Featured New Album Releases

Arlo Parks

My Soft Machine

Transgressive

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter follows her Mercury Prize-winning debut with a more emotionally urgent, stylistically varied second album.

— Paul Simpson

Sparks

The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte

Island

Pop/Rock, Electronic

The venerable duo continue their 2020s winning streak with songs that combine cinematic flair and witty historical perspectives.

— Heather Phares

Carole King

Home Again

Sony Music

Pop/Rock

A document of the singer/songwriter's May 26, 1973 show at Central Park.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Clark

Sus Dog

Throttle

Electronic

For the first time, the producer adds his own voice -- as well as Thom Yorke's and Anika's -- to his music, with creatively liberated results.

— Heather Phares

T. Rex

1973: Whatever Happened to the Teenage Dream?

Edsel

Pop/Rock

Four-disc set that compiles Tanx and Zinc Alloy, plus demos, outtakes, singles, and an unreleased album, to present a comprehensive view of a transitional year.

— Tim Sendra

Pere Ubu

Trouble on Big Beat Street

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

This album of first takes finds the post-punk veterans delivering some of their most rawly experimental music in some time.

— Heather Phares

Shirley Collins

Archangel Hill

Domino

Folk, Pop/Rock

The third album in the British folk icon's comeback series confirms her natural gifts as a musical storyteller.

— Mark Deming

Alex Anwandter

El Diablo en el Cuerpo

Alex Anwandter

Latin, Pop/Rock

Elements of disco, '80s pop and soft rock, along with a very 2020s anything-goes sonic approach, combine for a thrilling, emotion-packed listening experience.

— Tim Sendra

Black Country, New Road

Live at Bush Hall

Ninja Tune

Pop/Rock

The U.K. band distills the essence of a wild and chaotic year with a live album of all-new material.

— Timothy Monger

Chapterhouse

Chronology

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Extensive compilation that offers a comprehensive look at various phases of this often overlooked early-'90s shoegaze band.

— Fred Thomas

Sun Ra

Space Is the Place [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Deluxe Edition]

Modern Harmonic

Jazz

The soundtrack to the Afrofuturist cult classic, along with 40 minutes of previously unreleased material as well as the film itself.

— Paul Simpson

Water from Your Eyes

Everyone's Crushed

Matador

Pop/Rock

The Brooklyn duo's consistently gripping sixth album delivers skronky noise pop, subtle melodic gestures, deadpan wit, and surprising emotional depth.

— Heather Phares

Schneider TM

Ereignishorizont

Karlrecords

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Levitating drones and harsh, spacy dubscapes created using customized electro-acoustic guitars.

— Paul Simpson

Heinz

White Tornado: Holloway Road Sessions 1963-1966

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Exhaustive and fascinating collection of early pop/rock tracks culled from Joe Meek's long-buried archives.

— Tim Sendra

Baby Rose

Through and Through

Secretly Canadian

R&B

Rebounding with Secretly Canadian after a major-label phase, the contemporary soul contralto returns with a striking and dreamlike second album.

— Andy Kellman

Bayonne

Temporary Time [Electric Blue]

Nettwerk

Pop/Rock, Electronic

The swirling soundscapes of Roger Sellers' third album under his electro-acoustic-pop moniker are no less vast for their distressed inspirations.

— Marcy Donelson

Kassa Overall

Animals

Warp

Jazz

On his WARP debut, the Seattle-based drummer and rapper assembles an excellent cast to showcase his illuminating jazz-hop.

— Thom Jurek

Wolf Eyes

Dreams in Splattered Lines

Disciples

Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

The noise institution explores various abstract ideas on this collection of deliberately concise surrealistic miniatures.

— Fred Thomas

Henry Threadgill

The Other One

Pi Recordings

Avant-Garde, Jazz

Live set documenting a performance of a genre-bleeding work from 12 musicians balancing composition and improvisation.

— Thom Jurek

Matchbox Twenty

Where the Light Goes

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

The veteran rockers reunite for an earnest, optimistic album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Skyy

The Salsoul Albums

Robinsongs

R&B

Straightforward four-disc set covering the New Yorkers' 1979-1984 activity, highlighted by club classics such as "First Time Around," "High," and "Call Me."

— Andy Kellman

Various Artists

Keeping Control: Independent Music from Manchester 1977-1981

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Triple CD exploring the city's iconic punk and post-punk scenes, from early Haçienda favorites to acts affiliated with the Manchester Musicians Collective.

— Paul Simpson