Featured New Releases for
September 14, 2018

Carrie Underwood

Cry Pretty

Capitol / Capitol Nashville

Country

Carrie Underwood lets her guard down on this risky and rewarding album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Willie Nelson

My Way

Legacy / Sony Music

Country, Pop/Rock

An affectionate, swinging tribute to Frank Sinatra.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Good Charlotte

Generation Rx

BMG

Pop/Rock

Good Charlotte refashion themselves as emo life coaches on this mature album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

David Guetta

7

Atlantic / Parlophone / What a Music

Electronic

Celebratory seventh set from the French DJ marries another stacked roster of guests with his propulsive pop-house confections.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Low

Double Negative

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

The slowcore icons create a disturbing and evocative set of soundscapes depicting a dark, forbidding time and place.

— Mark Deming

First Aid Kit

Tender Offerings

Columbia / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

Four intimate, discontented standouts left off of Ruins for thematic reasons.

— Marcy Donelson

Paul Weller

True Meanings

Parlophone

Pop/Rock

A mellow, meditative album anchored by folk guitar and graced with lush orchestrations.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Wayne Shorter

Emanon

Blue Note

Jazz

A conceptual four-part studio suite with orchestra, a graphic novel (enclosed), and two live discs showcasing a vital quartet, make this a compelling package.

— Thom Jurek

Richard Thompson

13 Rivers

New West

Pop/Rock, Folk

The peerless guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist digs deep with his musicians for a set of dark but engaging tunes.

— Mark Deming

Tony Bennett / Diana Krall

Love Is Here to Stay

Verve

Vocal

Tony Bennett sounds spry on this affectionate duets album with Diana Krall.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Fred Thomas

Aftering

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Fred Thomas vividly describes his life experiences through energetic rock songs as well as sprawling experimental pieces.

— Paul Simpson

Aphex Twin

Collapse

Warp

Electronic

Aphex Twin revisits the ultra-glitchy beats and childlike melodies of some of his earlier work without merely rehashing it.

— Paul Simpson

Marc Ribot

Songs of Resistance 1942-2018

Anti-

Folk, Pop/Rock

With an all-star cast of vocalists, the guitarist delivers an album of angry, inspired topical songs to inspire political unity in a dark, difficult era.

— Thom Jurek

The Chills

Snow Bound

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

On the second album since their comeback the band turn in a big, bright and thoughtful effort on par with their best post-Flying Nun work.

— Tim Sendra

The Goon Sax

We're Not Talking

Wichita

Pop/Rock

The trio's second album features expanded arrangements and more mature vocals while remaining wonderfully intimate and poppy.

— Tim Sendra

Orbital

Monsters Exist

ACP

Electronic

The iconic dance duo reunite for the second time and balance the fear with the fun on their ninth studio album.

— Paul Simpson

Dreams

No One Defeats Us

Astralwerks

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Long-rumored electronic dance-funk project from Luke Steele and Daniel Johns.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Thrice

Palms

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

Subdued tenth effort from the former post-hardcore outfit that is burdened by brooding introspection.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Sleaford Mods

Rough Trade

Pop/Rock

The duo disguises some of its bleakest songs with brisk tempos, jaunty keyboards, and inspired imagery.

— Heather Phares

Slothrust

The Pact

Dangerbird Records

Pop/Rock

With production by Billy Bush (Garbage), the band's mercurial fourth LP wrangles more wide-ranging pop slickness and rock grit than before.

— Marcy Donelson

Jungle

For Ever

Pop/Rock

On their sophomore album, this London-based R&B group build complex songs from sunny production and painfully honest emotions.

— Fred Thomas

Knife Knights

1 Time Mirage

Sub Pop

Electronic, Pop/Rock, Rap

The production duo behind Shabazz Palaces abstract hip-hop sound take things to new levels of weirdness with this more R&B-leaning project.

— Fred Thomas

Giant Sand

Returns to Valley of Rain

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Howe Gelb re-forms his desert-dwelling alt-country band to recut the songs from the group's 1985 debut album.

— Mark Deming

Alejandro Escovedo

The Crossing

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock, Folk

The singer/songwriter teams with Italian rockers Don Antonio for a song cycle of two young men chasing a dream of America.

— Mark Deming

Various Artists

Basement Beehive: The Girl Group Underground

Numero

Pop/Rock

A double-disc deep dive into obscure girl group sounds that comes with all kinds of rare treasures in the usual Numero fashion.

— Tim Sendra

Ben Chatwin

Drone Signals

Village Green

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The companion piece to composer Ben Chatwin's Staccato Signals is a captivating work in its own right.

— Paul Simpson

Brandon Coleman

Resistance

Brainfeeder

Jazz

Joyous, Herbie-inspired electronic funk from a musician heard on releases from Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus, and Boney James.

— Andy Kellman

Downpilot

This Is the Sound

Tapete Records

Pop/Rock

Another warm, moody, and introspective entry into the Seattle band's growing canon.

— Timothy Monger

Emma Ruth Rundle

On Dark Horses

Sargent House

Pop/Rock

Rundle's singular blend of swirling post-rock and doomy gothic metal feels remarkably intimate, even when the decibels are being pushed into the stratosphere.

— James Christopher Monger

Eyes of Love

End of the Game

Wharf Cat Records

Pop/Rock

Lushly arranged, semi-orchestral prog-pop headed by songwriter Andrea Schiavelli.

— Paul Simpson

Film School

Bright to Death

Pop/Rock

The band returns from an eight-year hiatus with an album that easily bridges the gap between post-punk and shoegaze.

— Heather Phares

Guerilla Toss

Twisted Crystal

DFA

Pop/Rock

Focusing on new wave hooks, Brooklyn-via-Boston punk-funk group Guerilla Toss produce their catchiest, most inspired work to date.

— Paul Simpson

Harmony Rockets / Peter Walker

Lachesis/Clotho/Atropos

Tompkins Square

Pop/Rock

The Mercury Rev offshoot returns with a trippy instrumental encounter with the iconic American guitarists Jesse Chandler, Nels Cline, and Steve Shelley.

— Thom Jurek