Taylor Swift

Lover

Republic / Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Taylor Swift embraces all sides of her musical personality on this generous, colorful album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Robert Randolph / Robert Randolph & the Family Band

Brighter Days

Provogue / PRV Records

Pop/Rock, Blues

Celebrated Nashville producer Dave Cobb captures the heart, soul, and fire of the pedal steel man's powerhouse band.

— Mark Deming

Raphael Saadiq

Jimmy Lee

Columbia

R&B

The R&B giant breaks from background work to make the most riveting and autobiographical LP of his career.

— Andy Kellman

Midland

Let It Roll

Big Machine Records

Country

On their second album, Midland doubles down on their '80s retro-country vibe.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Redd Kross

Beyond the Door

Merge

Pop/Rock

Their first album of new material in 20 years doesn't miss a trick and delivers the hard rock bubblegum thrills in established Redd Kross style.

— Tim Sendra

Jay Som

Anak Ko

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

A Los Angeles-based Melina Duterte continues a trend toward sharper songwriting and increasingly immersive sound design.

— Marcy Donelson

Vince Gill

Okie

MCA

Country, Pop/Rock

In the fifth decade of his career, the Oklahoma-born country music standard bearer delivers the album he couldn't have made until now.

— Thom Jurek

Frank Turner

No Man's Land

Polydor / Universal

Pop/Rock

The English songwriter courts controversy with 13 fine songs whose subjects are all historic women.

— Thom Jurek

Sheer Mag

A Distant Call

Wilsuns Recording Co.

Pop/Rock

A rousing and heartfelt set of songs that make you want to roll the windows down, light up a smoke, and pound the dashboard in agreement.

— James Christopher Monger

Massive Attack

Mezzanine [20th Anniversary Edition]

Virgin EMI

Electronic

The 20th anniversary edition features a second disc containing eight dub mixes.

Tanya Tucker

While I'm Livin'

Fantasy

Country

Assisted by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings, Tanya Tucker makes a mighty comeback.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Seratones

Power

New West

Pop/Rock

There's less rock and plenty more stylistic detours on the group's second album, which is a fine but very different affair.

— Mark Deming

Joyero

Release the Dogs

Merge

Pop/Rock

Coolly eloquent electronic pop from the co-founder of Wye Oak; not very happy, but consistently expressive and emotionally honest.

— Mark Deming

Lina Tullgren

Free Cell

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

The New England native emerges with an elegantly introspective and ultimately more confident sophomore set.

— Timothy Monger

Modern Nature

How to Live

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

A woven basket of bucolic British folk, woolly free jazz, and pulsing organic trance from the U.K. duo.

— Timothy Monger

Alexander Tucker

Guild of the Asbestos Weaver

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock

Tucker achieves a potent electro-acoustic fusion sound, balancing expansive drones with instantly familiar-sounding hooks.

— Paul Simpson

Ceremony

In the Spirit World Now

Relapse Records

Pop/Rock

With their sixth album, this California band moves from Joy Division-esque post-punk to synth-heavy new wave.

— Fred Thomas

Jason Hawk Harris

Love and the Dark

Bloodshot

Country

An ambitious, affecting Americana debut that finds a common ground between prog-roots and flinty country.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Jazzmeia Horn

Love and Liberation

Concord

Jazz

The award-winning jazz vocalist offers an ebullient, deeply soulful sophomore album.

— Matt Collar

Lala Lala

Sleepyhead

Hardly Art

Pop/Rock

Grainy and sometimes unhinged 2016 debut album from lyrically direct Chicago indie project.

— Fred Thomas

Lunch Lady

Angel

Upset the Rhythm

Pop/Rock

Debut album from this L.A. act wraps post-punk tendencies in a dreamy haze.

— Fred Thomas

Joanna Brouk

The Space Between

Numero

New Age, Avant-Garde, Classical

Early release from new age composer Joanna Brouk, representing her music at its most soothing and meditative.

— Paul Simpson

Noah Gundersen

Lover

Cooking Vinyl

Pop/Rock

Both intimate and expansive, the singer/songwriter's fourth album follows in the footsteps of 2017's White Noise.

— Marcy Donelson

Oh, Rose

While My Father Sleeps

Park the Van

Pop/Rock

A cathartic sonic and emotional statement from this indie rock quartet out of Olympia, Washington.

— Timothy Monger

Queen of Jeans

If You're Not Afraid, I'm Not Afraid

Top Shelf Records

Pop/Rock

The Philly band's catchy and yearning second album further streamlines structures without losing sight of surf and dream pop inspirations.

— Marcy Donelson

Rapsody

Eve

Jamla

Rap

The North Carolinian rapper follows her Grammy-nominated second album with a riveting set paying tribute to black womanhood.

— Andy Kellman

Rose Dorn

Days You Were Leaving

Bar/None Records

Pop/Rock

The intriguing full-length debut of an L.A. indie trio whose rickety, impressionistic folk-rock landed them on Bar/None.

— Marcy Donelson

Sacred Reich

Awakening

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

Awakening is the long-gestating fifth full-length effort from the veteran Phoenix-based crossover thrashers.

— James Christopher Monger

Shannon Lay

August

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

The third solo album from the singer/songwriter is a gem; passionate indie folk with heart, smarts, and not a drop of irony.

— Mark Deming

The Hollywood Stars

Sound City

Burger Records / Hollywood Stars Records

Pop/Rock

Unreleased 1976 material from the Los Angeles power pop heroes who deserved better than a local cult following.

— Mark Deming

The Rembrandts

Via Satellite

Blue Elan Records

Pop/Rock

After a nearly 20-year absence, the Rembrandts make a friendly, tuneful comeback.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Rubinoos

From Home

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock

On their 2019 LP, the power pop group don’t surprise but do satisfy.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Various Artists

Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes

Universal

Jazz

The soundtrack to the Blue Note documentary makes a case for the label's past and present.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tropical Fuck Storm

Braindrops

Joyful Noise

Pop/Rock

A year after their debut, Tropical Fuck Storm have tapped into an even deeper vein of strange.

— Liam Martin

Andrew Litton / Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Gustav Holst: The Planets; Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations

BIS

Classical

Holst's The Planets and Elgar's Enigma Variations are paired on this vivid hybrid SACD from BIS.

— Blair Sanderson

Stenhammar Quartet

Debussy, Tailleferre, Ravel

Alba

Classical

The string quartets of Debussy and Ravel bookend the single quartet of Germaine Tailleferre on this hybrid SACD from the Stenhammar Quartet.

— Blair Sanderson

Vladimir Feltsman

Frédéric Chopin: Mazurki

Nimbus Alliance

Classical

Vladimir Feltsman explores the private world of Chopin's mazurkas while communicating a sense of directness and sophistication.

— Blair Sanderson

Delphine Galou / Ottavio Dantone / Accademia Bizantina

Vivaldi: Musica sacra per alto

Naïve

Classical

One of a pair of strong new albums from Naïve's Vivaldi edition, with unknown sacred arias beautifully sung.

— James Manheim

Delphine Galou / Ottavio Dantone / Accademia Bizantina

Vivaldi: Arie e cantate per contralto

Naïve

Classical

A release in Naïve's ongoing Vivaldi edition series introduces a fine new contralto.

— James Manheim

Various Artists

Folia

Glossa

Classical

Glossa presents a variety of interpretations of the classic La Folía, by such Baroque masters as Vivaldi, Corelli, Lully, Geminiani, and others.

— Blair Sanderson

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