Featured New Album Releases

The Magnetic Fields

50 Song Memoir

Nonesuch / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

Stephin Merritt tells the story of his life by writing a tune for each of his 50 years in this splendid, engaging song cycle.

— Mark Deming

The Shins

Heartworms

Aural Apothecary / Columbia / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

The band's fifth album pairs eclectic sounds with heart-on-sleeve lyrics.

— Heather Phares

Hurray for the Riff Raff

The Navigator

ATO

Pop/Rock

A bold, risky concept album that carves out a new, progressive definition of Americana.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Laura Marling

Semper Femina

More Alarming Records

Pop/Rock

The British expat delivers a finely-honed career highlight with her smart sixth album.

— Timothy Monger

Tennis

Yours Conditionally

Mutually Detrimental

Pop/Rock

The band's fourth album is self-produced, stripped down to essentials, and sprinkled with soul and soft rock flourishes.

— Tim Sendra

Jay Som

Everybody Works

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

The label debut from Jay Som that adds polish to her homespun charm.

— Bekki Bemrose

Valerie June

The Order of Time

Concord

Pop/Rock, Folk

An ethereal dream sequence of poetic Americana, soul, and pop that exudes the languid pace of the South.

— Timothy Monger

Damaged Bug

Bunker Funk

Castle Face

Pop/Rock

Loose, freaky, and happily progadelic synth-led jams from John Dwyer made between Thee Oh Sees albums.

— Tim Sendra

John Andrews / John Andrews & the Yawns

Bad Posture

Woodsist

Pop/Rock

A second solo album of laid-back, trippy roots pop from the Quilt and Woods bandmember.

— Marcy Donelson

Jason Falkner / R. Stevie Moore

Make It Be

Bar/None Records

Pop/Rock

Pairing of power pop wizard Falkner and pop oddball Moore leads to a fun album of oddball power pop.

— Tim Sendra

Elliott Smith

Either/Or

Kill Rock Stars

Pop/Rock

The troubled singer's third album finds him expanding the arrangements to include more instruments, while still delivering songs filled with desperate beauty.

— Tim Sendra

Las Rosas

Everyone Gets Exactly What They Want

Ernest Jenning

Pop/Rock

Swaggering garage rock from former members of Harlem and Wild Yaks.

— Tim Sendra

Shobaleader One

Elektrac

Warp

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Squarepusher does the impossible, replicating (and sometimes improving on) his compositions in concert, with his masked band Shobaleader One.

— Paul Simpson

Josh Turner

Deep South

MCA

Country

The country singer may try out a few new sounds but settles into his roots on his long-awaited sixth album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Buzzcocks

Time's Up

Domino

Pop/Rock

First 1976 demo recordings from the pioneers of pop-punk, featuring original lead singer Howard Devoto.

— Mark Deming

Fleetwood Mac

Mirage [Expanded Edition]

Atlantic / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

Fleetwood Mac rebounded from the messy Tusk with the slick, streamlined Mirage.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives / Marty Stuart

Way Out West

Superlatone

Country

A wonderful, imaginative salute to all the country and Americana sounds from the West Coast.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Oddisee

The Iceberg

Mello Music Group

Rap

Although smooth and soulful on the surface, The Iceberg encourages you to look deeper for the greatest rewards.

Gnoomes

Tschak!

Rocket Recordings

Pop/Rock

Russian psychedelic group add a heavy dose of bubbling electronics and punchy techno beats to their Krautrock-influenced sound.

— Paul Simpson

Soundgarden

Ultramega OK [2017 Reissue]

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

A reissue of the band's 1988 LP features six early demos.

Bush

Black and White Rainbows

Caroline

Pop/Rock

Seventh full-length from the British hard rock vets that focuses on hope and optimism in the face of heartbreak.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Kurt Rosenwinkel

Caipi

Heartcore Records / Naïve / Razdaz / Sunnyside Communications

Jazz

The guitarist's first album on his own Heartcore label is an ambitious, gorgeously rendered set of Brazilian-influenced jazz, rock, and fusion.

— Matt Collar

Porter Ray

Watercolor

Sub Pop

Rap

Seattle native Porter Ray reflects his tumultuous life experiences over atmospheric, ethereal production on his Sub Pop debut.

