Madonna leads this week’s best new songs: Friday Music Guide

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to each week’s New Music Friday’s most important releases: the essential music everyone’s talking about today and dominating your playlists this weekend and beyond.

Last week we featured Somber, Phoebe Bridgers, Steve Lacy with SZA, and more.

This week: Madonna cancels the highly anticipated ‘Confessions II’. Rising star Siena Spiro releases her long-awaited debut album “Visitor.” And Riley Green shares his latest collaboration…and more. Check out all of this week’s picks below.

Madonna, Confessions II

After months of hype and world-building, Madonna’s Confessions II finally hits clubs this Friday. The icon’s 15th studio album since 1983, and first since 2019’s Madame X, Confessions II returns her to the throbbing beats and writhing rooms of 2005’s Confessions on a Dancefloor. While that album leaned heavily toward disco through classics like “Hung Up” and “Sorry,” “Confessions II” is more upscale dance-pop and rich electronica, with songs like “Good for the Soul” and “One Step Away” combining the layered, intelligent production of Stuart Price (who also produced the original album) with Madonna’s philosophical musings that “a dance floor isn’t just a place, it’s a dance floor.” A threshold, a ritual space where movement replaces language. ”

But despite its dizzying tendencies, the album certainly has the spirit of dance-world playfulness and fun, with “School” serving as a bit of a sexy butt-shaker and “Danceteria” running through a typical night at the song’s eponymous club in New York City, where Madonna first performed it in 1982. And while the original “Confessions” had as much emotional nuance as a kick drum, this new song lives up to its title. A personal song about motherhood (in collaboration with Madonna’s daughter Laura Leon), the pain of betrayal, and all things romance. We confess, we love it. — Katie Bain

Sienna Spiro, Visitor

After breaking out on and off the charts with the emotional “Die on This Hill,” rising soulful pop artist Sienna Spiro releases her debut album this Friday (July 3). The project, titled ‘Visitor’, includes that smash hit as well as the previously released single ‘You Stole the Show’ and the quasi-titled song ‘The Visitor’. Spiro co-wrote the album with collaborators such as Omar Fedi and Michael Pollack (both of whom co-produced several songs), among others. — Lindsey Heavens

Gail: “Junebug!”

Three years ago, in 2023, pop singer Gail was nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year for her smash single “abcdefu.” She has since released two EPs, contributed a song to the Barbie Doll soundtrack, and opened for tours for Taylor Swift and Tate McRae. Now, after some time, the up-and-coming artist is back with new music. And there’s also an important announcement. Her debut album Observing Choas is scheduled for release later this year. Until then, lead single “junebug!” hints at the direction she’s headed, complete with an uptempo rock-pop riff that perfectly captures the carefree chaos that marks the start of summer. — L.H.

Billy Strings “Burn the Other End”

While he’s earned a reputation for his long, improvisation-heavy concerts, the Michigan bluegrass artist has also quietly become one of today’s most incisive recording artists, winning three Grammy Awards for Best Bluegrass Album since 2021. Like Strings’ best studio work, Burn the Other End manages to condense the eerie, psychedelic bluegrass of his expansive live sets into more traditional song structures. But the single is also darker in spirit and style than much of String’s work. When Strings announced that it would be featured on T-Bone Burnett’s album So Much For Goodbyes, he said he made the record in honor of his mother, who died of a drug overdose last year. (Earn observers will spot Jack White providing “gang vocals” along with another legendary Wolverine State guitar virtuoso, Barnett, in the credits.) — Eric Renner-Brown

Riley Green feat. Hannah McFarland “Go Again”

Between his collaboration with Ella Langley and his current song with Carly Pearce, has any male country artist cornered the coed duet market in recent years like Green? Here, he and fellow Alabama native McFarland attempt to continue their winning streak with “Go Again,” from his upcoming album That’s Just Me. (They also duet on the deluxe version of “Don’t Mind If I Do”). The low-key, gentle acoustic track, written solely by Green, follows two lovers after a one-night stand, planning a breakup and musing about breaking up again, both in and out of bed. It’s sweeter and sexier than the full-force blowtorch of Green’s “Worst Way,” but it’s still sultry. — Melinda Newman

Stella Lefty “Good at breaking up”

Lefty continues his country music leanings with this chugging track about the ability to “leave without warning,” as he’s much better at saying goodbye than saying hello. The “Boston” singer surrounds her lilting vocals with delicate pedal steel, mandolin, and primarily acoustic guitar, and her infectious songs will stay in your brain far longer than they will in your ears. The official release came after Lefty performed the song in concert and it became a fan favorite. — Minnesota

Ruben Blades, Supermambo

His new album, Rubén Blades — Billboard’s 2026 Indie Icon — combines the magical worlds of music and comics. SUPERMAMBO is a mix of 17 tracks and interludes that tells the story of an Afro-Latinx superhero from the Bronx who is elegant, knowledgeable, and has superpowers that make people dance. Narrated by the Panamanian star, the set perfectly weaves storytelling and tropical rhythms with the aim of showcasing the superpowers of Latin culture. Produced by Felipe Fournier and Jeremy Bosch, SUPERMAMBO includes collaborations with Oscar Hernández, Shay Fior and Mariachi Flor de Troache. — Jessica Royce

Judrin “Besit”

Produced by Lil Chick, Sasha Rudy, Phil, Twiste, and Gede Da O, Judlin’s “Besito” begins with crashing ocean waves before transitioning into a futuristic pop song with experimental synths and dreamy vocal harmonies. Calling this song her official summer tune, the Spanish artist sings seductively about desire and lust. “I’m still thinking about yesterday’s kiss.” […] “I want to kiss you again,” she sings. In the lyrics, she encourages her crush to enjoy themselves while living life enthusiastically in their 20s. The conceptual music video, shot in France by Lillian Arduineau, depicts Judlin giving a dreamy yet sultry performance on a beach at night. — J.R.

Zeds Dead “Return to the Return (On the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness)”

Zeds Dead’s Return to the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness was one of our favorite albums of 2025, and now the pair is back for real through the new Return to the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness. Chopping up the original and turning it into a journey through ambient, breakbeat, UKG, drum’n’bass, turntablism, and more, this new version is both a sequel to the original and a complete re-imagining of the original, capturing the duo’s long-standing hallmark of heady experimental tendencies. Zeds Dead headlined Red Rocks last night and will headline again tonight. —KB

Ken Carson, Experience

Just over a year after scoring his first Billboard 200 No. 1 album with 2025’s More Chaos, Ken Carson is back with more experience. The Atlanta rap star teased the album’s heady, sometimes slightly industrial rage rap and trap soundscapes during his 2026 Rolling Loud headlining set (May 10) and later on his Instagram @xperimenting0_0 page, and the 22-track set delivers. Featuring appearances by Playboi Carti, Destroy Lonely, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, 2 Hollis, and more, the experiment established the 26-year-old as a true niche superstar, one who can pack a surprise into almost every turn while interacting with his fanbase, particularly in his music production. — Kyle Dennis

Destin Conrad “Nervous”

Last year, Destin Conrad followed up his debut album, Love on Digital, which Billboard named the No. 1 R&B album of 2025, with the impressive alternative jazz EP Whimsy. Always a shapeshifter, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter delves into dancehall with “Nervous,” the first taste of her upcoming reggae album. Influenced by his Jamaican-born mother, his catalog has always included delicate elements of Caribbean music, and “Nervous” turns up the heat with a searing riddim produced by Louis Rustic. The syncopated dancehall production pairs well with Destin’s mesmerizing, layered background vocals to elevate one of the anthems of the summer. — K.D.