Five Songs
A new habit: Five Song Fridays. It's exactly what it sounds like. I'll try to share five songs. On Fridays.
I've been missing my radio show, The Come Up, a lot recently. Hosting on Friday nights created a lot of great moments. One of those was listening to newly released music most of the day Friday (if you didn't know, Fridays are typically when the major labels release).
I don't have a show anymore, so I make playlists far less regularly and when I do, they don't have a structure anymore.
Today I thought I'd change that by starting a new habit: Five Song Fridays. It's exactly what it sounds like. I'll try to share five songs. On Fridays.
Hope Like Hell - Rosie Carney
Carney's third album, Doomsday... Don't Leave Me Here just came out last week, and it was my entry point to her work. The combination of her ethereal vocals and driving guitar is hypnotic. Hope Like Hell isn't the top track on the album (that's probably The Evidence or Here) but it's my favorite right now.
Miles - Zach Bryan
Like anyone who can go through life without GPTing what to eat that day, I have opinions and preferences, and I'm inevitably inclined to like artists from two places: eastern Oklahoma and Ireland.
Bryan's one of my favorites, but this year's With Heaven On Top can be tough to recommend. If you're not a fan already, twenty-five tracks is a lot to sell someone on. For a starting point, Miles has everything I love about his work: catchy chorus, stripped down instrumentals, moody lyrics about rambling through the echoing vestiges of rural America.
Alone Together - Kenny Dorham
If the opening notes of this one sound familiar, you probably watched A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The finale of that show opened with this track, creating a magical juxtaposition of fantasy with jazz that I, personally, had never seen before.
Evan Puschak broke that choice down wonderfully over on YouTube, and you can watch his essay here, but I think Dorham's whole record deserves a listen. At eight tracks lasting only 42 minutes, it would make a perfect opener to a dinner-party setlist. Dorham's tone is beautiful, and if you're not a jazz fan, know this: when Rudy Van Gelder remasters an album, it's worth listening at least once.
Storm Warnings - Florence Road
Florence Road are one of those bands that I just can't stop listening to, and something about this track has wormed its way into my soul. Flo Ro haven't released a full album, but in 2025 they put out something like a half-dozen singles and a wonderful EP, Fall Back, so I'm hoping for more from them this year.
Any artist who can weave the word "lacerate" into a lyric is doing something special, and at this rate, this song's gonna be in my top ten for the year.
Icarus - Mumford & Sons + Gigi Perez
I'm not usually a big M&S guy, (though this live performance is one of my favorites) but this new record feels like they're doing everything they can to win me over. Prizefighter has features from Chris Stapleton, Hozier, Gracie Abrams, and Gigi Perez. It's a long shot, but I think those four could make a great supergroup.
Perez's At The Beach, In Every Life was one of my favorite records of 2025, and she delivers magic again on this track with Mumford and his beloved Sons.
That's all I've got! If you want to listen, here's the tracks on Spotify and Apple:
