Malian balafon player Neba Solo and donso n’goni player Benego Diakité’s album A Djinn and a Hunter Went Walking—the first in a series of new releases in collaboration with longtime Nonesuch partner Nick Gold, former head of World Circuit Records—features the leading players of their traditional instruments: the marimba-like balafon, or bala, and donso n’goni, a hunter’s harp. On the album, co-produced by Gold, Ousmane Haïdara, and Sonny Johns, the acoustic instrumentals are complemented by vocals and percussion as well as touches of mellotron, guitar, and strings. The CD version includes a second disc of their original duo performances, unadorned, recorded in a Bamako garden under a mango tree. They started after the sun went down, and crickets can be heard chirping during the quiet moments.

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s fifth full-length LP, the all-orchestral album Forward Into Light, was produced by Silas Brown and recorded by Metropolis Ensemble led by artistic director/conductor Andrew Cyr. It features Forward Into Light, inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement; the string orchestra and harp (Noël Wan) version of Drink the Wild Ayre; Eye of Mnemosyne, a work on memory, innovation, and culture; and Something for the Dark, a meditation on resilience. Snider says: “I chose to create an album of these four works because they share themes of perseverance, alliance, and evolution through dark and light—concepts that have been at the forefront of my mind in recent years."

For his first full-length solo album, Honora—which takes its name from a beloved family member—Flea composed and arranged the music, and also plays trumpet and bass throughout, joined by an elite crew of modern jazz visionaries: album producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks. The record features vocals from Flea, as well as friends Thom Yorke and Nick Cave. Mauro Refosco and Nate Walcott, among others, also join the band. Honora comprises six original songs, plus interpretations of tunes by George Clinton and Eddie Hazel, Jimmy Webb, Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor, and Ann Ronell.

The 15th anniversary edition of Carolina Chocolate Drops' 2010 Grammy–winning album Genuine Negro Jig, featuring founding band members Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson, includes the original Joe Henry–produced album and nine bonus tracks: seven previously unreleased tracks plus a 2025 remaster of “City of Refuge” and a 2025 mix of “Memphis Shakedown.” This release marks the album’s first time on vinyl since its original pressing in 2010.

Jonny Greenwood's Academy Award–nominated score to Paul Thomas Anderson's film One Battle After Another features 18 new compositions performed by London Contemporary Orchestra, with conductor Hugh Brunt. Greenwood contributed piano, guitar, bass, percussion, and ondes Martenot. The film is Greenwood's sixth Nonesuch-released Anderson film score. "Paul Thomas Anderson fans are well accustomed to how instrumental Jonny Greenwood's music is to the auteur’s body of work," Indiewire says of their collaborations: "Greenwood's original scores expertly capture Anderson's tones."