Luke Combs’s new album, Fathers & Sons, is his first since his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” became a pop smash in 2023.

Zach Massey/Courtesy of the artist

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Zach Massey/Courtesy of the artist

Luke Combs’s new album, Fathers & Sons, is his first since his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” became a pop smash in 2023.

Zach Massey/Courtesy of the artist

This week, NPR Music’s Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Ann Powers steer the New Music Friday podcast straight into the oncoming Father’s Day weekend, following the lead of country superstar Luke Combs, whose new album Fathers & Sons is a heartfelt meditation on what it means to fill both of those roles. It’s Combs’ first album since his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” landed him on the pop charts last year.

Also this week: Raveena, who won over many fans at NPR Music with her 2022 album Asha’s Awakening, excavates the sounds of millennial pop and R&B on Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain; plus, a long-celebrated 1974 bootleg of Paul McCartney and Wings playing live in the studio gets an official release.

Featured Albums:
• Luke Combs, Fathers & Sons
• Raveena, Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain
• Paul McCartney & Wings, One Hand Clapping

Other notable albums out June 14:
• The Decemberists, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
• Normani, Dopamine
• PJ Morton, Cape Town to Cairo
• This is Lorelei, Box for Buddy, Box for Star
• Jess Cornelius, Care/Taking
• Sadler Vaden, Dad Rock
• Don Tolliver, Hardstone Psycho
• Hermanos Gutiérrez, Sonido Cósmico
• Sam Morton, Daffodils & Dirt
• John Cale, POPtical Illusion
• Isobel Campbell, Bow to Love
• John Grant, The Art of the Lie
• Lalah Hathaway, VANTABLACK
• Moby, always centered at night
• Zsela, Big For You