Freshly Squeezed, Vol. 83: Yola, Carlos Vara, Ryland James & more

Welcome to Freshly Squeezed, a weekly new music playlist: spanning country, pop, EDM and urban, mainstream and other.

Yola (formerly Yola Carter) plays tricks on the senses with her long-waited debut long-player. Walk Through the Fire is a flaming, ravaging mix of blues, soul and country, and demonstrates her craft is only growing stronger and more consuming by the minute. “Still Gone” is one of many vital moments, throbbing with a serene, thick and passionate vocal, as the production is coated in a smattering of guitar, jingly percussion and organ. “You’re everywhere I go, but still gone,” she sings, swirling all by her lonesome on the hook.

Indian-American producer Air Apparent turns to singer Julia Ross for a truly heavenly treasure. “Tokyo,” which swerves with an unexpected swagger pretty severely, frames a long-distance relationship between blissful layers, calling to early roots in the church while leaning into its secular bent with gusto. “I’m letting you go / Goodbye, Tokyo,” Ross resolves to cut the strings before any more damage is done. Her vocal lingers on the breath but seems to pummel like a drummer in the heat of a marching band’s routine. Then, MTV Cover of the Month champion Nikita Afonso laments over an exasperated rush of feeling with “Holy, My Heart,” a string-sizzled mid-tempo that tightens the contraptions holding her hostage. In unpacking such stolen parts of herself, she relinquishes an astonishing performance, aided by a dark soul presence.

Only 19, soul-pop upstart Ryland James unpacks a vocal drill well beyond his years. “Say Goodbye” fits snuggly between Shawn Mendes and Sam Smith, a tender slow-burn that allows him to evoke gospel and soul of a bygone era. His falsetto caresses the skin moments before catapulting right into the moon’s silky orb. “You can tell me to stop, and I’ll say goodbye,” he warbles as a cannery in flight. Easter Coaster Mimi Knowles carries his no-fucks exterior into much of his work, and it’s no more evident than it is with new single “Nervous,” tipping the scales for the kind of mass-appeal genre-blurring that makes newcomers into titans. His caramel voice (and later his slick grooves) pull you into his world before he sends up a couple stabs to your ears, unapologetically shoving you onto the dance floor.

T.S. Steel, a Pittsburgh native, paints with remarkable musical poetry on the title song to his new EP, King of the Highway. From the rumble of harmonica to the guitar’s laborious gate to Steel’s off-kilter warble, “King of the Highway” taps into the solitude of the open road, balancing both its innate tragedy and exhilarating thrills. Later, Andy Frasco & the U.N. sinks deep with his piano in two on “Let Your Mind Be Free,” a staggering devotion about being woke and grasping onto humanity, a cut from his new album Change of Pace, despite the war nearly ripping him to shreds.

The latest playlist also features: Marina City, Maren Morris, Among the Acres, Jesse Saint John, Annie Tisshaw, Kyan Palmer, Sciarra, The Catching, Harbottle & Jonas, Grace Jackson, Fleurt, Jennifer Nettles, Ships Have Sailed, Boris René and countless more.

In all, we’ve got 50 new songs to bop along to as you ready for the impending three-day weekend. Leggo and let music.

Each playlist will be refreshed every Friday morning/afternoon. We reserve the right to update anytime during the week, so make sure you bookmark this page.

Take a spin:

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