Editors' Choice for May 2023

Album cover for On Banjo

On Banjo

Compass

On her first recording in eight years, the restlessly creative banjoist, quintet, and special guests deliver an innovative, wildly diverse set.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for My Soft Machine

My Soft Machine

Transgressive

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

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for In Real Time

In Real Time

Blue Note

The vibrant sophomore album of post-bop jazz from the all-star jazz sextet.

— Matt Collar

Album cover for Tracey Denim

Tracey Denim

Matador

The London trio brings clarity and haunting emotion to their mercurial mix of post-punk, lo-fi, and shoegaze.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Radio Sechaba

Radio Sechaba

Brownswood

The South African musician's Brownswood debut album weds township traditions to jazz, soul, funk, Latin, and slinky Afrobeat.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Brandy Clark

Brandy Clark

Warner Music / Warner Records

Clark's steady lyrical hand and clear voice are placed at the forefront, conveying a sense of quiet strength that seems to call out for the kind of unvarnished production that producer Brandi Carlile provides.

Album cover for Sus Dog

Sus Dog

Throttle

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

Album cover for Secret Measure

Secret Measure

Rock Action

Recorded with producer Ali Chant, the Glasgow duo's spellbinding second album adds more color and emotion to its minimalist indie rock.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Yarn the Hours Away

Yarn the Hours Away

Carpark Records

The Brooklyn band's offbeat debut impresses with its complex merger of sunny and angular sounds as well as its solid songs.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Aperture

Aperture

Sub Pop

The studio debut from the Texas-raised artist, whose introspective, sweetly catchy songs recall the dreamy side of '90s alternative.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Animals

Animals

Warp

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

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Good Lies

Good Lies

XL

The debut album from the celebrated U.K. dance duo mixes moody, after-hours melancholia with hook-driven club rhythms.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Akousmatikous

Akousmatikous

Brainfeeder

Another cosmic earth-rot fantasia from sci-fi synthesist Lindsay Olsen, this one involves around a dozen collaborators who add rhythmic intricacy and might.

— Andy Kellman

Album cover for Everything Harmony

Everything Harmony

Captured Tracks / Universal

The fourth album from this New York power pop band explores a more sentimental side of their '70s-informed songwriting style.

— Fred Thomas

Album cover for Calm Ya Farm

Calm Ya Farm

ATO

The band capture the swagger of the Faces on a set of classic rock songs that detail the uneasy state of the world around them.

— Tim Sendra