”
Lady Gaga continues an all-star year, even by her very high standards — from the chart-topping “Die With a Smile” to the crowd-pleasing Mayhem to the rave reviews of her current world tour — with an appearance on the Netflix series Wednesday, and the companion song “The Dead Dance,” which actualizes the viral “Bloody Mary” trend from last season with a twitchy, propulsive pop anthem for this one.
Drake & PartyNextDoor feat. Cash Cobain, “Somebody Loves Me Pt. 2”
As Drake preps his much-hyped Iceman project, he’s tossing out stray tracks and re-imagined versions of some old ones — the latter group including “Somebody Loves Me Pt. 2,” a new take on his PartyNextDoor collaboration from their joint album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U that adds Cash Cobain into the fold and tweaks the tempo for some late-summer shimmying.
Big Thief, Double Infinity
After delivering the most acclaimed of their career with 2022’s sprawling Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, and morphing from a quartet to a trio, indie-folk stars Big Thief similarly slim down with Double Infinity, which is nearly half the length of its predecessor but is packed with jangly highlights, including the hushed, wandering title track and “Words,” a classic cosmic jam that fans will adore.
Calvin Harris feat. Jessie Reyez, “Ocean”
Calvin Harris has released plenty of sun-kissed dance-pop collaborations over the past 15 years, and “Ocean” boasts one of his more arresting instrumental breakdowns — but the real draw here is the Jessie Reyez, who stuns over the rapturous thump and, a few months after her rock-solid full-length Paid in Memories, showcases a more delicate side of her voice here.
Editor’s Pick: 3Quency, “Top Down”
Anyone who caught Netflix’s Building the Band over the summer witnessed the vocal power and immediate charm of 3Quency, the girl group that emerged victorious in the series; during the same week that Fifth Harmony reunited and Huntr/x’s “Golden” remains atop the Hot 100, 3Quency continues that girl group renaissance with “Top Down,” a hook-filled debut single that set them up as new-school R&B-pop stars.
