Featured New Album Releases

Katy Perry

Smile

Capitol / Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Perry returns to her signature dance-pop, only with a consciously mature perspective.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Metallica / San Francisco Symphony

S&M2

Blackened Recordings

Pop/Rock

Metallica celebrate the 20th anniversary of S&M by playing another extravaganza with the San Francisco Symphony.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Angel Olsen

Whole New Mess

Jagjaguwar

Pop/Rock

A recontextualized solo version of 2019's All Mirrors (recorded prior to it) that stands emphatically on its own.

— Marcy Donelson

Dua Lipa / The Blessed Madonna

Club Future Nostalgia [DJ Mix]

Urban

Pop/Rock

A star-studded remix album that plays like an extended DJ set courtesy of the Blessed Madonna.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Disclosure

Energy

Capitol

Electronic

The concise third album from the Lawrence brothers peaks with scuttling garage and atmospheric house tracks featuring Mick Jenkins and Channel Tres.

— Andy Kellman

The Avett Brothers

The Third Gleam

Loma Vista

Folk, Pop/Rock

The third volume in the siblings' abbreviated Gleam series dispenses with the architectural finery of their big studio efforts.

— James Christopher Monger

PVRIS

Use Me

Warner Records

Pop/Rock

Cathartic breakup set that pushes Lynn Gunn's sound further into beat-centric, electronic rock territory.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Needtobreathe

Out of Body

Atlantic / EC1 / Elektra

Pop/Rock, Religious

A joyous burst of positivity and optimism from the South Carolina faith-influenced rock trio.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Sevdaliza

Shabrang

Butler Records

Pop/Rock

The singer, songwriter, and producer's second album blends traditional and futuristic sounds in an epic journey from pain to strength.

— Heather Phares

Toni Braxton

Spell My Name

Island

R&B

The quick follow-up to Sex & Cigarettes is filled with glowering ballads and conflicted slow jams.

— Andy Kellman

Ledisi

The Wild Card

Listen Back Entertainment

R&B

After a decade with Verve, the reliable 12-time Grammy nominee keeps moving forward with a solid first release for her new label.

— Andy Kellman

Gregory Porter

All Rise

Blue Note

Jazz

The Grammy-winning singer returns to his original, crossover soul and jazz sound on his romantic, richly produced sixth album.

— Matt Collar

Bettye LaVette

Blackbirds

Verve

R&B

The R&B diva interprets songs associated with African-American female singers and makes them fresh and all her own.

— Mark Deming

Walter Trout

Ordinary Madness

Provogue

Blues, Pop/Rock

The award-winning blues guitarist returns with the most nakedly confessional and musically diverse outing of his career.

— Thom Jurek

Ulver

Flowers of Evil

House of Mythology

Pop/Rock, Electronic

In celebration of their 25th anniversary, Ulver dig even deeper into dark, doom dance sounds birthed on 2017's Assassination of Julius Caesar.

— Thom Jurek

Protoje

In Search of Lost Time

RCA

Reggae

Adventurous production and excited, inspired collaborations make for one of this reggae singer's most colorful and progressive albums.

— Fred Thomas

Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith [Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition]

Kill Rock Stars

Pop/Rock

Deluxe edition of the singer and songwriter's second album; his breakthrough work, it is at once haunted, confident, and well-crafted.

— Mark Deming

Kelly Lee Owens

Inner Song

Smalltown Supersound

Electronic

The Welsh electronic artist's second full-length is more introspective than her 2017 debut, and equally eclectic.

— Paul Simpson

International Teachers of Pop

Pop Gossip

Desolate Spools

Pop/Rock

The trio's second album adds candy coating to their majestic synth pop; the result is like a bubblegum Human League.

— Tim Sendra

The Allman Betts Band

Bless Your Heart

BMG

Pop/Rock

The generational Southern rockers return to Muscle Shoals on this comfortably organic follow-up LP.

— Timothy Monger

Toots & the Maytals

Got to Be Tough

BMG / WEA

Reggae

Tough, emphatic grooves give the reggae legend the encouragement to deliver some of his best vocal performances in decades.

— Mark Deming

Widowspeak

Plum

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

As grounded in reality as it is dreamy, the duo's fifth album is some of their most immediate and compelling music.

— Heather Phares

Ondara

Folk N' Roll, Vol. 1: Tales of Isolation

Verve

Pop/Rock, Folk

The Kenya-born singer and songwriter wrote and recorded this album while stranded at home during the COVID-19 outbreak.

— Mark Deming

Jyoti

Mama, You Can Bet!

SomeOthaShip

Jazz

Georgia Anne Muldrow's third jazz-rooted album (under the name given to her by Alice Coltrane) is just as distinctive as the first two.

— Andy Kellman

Ali Shaheed Muhammad / Marcos Valle / Adrian Younge

Marcos Valle JID003

Jazz Is Dead

International, Jazz

The third volume in the Jazz Is Dead series is the subject's first American recording in more than 50 years.

— Thom Jurek

Dan Penn

Living on Mercy

The Last Music Company

Pop/Rock

A soulful, unhurried return by the masterly R&B songwriter.

Matt Wilson / Matt Wilson Quartet

Hug!

Palmetto

Jazz

A daringly unpredictable quartet album from the playfully inventive drummer.

— Matt Collar

Ruston Kelly

Shape & Destroy

Concord / Rounder

Country, Pop/Rock

A mellow, hazy and introspective record that soothes during troubled times.

Kem

Love Always Wins

Motown

R&B

Almost exactly six years after he released his previous album, Kim Owens scuffs up and stretches out his sound with help from Derek "DOA" Allen.

— Andy Kellman

Billy Childs

Acceptance

Mack Avenue

Jazz

With the band that appeared on the Grammy-winning Rebirth and guests, the composer/pianist delivers an exotic, musically expansive outing.

— Thom Jurek

Bobby Rush

Decca

Classical

This Staatskapelle Berlin recording of these Elgar works emphasizes their Germanic roots.

— James Manheim

Featured New Releases for August 28, 2020

Featured New Releases for
August 28, 2020