Demi Lovato

Dancing With the Devil...The Art of Starting Over

Island

Pop/Rock

A candid confessional set to hyper-stylized pop.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!

Constellation

Pop/Rock

The Canadian post-rock ensemble's seventh full-length is as bleak and funereal yet staunchly hopeful as the rest of their catalog.

— Paul Simpson

Dry Cleaning

New Long Leg

4AD

Pop/Rock

The band's surreally witty, poignant debut album brings fresh energy to post-punk with its combination of deadpan vocals and fired-up playing.

— Heather Phares

Du Blonde

Homecoming

Daemon T.V. / Singing Light Music

Pop/Rock

The heavy pop of the singer/songwriter's third album gives a candy coating to her anxiety and frustration and uses its massive choruses as armor.

— Heather Phares

Ryley Walker

Course in Fable

Husky Pants Records

Pop/Rock

The Chicagoan's fifth album is a satisfying nexus of impressionistic songwriting, prog-rock vision, and melodic nuance.

— Timothy Monger

Dntel

The Seas Trees See

Morr Music

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Dntel surfaces on Morr Music with a folk-tinged record of delicate, sepia-toned reflections.

— Paul Simpson

Gary Bartz / Ali Shaheed Muhammad / Adrian Younge

Gary Bartz JID006

Jazz Is Dead

Jazz

The octogenarian altoist leads the Jazz Is Dead crew and drummer Greg Paul through an exploratory jazz-funk groove session.

— Thom Jurek

Flock of Dimes

Head of Roses

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

Jenn Wasner's second solo outing as Flock of Dimes is a poignant and luminous examination of heartbreak.

— Timothy Monger

La Femme

Paradigmes

Disque Pointu / Microqlima

Pop/Rock

The French collective takes listeners on a wild style-hopping journey with stops at eerie exotica, groovy psych-rock, and sexy electro-pop.

— Heather Phares

Special Friend

Ennemi Commun

Howlin' Banana Records

Pop/Rock

Debut album from minimalist pop duo recalls the greats of '90s indie rock while also exploring a more subtle approach to arrangement.

— Fred Thomas

Luca Yupanqui

Sounds of the Unborn

Sacred Bones

Avant-Garde, Electronic

Free-flowing electronic music sourced from prenatal heartbeats and vibrations, using biosonic MIDI technology.

— Paul Simpson

Major Murphy

Access

Winspear

Pop/Rock

The Michigan group's second album leans into the more wistful end of classic rock influences alongside lyrics informed by parenthood and gratitude.

— Marcy Donelson

Mythic Sunship

Wildfire

Tee Pee

Pop/Rock

The sixth album from this Copenhagen-based improvisatory quintet is a nonstop blast of joyful chaos.

— Fred Thomas

Moontype

Bodies of Water

Born Yesterday

Pop/Rock

The debut of a Chicago trio who fashion an urgent, intimate noise rock built from the bass guitar demos of bandleader Margaret McCarthy.

— Marcy Donelson

Dopolarians

The Bond

Mahakala Music

Jazz

The almost exclusively Southern quartet expands to a sextet as longtime collaborators Brian Blade and trumpeter Marc Franklin come aboard.

— Thom Jurek

Elizabeth King

Living in the Last Days

Bible & Tire Recording Company

Religious

After a recording break of nearly 50 years, the powerhouse Memphis sacred soul and gospel singer delivers her debut album.

— Thom Jurek

Ghlow

Slash and Burn

PNKSLM

Pop/Rock

The corrosive debut from the Swedish-Russian duo blends post-punk, industrial, electronica, and metal.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Gabrielius Alekna / Giedrė Šlekytė

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Saudade

Ondine

Classical

Sharp performances of fascinating new Lithuanian music that fuses minimalism with styles based on varied sonorities.

— James Manheim

Melody Moore / Marius Vlad / Lawrence Foster

Puccini: La Fanciulla del West

PentaTone Classics

Classical

A rather dispassionate reading of Puccini's Western opera features stellar work from an international cast.

— James Manheim

Ferenc Snétberger / Keller Quartet

Hallgató

ECM / ECM New Series

Classical

A unique program of music that revolves around works by guitarist Ferenc Snétberger, powerfully executed.

— James Manheim

Jun Märkl / Royal Air Force College Band

Saint-Saëns: Music for Wind Ensemble

Naxos

Classical

A wind band tour through some of Saint-Saëns' hits and rarities entertains consistently.

— James Manheim

Contrapunctus / Owen Rees

The Sweetest Songs: Music from the Baldwin Partbooks, Vol. 3

Signum Classics

Classical

Compelling performances of a rarely heard repertory, the English psalm motet of the 16th century.

— James Manheim

Dan Zhu / Bright Sheng / Shanghai Symphony Orchestra / Suzhou Symphony Orchestra

Bright Sheng: Let Fly; Zodiac Tales; Suzhou Overture

Naxos

Classical

Marvelous 2010s works from Sheng, adding new accessibility to his trademark Chinese-Western fusions.

— James Manheim

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