Alicia Keys

Alicia

RCA

R&B

Delayed six months, the seventh proper album from the singer/songwriter and pianist aims to heal and uplift with her largest roster of guests yet.

— Andy Kellman

Keith Urban

The Speed of Now, Vol. 1

Capitol

Country

A sunny, soft-focused album that finds the country singer turning contemporary sounds into adult contemporary music.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Neil Young

The Times

Reprise / Warner Bros. / Warner Records

Pop/Rock

A solo acoustic EP that finds Neil Young reviving a bunch of old protest songs.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Cat Stevens / Yusuf

Tea for the Tillerman 2

A&M / Universal

Pop/Rock

Fifty years later, the singer/songwriter re-records the songs from his breakthrough LP in new arrangements.

— Mark Deming

Osees / Thee Oh Sees

Protean Threat

Castle Face

Pop/Rock

After a couple of albums that exploded in proggy grandeur, the group dial it back in favor of more-focused and energetic avant-garage punk.

— Tim Sendra

Ed Harcourt

Monochrome to Colour

Point Of Departure

Pop/Rock

Harcourt resumes cinematic post-rock composer mode with his second all-instrumental album in a row.

— Timothy Monger

Gus Dapperton

Orca

AWAL

Pop/Rock

The second album from this ultra-stylized bedroom pop artist strays from homespun production in favor of a rawer sound.

— Fred Thomas

Deradoorian

Find the Sun

Anti-

Pop/Rock

Angel Deradoorian's most collaborative solo work to date, as well as her most spiritually reflective.

— Paul Simpson

A.G. Cook

Apple

PC Music

Electronic

The singer/songwriter and producer's second debut album is a satisfying blend of electronic noise, pop theatrics, and indie balladry.

— Heather Phares

Valium Aggelein

Black Moon

Numero Group

Pop/Rock

This long-overdue reissue of the entire recorded output of the Duster side project is late-'90s slowcore and space rock at its best.

— Tim Sendra

Butcher Brown

#KingButch

Concord Jazz

Jazz

The seasoned Richmond, Virginia jazz-funk quintet consolidate their known powers and reveal new ones on their major-label debut.

— Andy Kellman

Dan Weiss Starebaby / Dan Weiss

Natural Selection

Pi / Pi Recordings

Jazz

The long-awaited second outing from drummer Dan Weiss' provocative jazz-doom metal ensemble.

— Thom Jurek

Mirah

You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This

Double Double Whammy

Pop/Rock

The 20th anniversary edition of Mirah's debut album celebrates its enduring brilliance with remastering and creative covers by friends old and new.

— Heather Phares

Cindy Blackman Santana

Give the Drummer Some

Copperline Records / Present Future

Pop/Rock, R&B, Jazz

On her first leader date in a decade, the iconic drummer showcases all her gifts as a singer, instrumentalist, writer, and producer with a star-studded cast.

— Thom Jurek

Matt Berry

Phantom Birds

Acid Jazz

Pop/Rock

Eschewing the usual psychedelic folk mix of previous albums, Berry dips into country-rock for a relaxed set of songs.

— Tim Sendra

Cults

Host

Sinderlyn

Pop/Rock

The duo's musically dense, emotionally candid fourth album folds trip-hop and sci-fi influences into songs about escaping parasitic relationships.

— Heather Phares

Eivør

Segl

Absolute / Eivør Pálsdóttir

Pop/Rock

The Faroese singer delivers an icy set of inward-looking Europop with flourishes of Nordic folk on her ninth long-player.

— James Christopher Monger

El Ten Eleven

Tautology

Joyful Noise

Pop/Rock

The Los Angeles-based instrumental rock duo present an ambitious trilogy reflecting on different stages of life.

— Paul Simpson

Linda Thompson / Richard Thompson / Richard & Linda Thompson

Hard Luck Stories 1972-1982

Island

Pop/Rock, Folk

Superb eight-disc summation of the ten-year collaboration between two giants of the U.K. folk-rock community.

— Mark Deming

Tobin Sprout

Empty Horses

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Songwriter known for his concise indie rock takes an unexpected turn towards subdued Americana.

