Counting today, there are really just two proper New Music Fridays left before the end of the year. Two weeks from now, the schedule will be taken up with Black Friday releases, most of which will be reissues and special editions. After that, the stragglers will come in until early December. Beyond that, it’s the recorded music industry’s hibernation period before things back to business in 2027.
Oh, and this week is completely dominated by the first proper studio album from U2 in eight years.
Singles
1. Alexisonfire, Push the River (Dine Alone)
Even though Alexisonfire has been around since 2001, this single is from what will be just their sixth full studio album. Bleed It won’t be out for almost two seasons. Fall will expire, and most of winter will go by before the record comes out on March 19. Love the song, and the video is about as fun and simple as you can get. There had to be drinking involved.
2. Dreamboys the Band, Somebody Like You (Universal Music Germany)
Here’s some German alt-pop featuring for female songwriters from Berlin. They’ve already established a football in various places across Europe and are now curious to see if North America will bite. Thoughts? Have they got a chance?
3. Flaming Lips, God Will Control the Werewolves (Third Man Records)
It’s been a while since the last Flaming Lips record–2021, to be exact. Come January 22, they will return with their seventeenth album, The Teardrop Throbs, issued through Jack White’s Third Man Records, their first record not on Warner in 37 years. There are two changes to the lineup: Founding member and bass player Michael Ivins left in 2021; and longtime keyboardist, guitarist and drummer Steve Drozd left the band in 2025 after a family crisis (his daughter briefly disappeared, and he wants to stay close to home from now on).
4. Fall Out Boy, ACES (Atlantic)
To be honest, the arrival of this single was a surprise to me. If there had been any advance notice, I missed it. Then again, maybe we all should have expected something when the Twilight of the Punks world tour was announced. The North American leg will feature The Offspring, Good Charlotte, and The Story So Far while European fans will have A Day to Remember and Neck Deep on the bill. The sole Canadian date will be at Rogers Stadium in Toronto on July 22.
Albums
1. Tracy Bonham, LIFT (American Laundromat)
Tracy burst out of the gate with a 1996 debut album entitled The Burdens of Being of Being Upright, which contained the hit Mother, Mother. This album is an expanded re-imagining of that first record. She’s had 30 years to ruminate on things. This is the new version of the third single to be released from that first record.
2. Jake Bugg, Alamo (Lovebugg Recordings/Thirty Tigers)
You may remember Jake as the English singer-songwriter who had an international breakout when, still a teenager, he released a self-titled debut album in 2012. Some people likened him to a cross between Oasis and Bob Dylan. This is his seventh album, which returns him to the sound of that first record.
3. Joan Osborne, Relish Reimagined (Brother Mister Producers/Mack Avenue Music Group)
Another reimagined debut album, Joan Osborne was on the radio at exactly the same time as Tracy Bonham in 1996 with a song called One of Us. After 30 years, she, too, believes that the original record needed an update.
4. U2, Carnaval Du Lutz (Universal)
Unless you’ve been off world for the last year, you know all about this record. U2’s 16th studio album. The title is Spanish for “carnival of light.” Big world tour called The Greatest Show on Earth. The album rocks more than the last couple. Reviews have been good. Dolly Parton appears on a duet with Bono, which was her last-ever recording session. A million different versions are available, including a three-CD set that contains the album and the two EPs released earlier this year.
5. Various Artists, 20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan (Sony Music/EMI)
This is a two-CD, 36-track tribute to the late lead singer of The Pogues, who was one of the greatest lyricists of the 20th century. Contributors include U2, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Bruce Springsteen, Hozier, Steve Earle, Dropkick Murphys, Bob Geldof, and more. Pour a Guinness have a have a listen and a good cry.
© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Ad Choices
