Friday Music Guide: New Music From Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran, ENHYPEN & More
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
This week, Miley Cyrus seeks friends for “End of the World,” Ed Sheeran goes global and ENHYPEN drop their first single of the year. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Miley Cyrus, “End of the World”
The three songs that Miley Cyrus has released this week, culminating in sparkling new single “End of the World,” have included members of indie darlings like Alvvays, The War on Drugs and Model/Actriz in the liner notes — but instead of Cyrus pivoting to the Pitchfork set, she has synthesized their attributes for her most effervescent collection of songs in years, with “End of the World” sounding primed to shimmer on top 40 radio and stoking anticipation for the upcoming album of the same name.
Ed Sheeran, “Azizam”
Place the wistful, finger-picked melancholy of – (Minus) and Autumn Variations squarely in the past: Ed Sheeran is back to crafting stadium-sized anthems, and with “Azizam,” a relentlessly catchy mash-up of the singer-songwriter’s Irish folk sing-along instincts and Persian pop production, Sheeran has kicked off his next era with global ambitions.
Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Who Believes in Angels?
“My ambition for her with this album was to break her internationally,” Elton John told Billboard recently about working with Brandi Carlile on Who Believes in Angels?, a rollicking rock project that pushes Carlile out of her Americana sound and towards more mass-appeal songwriting; the pair play off each other well, and the project could indeed open new doors for the Grammy winner.
ENHYPEN, “Loose”
ENHYPEN’s first new music of 2025 is a throwback to boy band days of yore: “Loose” carries a funky groove and boasts plenty of high-falsetto harmonies, with moments that recall classic Motown but the K-pop group steeping the single in modern sensibilities. “Loose” will thrill ENHYPEN diehards, but there’s plenty of crossover potential with this one.
Sexyy Red, “Hoochie Coochie”
With one minute remaining on a two-and-a-half minute track, Sexyy Red sits back and lets the ominous piano line rock for a few seconds, before tossing out some ad-libs and returning to the chorus; that’s how efficient she is on the raunchy, riotous “Hoochie Coochie,” dressing down her competition so thoroughly in the first half of the new single that she can take a break to shine midway through.
Djo, The Crux
While Joe Keery’s musical project scored a viral smash last year with “End of Beginning,” Djo is a long-term investment that’s already paying dividends: new album The Crux stretches its creative ambition outward, as Keery tinkers with alt-pop idiosyncrasies, makes room for moments of hushed beauty, and upends anyone pigeonholing him into one song, sound or medium.
Lainey Wilson, “Bell Bottoms Up”
“Bell Bottoms Up” is already a set highlight on Lainey Wilson’s tour in support of last year’s Whirlwind album, and the studio version of the single captures its live energy, with the rising country star declaring, “I’m fillin’ up these jeans like I do my cup / Throwback, throw down, bell bottoms up!” before a heel-kicking guitar solo crashes in.
Editor’s Pick: Scowl, Are We All Angels
The tension between pop bliss and hardcore rage makes Scowl’s new album, Are We All Angels, an immediately intoxicating listen — the way that the Santa Cruz band construct songs on their Dead Oceans debut, the next scream or hook is always lurking around the corner, but band leader Kat Moss serves as the connective tissue between Scowl’s two modes and achieves a true breakthrough.
Jason Lipshutz
Billboard