Healy, “Tungsten” (Braintrust/RCA)
“Don’t call it a comeback,” sings Memphis-based rapper and singer Healy on his second album. “I call it a second wind. Good to be back in my...
Steve Earle & the Dukes, “J.T." (New West)
Steve Earle has recorded tribute albums before, to songwriting mentors Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. But this one is different.
Aaron Frazer, “Introducing...” (Dead Oceans/Easy Eye Sound)
This year is going to be fine. How can we be so sure? It's starting with the release of Aaron Frazer’s debut solo album. One spin...
Paul McCartney, “McCartney III" (Capitol Records)
Add Paul McCartney to the list of artists who have been busy making inspired music while grounded due to the pandemic.
Chris Cornell, “No One Sings Like You Anymore" (UMe)
No disrespect to Sinead O’Connor, but there's another version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” that might be even better than the one the Irish...
Kacy & Clayton and Marlon Williams, "Plastic Bouquet” (New West)
Second cousins Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum emerged from rural Saskatchewan in the past decade as a dynamic...
Various artists, “Promising Young Woman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” (Capitol Records)
The “Promising Young Woman” soundtrack will not play with your emotions. Instead, it will...
ENHYPEN, “BORDER : DAY ONE” (Belift Lab)
With a speed and preparedness that would put to shame the world’s largest corporations, K-pop entertainment agencies continue to perfect the formula...
Shawn Mendes, “Wonder” (Island)
On his 14-track fourth album, Shawn Mendes is airy, grand, intense and rapturous. It is the sound of a man totally and hopelessly in love.
Kelsey Waldon, “They'll Never Keep Us Down” (Oh Boy)
Kelsey Waldon’s “They’ll Never Keep Us Down” is a serviceable homage release, as the proud Kentuckian covers everyone from Nina Simone to...
AC/DC, “Power Up” (Columbia)
A new AC/DC record may well be the only good thing to happen in 2020.
The legendary Aussie rockers are back with “Power Up,” the latest in a long line of...
On “Pine Needle Fire,” Georgia soul man Randall Bramblett's warm, weathered tenor gives voice to average folks who are hanging on, and he provides a beat to keep them going.
Lambchop, “Trip” (Merge)
Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner invited his ever-morphing ensemble to record some covers in Nashville and the resulting album, “Trip,” surely defined the frontman’s creed and...
Chris Stapleton, “Starting Over" (Mercury Records Nashville)
To say Chris Stapleton is one of country music's best singers is to sell him short. He's one of the world's finest singers of any...
Kylie Minogue, “DISCO" (BMG)
It’s always a sure thing with Kylie Minogue — fun and great grooves that is. What's more admirable is that even though she released one of the greatest pop...
Neil Young, “Return to Greendale” (Reprise Records)
Think of Neil Young's 2003 record “Greendale” as the venerable rocker's take on “Our Town,” with a heavy dose of weirdness,...
Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche, "I Can Still Hear You” (StorySound)
Here's what we need now: harmony.
On “I Can Still Hear You,” Suzzy Roche and her daughter, Lucy Wainwright...
Shemekia Copeland, “Uncivil War" (Alligator)
The best protest songs come from a deep well of outrage, connecting with a visceral sense of injustice or posing an urgent question. Think “What...
“Semicolon,” by Seventeen (Pledis Entertainment)
Is it a “Homerun” for Seventeen?
With special album “;(Semicolon),” Seventeen offer some comfort pop.
Jeff Tweedy, “Love Is the King” (dBpm Records)
“Here I am,” Jeff Tweedy sings at the onset of the title track, and also first song, of “Love Is the King," a record made in April while the...
Bruce Springsteen, “Letter to You" (Columbia)
Has Bruce Springsteen written a “Letter to You” to say goodbye?
The Boss turned 71 just last month. Although his fitness, spirit and the...
NCT, “NCT – The 2nd Album RESONANCE Pt. 1" (SM Entertainment/Capitol/Caroline)
Mega K-pop group NCT are not playing around.
Two years after releasing their debut album, the group...
Katie Melua, “Album No. 8" (BMG)
Katie Melua sings as though she's sharing a secret, which is what makes her music so inviting.
Born in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Melua...
Adam Wright, “I Win” (Independent)
Nashville songwriter Adam Wright may have sensed we could all use a laugh, and so he has released a witty antidote to 2020.
