Adele
30
Triumphant fourth LP that takes the high road of growth, acceptance, and ownership after a difficult divorce.
Alison Krauss / Robert Plant
Raise the Roof
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss manage to capture lightning in a bottle a second time on this joyful sequel to Raising Sand.
Allison Russell
Outside Child
The Canadian roots veteran's solo debut is a remarkable meditation on past traumas that feels more defiant than devastating.
Amyl and the Sniffers
Comfort to Me
The thrilling sophomore LP from the Aussie punks adds maturity and focus to the mix without sacrificing their rabid, defiant sound.
BadBadNotGood
Talk Memory
The Canadian jazz group return to their instrumental roots on their fifth album, which features guests such as Arthur Verocai and Laraaji.
Ben LaMar Gay
Open Arms to Open Us
A kaleidoscopic, boundary-pushing album from the Chicago artist, rife with indie, avant-garde, and global influences.
Billie Eilish
Happier Than Ever
Delivering on the promise of her debut, the pop chameleon matures with confidence and grace atop subtle, powerful, and genre-blurring production.
Billy Gibbons
Hardware
Gibbons' third solo album finds him drawing upon his time-tested strengths while adding elements of dusty desert splendor.
Bo Burnham
Inside (The Songs)
The comedian/actor/ writer/director offers an acerbic and anthemic 20-song snapshot of pandemic life with his fourth comedy album.
Bomba Estéreo
Deja
On album number six the Colombians invite a host of international guest artists to deliver their lushest, most elegantly detailed set to date.
Brandi Carlile
In These Silent Days
A bold, brawny, and smart record that proves Brandi Carlile is one of the best singer/songwriters of her generation.
C. Tangana
El Madrileño
Shaped through travel and collaboration, the vocalist's sixth set weaves traditional Hispanic and Latin styles into his complex, forward-thinking material.
Cadence Weapon
Parallel World
Rollie Pemberton's most politically charged album addresses gentrification, structural racism, and surveillance over grime, drill, and trap beats.
Cassandra Jenkins
An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
The New Yorker delivers a stunning sophomore outing of poignant, impressionistic dream folk.
Chelsea Carmichael
The River Doesn't Like Strangers
The English saxophonist and her quartet offer a new direction that emerges from the roots of the Caribbean diaspora as it meets modern jazz.
Chvrches
Screen Violence
The trio’s fourth album taps into everything that makes them so special among the legions of bands reinventing synth pop in the 2020s.
Clark
Playground in a Lake
The producer/composer's Deutsche Grammophon debut combines folk, orchestral, and electronic elements into a haunting meditation on climate change.
Cleo Sol
Mother
Expansive yet concentrated second solo album from the singer/songwriter, supported again by Sault partner Inflo.
Cola Boyy
Prosthetic Boombox
Shimmering neo-disco jams and laid-back soft rock ballads coalesce into something meaningful and magical in Matthew Urango's hands.
Colleen
The Tunnel and the Clearing
Dramatic life changes shaped the journey of growth and acceptance on the producer/multi-instrumentalist's starlit, quietly stunning seventh album.
Converge / Chelsea Wolfe
Bloodmoon: I
A potent collaboration that pairs bracing hardcore with expansive symphonic and post-metal.
Curtis Harding
If Words Were Flowers
The vocalist and songwriter once again mines R&B's past and present for a set of songs offering love to a world in need.
Damon Albarn
The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows
An elegiac, shape-shifting ode to Damon Albarn's adopted homeland of Iceland.
Dry Cleaning
New Long Leg
The band's surreally witty, poignant debut album brings fresh energy to post-punk with its combination of deadpan vocals and fired-up playing.
Edward Dowie
The Obvious I
A radiant album of exultant synth pop, frosty post-punk, and choral-driven classical minimalism.
Eivind Aarset / Eivind Aarset 4-Tet
Phantasmagoria or a Different Kind of Journey
This dynamic, immersive release marks the experimental guitarist's long-awaited return to using his instrument in a conventional manner.
Eric Bibb
Dear America
The artist offers a tender, poignant manifesto of love and empathy to a land, history, and people that haven't always loved him back.
Field Music
Flat White Moon
The British sibling duo's ninth album is a poetic production full of warm prog rock and AOR influences.
Foo Fighters
Medicine at Midnight
Foo Fighters loosen up and dance on this self-styled "party album."
Geoffrey O'Connor
For as Long as I Can Remember
Joined by some of the best female vocalists Australia has to offer, the veteran pop craftsman offers up a moving set of sleek heartbreak duets.
Grouper
Shade
Gathering 15 years' worth of unreleased songs, Shade reflects all the different nuances of Grouper's beauty.
Halsey
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
Triumphant artistic showcase that pairs the pop star with producers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Helado Negro
Far In
Roberto Carlos Lange follows the critically acclaimed This Is How You Smile with a gently ambitious album that puts joy first.
Helsinki Chamber Choir / Nils Schweckendiek
Pärt: Passio
An expressive rather than coolly mystical performance of Pärt's minimalist masterpiece.
Hiatus Kaiyote
Mood Valiant
Six years after earning their second Grammy nomination, the Australian avant-soul band delivers a taut and stirring third album.
Jack Ingram / Miranda Lambert / Jon Randall
The Marfa Tapes
The trio of Texas troubadours capture the spare, dusty beauty of West Texas on this rough-hewn gem.
James McMurtry
The Horses and the Hounds
The great Texas singer/songwriter makes an album where the music is as powerful and exciting as his outstanding songs.
