Dawn Richard

New Breed

Local Action

R&B

Showing no signs of artistic depletion after her expansive trilogy, the Danity Kane member delivers another round of authoritative progressive pop.

— Andy Kellman

Weezer

Weezer [Teal Album]

Atlantic / Crush Music

Pop/Rock

Hot on the heels of "Africa," Weezer covers a bunch of other golden oldies you know by heart.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Sneaks

Highway Hypnosis

Merge

Pop/Rock

Eva Moolchan's clever fusion of hip-hop and indie rock sounds bigger, trippier, and richer on her third effort.

— Mark Deming

Swervedriver

Future Ruins

Dangerbird Records

Pop/Rock

The second album after a long hiatus finds this reborn '90s shoegaze group expanding their established signature moody guitar rock.

— Fred Thomas

Backstreet Boys

DNA

RCA

Pop/Rock

A revitalized BSB balances fresh production with comforting harmonies on their confident eighth set.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Bring Me the Horizon

Amo

Columbia / Columbia Records / RCA / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

Genre-bending sixth effort from the English quintet that continues their evolution away from metalcore.

— Neil Z. Yeung

White Fence

I Have to Feed Larry's Hawk

Drag City

Pop/Rock

With this double album, songwriter Tim Presley sheds the lo-fi murk of his older recordings and lays bare his strange, melancholic psychedelia.

— Fred Thomas

William Tyler

Goes West

Merge

Pop/Rock, Folk

The guitarist imbues his artistry with a breezy West Coast feel on this articulate full-band outing.

— Timothy Monger

Mark Stewart / Mark Stewart and the Maffia

Learning to Cope With Cowardice/The Lost Tapes

Mute

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Mark Stewart's revolutionary first album outside of the Pop Group is paired with an equally scorching set of previously unheard material.

— Paul Simpson

Mike Krol

Power Chords

Merge

Pop/Rock

Garage-punk wiz kid delivers another set of buzzy, tuneful songs demonstrating the power of wearing your heart on your sleeve.

— Mark Deming

Mono

Nowhere Now Here

Pelagic

Pop/Rock

Japan's iconic post-rockers celebrate 20 years with a new drummer and electronics on their powerful, emotionally wrenching tenth album.

— Thom Jurek

TOY

Happy in the Hollow

Tough Love

Pop/Rock

The band's first self-produced album finds new layers in their evocative sound.

— Heather Phares

Eerie Wanda

Pet Town

Joyful Noise

Pop/Rock

The band's second album creates a wistful, quiet mood unbroken by drums and buoyed by lilting melodies.

— Tim Sendra

Kamaal Williams

New Heights/Snitches Brew

Black Focus

Electronic, Jazz

A 12" from the South London jazz-funk mastermind that checks all the right boxes.

— Thom Jurek

Kid Koala / Trixie Whitley

Music to Draw To: Io

Arts & Crafts

Electronic, Pop/Rock

A further departure from Kid Koala's whimsical turntablism, Io is emotionally turbulent ambient pop aided by soulful vocalist Trixie Whitley.

— Paul Simpson

The Dandy Warhols

Why You So Crazy

Dine Alone

Pop/Rock

Spanning '30s pastiche, electro-country, and stratospheric psych-pop, the band's tenth album is one of their most freewheeling.

— Heather Phares

Attic Lights

Love in the Time of Shark Attacks

Elefant

Pop/Rock

Amiable, hooky third album from the Scottish guitar pop band.

— Matt Collar

Santana

In Search of Mona Lisa

Concord / Decca

Pop/Rock, R&B

A slick Narada Michael Walden-produced EP highlighted by a collaboration with Ron Carter.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Julia Kent

Temporal

The Leaf Label

Avant-Garde

Canadian cellist/composer Julia Kent crafts cerebral yet accessible pieces for dance productions on her fifth solo album.

— Paul Simpson

Various Artists

All the Young Droogs: 60 Juvenile Delinquent Wrecks, Rock 'N' Glam (And a Flavour of Bubblegum) from the 70’s

Cherry Red / RPM

Pop/Rock

Excellent collection of early-'70s junk shop glam.

