\n<\/p>\n
Beefs make rappers productive. Earlier this week, Kendrick Lamar dropped a new salvo in his recently rekindled feud with Drake<\/a>: a six-minute, multipart rejoinder to Drake\u2019s recent \u201cPush Ups\u201d and \u201cTaylor Made Freestyle.\u201d It starts with Lamar rapping quickly but calmly over a smooth-jazz backdrop, taunting, \u201cI make music that electrify \u2019em, you make music that pacify \u2019em.\u201d But after he warns, \u201cDon\u2019t tell no lie about me\/And I won\u2019t tell truths about you,\u201d the track changes to a tolling, droning trap dirge and Lamar\u2019s delivery becomes biting, nasal and percussive. He switches from flow to flow with an accelerating barrage of attacks, professional and personal, from recording deals to parenting skills: \u201ccringe-worthy\u201d is a milder one. This track is unlikely to be the last round. Lamar posted a follow-up, \u201c6:16 in LA,\u201d on his Instagram<\/a> Friday morning. JON PARELES<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The country queen Miranda Lambert commands an atmosphere of smoky guitar licks and smoldering defiance on her new song \u201cWranglers,\u201d her first solo single since her 2022 album \u201cPalomino.\u201d Lambert spins a third-person yarn of heartbreak and revenge at something of an emotional remove during the verses, but there\u2019s a welcome grit in her voice when she gets to the irreverent hook: \u201cShe set it all on fire, and if there\u2019s one thing that she learned\/Wranglers take forever to burn.\u201d LINDSAY ZOLADZ<\/p>\n Is multitasking a fear of facing yourself? Sarah Tudzin, who records as Illuminati Hotties<\/a>, contemplates her own shattered attention span with \u201cCan\u2019t Be Still,\u201d singing, \u201cOh when things are moving too slow\/I, oh got places I wanna go.\u201d With chunky, distorted guitar chords and little interludes of whistling \u2014 in harmony \u2014 she smiles through her nerves. PARELES<\/p>\n The London-based, Nigerian-rooted band Ibibio Sound Machine has evolved into a starkly efficient electro-funk band, delivering community-minded messages in English and the Nigerian language Ibibio. \u201cPull the Rope,\u201d the title track of the band\u2019s new album, deploys an octave-hopping bass line, videogame blips and eventually a horn section to propel a constructive chant: \u201cEven though we\u2019re eager to trigger\/Let\u2019s pull the rope, together we hope.\u201d PARELES<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Niki \u2014 the Indonesian singer and songwriter Nicole Zefanya, now based in Los Angeles \u2014 cheerfully saunters into an iffy new romance in \u201cToo Much of a Good Thing.\u201d Over a bluesy bass vamp and brushes on a snare drum, she notes, \u201cSomething tells me this is gonna hurt someday,\u201d but that\u2019s no deterrent. PARELES<\/p>\n The folk-blues stalwart Chris Smither has been contemplating mortality throughout his decades of songwriting; at 80, he\u2019s more convincing than ever. \u201cAll About the Bones,\u201d a modal blues with saxophone joining Smither\u2019s foot-tapping and fingerpicked guitar, pays tribute to bone anatomy \u2014 \u201cSome will make you stronger\/Others make you tall\u201d \u2014 along with the gruff reminder that sooner or later, \u201cthey end up on the pile.\u201d PARELES<\/p>\n Amy Allen has extensive songwriting credits, including Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s current hit \u201cEspresso\u201d and collaborations with Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Timberlake and Harry Styles. Allen whisper-sings \u201cGirl With a Problem,\u201d a sullen, grungy waltz about obsessive desire: \u201cIt\u2019s moving so fast, it\u2019s coming on strong\/It wants you so bad, doesn\u2019t care if it\u2019s wrong.\u201d Beginning with just acoustic guitars, the track thickens with drums, strings and backup vocals while Allen\u2019s voice stays quiet and stubbornly fixated. PARELES<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mabe Fratti\u2019s \u201cPantalla Azul\u201d (\u201cBlue Screen\u201d) starts \u2014 as many of her songs do \u2014 with only her voice and her cello, here playing a few double stops. She sings, mysteriously, about someone who wants to leave reality behind and about seeing her own imagination as a blue screen; meanwhile, samples suggesting voices, pianos and harps arrive behind her, carrying her ever further away from earthly concerns. PARELES<\/p>\n \u201cIzinkonjana\u201d is a tranquil, unhurried ballad from the South African pianist Ndudzo Makhathini and his trio, a pearly melody over reassuring gospelly chords and a minor-key hint of Chopin. Midway through, Makhathini displays some improvisatory flourishes, but without disturbing the composition\u2019s preternatural restraint. PARELES<\/p>\nIlluminati Hotties, \u2018Can\u2019t Be Still<\/a>\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ibibio Sound Machine, \u2018Pull the Rope<\/a>\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Chris Smither, \u2018All About the Bones<\/a>\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Amy Allen, \u2018Girl With a Problem<\/a>\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Nduduzo Makhathini, \u2018Water Spirits: Izinkonjana<\/a>\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Caroline Polachek, \u2018Starburned and Unkissed<\/a>\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n