Week of April 17th, 2026

Credit: Rolling Stone

‘Meditating on a beach boardwalk while writing New Music Friday and listening to this week’s newest hits’ is the Twitter/X post I would have made if I were a big-time journalist reporting on the week’s duty of New Music Friday. If not for the large quantity of A-list musicians releasing music from Celine Dion to Olivia Rodrigo, the large quality that persists throughout this week’s music creates a feeling of excitement for the upcoming year and summer of music. This week, ZAYN releases his newest track, ‘Side Effects’ off his upcoming album, along with a collaboration between Tyla and Zara for ‘SHE DID IT AGAIN’, and a new release from upcoming ‘superstar’, Adéla, ‘KGB’. Read below for the week's newest hits and highlights of the week. 

1. Most Streamed Song of the Week – “drop dead” by Olivia Rodrigo (9.5/10)

With plans to release a Top 5 most pre-saved (on Spotify history) album in mid-June, conduct double duty for SNL next week, and venture into a new color scheme for her newest ‘era’, Olivia Rodrigo’s newest song after no new music for two years has captivated the music industry, from her fans to newcomers. But in reality, the marketing surrounding the song was already geared to make ‘drop dead’ a massive hit–her success isn’t surprising; it’s strategic. Slowly changing the shade of the ‘Olivia Rodrigo’ wall in LA from purple (her brand’s former distinctive color) to pink, it seems that every little inkling that Rodrigo touched became breaking news. If economics can help it, the lack of supply for ever-growing demand makes any bit of supply special. Her music has an air of exclusivity and limitedness that is more than able to help her break conversations, fandoms, and hopefully, charts.  

But the song’s hype is well deserved. Working with longtime collaborator Dan Nigro (who’s worked with Rodrigo to produce the smash hits she is known for, such as ‘good 4 u’ or ‘driver’s license’) and new-time collaborator, legendary songwriter Amy Allen (responsible for recent hits like Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’) the song is perfected with every single second of the song feeling carefully articulated. With the right blend between Rodrigo’s slowly accumulating curiosity with UK culture and UK music (see her lyric: You know all the words to ‘Just Like Heaven’) and gleeful reminders of her ballad-heavy diary-writing style, the song shows Rodrigo’s strong musical craftsmanship and how she is able to articulate feelings beyond her former sadder trope. It’s a fun track and seems to grow more and more enjoyable with each listen. It’s with sure excitement that Rodrigo will follow the next parts of her album rollout.

2. Lyrical and Sonic Standout – “First Light” by Lana Del Rey (9.5/10)

After an unfortunate failure for Del Rey’s initial pitch with her Third Album Honeymoon’s song ‘24’ to make it onto the next James Bond movie, the Born To Die singer has finally achieved her dream of becoming a Bond singer. Her sultry atmosphere, voice, tone, and ability to collaborate with five-time Bond-score composer and lyricist David Arnold to present the best type of ‘Del Rey meets Bond’ track that could be fantasized about by fans. What is different about the expectation, though, is that this new track will not be featured in a new Bond movie, but instead will be featured in the highly anticipated James Bond video game, First Light, that will allow players to explore the origins of Bond’s life from adulthood to the British Intelligence Services. 

While the lyrics might not be the best craftsmanship that Del Rey can show within her artistry and discography, I wanted to choose this piece for its strong capacity to cater to the needs of the video game industry. There is simplicity in the lyrics that are more accessible, which is often uncommon within the typical ultra-specific lyrical discography that makes LDR’s music so favorable. But, in creating lyrics that feel obtainable and approachable by a wider consumer audience, Del Rey shows a new style of brilliance in artistry in that she is not limited to one style of music. Rather, she is versatile and is able to work between the lines of music that many artists often fail or struggle to even try.

3. Personal Favorite – “Potential” by Sombr (7.25/10)

While Sombr, at 20 years old, might still not be able to legally drink in the States or craft lyrical lines that feel mature enough to be multiversatile like legendary artists like Lana Del Rey, who came before him, it’s more than clear that the singer-songwriter is taking notes, trying to improve, and making noticeable footprints in his trek. If not noticeable by ‘Homewrecker’, his most recent single preceding the release of ‘Potential’, it’s clear that the ‘new Flynn Wolfhard’ is beginning to show more maturity in his lyrics and turning away from juvenile lyrics that can sometimes be felt as ‘teenageresque’. The track is exciting but leaves a certain degree of suspense. It has a unique angle and perspective to dictate, although sometimes muddy in its execution. The song feels rich in the sense that it’s well-crafted, marketed, and combined with beautiful visuals. While Sombr still has a journey to make in becoming lyrically brilliant (although he already shows great potential in terms of musical production and theory), this new track is hard not to like, as it’s enjoyable to listen to but also exciting in that it shows future promise for Sombr’s artistry.