Kanye West

Jesus Is King

Def Jam / Getting Out Our Dreams

Rap

On the rapper's gospel reinvention, past sins are cleansed with clean lyrics and top-notch production.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Bruce Springsteen

Western Stars: Songs from the Film

Columbia / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

The soundtrack to the documentary that accompanies 2019's Western Stars finds Springsteen delivering earthier versions of the album's tunes.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Grace Potter

Daylight

Fantasy

Pop/Rock

Her sophomore solo outing recovers some of the bar-band swagger that marked Potter's work with the Nocturnals while keeping an eye on the pop charts.

Crazy Horse / Neil Young / Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Colorado

Reprise / Warner Records

Pop/Rock

More musings on the environment and mortality from rock's greatest cranky old man, with a new version of Crazy Horse at his side.

— Mark Deming

Mikal Cronin

Seeker

Merge

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter's impressively huge-sounding and inventively arranged fourth album finds him fully playing the part of a classic rock troubadour.

— Tim Sendra

David Byrne

American Utopia on Broadway [Original Cast Recording]

Nonesuch

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen

Live album from the artist's celebrated 2018-2019 tour is smart, relevant, and engaging entertainment of the first order.

— Mark Deming

Allison Moorer

Blood

Autotelic Records

Country, Pop/Rock

The singer and songwriter composed this powerful and revealing set of songs as a companion to her 2019 memoir of the same name.

— Mark Deming

James Brown

Live at Home with His Bad Self

Polydor

R&B

The full release of the scorching October 1969 homecoming concert that was later excerpted on the 1970s double-LP Sex Machine.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Desert Sessions

Desert Sessions, Vols. 11 & 12

Matador

Pop/Rock

The first Desert Sessions album in 16 years is a surprisingly bright, playful, and concise affair.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Van Morrison

Three Chords and the Truth

Caroline

Pop/Rock

On his sixth album in four years, the Irish singer/songwriter soulfully returns to all-original material for the first time since 2016.

— Thom Jurek

The Kinks

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) [2019 Deluxe Edition]

Sanctuary Records

Pop/Rock

The 50th Anniversary edition of Arthur is expanded with a host of rarities, including Dave Davies' solo LP The Album That Never Was.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Old Dominion

Old Dominion

RCA

Country

On their eponymous third album, Old Dominion ease into a collection of songs designed for romance and relaxation.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Nellie McKay

Bagatelles

Palmetto

Vocal, Jazz

Sweet, artfully spare companion EP to 2018's Sister Orchid.

— Matt Collar

Harry Connick, Jr.

True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter

Decca / Verve

Vocal, Jazz

The singer/pianist returns to his big band for a romantic and swinging celebration of Cole Porter's music.

— Matt Collar

Guided by Voices

Sweating the Plague

Guided by Voices, Inc.

Pop/Rock

Robert Pollard's prog and hard rock influences carry the day on this album, with the band giving the music the right muscular guitar attack.

— Mark Deming

Sunn O)))

Pyroclasts

Southern Lord Records

Avant-Garde

The meditative companion album to Life Metal was recorded during the same sessions in 12-minute "close listening" intervals.

— Thom Jurek

Sean O'Hagan

Radum Calls, Radum Calls

Drag City

Pop/Rock

The first solo album in decades from the musical visionary behind the High Llamas is also one of his hookiest, most focused in ages.

— Tim Sendra

James Blunt

Once Upon a Mind

Asylum / Atlantic

Pop/Rock

Polished sixth set from the English singer/songwriter that balances pop anthems with vulnerable moments.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Little Scream

Speed Queen

Merge

Pop/Rock

The third album from the indie pop prodigy is a beautiful but troubling look at how the American Dream has faded from view.

— Mark Deming

Black Marble / Chris Stewart

Bigger Than Life

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

The coldwave- and chillwave-inspired project brings a greater perspective -- as well as surprising warmth and intimacy -- to its third album.

— Heather Phares

The Bad Plus

Activate Infinity

Edition / Edition Records

Jazz

Here the trio provides ample, canny evidence that they are a fully integrated persona whose collective heart is full of jazz imagination.

— Thom Jurek

Anna Meredith

FIBS

Moshi Moshi Records

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Meticulously plotted rhythms carry listeners through a mix of songs and indie electronic instrumentals on the composer's vibrant sophomore album.

— Marcy Donelson

Ringo Starr

What's My Name

Polydor / Universal

Pop/Rock

Ringo covers "Grow Old with Me," written by his old Beatle bandmate John Lennon, on this amiable affair.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Motörhead

1979

Sanctuary

Pop/Rock

Documenting a pivotal year for the band, the LP set features Overkill, Bomber, and a pair of double-live albums.

The Fall

The Fall: 1982

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Extensive box set rounding up the Fall's 1982 output, most notably including the bleak masterpiece Hex Enduction Hour.

— Paul Simpson

Anamanaguchi

[USA]

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Chiptune innovators Anamanaguchi confront reality on their long-promised third proper album.

