Editors' Choice for January 2020

Album cover for Been Around

Been Around

Elefant

After a 16-year break between albums, the Baroque pop devotee returns with an even stronger set of lush, wistful chamber pop.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for There Is No Year

There Is No Year

Matador

The Atlanta quartet refine their lyric approach while expanding their musical and textural palettes on their third album.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Countless Branches

Countless Branches

Dead Oceans

The solitary English songwriter offers a sparse, vulnerable, generous and intimate portrait of his inner world in ten new songs.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Secrets & Escapes

Secrets & Escapes

Rhymesayers Entertainment
Rap

Raw as hell, this cracking, soulful set was recorded live in three sessions at the makeshift studio of producer Evidence.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Pang

Pang

Perpetual Novice

The former Chairlift singer's first album under her own name is an epic, artful statement of transformation.

— Matt Collar

Album cover for On Circles

On Circles

Triple Crown Records

After five years of touring and writing, this Massachusetts outfit returns with a dynamic, nuanced, and expertly performed album.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Headlight

Headlight

Rounder

The bluegrass band expands their sonic palette and addresses politically charged issues.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Album cover for MODE

MODE

Rhino / Rrw / Sire / Warner Bros.

Massive career retrospective box set that collects all 14 albums and 4 discs of B-sides and rarities.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Album cover for Hotrod Hotel

Hotrod Hotel

Slumberland

A lovingly curated and presented collection of the combo's late-'80s singles and demos is jangle pop perfection.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Virga I

Virga I

Temporary Residence

Long-form ambient pieces from Matthew Cooper, consisting of soothing, immersive waves of sound.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Juillet

Juillet

Trouble in Mind

The Parisian band's sophomore set is a thrilling mix of tightly focused post-punk and indie pop played with both sophistication and abandon.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Likewise

Likewise

Saddle Creek Records

The Hop Along leader's disarmingly tender solo debut opts for keyboard-centric arrangements featuring harp by Mary Lattimore.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Deleter

Deleter

Holy Ef Music

On their fifth album, the Toronto electro-rock group exhibit tighter chemistry than ever while retaining the spontaneity of their previous releases.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Warna

Warna

Verve

The jazz piano prodigy makes his Verve debut with a warm, delicately soulful album.

— Matt Collar

Album cover for Football Money

Football Money

Persona Non Grata

Canadian quartet delivers jangly, intellectual punk on par with a lineage of excellence that reaches from the Modern Lovers to Pavement.

— Fred Thomas

Album cover for Waterbirth

Waterbirth

Carpark Records

The full-length debut album of evocative, '80s-influenced synth and electronic pop from the New Zealand songwriter.

— Matt Collar

Album cover for Nightfall

Nightfall

Capitol

A hushed and delicate collection that finds Little Big Town settling into a subdued but not necessarily settled middle age.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Album cover for If I Am Only My Thoughts

If I Am Only My Thoughts

Last Gang Records

The calm and precise debut album from the Canadian trio is a warm blanket of melancholy played and sung with melodic spareness and restrained emotion.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Chaos and a Dancing Star

Chaos and a Dancing Star

BMG

Teaming with producer/multi-instrumentalist Chris Braide again, the pop chameleon delivers a set that is at once musically ambitious and passionately rendered.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Ur Fun

Ur Fun

Polyvinyl

The project's 16th album delivers an infectious set of electro-pop and dance-rock.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Scis

Scis

Thrill Jockey

Continuing in the direction of 2016's Popp, Oval returns to Thrill Jockey with another playful, exciting world of sonic maximalism.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Hotspot

Hotspot

X2

The acclaimed synth pop duo deliver another late-period triumph on their third outing with producer Stuart Price.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Passion

Passion

Erato

Philippe Jaroussky's second self-selected anthology conveys the breadth of his work and contains new material.

— James Manheim

Album cover for Marigold

Marigold

Rough Trade

More quality songwriting and rustic indie rock exaltations from this remarkably consistent New Jersey combo.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for I Disagree

I Disagree

Sumerian Records

On her empowering third LP, the subversive pop star finds her own voice with a brash metal makeover.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Album cover for Rare

Rare

Interscope / Polydor

The resilient singer's sixth album features her first number one single and a batch of empowering, honest, and fun pop songs.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Be Up a Hello

Be Up a Hello

Warp

After several albums of heady concepts, the electronic visionary returns to his IDM roots on this refreshingly direct collection.

— Fred Thomas

Album cover for The Strange Ones: 1994-2008

The Strange Ones: 1994-2008

BMG / EC1 / Echo / Selected Sounds

A cracking single-disc distillation of the gargantuan The Strange Ones box tells the Supergrass story with concision and flair.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Album cover for Double Exposure

Double Exposure

Burger Records

Murky, subaquatic pop with strands of wobbly psychedelia and warped soft rock fighting for dominance.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Silver Tongue

Silver Tongue

Merge

The singer/songwriter's openhearted fourth album is some of her most confident and confessional music.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for The World at Night

The World at Night

Family Jukebox / Ile Flottante Music

The singer/songwriter's witty, moving fifth album is dedicated to his late Jonathan Fire*Eater bandmate Stewart Lupton.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Mind Hive

Mind Hive

Pink Flag

On their compact yet complex 17th album, the legendary post-punkers reinvent their enduring strengths as they lament humanity's vicious, and violent, circles.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Thin Mind

Thin Mind

Sub Pop

The Canadian indie rock veterans sound strong and vital as they fuse vintage synth pop tropes with a new sense of urgency.

— Mark Deming