New Music Friday: 20 releases to hear now

Every Friday, artists drop anticipated albums, surprise singles, and hyped collaborations. As part of New Music Friday, EW's music team chooses some of the essential new tunes. From DJ Khaled's sizzling Rihanna collaboration to Lorde's pop opus, here are the week's most noteworthy releases. Got Spotify? Stream all of EW's picks by following our playlist for this week. <iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed?uri=spotify:user:ew.com:playlist:7edYwuHMlfQkEqTyOY0h5u" width="560" height="380" frameborder="0" class="" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" resize="0" replace_attributes="1" name=""></iframe>

DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller, "Wild Thoughts"

"It's going to be humongous," superproducer DJ Khaled told Entertainment Weekly: The Show on Thursday when teasing his new Rihanna collaboration. "Be ready — because it's gonna be one of those." No kidding. The sizzling, Santana-sampling track is tailored to RiRi's strengths, effortlessly achieving sultry, slow-jam bliss. It is gonna be one of those. —Eric Renner Brown

Lorde, Melodrama

New Zealand's coolest cultural export makes getting drunk and hooking up sound downright spiritual as she examines her fumbles through adulthood and heartbreak with enviable grace, lacerating honesty, and even humor on her second LP. Co-created with Bleachers' Jack Antonoff, it's a riveting, deeply emotional journey of self-discovery. Read EW's full review