September 24 brings one of the final major new-music Fridays of the month, with Taylor Swift, Madonna and Charli XCX, Tinashe and more delivering fresh releases across pop, dance and R&B.
Taylor Swift leads the night with The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, an expanded edition of her 2025 album that adds four new songs to the original 12-track sequence. The project includes “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon,” all written after Taylor Swift reunited with Max Martin and Shellback in Sweden.
What started as a trip to celebrate the historic reception of The Life of a Showgirl turned into another studio session. Swift said the collaborators simply “wrote more songs” out of gratitude for the response to the album, turning those sessions into a four-track extension of the era.
“Patient Zero” has already received the biggest rollout of the four songs. Swift revealed the track after a mysterious website countdown on September 22, followed by a cinematic music-video teaser featuring Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson. The full video is scheduled to premiere at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on September 27, just two days after The Encore arrives.
Madonna and Charli XCX bring a completely different kind of energy to the new-music lineup with “Danceteria Afterhours,” the official remix of Madonna’s “Danceteria.” The collaboration marks the pair’s first official musical release together and pushes the original song’s New York club mythology further into contemporary dance-pop territory.
“Danceteria” appears on Madonna’s July album Confessions II, which continues the story of her 2005 classic Confessions on a Dance Floor. The original song pays tribute to the early-1980s New York club where Madonna established herself, referencing figures including Martin Burgoyne, Debi Mazar, Mark Kamins, Basquiat and Keith Haring while interpolating Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.”
Tinashe, meanwhile, arrives with Popstar, her eighth studio album and the final chapter in a trilogy that began with 2023’s BB/Ang3l and continued with 2024’s Quantum Baby. Released through Nice Life, Atlantic and her own imprint, the 16-track, 39-minute project marks her first major-label full-length since 2018.
The album deliberately avoids a single genre. “Too Easy,” “Crash Out,” “Melatonin,” “Pillow Fight” and “I’d Rather Be Alone” have already introduced its mix of dance, hip-hop, pop and R&B.
Noteworthy releases also come from U2, Leon Bridges, Nessa Barrett, Phoebe Bridgers, Nickelback, Cara Delavingne, and more.
Check out the latest music releases this Friday.
Songs
- Patient Zero – Taylor Swift
- Danceteria (Remix) – Madonna & Charli xcx
- On Video – Phoebe Bridgers
- Watch You Dance – Leon Bridges
- Silencio – U2
- Make Me Love You – Nickelback
- Warhorse – 2hollis
- Grandma Song – Rex Orange County
- 82 Chevy – Dasha
- JFK – G-Eazy & Ty Dolla Sign
- Fireflies – John Legend & Pharrell Williams
- Roses – CHVRCHES
- Celebration – TOMORA, AURORA, Tom Rowlands
- Let Me Heal You – AURORA
- Ghost – Sugababes
- I Won’t Cry – Remi Wolf
- Ya Mad – Russ Millions
- Swingin’ Magic – ILLIT
- Thank You – Jackson Wang
- Milky Way – UNIS
Albums
- The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore – Taylor Swift
- Popstar – Tinashe
- Tough Love – Nessa Barrett
- Rebecca – Becky Hill
- Stray Dogs – Nothing But Thieves
- Silver Sands Marina – Kenny Chesney
- Happiness Anytime – Leon Bridges
- I Wrote You a Letter – M83
- Everyone Gets Everything They Want – Tom Morello
- Not Normal – Cara Delavingne
- Hit-A-Thon – DDG
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