Best known for his stage name 54 Ultra, JohnAnthony Rodriguez’s two latest singles, “Turnaround” and “I’m Hooked,” showcase the two sides of his signature sound: funky Latin soul and synth-heavy pop, respectively. On “Turnaround,” Spanish guitar riffs, trumpet flares, and auxiliary percussion create a lush backdrop for his grainy falsetto. “I’m Hooked,” by contrast, highlights Rodriguez’s penchant for dream pop, brushing up against Rex Orange County territory with its beat switches, tempo shifts, shimmery marimbas, and stacked vocal harmonies. Across both tracks, there’s a blissed-out, faraway Booker T. and the M.G.’s feel, an effortlessness that makes for easy listening. Rodriguez cites the likes of Blood Orange, Kali Uchis, and Beach House among his influences. He’s grown into a compelling front man since his arrival on the music scene in 2020, and has, only this year, made his Coachella debut and collaborated with ANOTR. Leaning into 60s aesthetics (boot-cut pants, a mullet-moptop hybrid), he channels the spirit of classic boogaloo, reimagined for the modern-pop landscape. (spotify.com) —Cassidy Sollazzo

To stand in front of the immense The Heart of the Andes, at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, is to understand why Frederic Church was the finest landscape artist of the 19th century. To fully appreciate the man and his times you must read Glorious Country, Victoria Johnson’s splendid biography of a painter who traveled the world but was most closely associated with the Hudson River School of painting. He was an ardent unionist, and much of his work reflected his political sympathies, including dramatic sunsets meant to represent the darkness of the Civil War. In his last years, he and his wife built Olana, their spectacular house overlooking the Hudson Valley and completed in 1891. (A mash-up of Victorian and Middle Eastern motifs, Olana is open to the public and is as worthy of a visit as The Heart of the Andes.) Johnson has written the ideal biography of an artist, informed by his own writings and enthralling in its exploration of a life well lived. ($35, simonandschuster.com) —Jim Kelly

Selfridges’ new private universe, 40 Duke, is tucked inside its London flagship; part members’ club, part personal shopping salon, part cultural hideaway for V.V.S.P.’s (Very, Very Selfridges People, naturally). Spread across 25,000 square feet, it brings together 24 Personal Shopping Studios, private dining, a lounge, and a rotating calendar of art, music, and brand takeovers. It’s less about transaction, and more about lingering—over objects, conversations, and the occasional very good glass of wine. And even that only begins to suggest the layers of what’s been built here. Access is reserved for Selfridges’ most engaged customers, shaped through invitation or relationship rather than application or fee. All of which adds up to something closer to a world than to a space, quietly stacked above Oxford Street. And, yes, you’ll probably want in on it. (selfridges.com) —Jennifer Noyes

I can’t say enough good things about the Beast blender, invented in 2021 by the man behind NutriBullet. The design looks sleek on any countertop; the colors are pleasantly neutral; and the output is heavenly, producing the smoothest of smoothies but also so much else—purées that give whatever delicacy Alison Roman is feeding her baby a run for its money; silky soups and sauces; the list goes on. My one issue with the Beast has always been the materials—they look great, and they’re BPA free, but they are still plastic, something I’ve been increasingly wary of now that a small child has entered my household. Well, that problem is no more—the company has just released a stainless-steel line, which has the added benefit of maintaining colder temperatures during and after blending. ($159, thebeast.com) —Julia Vitale

For far too long, Anni Albers has been relegated to the background, her pioneering contributions to textile art confoundingly overlooked. Now Nicholas Fox Weber, the executive director of the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation for more than four decades, as well as the author of previous biographies on the artists Balthus and Le Corbusier, seeks to remedy this oversight with an intimate new biography. Pulling from deep archival research and from Weber’s own conversations with Albers from the 1970s until her death in 1994, the book traces the innovative artist’s life, from her education at the Bauhaus to teaching at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, to becoming the first textile designer to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Weber also reveals little-known details about Albers’s personal life—including a later-years, May-December obsession with an actor three decades her junior. ($38, amazon.com) —Paulina Prosnitz

Cavemen had clubs, Vikings had axes, but what can the modern man-about-town brandish to continue this martial tradition, while steering clear of city ordinances and the disapproval of his peers? The answer is an umbrella, the one accessory that is both sword and shield, depending on the weather. Just as the discerning Neolithic bruiser sought out alderwood for his skull crusher, today’s man of action should turn to James Smith & Sons and its picturesque Victorian shop on London’s New Oxford Street. There, like a knight in a castle armory, you will be agog at the choices. The Solid Stick, crafted from a single piece of acacia, hickory, or maple, is cut to its owner’s height and built to last a lifetime. Carry it with pride. It is one of the last acceptable totems of manhood. (james-smith.co.uk) —George Pendle