'I had a hunch when I saw it for the first time that it should be the next record cover,' says singer Alex Turner. It's a oddly mournful shot of a car alone in a parking lot. The cover image - and later the title - of Arctic Monkeys' new album came from a photo taken by drummer Matt Helders. Single 'I'm In' is a glorious, slow-burning anthem. ''True North' is a letter from a-ha, from the Arctic Circle, a poem from the far north of Norway with new music,' says keyboardist Magne Furuholmen. If you think a-ha is only known for 'Take On Me,' take on this: The band's 11th studio album, 'True North' out Friday, sees the Norwegian stars perform and record with the Arctic Philharmonic orchestra, spinning off a full-length film in the process that weaves together the songs and recurring vignettes in which actors portray life in the north. 'The process for it reminded me of when I did 'Waiting to Exhale' and I'm excited for the world to hear.' The album, out Friday reminds Babyface of another project he did that explored stories from his collaborators. The project's first two singles, 'Keeps On Fallin'' with Ella Mai - plus a video that stars Tiffany Haddish and Kendrick Sampson - and 'Seamless' with Kehlani, are seductive, slinky R&B jewels. On 'Girls Night Out,' the 12-time Grammy Award-winner has collaborated with next-generation R&B/hip-hop stars such as Ari Lennox, Doechii and Queen Naija. That smooth sound you hear signals the return of Babyface. Other titles are 'Karma,' 'Anti-Hero' and 'You're On Your Own, Kid.' The only other clues to what the album sounds like are posts of photos with producer Jack Antonoff and a glass of white wine. It's been nearly two years since Swift's last studio album, 'Evermore.' The new album has one known main collaboration - 'Snow on the Beach' with Lana Del Rey. Stay up until midnight on Friday for the latest Taylor Swift album, appropriately named 'Midnights.' The standard-issue album will have 13 tracks, which tell 'the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life,' the singer-songwriter posted online.

One currently streaming series on the Criterion Channel takes a different tact, with 11 films picked by Ari Aster, the director of a few of the most nightmare-inducing films of recent years: 'Hereditary' and 'Midsommar.' In 'Adventures in Moviegoing' with Aster, the director chooses films that have shaped his life, from Kenji Mizoguchi's 'Sansho the Bailiff' to Lucrecia Martel's 'The Headless Horseman.' With Halloween approaching, a rush of horror films are making their way to most streaming services.

Kehlani zip while we wait