Featured New Album Releases

Angel Olsen

Phases

Jagjaguwar

Pop/Rock

A diverse compilation of rarities, some previously unreleased, spanning Olsen's debut through the 2017 charity track "Fly on the Wall."

— Marcy Donelson

Hüsker Dü

Savage Young Dü

Numero

Pop/Rock

Exhaustive box set documents the first four years of the iconic punk band through rare live and studio recordings.

— Mark Deming

Seal

Standards

Republic

Pop/Rock

A sincere, full-effort treat for the singer's fans, featuring a 64-piece orchestra.

— Andy Kellman

Elton John

Diamonds [2 CD]

Island / Mercury / Universal

Pop/Rock

A comprehensive, hits-heavy career retrospective available in two- and three-CD editions.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Album cover for Automatic for the People [25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition] by R.E.M.

R.E.M.

Automatic for the People [25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition]

Craft Recordings / Universal

Pop/Rock

A dark, haunting, yet paramountly rewarding album; and though not the band's most representative work, arguably its best.

Yung Lean

Stranger

Year0001

Rap

Third effort from the Swedish rapper combines a detached air with hypnotic production.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Walk the Moon

What If Nothing

RCA

Pop/Rock

The Ohio quartet follow "Shut Up and Dance" with their third LP of glimmering, technicolor dance-rock.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Kygo

Kids in Love

Kygo

Electronic

Uplifting sophomore effort from the Norwegian producer that trades tropical cool for warm emotions.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Brian Blade / Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band

Body and Shadow

Blue Note

Jazz

Celebrating their 20-year anniversary and fifth album, this ensemble stand apart in seamlessly weaving American folk forms and jazz.

— Thom Jurek

Syleena Johnson

Rebirth of Soul

Shanachie

R&B

The R&B singer's ninth album is a stellar live-in-studio rendering of soul classics produced by her father Syl Johnson.

— Thom Jurek

Zephyr Bones

The Secret Place

La Castanya Records

Pop/Rock

Dream pop, surf, and light psych tones from this appealing Chilean-Spanish quartet.

— Timothy Monger

Eric Alexander

Song of No Regrets

HighNote Records

Jazz

The saxophonist investigates songs by Sergio Mendes, Stevie Wonder, and others on this warm Latin-tinged effort, featuring Jon Faddis.

— Matt Collar

Quicksand

Interiors

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

The post-hardcore heroes return after 22 years with a record fit for their legacy.

— Bekki Bemrose

Andrew Bird

Echolocations: River

Wegawam

Pop/Rock

A gorgeous instrumental ambient violin suite recorded underneath a Los Angeles viaduct.

— Timothy Monger

Tennis

We Can Die Happy

Mutually Detrimental

Pop/Rock

Five-song EP that finds the duo at the peak of their mid-fi pop powers.

— Tim Sendra

Escape-Ism

Introduction to Escape-Ism

Merge

Pop/Rock

One-man band project from Ian Svenonius, with his thoughtful wit accompanied by low-tech electronic soundscapes.

— Mark Deming

Nathaniel Rateliff / Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

Live at Red Rocks

Stax

Pop/Rock

This raucous gig performed on the anniversary of their debut album's release includes six tracks with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

— Thom Jurek

Aretha Franklin / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

A Brand New Me

Atlantic / Rhino

R&B

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is overdubbed on classic Aretha Franklin recordings.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Langhorne Slim

Lost at Last, Vol. 1

Dualtone Music

Folk, Country, Pop/Rock

Langhorne Slim conjures an appealingly old-timey vibe.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Marker Starling

Anchors and Ampersands

Tin Angel

Pop/Rock

Another album of soft rock meets cocktail soul covers, this time mostly of songs bandleader Chris Cummings wrote over the previous two decades.

— Tim Sendra

Hoops

Tapes #1-3

Fat Possum Records

Pop/Rock

After issuing the lo-fi stylists' full-length debut in May 2017, Fat Possum compiles their prior cassette releases.

— Marcy Donelson

Spinning Coin

Permo

Geographic

Pop/Rock

Equally thrilling and calming debut album from a quartet well versed in the teachings of classic Scottish indie pop.

— Tim Sendra

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Medicine Songs

True North Records

Folk

The folk icon brings her songs and her sound into the present day, where they're timely and powerfully relevant.

— Mark Deming

Gun Outfit

Out of Range

Paradise of Bachelors

Pop/Rock

The L.A. band delves deeper into their dusty Western expanse phase on their fifth LP.

— Timothy Monger

Gregg Kowalsky

L' Orange, L'Orange

Mexican Summer

Electronic, Avant-Garde

Ambient composer Gregg Kowalsky's first album since moving to Los Angeles is brighter and more optimistic than his past work.

— Paul Simpson

The Corrs

Jupiter Calling

EastWest / Rhino / Warner Music

Pop/Rock, International

Jupiter Calling dials back on the polished folk-pop of its predecessor in favor of a more stripped-down and organic approach, courtesy of producer T-Bone Burnett.

— James Christopher Monger

Project Mama Earth

Mama Earth

Provogue

Pop/Rock, International

Cameroonian rhythms underpin this buoyant, soul-infused album featuring singer Joss Stone, drummer Jonathan Joseph, and friends.

— Matt Collar

Bed Wettin' Bad Boys

Rot

What's Yr Rupture?

Pop/Rock

Scrappy Australian punk with a dollop of pop hooks from Royal Headache and R.I..P. Society folks.

— Tim Sendra

Evanescence

Synthesis

BMG

Pop/Rock

Evanescence go symphonic and electronic on this revisiting of their back catalog.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Dawn People

The Star Is Your Future

DFA

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Funky, slightly disorienting sampladelia from Guerilla Toss founder Peter Negroponte and post-punk/noise veteran Nick Forté.

— Paul Simpson

Greta Van Fleet

From the Fires

Republic

Pop/Rock

The retro-rockers' debut delivers enough Plant-induced "Oh mamas," genuine Page-turners, and cavernous Bonham-esque beats to reforge the hammers of the gods ten times over.

— James Christopher Monger