— Paul Simpson

Alcest

Spiritual Instinct

Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

This swirling, churning set builds on the more aggressive character of Kodama in pursuing the ends of blackgaze.

— Thom Jurek

Cigarettes After Sex

Cry

Partisan / PTKF

Pop/Rock

The Brooklyn band's sleepy sensual sophomore set was captured in a Balearic mansion.

— Timothy Monger

Curt Boettcher

Looking for the Sun

High Moon

Pop/Rock

Fascinating overview of studio work made by the pop maestro during the mid- to late '60s; some released and some unreleased.

— Tim Sendra

Deathprod

Occulting Disk

Smalltown Supersound

Avant-Garde, Electronic, Pop/Rock

Deathprod's first full album in 15 years is "an anti-fascist ritual," protesting hatred through sheer, uncompromising sound.

— Paul Simpson

Teebs

Anicca

Brainfeeder

Electronic

Adventurous producer returns after five-year hiatus with a mature collection of ethereal beat-forward ambience.

— Fred Thomas

Young Guv

GUV II

Run for Cover Records

Pop/Rock

After a volume of perfect power pop, Ben Cook delivers a set of songs that show off his mastery of a wide range of sounds.

— Tim Sendra

Amy O

Shell

Winspear

Pop/Rock

Songwriter Amy Oelsner reflects on past versions of herself on another set of consistently catchy, sweet-natured guitar pop.

— Marcy Donelson

Hana Vu

Nicole Kidman/Anne Hathaway

Luminelle Recordings

Pop/Rock

Lush indie pop rules the thoroughly discontented and often infectious full-length debut of the teenaged songwriter/producer.

— Marcy Donelson

Lankum

Livelong Day

Rough Trade

Folk, Pop/Rock

The Irish band's second album for Rough Trade is a vigorously played, smartly arranged long game that manipulates and celebrates its traditional folk roots.

— Timothy Monger

Larry Gus

Subservient

DFA

Pop/Rock

An intricate, eccentric synth pop emerges from Panagiotis Melidis' first entirely sample-free outing under his solo alias.

— Marcy Donelson

Toby Keith

Greatest Hits: The Show Dog Years

Show Dog

Country

A good summary of Toby Keith's hits of the 2010s.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Lea Michele

Christmas in the City

Sony Masterworks / Sony Music

Holiday, Pop/Rock

A cheerfully retro holiday album celebrating Christmas in New York City.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Negativland

True False

Seeland

Pop/Rock, Avant-Garde

The iconic culture jammers examine the media's effect on our mental health and our perception of reality.

— Paul Simpson

Night Flowers

Fortune Teller

Dirty Bingo Records

Pop/Rock

The London indie pop quintet's sophomore set boasts warm production, inviting melodies, and gentle hooks.

— Timothy Monger

Rex Orange County

PONY

RCA

Pop/Rock

The British singer/songwriter's third album of jazzy, emotionally candid pop.

— Matt Collar

Simon Joyner

Pocket Moon

Grapefruit

Pop/Rock

Decades into a revered catalog, storied Omaha singer/songwriter offers up one of his best, most focused collections.

— Fred Thomas

Steve Hauschildt

Nonlin

Ghostly International

Electronic

Developed while on tour, Hauschildt's sixth solo album contains some of his most spontaneous-sounding work.

— Paul Simpson

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die

Assorted Works

Triple Crown Records

Pop/Rock

Collection of non-album material from the band's first ten years traces their progress from their scrappy beginnings to their more refined work.

— Fred Thomas

Marilyn Crispell / Tyshawn Sorey

The Adornment of Time

Pi Recordings

Avant-Garde, Jazz

This hour-plus live encounter is imaginative, poetic, and far reaching in both communication and discovery.

— Thom Jurek

Lara Downes / Martin West / San Francisco Ballet Orchestra

For Love of You: Clara & Robert Schumann

Flipside Music

Classical

A vivid re-creation of the creative partnership of Clara and Robert Schumann.

— James Manheim

Les Cris de Paris / Geoffroy Jourdain

Passions: Venezia 1600-1750

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

Geoffrey Jourdain and Les Cris de Paris present music from the Baroque era, highlighting the period's emphasis on strong emotional expressions.

— Blair Sanderson

Daniel Barenboim / Michael Barenboim / Kian Soltani

Mozart: Piano Trios

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Lovely set of Mozart trios masters the trick of intimacy writ large.

— James Manheim

Riccardo Chailly / Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Tod Und Verklärung; Till Eulenspiegel; Salome's Dance

Decca

Classical

Riccardo Chailly leads the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in vivid performances of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra and other tone poems.

— Blair Sanderson

Pavel Kolesnikov

Chopin: Impromptus, Waltzes & Mazurkas

Hyperion

Classical

Pavel Kolesnikov performs a collection of Chopin's short piano pieces, paying close attention to details and musical proportions.

— Blair Sanderson

Mariana Flores / Hopkinson Smith

Dowland: Whose Heavenly Touch

Naïve

Classical

For this 2019 Naïve album, Mariana Flores and Hopkinson Smith explore the full range of emotions in John Dowland's lute songs.

— Blair Sanderson

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