Bob Dylan

Rough and Rowdy Ways

Columbia

Pop/Rock

On his first set of new material in eight years, Dylan turns in a vital roots outing ranging across history, culture, spirituality, sex, and mortality.

— Thom Jurek

Neil Young

Homegrown

Silver Bow Records

Pop/Rock

A lost album from 1975 that's alternately emotionally raw, intimate, and funny.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Phoebe Bridgers

Punisher

Dead Oceans

Pop/Rock

Subtle shifts in production and songwriting take the second album from this indie songwriter in new, ominous directions.

— Fred Thomas

Lamb of God

Lamb of God

Epic

Pop/Rock

The stalwart metallers rise to meet the perceived heft of the late-career eponymous LP with a ten-song set that's spilling over with caustic sonic riches.

— James Christopher Monger

New Found Glory

Forever and Ever x Infinity

Hopeless Records

Pop/Rock

Charting the highs and lows of a tumultuous relationship, the Florida pop-punks serve one of the better LPs of their late era.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Black Eyed Peas

Translation

Epic

Rap

The 2000s pop-rap hitmakers return to the dancefloor in their first foray into the world of Latin pop.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Jason Mraz

Look for the Good

BMG / Interrabang / Interrabang

Pop/Rock

Mraz dives headfirst into reggae on this album-length ode to positivity.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stuart Duncan / Yo-Yo Ma / Edgar Meyer / Chris Thile

Not Our First Goat Rodeo

Sony Classical

Folk, Classical

The all-star maverick string ensemble reunites for their ecstatically genre-bending follow-up to 2011's Grammy-winning Goat Rodeo Sessions.

— Matt Collar

Owen

The Avalanche

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

The tenth album from Mike Kinsella's solo project is a testament to the beauty that can grow from sadness and introspection.

— Mark Deming

Grayson Capps

South Front Street: A Retrospective 1997-2019

Royal Potato Family

Blues, Country, Pop/Rock

This retrospective compiled, sequenced -- and in some cases remixed -- by producer and spouse Trina Shoemaker is a gripping portrait of the songwriter.

— Thom Jurek

The Sword

Chronology: 2006-2018

Craft Records

Pop/Rock

A career-spanning box set that includes studio favorites along with live recordings, covers, and B-sides, many of which were previously unreleased.

— James Christopher Monger

The Sword

Conquest of Kingdoms

Craft Records

Pop/Rock

One of two career-spanning compilations to be released by the stalwart Texas metallers in 2020.

— James Christopher Monger

Wire

10:20

Pink Flag

Pop/Rock

The venerable post-punkers reimagine rarities and live favorites with inspired results.

— Heather Phares

Haken

Virus

Inside Out Music

Pop/Rock

This heavy, diverse concept offering extends the narrative on Vector and answers the question of the identity of "the Cockroach King" from 2013's The Mountain.

— Thom Jurek

Braids

Shadow Offering

Secret City Records

Pop/Rock

The trio exits their twenties with cathartic, guitar-heavy songs that dig into heartache, disappointment, and strength.

— Heather Phares

Van Dyke Parks / Brian Wilson

Orange Crate Art

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

This collection of pastel-hued odes to California is an interesting and often overlooked piece of Beach Boys history.

— Fred Thomas

Gum Country

Somewhere

Waterslide

Pop/Rock

Sweetly melodic and tough indie pop that's influenced by shoegaze and driven by the heavy guitars of Courtney Garvin of the Courtneys.

— Tim Sendra

Phantom Planet

Devastator

Gong / Gong Sounds / Phantom Planet

Pop/Rock

The California band's first album in a decade marries '70s-style West Coast hooks with lyrics of bitter heartbreak.

— Matt Collar

Rose City Band

Summerlong

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock

Moon Duo's Ripley Johnson peels back some of the psychedelia from his cosmic country project on this more straightforward set of songs.

— Fred Thomas

Black Devil Disco Club

Lucifer Is a Flower

Lo Recordings

Electronic

The final effort from Bernard Fevre's Black Devil Disco Club, simultaneously one of his most playful and introspective releases.

— Paul Simpson

Thomas Dutronc

Frenchy

Blue Note

Jazz

Along with an international cast of guest stars, the guitarist and singer pays homage to the international influence of French song.

— Thom Jurek

Honey Radar

Sing the Snow Away: The Chunklet Years

Chunklet Industries

Pop/Rock

A bracing collection of off-kilter, lo-fi and proud of it tracks released by the Philly band between 2015 and 2018.

— Tim Sendra

Zoon

Bleached Wavves

Paper Bag Records

Pop/Rock

Canadian shoegaze musician Daniel Monkman delivers messages of healing and empowerment on his brief but wide-ranging debut as Zoon.

— Paul Simpson

Darkstar

Civic Jams

Warp

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Darkstar's fourth album unintentionally addresses domestic life during a pandemic, resembling a distorted memory of the club experience.

— Paul Simpson

Don Bryant

You Make Me Feel

Fat Possum Records

R&B

The celebrated R&B songwriter lets love satisfy his soul on his second outstanding comeback album.

— Mark Deming

Jonah Yano

Souvenir

Innovative Leisure

Pop/Rock

Dreamy, soul-tinged adult alternative songs meet experimental impulses on a debut inspired by reconciling with his long-absent father.

— Marcy Donelson

Roy Ayers / Ali Shaheed Muhammad / Adrian Younge

Roy Ayers JID002

Jazz Is Dead

Jazz

The second volume of Jazz Is Dead sessions spotlights the legendary vibraphonist, who is present more as a co-composer and vocalist.

— Andy Kellman

Permanent Collection

Nothing Good Is Normal

Permanent Collection

Pop/Rock

Claustrophic and murky shoegaze with a dark heart mixes incessant tempos and thickly poured molten guitars.

— Tim Sendra

Clint Black

Out of Sane

Black Top

Country

Clint Black sticks to his tried-and-true country on his first album in five years.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Belfast Gypsies

Them Belfast Gypsies [Bonus Tracks]

Grapefruit

Pop/Rock

The sole album from this ill-fated offshoot of Them, a minor classic of hard British R&B, gets a definitive expanded reissue.

— Mark Deming

Franco Fagioli / Zefira Valova / Il Pomo d'Oro

Veni, Vidi, Vinci

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Music by a little-known early 18th century composer fits countertenor Fagioli's voice gloriously.

— James Manheim

National Youth Choir of Scotland / Christopher Bell / Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Cantos Sagrados: Ešenvalds, MacMillan, Musgrave, Tippett, Whitacre

Signum Classics

Classical

A varied and vigorous program from the National Youth Choir of Scotland.

— James Manheim

Bach Choir / David Hill / BBC Concert Orchestra

Howells: Missa Sabrinensis

Hyperion

Classical

A rich choral performance of Howells' gigantic mass shows that the grand British tradition lives on.

— James Manheim

Piotr Beczała

Vincerò!

PentaTone Classics

Classical

The soaring tenor of Piotr Beczala is the attraction here.

— James Manheim

The Crossing / Donald Nally

James Primosch: Carthage

Navona Records

Classical

Gorgeous choral music mixing sacred and secular elements with a varied diatonic idiom to match.

— James Manheim

Lawrence Power / Martyn Brabbins / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

MacMillan: Symphony No 4; Viola Concerto

Hyperion

Classical

A pair of instrumental works by MacMillan in which the symphony may make more use of contrast than the concerto does.

— James Manheim

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