SAMPLEDWhat Happened in Music This Week? Eminem, Britney, Björk and Mastodon's Fossil Vinyl (October 11, 2026)
A new Eminem verse, a lost Britney Spears song, a Björk choir album, vinyl pressed with real mastodon fossils, Grimes' AI-themed single and A Perfect Circle's 2027 tour.
It was a busy week in music. Here's what you need to know.
Did Eminem drop a new song?
Yes. Eminem teamed up with Shady Records rapper Ez Mil on "Madara," a Naruto-inspired single released Friday, October 9. It also features Japanese rapper Hideyoshi and Neil Kaplan, the voice of the anime villain Madara Uchiha. Eminem brings back his old Slim Shady flow with a filtered vocal, and fans online are split on it. It's his first guest verse of the year, according to Billboard (opens in a new tab).
What is Britney Spears' "She'll Never Be Me"?
It's a song recorded for Britney Spears' 2001 album Britney that was never released until now. It came out October 9, cowritten by Spears with Justin Timberlake, Bradley Daymond and Alex Greggs. It's one of 11 extra tracks on the album's 25th anniversary edition, due November 6, which also includes remixes of "Overprotected" and "Boys" (USA Today) (opens in a new tab).
What is Björk releasing?
Björk Orkestral with the Hamrahlíð Choir, a live recording of her October 24, 2021 concert at Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, comes out November 27 on LP, CD, Blu-ray and DVD. The choir performs her 2004 album Medúlla, made almost entirely from human voices, plus songs like "Hidden Place" and "Unravel." Björk sang in this choir as a teenager (The FADER) (opens in a new tab).
Photo: Edu Grande via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) (CC0)
Did Mastodon really put fossils in a record?
They did. Mastodon is pressing just 170 copies of their album Marrow Deep with "bone dust" made from fossilized mastodon teeth the band was given more than 20 years ago. The records were made at Waxworks Records with help from the University of Georgia's geology department. Because there are so few, fans have to register for a random chance to buy one (Stereogum) (opens in a new tab). Looking for records of your own? See where to find records.
Is Grimes' new album made with AI?
No, even though it's about AI. Grimes released "Accelerando," the first song from Psy Opera, a concept album about whether AI could wipe out humanity. She says she doesn't use generative AI in her music, though she admitted using DeepSeek for lyrics on a song about DeepSeek (Stereogum) (opens in a new tab). For where AI music stands legally, read is AI music legal?
What else happened?
- A Perfect Circle released "To Whom It May Concern" and announced a 2027 North American tour starting April 13 in Vancouver, with stops at Red Rocks and the Hollywood Bowl. Puscifer joins the Canadian dates and The Cult the rest of the US run (The Concert Chronicles) (opens in a new tab).
- Phoebe Bridgers shared a three-song Sound Check at Cherry Lane Theatre performance with A24 Music, joined by Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker of boygenius on two songs (Paste) (opens in a new tab).
- Alanis Morissette announced her first holiday album, Good Weather for Immaculate Conception, led by "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" with Brandi Carlile and Steve Martin (Stereogum) (opens in a new tab).
- Streaming fraud: Michael Smith was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his AI song and bot-streaming scheme. Read our full breakdown.