Featured New Album Releases

The Mountain Goats

Goths

Merge

Pop/Rock

John Darnielle and company share 12 stories about goths; witty, compassionate, literate, and musically inventive.

— Mark Deming

Linkin Park

One More Light

Warner Bros. / Warner Music

Pop/Rock

The hitherto alt-metal outfit trades cathartic angst for radio-friendly pop on a divisive and brazen seventh set.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Erasure

World Be Gone

Mute

Pop/Rock

A reflective celebration of love and call to action informed by the politics leading up to its release in the spring of 2017.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Shake the Shudder by !!!

!!!

Shake the Shudder

Warp

Pop/Rock

The band's seventh album was tough to make, with a few stops and starts, but surprisingly easy to listen to.

— Tim Sendra

DragonForce

Reaching into Infinity

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

These British power metallers push their music out in all directions and make the argument that they should be one of the world's biggest bands.

— Thom Jurek

Rascal Flatts

Back to Us

Big Machine Records

Country

A reliably friendly album from this reliably cheerful band.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Faith Evans / The Notorious B.I.G.

The King & I

Rhino

R&B

Constant recycling of familiar B.I.G. lines, and a stream of new verses from old associates, cloud some of Evans' most impassioned performances.

— Andy Kellman

Alex G

Rocket

Domino

Pop/Rock

After a Billboard debut and guesting on Frank Ocean albums, Alex Giannascoli sticks to the distinctive, home-recorded sound that made his reputation.

— Marcy Donelson

Wavves

You're Welcome

Ghost Ramp

Pop/Rock

Using samples and production tricks, Nathan Williams has crafted a poppy alternative universe version of the usual Wavves sound.

— Tim Sendra

Coldcut / On-U Sound System

Outside the Echo Chamber

Ahead of Our Time

Reggae, Electronic

Coldcut team up with legendary producer Adrian Sherwood for an hour of futuristic, globally conscious dub and dancehall.

— Paul Simpson

Land of Talk / Elizabeth Powell

Life After Youth

Saddle Creek Records

Pop/Rock

After a seven-year hiatus that included lost demos and family illness, Elizabeth Powell returns with some of her most thoughtful and compelling music.

— Heather Phares

Kitchens of Distinction

Watch Our Planet Circle

One Little Indian

Pop/Rock

Lavishly packaged six-disc compilation of the poetic dream pop band's 1988-1994 studio recordings and BBC sessions.

— Andy Kellman

Jane Weaver

Modern Kosmology

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

After embracing synths on her 2014 album, The Silver Globe, Weaver delivers a psychedelic gem coated in vintage keys, jangling guitars, and sonic exploration.

— Tim Sendra

Woods

Love Is Love

Woodsist

Pop/Rock

Upping the Ethiopian jazz and hippie funk content, the band's tenth album is a complicated, conflicted, defiant, and warm response to political turmoil.

— Tim Sendra

Jlin

Black Origami [LP]

Planet Mu

Electronic

Gary, Indiana-based producer expands beyond her roots in footwork with her monumental and rhythmically dense second full-length.

— Paul Simpson

3Teeth

Shutdown.exe [LP] [Limited Edition/Splatter Vinyl]

OMF

Pop/Rock

Formidable sophomore evolution for the industrial revivalists that assaults with both power and forboding atmosphere.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Aldous Harding

Party

4AD

Pop/Rock

The follow-up to the self-described "gothic folk" singer/songwriter's 2015 eponymous debut, Party is downcast New Zealander Aldous Harding's first outing for 4AD.

— James Christopher Monger

B Boys

Dada

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

The Brooklyn post-punk trio further distill their lean approach on their spiny second LP.

— Timothy Monger

Little Steven

Soulfire

Universal

Pop/Rock

Little Steven resumes his solo career after a 20-year break.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Various Artists

Singles [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Bonus Tracks]

Epic / Epic Soundtrax / Legacy / Sony Music / Vinyl Films

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen

The soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's Seattle-set romantic comedy defined the grunge era.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Foreigner

40

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

A double-disc celebration of Foreigner's 40th anniversary, featuring two new songs.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Los Straitjackets

What's So Funny About Peace Love and Los Straitjackets

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock

The masked instrumental combo pays cool and convincing tribute to occasional collaborator Nick Lowe.

