Death Cab for Cutie

Thank You for Today

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

Death Cab for Cutie open up a new phase in their career with the supple, subtle Thank You for Today.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Mitski

Be the Cowboy

Dead Oceans

Pop/Rock

The follow-up to Puberty 2 switches to a fictional perspective with equally compelling results.

— Marcy Donelson

Animal Collective

Tangerine Reef

Domino

Pop/Rock

Beatless and abstract, Animal Collective sans Panda Bear wander through this watery meditation that scores a visual album about coral reefs.

— Fred Thomas

Ariana Grande

Sweetener

Republic

Pop/Rock

Ariana Grande matures on the focused and fine Sweetener.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Thee Oh Sees

Smote Reverser

Castle Face

Pop/Rock

The band delve into proto metal and jazz rock while still delivering garage-psych noise and blown-out boogie rock as expected.

— Tim Sendra

Neil Diamond

Hot August Night III

Capitol / UMe

Pop/Rock

A document of Neil Diamond's celebratory 40th anniversary concert of Hot August Night from 2012.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Roy Montgomery

Suffuse

Grapefruit

Pop/Rock

Veteran New Zealand guitarist invites several female vocalists to add extra dimensions to his ethereal soundscapes.

— Paul Simpson

Cullen Omori

The Diet

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

The second solo effort from this indie pop singer/songwriter is full of great tunes that camouflage several kinds of heartache.

— Mark Deming

Odetta Hartman

Old Rockhounds Never Die

Memphis Industries

Pop/Rock

A beguiling and wonderfully challenging pastiche of experimental folk, modernist Americana, and field recordings from this D.C.-based singer/songwriter.

— Timothy Monger

Kate Nash

Yesterday Was Forever

Girl Gang

Pop/Rock

Nash's emotionally candid fourth LP revisits her teenage diaries and a more pop-minded sound.

— Marcy Donelson

Papa M

A Broke Moon Rises

Drag City

Pop/Rock

David Pajo follows up the eclectic, cathartic Highway Songs with a much more relaxed acoustic offering.

— Paul Simpson

Trevor Powers

Mulberry Violence

Baby Halo / Fat Possum Records

Powers' first post-Youth Lagoon outing pairs sugary melodies with fractured breakbeats and intermittent bursts of electronic discord.

— James Christopher Monger

Miles Kane

Coup de Grace

Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

The Last Shadow Puppets singer's third solo album is rife with '70s glitter-rock hooks and punk energy.

— Matt Collar

Circles Around the Sun

Let It Wander

Rhino

Pop/Rock

On its second offering, the band develops a sound that melds jazz-rock, slippery and gritty funk, and tripped-out psychedelia.

— Thom Jurek

Cole Swindell

All of It

Atlantic / Cole Swindell / Elektra / Warner Music

Country

Cole Swindell grows up and slows down.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Uniform

The Long Walk

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

New York industrial noise-rock group Uniform push their sound even further thanks to the visceral attack of drummer Greg Fox.

— Paul Simpson

Bênní

The Return

Goner Records

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The second album from cosmic synthwave guru Bênní is altogether much clearer and more focused than his debut.

— Paul Simpson

Still Corners

Slow Air

Wrecking Light

Pop/Rock

Recorded in Texas' hill country, the duo's fourth album is a road trip through a sultry dream world.

— Heather Phares

Dizzy

Baby Teeth

Royal Mountain

Pop/Rock

Vibrant debut from the Canadian dream pop quartet that draws upon Lorde and London Grammar.

— Neil Z. Yeung

The Mattson 2

A Love Supreme

Spiritual Pajamas

Pop/Rock

The maverick guitar-and-drum duo apply their psychedelic jazz-rock chops to Coltrane's landmark 1965 album.

— Matt Collar

The Myrrors

Borderlands

Beyond Beyond Is Beyond

Pop/Rock

Adventurous, triumphant fifth album from Arizona psych group the Myrrors.

— Paul Simpson

Dorian Concept

The Nature of Imitation

Brainfeeder

Electronic

Oliver Johnson's enjoyable third album of screwball synthesis arrives on Brainfeeder, label of longtime collaborator Flying Lotus.

— Andy Kellman

The Necks

Body

Northern Spy

Avant-Garde, Jazz

Here the Australian trio pares back some of the layers evident on its most recent albums to deliver a signature, typically engrossing work.

— Thom Jurek

Various Artists

Teen Expo: The Cleopatra Label

Numero

Pop/Rock

Excellent sampler of material from an obscure teen pop label from the '60s, run by producer and tunesmith Tommy Falcone.

— Mark Deming

Buck Owens

Country Singer's Prayer

Omnivore

Country

Buck Owens' scrapped final album for Capitol gets an overdue release years after its planned 1975 release.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Dragon Inn 3

Double Line

American Laundromat Records

Pop/Rock

Warm romantic '80s-style synth pop meets the icy sonic textures of Blade Runner-era Vangelis from this Kansas City trio.

— Timothy Monger

Great Lake Swimmers

The Waves, the Wake

Nettwerk

Pop/Rock, Folk

Recorded in a 145-year-old church in London, Ontario, the indie folk band's seventh album adopts a more orchestral and improvisational approach.

— James Christopher Monger

Gonzaga Band

Venice 1629

Resonus Classics

Classical

The Gonzaga Band outlines the development of early Baroque music in Venice, in works by Monteverdi, Schütz, and others.

— Blair Sanderson

Pablo Heras-Casado / Philharmonia Orchestra

Debussy: La Mer; Le Martyre de saint Sébastien; Symphonic Fragments

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

A superb Debussy release to mark the centenary of his death, featuring the unusual symphonic fragments from Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien.

— James Manheim

Various Artists

Ingrid Stölzel: The Gorgeous Nothings

Navona Records

Classical

A fine exploration of the unique idiom of this German-born Midwestern American composer, especially effective in song.

— James Manheim

Nicholas McGegan / Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra / Philharmonia Chorale

Rameau: Le Temple de la Gloire

Philharmonia Baroque Productions

Classical

A detailed and evocative revival of a vast and largely forgotten Rameau score.

— James Manheim

Inbal Segev / Juho Pohjonen

Chopin, Schumann, Grieg

Avie

Classical

Romantic cello music from the Israeli-born Segev features the unusual voice of her 1673 instrument.

— James Manheim

Andrés Orozco-Estrada / hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra)

Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

PentaTone Classics

Classical

Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony deliver an audiophile treasure with this recording of Richard Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie.

— Blair Sanderson

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