Recent Melancholy Releases

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  Chvrches
  Screen Violence
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  The trio’s fourth album taps into everything that makes them so special among the legions of bands reinventing synth pop in the 2020s.

  - Heather Phares
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  Kacey Musgraves
  Star-Crossed
  AllMusic
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  A quintessential divorce record distinguished by its soft, glistening shimmer and Kacey Musgraves' placid delivery.

  - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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  The Killers
  Pressure Machine
  AllMusic
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  Pastoral, melancholy collection of intimate snapshots from frontman Brandon Flowers' hometown.

  - Neil Z. Yeung
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  Tom Petty / Tom Petty & the Hear …
  Angel Dream
  AllMusic
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  Revamped version of Songs and Music from "She's the One" that removes Wildflowers outtakes, adds rarities, and is now a stand-alone album in Petty's oeuvre.

  - Tim Sendra
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  Needtobreathe
  Into the Mystery
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  The Christian group's seventh album is a gorgeously heartfelt, harmony-driven production.

  - Matt Collar
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  Billie Eilish
  Happier Than Ever
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  Delivering on the promise of her debut, the pop chameleon matures with confidence and grace atop subtle, powerful, and genre-blurring production.

  - Neil Z. Yeung
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  Rufus Wainwright
  Unfollow the Rules: The Paramour Ses …
  AllMusic
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  A superb if abbreviated live set culled from a June 2020 album-release stream featuring minimal accompaniment and two previously unreleased songs.

  - Marcy Donelson
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  Depeche Mode
  Ultra: The 12" Singles
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  Deluxe vinyl box set collecting the singles -- and associated B-sides and remixes -- from 1997's Ultra era.

  - Neil Z. Yeung
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  Lucinda Williams
  Lu's Jukebox, Vol. 2: Southern Soul …
  AllMusic
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  The great singer/songwriter takes on a handful of Southern Soul classics and gives them a style and a strength all her own.

  - Mark Deming
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  Helloween
  Helloween [2021]
  AllMusic
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  The German power metal legends' triumphant 16th album evokes their early-'80s heyday.

  - James Christopher Monger