Friday Music Drops, 07/03/2026
Introducing a new series of posts that I'll likely abandon after just this FOURTH entry: it's Friday Music Drops! The idea is that every Friday I will listen to the handful of new release songs my Spotify account recommends to me based on my previous listens and write my quick, off the cuff thoughts on each, without really doing any research, so that these posts are as pure as possible. Here we go!
The Mars Volta -- "Cue the Sun/Alba Del Orate"
After calling it quits for a decade, The Mars Volta announced an exciting comeback, only for that comeback to be an album of mostly straightforward acoustic songs. As a career-long fan of this virtuoso prog-rock band, that was not what I wanted to hear, so I am happy to say, The Mars Volta's new single, "Cue the Sun/Alba Del Orate," sounds like a return to form. The song builds up to a chaotic, rocking section and a cathartic release and I hope, as I get used to what this new lineup of supporting musicians sounds like, this is the direction they are heading in the future.
John Carpenter/Cody Carpenter/Daniel Davies -- "The Ferryman"
I think this is a track from an upcoming John Carpenter project that soundtracks a nightmare he had, and there is going to be some kind of graphic novel that goes along with it. Carpenter has made two of my all-time favorite films, and he soundtracked those too, so I'll likely check this out when it releases later this summer. As far as the track, "The Ferryman" is a combination of Carpenter's synth work for his films with metal guitars, and it's pretty fun.
Snow Patrol/Kylie Minogue -- "These Alarms"
Not sure why this was recommended me, as I'm not really a fan of Snow Patrol outside of when their song, "Run," featured into a 2005 episode of the FX show, Rescue Me, and I'm not really a fan of Kylie Minogue, outside of the song "Can't Get You out of My Head," her collaboration with Nick Cave, and her butt. "These Alarms" feels like the fusing of a mediocre Snow Patrol song with a mediocre Kylie Minogue song.
REZN -- "Aerial Birth"
I'm big fan of the...er, what genre are they...progressive metal, shoegaze, stoner rock band REZN. They've got an expansive sound, featuring drawn-out, spacey songs, just singing and no screaming, and they have tackled a different elemental or environmental texture with each album. Their upcoming album, for which I'm quite excited, Cycles in the Infinite Dream, seems to tackle the sky, and the airy, spacious, slightly more polished "Aerial Birth" is a great sign of what will hopefully be another feather in the band's cap.
Finally, apropos of nothing, here's the music video for Stephen Wilson Jr.'s "Gary."
The Mars Volta -- "Cue the Sun/Alba Del Orate"
After calling it quits for a decade, The Mars Volta announced an exciting comeback, only for that comeback to be an album of mostly straightforward acoustic songs. As a career-long fan of this virtuoso prog-rock band, that was not what I wanted to hear, so I am happy to say, The Mars Volta's new single, "Cue the Sun/Alba Del Orate," sounds like a return to form. The song builds up to a chaotic, rocking section and a cathartic release and I hope, as I get used to what this new lineup of supporting musicians sounds like, this is the direction they are heading in the future.
John Carpenter/Cody Carpenter/Daniel Davies -- "The Ferryman"
I think this is a track from an upcoming John Carpenter project that soundtracks a nightmare he had, and there is going to be some kind of graphic novel that goes along with it. Carpenter has made two of my all-time favorite films, and he soundtracked those too, so I'll likely check this out when it releases later this summer. As far as the track, "The Ferryman" is a combination of Carpenter's synth work for his films with metal guitars, and it's pretty fun.
Snow Patrol/Kylie Minogue -- "These Alarms"
Not sure why this was recommended me, as I'm not really a fan of Snow Patrol outside of when their song, "Run," featured into a 2005 episode of the FX show, Rescue Me, and I'm not really a fan of Kylie Minogue, outside of the song "Can't Get You out of My Head," her collaboration with Nick Cave, and her butt. "These Alarms" feels like the fusing of a mediocre Snow Patrol song with a mediocre Kylie Minogue song.
REZN -- "Aerial Birth"
I'm big fan of the...er, what genre are they...progressive metal, shoegaze, stoner rock band REZN. They've got an expansive sound, featuring drawn-out, spacey songs, just singing and no screaming, and they have tackled a different elemental or environmental texture with each album. Their upcoming album, for which I'm quite excited, Cycles in the Infinite Dream, seems to tackle the sky, and the airy, spacious, slightly more polished "Aerial Birth" is a great sign of what will hopefully be another feather in the band's cap.
Finally, apropos of nothing, here's the music video for Stephen Wilson Jr.'s "Gary."
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