— Paul Simpson

The Luyas

Human Voicing

Paper Bag Records

Pop/Rock

Tracked in the same improvised sessions as their 2016 EP Says You, the band's third LP targets fans of texture, unpredictability, and slow reveals.

— Marcy Donelson

Cameron Avery

Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams

Anti-

Pop/Rock

Theatrical, sultry solo debut inspired by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Etta James from the Growl frontman and regular Tame Impala touring bassist.

— Marcy Donelson

Cindy Lee Berryhill

The Adventurist

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

The first album in ten years from the anti-folk heroine is a meditation on life, written in the wake of her husband's passing.

— Mark Deming

Spectres

Condition

Sonic Cathedral

Pop/Rock

Scary, unsettling, hypnotic, and uncompromising noise rock done with all the fire and fury of their early-'90s heroes.

— Tim Sendra

Paul Weller

Jawbone [Music from the Film]

Parlophone / Warner Music

Stage & Screen, Pop/Rock

An ambitious, atmospheric soundtrack by Paul Weller.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Century Palm

Meet You

Deranged

Pop/Rock

The Canadian synth pop outfit's debut is immersed in first-generation post-punk ranging from Joy Division to Devo.

— Marcy Donelson

Donald Byrd / Donald Byrd and 125th St., N.Y.C.

Love Has Come Around: The Elektra Records Anthology 1978-1982

BBR / Big Break

Jazz

Thorough bundling of the trumpeter's immediate post-Blue Note phase, including two self-produced LPs and a pair recorded with Isaac Hayes.

— Andy Kellman

Greg Graffin

Millport

Anti-

Pop/Rock

The third solo outing from the Bad Religion mastermind, Millport continues in the country-folk vein of 2006's Cold as Clay.

— James Christopher Monger

Ha Ha Tonka

Heart-Shaped Mountain

Bloodshot

Pop/Rock

Missouri roots rockers write about love (and add additional polish to their sound) on their strong fifth album.

— Mark Deming

High Plains

Cinderland

Kranky

Electronic

Sparse, wintry collaboration between ambient producer Scott Morgan (Loscil) and classically trained cellist Mark Bridges.

— Paul Simpson

Jesse Harris

Music for Chameleons

Sunnyside Communications

Pop/Rock

The guitarist/vocalist delivers a low-key set of ruminative, coffeehouse-ready songs.

— Matt Collar

Kath Bloom

This Dream of Life

Caldo Verde Records

Folk, Pop/Rock

The follow-up to 2015's Pass Through Here, the spare and powerful This Dream of Life sees Bloom working with AVI Buffalo, Imaad Wasif, and Mark Kozelek.

— James Christopher Monger

Murs

Captain California

ABC / Strange Music

Rap

The California rapper's tenth solo set is yet another endearing and entertaining showcase for his witty rhymes and moving reports from the streets.

— Neil Z. Yeung

The Dove & the Wolf

I Don't Know What to Feel

Fat Possum Records

Pop/Rock

An elegant debut from the duo of Paloma Gil and Louise Hayat-Camard that lays crisp, harmonized vocals over delay-drenched soundscapes.

— Marcy Donelson

Nathan Fake

Providence

Ninja Tune

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Experimental techno producer Nathan Fake moves to Ninja Tune with his most daring work to date.

— Paul Simpson

Pieta Brown

Postcards

Lustre Records

Pop/Rock

Featuring a different guest collaborator on every song, this gentle beauty is ironically one of Brown's most understated efforts.

— Timothy Monger

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

The French Press

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

Australian jangle pop act excels on its second EP, sounding even tighter, hookier, and more energetic.

— Mark Deming

sir Was

Digging a Tunnel

City Slang

Pop/Rock

Joel Wästberg's debut as sir Was shuns the idea of boundaries within music.

— Bekki Bemrose

Venn

Runes

Full Time Hobby

Pop/Rock

A slow-building amalgam of Motorik beats, staccato guitar licks, and brooding synths that should please fans of post-punk revivalists like Editors and Future Islands.

— James Christopher Monger