Featured New Album Releases

M. Ward

Supernatural Thing

Anti-

Pop/Rock

The prolific singer/songwriter offers a distant sequel of sorts to his earlier highlight Transistor Radio.

— Timothy Monger

Albert Hammond, Jr.

Melodies on Hiatus

Red Bull Records

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter and Strokes guitarist meditates on the past with songs that embrace life's complexities with a sense of adventure.

— Heather Phares

Portugal. The Man

Chris Black Changed My Life

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

A warm, sun-soaked homage to the group's late friend, filmmaker Chris Black.

— Matt Collar

Bobbie Nelson / Amanda Shires

Loving You

ATO

Country

A warm and casual collaboration that serves as a loving tribute to the late Bobbie Nelson.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Dream Syndicate

The History Kinda Pales When It and You Are Aligned: The Days of Wine and Roses - 40th Anniversary Edition

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

The band's brilliant debut album of malevolent psychedelic noise rock is joined here by a wealth of extras, including never-before-released live recordings.

— Tim Sendra

Kelly Clarkson

Chemistry

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

A moody and muted divorce album that's at its best when the murk lifts.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Lloyd Cole

On Pain

Ear Music

Pop/Rock

The pop craftsman who's unafraid to take chances leaps another step closer to a full-on synth pop reboot on this coldly intimate, deeply felt album.

— Tim Sendra

Let's Eat Grandma

Half Bad: The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself [Original Soundtrack]

Transgressive

Stage & Screen

The duo's spooky, electronics-heavy score for the Netflix series about warring witches is as genuine and creative as any of the pair's albums.

— Heather Phares

Arthur Russell

Picture of Bunny Rabbit

Audika

Avant-Garde

Another posthumous excursion into the archives of this boundless musician unearths previously unheard material closest in style to his minimal 1986 masterstroke World of Echo.

— Fred Thomas

Charles Mingus

Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Studio Recordings

Atlantic

Jazz

This handsome box set offers an essential reassessment of the final seven albums the bassist, composer, and bandleader recorded between 1973 and 1979.

— Thom Jurek

Nat Myers

Yellow Peril

Easy Eye Sound

Blues

Hard luck, trouble, and some witty contemplation of prejudice from this Korean-American blues phenom.

— Mark Deming

Swans

The Beggar

Mute

Pop/Rock

Michael Gira seems interested in pushing the band back into weirder territory following the more reflective 2019 effort leaving meaning.

— Paul Simpson

Cyro Baptista

Chama

Ropeadope

International, Latin, Jazz, New Age, Classical

The belated return of the Brazilian composer and percussionist as a bandleader is full of killer chops and delightful surprises.

— Thom Jurek

Pardoner

Peace-Loving People

Bar/None Records

Pop/Rock

The fourth album from this San Francisco indie rock quartet continues their mélange of disparate styles and quick-shifting genre experiments.

— Fred Thomas

Corvair

Bound to Be

Where It's At Is Where You Are

Pop/Rock

The Portland duo build on their debut with a more varied and undeniably melodic follow-up.

— Timothy Monger

Cory Hanson

Western Cum

Drag City

Pop/Rock

After a few solo albums of gentle, lonely Americana, the Wand bandleader shifts course drastically in favor of greasy, layered guitar riffs and hard-rocking weirdness.

— Fred Thomas