Lil Uzi Vert, The Weeknd & Anitta

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Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.

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This week, Lil Uzi Vert blasts off to a new world, The Weeknd gets edgy with Anitta, and Shawn Mendes hoists up a “Heart of Gold.” Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Lil Uzi Vert, Eternal Atake 2

Eternal Atake arrived in 2020 as a breathless amalgamation of Lil Uzi Vert’s elastic flows and forward-thinking ideas, a rap enigma blooming into a superstar; its sequel, which follows last year’s Pink Tape, harkens back to its predecessor at times — “Chill Bae” belongs alongside his older melodic masterworks — but also forges ahead with more tumbling bars, spaced-out beats and braggadocio.

The Weeknd feat. Anitta, “São Paulo”

“São Paulo,” the high-wattage new team-up between The Weeknd and Anitta, immediately justifies its Halloween release: within the opening minute, a sinister synth arrangement prod at Abel Tesfaye as he gasps out, “Every time I try to run, you put your curse all over me.” Soon, “São Paulo” widens its stance and shape-shifts, offering throbbing percussion and Latin flourishes while never dropping its eeriest undertones.

Shawn Mendes, “Heart of Gold”

“Heart of Gold” is the moment in which Shawn Mendes’ sonic pivot to rootsy folk-rock catches up to his natural songwriting ability: a grief-stricken reflection on a friend he couldn’t help in time, the single boasts a myriad of moving images as well as the strongest hook of Mendes’ latest era.

The Cure, Songs of a Lost World

With Songs of a Lost World, the Cure’s first studio album in a whopping 16 years, Robert Smith and co. have offered the ideal project for longtime fans: a no-dust-detected presentation of the goth-rock greats’ classic sound, but with interesting new wrinkles, including the sweeping, 10-minute epic “Endsong” to close out the new affair.

Champion, Skrillex, Four Tet & Naisha, “Talk to Me”

Any time that Skrillex and Four Tet’s names appear together on a new track, the dance world is going to pay attention — and sure enough, “Talk to Me,” a new collaboration with British producer Champion and singer-songwriter Naisha, represents a squiggly autumnal banger, with streamlined instrumentation that dismisses the notion of a too-crowded studio.

Future & Travis Scott, “South of France (Remix)”

Future’s victory lap is not done: after triumphing with his pair of Metro Boomin albums, We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You, and then serving up solo revelry on Mixtape Pluto, the latter project’s “South of France” has received a remix featuring Travis Scott, with both A-listers gliding over the burbling beat.

Megan Moroney, Blue Christmas… Duh

A few months after returning with Am I Okay?, Megan Moroney is quickly back to ring in the start of the holiday season with Blue Christmas… Duh, a three-song EP featuring a pair of originals from the country star (the delicious “All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy” and heartfelt “Christmas Morning”), as well as, duh, a cover of “Blue Christmas.”

Editor’s Pick: Ethel Cain, “Punish”

If Preacher’s Daughter, Ethel Cain’s superb 2022 album, toyed with the ideas of pop structure and classic American iconography, “Punish” suggests that she’s prepared to explode all expectations for her next move: a nearly 7-minute drone song that starts with fragile beauty and builds up to eardrum-rattling noise, “Punish” showcases Cain’s talent while legitimately surprising the listeners — always a good thing.

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