Loudon Wainwright III with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, “I'd Rather Lead a Band” (Thirty Tigers)
On the aptly titled “I’d Rather Lead a Band,” Loudon Wainwright III embraces a role...
BLACKPINK, “The Album” (YG Entertainment/Interscope)
It takes a special kind of swagger to name your first full-length studio record “The Album,” but this is the kind of stuff artists like...
Laura Jane Grace, “Stay Alive” (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
Between life and death in these strange days comes the welcome voice of Laura Jane Grace.
Corey Taylor, “CMFT” (Roadrunner Records)
Corey Taylor had songs bursting out of him and nowhere to perform them.
The singer with the roaring-yet-melodic voice churned out heavy metal...
Bon Jovi, “2020” (Island)
This is not your momma’s Bon Jovi.
Tommy and Gina aren’t wild in the streets anymore. It’s 2020, and these days, no one’s having a nice day as a virus kills...
Queen and Adam Lambert, “Live Around the World” (Hollywood)
Adam Lambert is not Freddie Mercury. Nor, to his credit, does he try to be. What he is, though, is the perfect successor to the...
Fleet Foxes, “Shore” (ANTI-)
One might have predicted a somber release for Fleet Foxes in the year of a pandemic. After all, their last album “Crack-Up” was darker in tone, touching...
Sufjan Stevens, “The Ascension” (Asthmatic Kitty)
Synthesized drums and dissected, distorted vocals open the upbeat electronic track “Lamentations” as Sufjan Stevens sings out: “I was only...
Lydia Loveless, “Daughter” (Honey, You’re Gonna Be Late Records)
Lydia Loveless has been through much in the past few years and “Daughter,” her first original album since 2016, keeps her...
Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite, “100 Years of Blues” (Alligator Records)
Two Southern boys who both hit the big time in 1960s Chicago — Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite — have...
Fleet Foxes, “Shore” (ANTI-)
One might have predicted a somber release for Fleet Foxes in the year of a pandemic. After all, their last album “Crack-Up” was darker in tone, touching...
The War and Treaty, “Hearts Town" (Rounder)
It says something about an act when much of their work would fit neatly onto just about any music playlist. That's certainly true of The War and...
SuperM, “Super One" (SM Entertainment/Capitol Records)
The K-pop group SuperM go big on their first studio album “Super One,” with familiar rhythms but also bold choices.
Ran Blake and Frank Carlberg “Gray Moon” (Red Piano Records)
Here's one for pianos lovers: On “Gray Moon,” Ran Blake and Frank Carlberg tickle the ol' 176, conducting a compelling keyboard...
Joan Osborne, "Trouble and Strife” (Thirty Tigers)
Joan Osborne's many fans never know where her versatile voice might land, and on “Trouble and Strife” it's between two guitars, one in each...
Suzanne Vega, “An Evening of New York Songs and Stories” (Amanuensis/Cooking Vinyl)
Suzanne Vega has had a symbiotic relationship with New York City since moving there as a toddler and the...
Elizabeth Cook, “Aftermath” (Agent Love/Thirty Tigers)
As an outlaw country disc jockey, fast-talking, y'all-ing Elizabeth Cook has a way with words, and so it goes on her new album,...
Stryper, “Even the Devil Believes” (Frontiers)
Even the devil, long reputed in some circles to be in league with rock ‘n’ roll, must believe by now that Stryper could well be God’s favorite...
Dirk Powell, “When I Wait for You" (Compass)
Because Dirk Powell loves traditional music, and honors it on this fine album, his pledge to banish one category of front-porch favorites from...
Angel Olsen, “Whole New Mess” (Jagjaguwar)
If you’re looking for something completely new from Angel Olsen, “Whole New Mess” isn’t it. But if you’re looking for something raw, vulnerable and...
Bettye LaVette, “Blackbirds” (Verve)
The wise intuition and emotional commitment of Bettye LaVette’s interpretative skills find an ideal setting on “Blackbirds,” a collection of songs mostly...
Colter Wall, “Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs” (La Honda Records)
Colter Wall, who comes from Canadian cattle country, possesses a baritone that gives his music a distinctive...
Katy Perry, “Smile” (Capitol Records)
Katy Perry has two very personal projects being released this summer — the 12-track album “Smile” and a baby. Only one will really make people grin....
Josh Turner, “Country State of Mind” (MCA Nashville)
From its title to its songs and sounds, Josh Turner’s “Country State of Mind” is a tribute to his idols and beyond, a compendium of some...