— Mark Deming

BMX Bandits

BMX Bandits Forever

Elefant

Pop/Rock

The long-running indie pop band's tenth album is a meditation on love lost and found, delivered in sweetly honest and true fashion as usual.

— Tim Sendra

Jade Jackson

Gilded

Anti-

Pop/Rock

On this fine debut, the California country-rock singer/songwriter delivers poignant songs about the gritty possibilities of life and love.

— Thom Jurek

Nick Hakim

Green Twins

ATO

R&B

Spaced-out sonics and soul-searching lyrics from a genre-blurring singer/songwriter who has opened for Maxwell and King.

— Andy Kellman

Papa Roach

Crooked Teeth

Eleven Seven

Pop/Rock

The California band strikes a pleasingly commercial balance between its rap-rock roots and more hard rock inclinations on its ninth album.

— Matt Collar

T.Raumschmiere

Heimat

Kompakt

Electronic

German abstract techno producer T.Raumschmiere (Marco Haas) unexpectedly returns to early home Kompakt with the lush, gorgeous Heimat.

— Paul Simpson

Lyle Lovett

Greatest Hits

Curb

Country

A solid collection of Lyle Lovett's biggest singles.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Como Mamas

Move Upstairs

Daptone

Religious

On their electrifying sophomore outing, the Panola County, Mississippi trio records at Daptone in Brooklyn backed by a bevy of label sidemen.

— Thom Jurek

She-Devils

Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock

Charming full-length debut from a Montreal art pop duo that performs over tape loops and shares a fondness for cinema, '60s yé-yé, and surf.

— Marcy Donelson

MisterWives

Connect the Dots

Photo Finish Records

Pop/Rock

Infectiously buoyant sophomore set from the New York sextet that piles grooves upon a joyous '80s-influenced indie pop sound.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Pokey LaFarge

Manic Revelations

Rounder

Country

The old-timey Americana artist makes a bold venture into retro-soul.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Man Forever

Play What They Want

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock, Avant-Garde

Kid Millions' drum-heavy Man Forever expand their vision, creating an avant pop album featuring guests Laurie Anderson and Yo La Tengo.

— Paul Simpson

Flor

come out. you're hiding

Fueled by Ramen Records

Pop/Rock

The Oregon outfit's debut album of pleasantly innocuous, electronic-tinged indie pop.

— Matt Collar

Cluster

Konzerte 1972/1977

Bureau B

Electronic, Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

Two 20-minute excerpts of fearless space explorations recorded during the '70s by Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius.

— Paul Simpson

Daddy Issues

Deep Dream

Infinity Cat Recordings

Pop/Rock

Debut album from this Nashville-based trio combines grunge, pop, and punk influences with simplicity but flair.

— Mark Deming

Daniel Romano

Modern Pressure

New West

Pop/Rock

The Canadian country-pop crooner's seventh LP is a heady collection of knotty indie power pop dressed up in countrypolitan clothing.

— James Christopher Monger

Dream Machine

The Illusion

Castle Face

Pop/Rock

The debut album from ex-Warm Soda bandleader Matthew Melton's ostensibly retro-sounding psych-rock manifestation invokes names like Heart, the Doors, and Deep Purple.

— James Christopher Monger

Lab Coast

Faux Discx

Pop/Rock

Faux Discx presents a self-titled compilation by Lab Coast, summing up the Canadian lo-fi indie pop group's output to date.

— Paul Simpson

Chastity Brown

Silhouette of Sirens

Red House

Pop/Rock, R&B, Folk

The Minneapolis roots-pop artist delivers her most fully realized work to date.

— Timothy Monger

Chris Price

Stop Talking

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

The sophomore long-player from the Florida singer/songwriter and producer finds the sweet spot between ornate '70s pop and paisley-tinged '90s alt-rock.

— James Christopher Monger