By Anna Chan
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Are you ready to press Play? As fall unofficially starts and the kids settle back into their school routines and studies, musicians from across the spectrum of genres have dropped new music this Friday (Sept. 12) to help soundtrack the new season and year in academics.
Friday Music Guide: New Music From Ed Sheeran, Drake, Twenty One Pilots and More
Ed Sheeran’s ‘Play’: All 13 Songs Ranked
Looking Ahead: A Release Calendar of Upcoming Albums in 2025
Among them are four-time Grammy winner Ed Sheeran, who has released his eighth studio album, Play. The 13-track release, which marks the start of a new project series after he wrapped the five-album Mathematics collection, includes lead single “Azizam” (which debuted and peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April) and “Old Phone” (No. 89). The album finds the musician exploring global sounds (as on the first single) as well as nostalgia (the aforementioned “Phone” as well as “Heaven”).
“Play was an album that was made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life,” Sheeran explained on social media ahead of the album’s release. “Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring. It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish”
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Like Sheeran, Drake also finds himself going back in time, in a way. In his new track “Dog House” featuring Yeat and Julia Wolf, the rapper not only rhymes about money, sex and power, but also references the chorus of his Hot 100 10-week No. 1 hit “One Dance” in his verse: “Just like Drizzy said, I just need one dance, baby.”
The megastars of pop and hip-hop weren’t the only ones to release new music this week. Alt-rock band Twenty One Pilots offered up new album Breach, while Colombian-American artist Kali Uchis teamed up with Billboard‘s 2025 R&B Rookie of the Year Ravyn Lenae for “Cry About It!,” while dance Star John Summit delivered emotional head-bopper “Crystallized” with Inéz, and Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall offered up her debut solo album, That’s Showbiz Baby!
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