Bruce Springsteen

Tracks II: The Lost Albums

Sony Music

Pop/Rock, Folk

A box set of seven previously unreleased albums that find the heartland rock hero expanding his creative boundaries.

— Mark Deming

Lorde

Virgin [Clear CD]

Republic

Pop/Rock

The New Zealand singer's fourth album is a boldly candid, potent declaration of personal and creative reawakening.

— Matt Collar

Frankie Cosmos

Different Talking

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

As Greta Kline enters her thirties, Katie von Schleicher and Hugo Stanley (Palm) join the band for 17 soft bops preoccupied by time and change.

— Marcy Donelson

Adrian Quesada

Boleros Psicodélicos II

ATO

Latin, R&B, Pop/Rock

The guitarist/producer's second batch of collaborations with first-rate vocalists proves just as transcendent and important.

— Tim Sendra

Durand Jones & the Indications

Flowers

Dead Oceans

R&B

The ballad-rich fourth album from the creative throwbacks is a lowrider soul delight.

— Andy Kellman

Keke Palmer

Just Keke

Big Bosses Ent. / SoNo Recording Group

R&B

The actress, singer, and songwriter works through a public breakup with help from Tayla Parx (Ariana Grande, Shakira, Jennie).

— Andy Kellman

Barbra Streisand

The Secret of Life: Partners, Vol. 2

Columbia / Sony CMG / Sony Music

Vocal, Pop/Rock

The pop legend's follow-up to her 2014 album of duets with fellow icons and rising stars.

— Matt Collar

Robert Randolph

Preacher Kids

Sun Records

Pop/Rock, Blues

This solo effort from the raucous pedal steel virtuoso ponders the sacred while cranking out the profane in lively style.

— Mark Deming

Joey Baron / Drew Gress / Fred Hersch

The Surrounding Green

ECM

Jazz

The pianist evokes his early trio with bassist Charlie Haden and his later trios with two longtime associates.

— Matt Collar

Juan Wauters

MVD LUV

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

The indie folk songwriter returns to his birthplace of Montevideo, Uruguay, working with a host of local collaborators on this loving tribute to his native home.

— Fred Thomas

M83

A Necessary Escape: Dakar Chronicles [Original Soundtrack]

M83 Records

Electronic, Stage & Screen

Anthony Gonzales' soundtrack to a Dakar Car Rally documentary finds the moments of transcendent beauty with the grueling race.

— Heather Phares

Lightheaded

Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming

Slumberland

Pop/Rock

Upgraded production and increasingly lovely songs and performances lead to a quintessential example of what makes indie pop so great.

— Tim Sendra

Jeanines

How Long Can It Last

Skep Wax Records

Pop/Rock

The third album from this songwriting duo continues exploring their hybrid folk-rock/indie pop sound with brief, to-the-point songs that fly by.

— Fred Thomas

Me Lost Me

This Material Moment

Upset the Rhythm

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter/producer's brooding fourth album reflects on the here and now with plenty of haunting mood.

— Heather Phares

Laura Stevenson

Late Great

Really Records

Pop/Rock

Produced by John Agnello and covering life, love, and loss, an often profound seventh album from the underappreciated singer/songwriter.

— Marcy Donelson

The Fall

Middle Class Revolt [Deluxe Edition]

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Robin Trower

For Earth Below [Deluxe Edition]

Chrysalis Records

Pop/Rock

The guitarist celebrates the 50th anniversary of his third album with original and remixed versions, as well as a disc of rarities and a 1975 L.A. concert.

— Thom Jurek

Gelli Haha

Switcheroo

Innovative Leisure

Pop/Rock

Produced by De Lux's Sean Guerin, the catchy, cartoony, vintage effects-loving debut of a larger-than-life alternative dance persona.

— Marcy Donelson

Kramer / Pan•American

Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea

Shimmy Disc

Electronic

The prolific artists' second ambient collaboration in two years explores a murky, melancholy underwater theme.

— Paul Simpson

BC Camplight

A Sober Conversation

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

Brian Christinzio ponders childhood drama and grown-up addiction in this surprisingly engaging exercise in adult pop.

— Mark Deming

Nobuyuki Tsujii

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 "Hammerklavier"; An die ferne Geliebte

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

A blind pianist's performance of Beethoven's toughest sonata offers unusual moments.

— James Manheim

Quatuor Danel

Prokofiev: String Quartets

Accentus

Classical

Sharp readings of Prokofiev's only string quartets are alert to the variety of moods within them.

— James Manheim

Christian Curnyn / Early Opera Company

Maurice Greene: Jephtha

Chandos

Classical

An early English oratorio contains suggestions of Handel's style, although not quite with the same scope.

— James Manheim

Lucy Railton

Blue Veil

Ideologic Organ

Avant-Garde, Classical

Drone-like music recorded in a Paris church aims to penetrate the sonic essence of the cello.

— James Manheim

Ariane Matiakh / Patricia Petibon / Württemberg Philharmonic

Charles Koechlin: Symphony No. 1; Au loin; 3 Mélodies

Capriccio Records

Classical

Gorgeous French works, conventional in harmony but not at all in conception.

— James Manheim

Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Kurtág: Játékok

PentaTone Classics

Classical

A large selection of Kurtág's "games" which have often been presented individually or in small groups.

— James Manheim

Previous Week