— Fred Thomas

Emma Kupa

It Will Come Easier

Fika Recordings

Pop/Rock

The leader of Mammoth Penguins and Standard Fare merges the bouncy indie rock of her bands with sparser acoustic components on a bittersweet solo debut.

— Marcy Donelson

Eric Copeland

Dumb It Down

Post Present Media

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The Black Dice member switches gears dramatically with an album of concise pop tunes, but still can't escape his own inherent weirdness.

— Fred Thomas

Napalm Death

Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism

Century Media

Pop/Rock

The veteran extreme metallers deliver a sonic cudgel swung with extreme prejudice into the face of the worst that humanity has to offer.

— James Christopher Monger

Daniel Romano

How Ill Thy World Is Ordered

You've Changed Records

Pop/Rock

The prolific artist's ninth release of 2020, and the most representative of his particular brand of power pop-propelled, neo-prog Americana.

— James Christopher Monger

Fenne Lily

Breach

Dead Oceans

Pop/Rock

The indie songwriter recorded her more expansive, still whispery and ruminative second album with Brian Deck and Steve Albini.

— Marcy Donelson

Ava Max

Heaven & Hell

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

Hit-packed debut album from the "Sweet But Psycho" dance-pop singer/songwriter.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Jealous of the Birds

Peninsula

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

An absorbing second album from Naomi Hamilton, one that evokes alt-rock from the late 1980s and early '90s.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Joan Osborne

Trouble and Strife

Womanly Hips Music

Pop/Rock

The soulful, passionate singer and songwriter offers a genre-hopping set full of subtle but uncompromised social commentary.

— Mark Deming

Joyce Manor

Songs From Northern Torrance

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

The band's rarities compilation feels like an archaeological dig into the grimy punk basements of SoCal.

— Timothy Monger

Diego Urcola Quartet / Diego Urcola

El Duelo

Sunnyside

Jazz

A vibrantly cross-pollinated quartet session spotlighting the longtime creative partnership between Urcola and D'Rivera.

— Matt Collar

Knuckle Puck

20/20

Rise Records

Pop/Rock

A deeply emotive and engagingly anthemic third album from the sophisticated Chicago emo/punk outfit.

— Matt Collar

Roy Clark

Greatest Hits [2020]

Craft Records

Country

A definitive 18-track collection of the Hee Haw host's hits between 1969 and 1980.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Takuya Kuroda

Fly Moon Die Soon

First Word / First Word Records / First World Records

Jazz

The Brooklyn trumpeter continues to expand his hybridized blend of jazz, hip-hop, and acidic, '70s-style funk.

— Matt Collar

Paul Epworth

Voyager

Columbia

Pop/Rock

The intergalactic solo debut from the famed English producer melds '70s soul/funk, synths, rappers, and R&B singers.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Ray Russell

Fluid Architecture

Cuneiform Records

Jazz

The legendary guitarist and composer returns with a wide-ranging set that explores the future through the twin lenses of past and present.

— Thom Jurek

Christopher Tin / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

To Shiver the Sky

Decca Gold

Classical

Video game score composer Tin's latest is a choral-orchestral song cycle on the theme of flight, impressive in its diversity.

— James Manheim

The Hermes Experiment

Here We Are

Delphian

Classical

Music for a unique ensemble elicits fresh thinking from composers.

— James Manheim

Leonard Slatkin / Joseph Beutel / Anna Dennis

Kastalsky: Requiem

Naxos

Classical

The world premiere of a unique work honoring all the allied nationalities of World War I, beautifully performed.

— James Manheim

Thomas Dausgaard / Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Brahms: Symphony No. 4; Tragic Overture; Hungarian Dances

BIS

Classical

Selections on this final installment of Thomas Dausgaard's Brahms cycle showcase the strengths of his approach.

— James Manheim

Christopher Rountree

Missy Mazzoli & Royce Vavrek: Proving Up

PentaTone Classics

Classical

A textually and musically surreal take on the American frontier conveys a sense of menace.

— James Manheim

Kian Soltani / Daniel Barenboim / Staatskapelle Berlin

Dvořák: Cello Concerto

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Soltani's performance of the Dvořák Cello Concerto benefits from unusually close cooperation between soloist and conductor.

— James Manheim

Previous Week Next Week