— Tim Sendra

Various Artists

Third Noise Principle: Formative North American Electronica 1975-1984

Cherry Red

Electronic, Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

The North American edition of Cherry Red's Close to the Noise Floor series leans closer to noise and industrial than its predecessors.

— Paul Simpson

The Stairs

Mexican R&B [Deluxe Edition]

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Three-disc set collects the original album, EP tracks, demos, lost songs, and the band's (semi)-lost 1994 album.

— Tim Sendra

Rat Boy

Internationally Unknown

Heat / Hellcat Records

Pop/Rock

With the help of Rancid vet Tim Armstrong, the U.K. punk focuses his madcap energy on this fun sonic blast.

— Neil Z. Yeung

David Vassalotti

Guitar Dream

Wharf Cat Records

Pop/Rock

With production by Merchandise bandmate Carson Cox, the guitarist's third solo album eschews noise experiments, committing to Smiths-style song.

— Marcy Donelson

Rival Sons

Feral Roots

Atlantic / L.C.S.

Pop/Rock

Feral Roots showcases the band's versatility in both songcraft and execution, a feat all the more impressive by their recording live in the studio.

— James Christopher Monger

Swallow the Sun

When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light

Century Media

Pop/Rock

Guitarist/composer Juha Raivio penned these grief-laden songs to make sense of his life partner's death. The band illumines them with shadowy grandeur.

— Thom Jurek

Sarah Louise

Nighttime Birds and Morning Stars

Thrill Jockey

Folk, Pop/Rock

For the first time, the North Carolinian composes her elegant experimental folk from electric guitar (and DAW) instead of 12-string acoustic.

— Marcy Donelson

Swindle

No More Normal

Brownswood

Electronic, Rap

Ambitious, uplifting full-length from U.K. bass producer Swindle, filled with lush instrumentation and encouraging messages.

— Paul Simpson

The Writhing Squares

Out of the Ether [Coloured Vinyl]

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock

Second album from this Philly duo is a murky, cosmic tug of war between grinding, repetitive basslines and paranoid sci-fi sax.

— Fred Thomas

FIDLAR

Almost Free

Mom + Pop Music

Pop/Rock

The L.A. garage punks hit some growing pains on their diverse third album.

— Timothy Monger

Joe Lovano

Trio Tapestry

ECM

Jazz

A richly atmospheric set featuring the saxophonist's trio with pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Carmen Castaldi.

— Matt Collar

Pavo Pavo

Mystery Hour

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

The Brooklyn band deliver a second album of kaleidoscopic art rock with sonic and emotional heft.

— Marcy Donelson

Royal Canoe

Waver

Paper Bag Records

Pop/Rock

The Winnipeg art-pop crew try to streamline their quirky genre-inclusive approach.

— Timothy Monger

Garrick Ohlsson

Brahms: Clavierstücke; Fantasias; Intermezzos

Hyperion

Classical

Magisterial Brahms from a giant of American pianism.

— James Manheim

Stile Antico

In a Strange Land: Elizabethan Composers in Exile

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

Choral music of Catholic English composers whose own country might have been a "strange land."

— James Manheim

Cupertinos / Luís Toscano

Manuel Cardoso: Requiem, Lamentations, Magnificat & Motets

Hyperion

Classical

The Requiem and other sacred works of Portuguese composer Manuel Cardoso are performed by the eight-member vocal ensemble, Cupertinos.

— Blair Sanderson

Callum Armstrong / Barnaby Brown / Stef Conner

Apollo & Dionysus: Sounds from Classical Antiquity

Delphian

Classical

The final volume in Delphian's European Music Archaeology Project offers fragments and reconstructions of ancient Greek music.

— Blair Sanderson

Stéphane Degout / Tabea Zimmermann / François-Xavier Roth / Les Siècles

Hector Berlioz: Harold en Italie; Les Nuits d'été

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles present period performances of Berlioz's Harold en Italie and Les Nuits d'Été.

— Blair Sanderson

Jean-François Heisser / Marie-Josèphe Jude

Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

For Harmonia Mundi's Stradivari series, the Heisser & Jude duo perform Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique on a 1928 Pleyel vis-à-vis piano.

— Blair Sanderson

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