Dear listeners,
It’s Lindsay’s editor, Caryn, here to kick off a round of guest newsletters with around 19 minutes of upbeat music from March. (If you missed Friday’s newsletter celebrating The Amplifier’s second birthday, a reminder that Lindsay will be taking a few months away to work on a book. The Amp will still arrive every Tuesday.)
I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I sequence the Friday Playlists that provide the raw material for these monthly entries spotlighting new music, and one of my big challenges is tempo: With the critics Jon Pareles and Lindsay picking so many different types of tracks, folding them into a coherent mix is not always a cinch.
So I’m cheating a little today, choosing a selection of songs at what I’ll call “walking in Manhattan” pace. (Whatever the Google Maps estimate is, I can beat it.) This rundown could provide some rapid strolling music, or maybe soundtrack a cycle on the treadmill accompanied by some spirited air guitar-ing. Either way, trust that this six-pack of songs is a worthy addition to your 2025 collection.
Listen along while you read.
1. J Noa and Lowlight: “Traficando Rap”
The Dominican rapper J Noa spits at breakneck speed in Spanish, and it’s a lot of fun trying to keep up with her. This track, on which she pairs with her producer Lowlight, contains boasts comparing her rhymes to other addictive substances over horn blasts that, as Jon Pareles wrote, “hark back to Sugar Hill Gang’s ‘Apache’ and its source, the Incredible Bongo Band’s version of ‘Apache.’” The 19-year-old sounds bold and gleeful, “la-la-la”ing along to a head-spinner of a beat.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Chappell Roan: “The Giver”
Chappell Roan debuted this song on “Saturday Night Live” last fall and officially released it a few weeks ago, in a moment when queer country is line dancing into the spotlight (see: Julien Baker & Torres’s “Send a Prayer My Way,” due next month). Roan’s vocals easily glide up to her high register and back as she delivers another winky track about her sexual prowess, this time with a kicky fiddle line providing some punch.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Lizzo: “Love in Real Life”
Lizzo doing Strokes cosplay? Channeling Prince? Over a classic ’80s bop of a beat? It’s all happening, and it’s probably going to get stuck in your head.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Illuminati Hotties: “777”
The ’90s are alive and well and living inside this song that was written and produced by Sarah Tudzin (who performs as Illuminati Hotties) and Melina Duterte (a.k.a. Jay Som). The title refers to a winning jackpot spin, and the lyrics trace the giddy exploration phase of a new relationship over a deliciously fuzzy backdrop. Shoegaze revival, you have a new entrant.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. The Ophelias: “Salome”
The aforementioned Julien Baker is the producer of this hypnotic, driving track by the Ohio quartet the Ophelias. The biblical figure Salome was a princess who received the head of John the Baptist and later married her cousin and became a queen. “I want your head on a stake / I want your head on a platter,” the band sings here, later admitting, “Maybe this was a mistake.” Whoops!
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Takaat: “Amidinin”
The guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, the bassist and producer Mikey Coltun and the drummer Souleymane Ibrahim back up Mdou Moctar, the sizzling African guitarist whose album “Funeral for Justice” arrived last year. If you’ve seen the band live, it’s hard to take your eyes off that locked-in rhythm section. Their own EP is coming next month, and this single is a swirling, satisfying first taste.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“6 (Up-tempo) New Songs You Should Hear Now” track list
Track 1: J Noa and Lowlight, “Traficando Rap”
Track 2: Chappell Roan, “The Giver”
Track 3: Lizzo, “Love in Real Life”
Track 4: Illuminati Hotties, “777”
Track 5: The Ophelias, “Salome”
Track 6: Takaat, “Amidinin”
