Featured New Album Releases

Keith Urban

Ripcord

Capitol Nashville / Hit Red Records

Country

The country singer dives headfirst into R&B inflections and electronic rhythms on the sleek, mature modern pop record.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Anohni

Hopelessness

Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock

The strikingly gifted vocalist explores new territory here, embracing political themes with cold, jagged electronic backdrops.

— Mark Deming

Julianna Barwick

Will

Dead Oceans

Electronic, Avant-Garde

Recorded in upstate New York, North Carolina, and Portugal, the ambient artist's fourth album is a restless, poignant portrait of change.

— Heather Phares

Gregory Porter

Take Me to the Alley

Blue Note

Jazz

The jazz singer, undaunted in following up the massively successful Liquid Spirit, delivers another fine set.

— Thom Jurek

White Lung

Paradise

Domino

Pop/Rock

The Vancouver outfit finds a perfect balance of pop hooks and defiant, feminist punk rage on its fourth album.

— Matt Collar

Cyndi Lauper

Detour

Sire / Rhino / EastWest

Pop/Rock

A cheerful, messy collection of cowboy camp and Nashville craft.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Moreland & Arbuckle

Promised Land or Bust

Alligator / Alligator Records

Blues, Pop/Rock

On their Alligator debut, the Kansas bluesmen reaffirm their roots in electric Delta blues in grand house-rocking style.

— Thom Jurek

Thalía

Latina

Sony BMG / Sony Music

Latin

The Latin cultural icon refuses to rest on her laurels. She seamlessly combines pop invention with various traditions.

— Thom Jurek

Goo Goo Dolls

Boxes

Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

Down to a duo of John Rzeznik and Robby Takac, the Goo Goo Dolls settle into an AAA groove on their 11th album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Kaytranada

99.9%

XL

Electronic

Dazzling XL debut from a producer who has impressed Janet Jackson, opened for Madonna, and produced the Internet and Katy B.

— Andy Kellman

A Giant Dog

Pile

Merge

Pop/Rock

The Austin indie outfit makes its Merge debut with a set of boozy, glammy garage punk that is equal parts sugar and grime.

— Timothy Monger

Aloha

Little Windows Cut Right Through

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

The restless pop experimentalists deliver a mesmerizing synth-heavy set that is as accessible as it is crafty.

— Timothy Monger

Beverly

The Blue Swell

Kanine Records

Pop/Rock

Second albums can be tricky, but the band makes this work by delivering better songs and an expanded, never blanded-out guitar pop sound.

— Tim Sendra

Pat Metheny

The Unity Sessions

Metheny Group / Nonesuch

Jazz

A live recording featuring Pat Metheny's Unity Group in a specially produced show at N.Y.C.'s Black Box Theatre.

— Matt Collar

Pat Metheny / Cuong Vu

Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny

Nonesuch

Jazz

A boundary-pushing collaboration between the avant-garde trumpeter and the superstar jazz guitarist.

— Matt Collar

Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow

Andando el Tiempo

ECM

Jazz

The third album of gorgeously rendered, classically influenced jazz from the trio.

— Matt Collar

Chris Cohen

As If Apart

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

The Long Angeles-based songwriter's second solo outing is another impressive set of easygoing yet tightly wound psych-pop gems.

— Paul Simpson

Cole Swindell

You Should Be Here

East West / Rhino / Warner Bros.

Country

On his second album, Cole Swindell slyly threads some R&B inflections into his maturing bro-country.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Honey

Love Is Hard

Wharf Cat Records

Pop/Rock

The trio's revved-up debut delivers a mix of garage, psych, and punk that's equally ferocious and modern.

— Heather Phares

Ravi Coltrane / Jack DeJohnette / Matthew Garrison

In Movement

ECM

Jazz

The debut offering by this trio places the great drummer in the company of two contemporary masters.

— Thom Jurek

Jean-Michel Jarre

Electronica: The Heart of Noise, Vol. 2

Columbia / RCA

Electronic, New Age

Second part of the French synthesizer wizard's collaboration-heavy project reflecting on the past and present of electronic music.

— Paul Simpson

Jimbo Mathus

Band of Storms [LP]

Big Legal Mess Records

Blues, Pop/Rock, Country

Short but satisfying album from the Mississippi roots rocker, a rough-and-ready set steeped in the blues.

— Mark Deming

Kacy & Clayton

Strange Country

New West

Folk

Outstanding second album from this Canadian duo combines '60s-style North American folk and British folk-rock traditionalism.

— Mark Deming

Klaus Johann Grobe

Spagat der Liebe

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock

The Swiss duo's second album expands their sound, adding elements of space age pop, disco, and chillwave while upping the songwriting stakes measurably.

— Tim Sendra

Little Scream

Cult Following

Merge

Pop/Rock

Long-awaited second album from this Canadian indie artist is ambitious, eclectic, and joyous even at its most dark.

— Mark Deming

Lost Under Heaven / LUH

Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing

Mute

Pop/Rock

Intense debut from ex-WU LYF vocalist Ellery James Roberts and Dutch artist Ebony Hoorn, chronicling the cycle of love and life over atmospheric textures courtesy of the Haxan Cloak.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Mike Posner

At Night, Alone.

Island

Pop/Rock, Rap

Five years after "Cooler Than Me" ruled, the pop-rapper returns with "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" and an LP that's more pop.

— David Jeffries

Psychic Temple

Psychic Temple III

Asthmatic Kitty

Pop/Rock

Third album from Chris Schlarb's eclectic studio project adds flavors of R&B, folk, and country to the jazz and experimental base.

— Mark Deming

Rittz

Top of the Line

Strange Music

Rap

The Strange Music MC returns with wry lines and guests like Mike Posner, Devin the Dude, and E-40.

— David Jeffries

Rooney

Washed Away

Audio & Video Labs, Inc. / Beachwood Park Music

Pop/Rock

Another California sun-splashed collection of power pop ditties from Robert Schwartzman and company, their first in six years.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Seratones

Get Gone

Fat Possum Records

Pop/Rock

Shreveport, Louisiana band crossbreeds garage rock and vintage soul and comes up with a dazzling debut album.

— Mark Deming

Spookyland

Beauty Already Beautiful

PIAS

Pop/Rock

The band's first full-length refines their potent mix of swaggering sounds and vulnerable words.

— Heather Phares

The Cars

Moving in Stereo: The Best of the Cars

Elektra / Rhino

Pop/Rock

An idiosyncratic collection of the new wave band's best, selected by the group members themselves.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Posies

Solid States

Lojinx

Pop/Rock

Seattle-bred smart pop stalwarts embrace electronics and Leftism in the 21st century, with fine results.

— Mark Deming

Serengeti / Yoni Wolf / Yoni & Geti

Testarossa

Joyful Noise

Rap

The second go-around for Why?'s Yoni Wolf and Chicago-based rapper David Cohen (Serengeti), Testarossa is a densely packed, atmosphere-driven conceptual piece.

— James Christopher Monger