Hello and welcome! Ever wondered how we come up with a new intro each week? Maybe it’s the new music that we’re exposed to that inspires us to ingenuity each week? On that note, welcome to V’s new music round-up, where we tune you into some of the week’s biggest and best releases, whether they be singles or albums.

Here are this week’s top picks:

Justice by Justin Bieber

Bieber’s sixth studio record follows up the more tepidly received Changes with more of a steadfast direction. The album is mostly a love letter to his wife and an exploration of the different forms and bounds love can go to, with a few interludes of “justice” in between and an excerpt from a Martin Luther King Jr. speech. Although it isn’t really a protest album at the end of the day, it’s one that Bieber definitely sounds comfortable in and is a welcome change from the turbulent tosses and turns his music was taking.

Chemtrails over the Country Club by Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey’s brand of smoky, whispery pop reached its qualitative zenith with her last effort, Norman F***ing Rockwell. But the exploration of that sound goes way further in Chemtrails, a record that maintains an even more heightened sense of her atmospheric, semi-romantic, old Hollywood-esque, complex narratives. She found a sound that fit her and her listeners well and has been able to run with it, delivering a record worthy of the more glacial single rollout.

Sueños de Dalí by Paloma Mami

Paloma Mami’s debut album isn’t about establishing an artist with a trademark, rather it’s about showcasing all the different things she can do. The album abounds in varied influences from pop, trap, urbano, R&B, and traditional latin pop. She unifies it all with her flow and quietly sensual appeal, from “I Love Her” to her “Dreams” interlude. Bouncing back and forth between English and Spanish, singing and rapping, it’s a compilation of her various skills that feels cohesive.

“Tu Veneno” by J Balvin

Like with previous release “Ma G,” Balvin adopts a darker, more eerie turn on reggaeton for his newest single, “Tu Veneno.” The sound does befit the subject matter, though, as Balvin sings about the depths of a toxic relationship and tries to push his emotional boundaries. Balvin has been using his new releases to push himself as an artist and they have been paying off.

“Heartless – Live from LA” by Roddy Ricch

Roddy Ricch may not have come out of the Grammy awards with a golden gramophone, but he did debut a brand new track, one that dives into more vulnerable territory for the rapper. Ricch opens up about the pain of losing someone close and what it’s like being on the streets and you can hear the fortitude in his voice. The horns and solemn melody tell you that there’s a lot more to Ricch than his (very successful) debut showed.

“Selfish” by Nick Jonas and the Jonas Brothers

The Jonas Brothers reunite on this song from the deluxe edition of Nick’s recent album, Spaceman. The song could flit just as easily between the catalogs of the brothers or Nick as an individual artist, melding more of a stadium rock sound with the dreamy pop of Spaceman, a fitting return for the trio that delivers a head-banger (not a break-your-neck banger, more of an oil-your-joints banger).

“Obsessed” by Addison Rae

“Obsessed” is a great reminder of the past, the early to mid 2000s, when reality singers capitalized on their fame with single drops that celebrated themselves. Some things don’t change, even though the reality aspect has shifted to TikTok. Rae’s single is definitely better produced than reality star outputs (recruiting heavy hitter Benny Blanco), and she’s definitely musical. It’s a strong start for Rae, one that leaves us looking forward to the next release to see whether she’s in on the joke and the industry.

“Headshot” by Lil TJay, Polo G, and Fivio Foreign

TJay and Polo G come back for another collaborative effort, this time recruiting Fivio Foreign for another display of the different breadths that rap and rap flows can take. “Headshot” is, above anything else, a testament to how easy it is for rappers to be able to bring their diverse styles together and meld it into one, featuring the best of the spitfire, the calm, and the cocky.

“Her Body” by Nasty Cherry

Charli XCX-approved Nasty Cherry is kind of like an extension of what a gender swapped Foster the People would sound like (mostly because the track is very reminiscent of “Sit Next to Me”). But there’s something so effortlessly cool about the group, to the point that even if you don’t know who they are (which you now should), you’ll be pledging allegiance to their synth-rock chick vibe.