Japanese Breakfast
Jubilee
Michelle Zauner follows the success of her memoir, Crying in H Mart, with her thoughtfully sophisticated third album.
Jazzmeia Horn
Dear Love
A transcendent big band album from the Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist, songwriter, and arranger.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 9
An especially exuberant item in Bavouzet's superb Haydn sonata cycle.
Jerry Cantrell
Brighten
Jerry Cantrell's first new set in decades dials back the dimly lit ruminations of past efforts for something that hews dangerously close to hope.
John Carroll Kirby
Septet
Subtly dazzling jazz date from the Stones Throw keyboardist/composer following his mostly solitary 2020 solo recordings.
Jon Batiste
We Are
The Late Night bandleader crafts an uplifting album of genre-bending soul and R&B.
Jorge Elbrecht
Presentable Corpse 002
Wonderfully lush and jangly retro-psych-pop that juxtaposes lush melodies with lyrics that revolve around the horrors of the Vietnam War.
Karol G
KG0516
On her third long-player, the visionary artist blends urbano's margins into the pop multiverse, making them heel under her authority.
Kenneth Whalum
Broken Land 2
Tranquilizing ballads from a singer, songwriter, and producer known for his extensive resumé as a tenor saxophonist.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Butterfly 3000
The Gizz add synth loops and breezy warmth to their tool kit; the result is hooky choruses, helium-light vocals, and songs perfect for a summer afternoon.
Klenke-Quartett / Nicola Jürgensen / Stephan Katte
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet; Horn Quintet
A lovely, perfectly balanced performance of these quintets on historical-style instruments.
L'Rain
Fatigue
Taja Cheek's stunning, genre-blurring second album reflects on personal loss and coping with change.
Laura Mvula
Pink Noise
The wounded if defiant return from the two-time Mercury Prize nominee draws from vintage high-tech R&B and art pop.
Lil Nas X
Montero
Genre-blurring debut from the pop-rap firebrand that boldly places sexuality and vulnerability at the fore.
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
The former Fleetwood Mac vocalist/guitarist makes the most Fleetwood Mac-sounding solo album of his career.
Little Simz
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
A deeply ambitious, soulful master class in modern songwriting from the acclaimed British rapper.
Liz Phair
Soberish
Liz Phair reunites with co-producer Brad Wood for an album that exists a space between past and present, mainstream and fringe.
LoneLady
Former Things
The producer and singer/songwriter's riveting third album adds bustling textures and plenty of hooks to her taut blend of post-punk and dance.
Los Lobos
Native Sons
The great East L.A. band cover a dozen songs from their hometown and show how much they've learned and how far they've grown.
Makthaverskan
For Allting
The band's fourth album buries their dark indie pop angst under buckets of reverb and arrives at a more tuneful, more emotionally powerful sound.
Manfred Honeck / Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
A fresh, kinetic, and thrilling Beethoven's Ninth from Honeck and his increasingly well-drilled Pittsburghers.
Marisa Monte
Portas
On her first studio outing in a decade, the Brazilian singer/songwriter confronts disease, death, disaster, and loneliness with militant hope.
Marissa Nadler
The Path of the Clouds
Inspired by binging Unsolved Mysteries during lockdown, the Gothic folk artist's wired ninth LP features members of Cocteau Twins, Midlake, and more.
Mastodon
Hushed and Grim
The Atlanta power quartet chart the stages of grief, and the journey of a soul on their most musically varied -- and focused -- set to date.
Matthias Goerne / Seong-Jin Cho
Im Abendrot: Wagner, Pfitzner, Strauss
A glorious, burnished example of the mature Goerne voice: a lieder album to treasure.
Mdou Moctar
Afrique Victime
The Tuareg guitar hero's sixth album is a diverse and deeply satisfying amalgam of desert blues and Western flair.
Mocky
Overtones for the Omniverse
An enchanting mini-opus of breezy, yet complex chamber music from the talented Canadian producer/composer.
Mogwai
As the Love Continues
The venerable Scottish post-rockers celebrate their 25th anniversary with some of their most fun and immediate music.
Mouse on Mars
AAI
The tirelessly creative duo synthesize the soul of artificial intelligence, challenging conventions of authenticity and emotion in the process.
Nala Sinephro
Space 1.8
The London-based composer and multi-instrumentalist intertwines spiritual jazz and ambient music on her meditative debut release.
Olivia Rodrigo
Sour
The singer/songwriter builds on her blockbuster debut single "Driver's License" with more barbed ballads and surprisingly fierce rock.
Olivier Latry
Liszt: Inspirations
An extraordinary realization of Liszt's rather neglected organ works on the new instrument at the Philharmonie de Paris.
PinkPantheress
To Hell With It
Exhilarating debut mixtape from the viral pop sensation, whose urgent, sincere tunes craftily draw from U.K. garage and drum'n'bass.
Playboi Carti
Whole Lotta Red
The second studio album from this already slightly experimental Atlanta rapper pushes into a new phase of artistry with risky, aggressive production and chaotic delivery.
Polo & Pan
Cyclorama
The Parisian electronic duo's sophomore set is a cinematic wonder of exotic, bouncy pop with heaps of class.
René Jacobs / Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir / Freiburger Barockorchester / Polina Pastirchak
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
An often revelatory Missa Solemnis gives a sense of Beethoven's wrestling with the text.
Robert Finley
Sharecropper's Son
The Louisiana singer renews his partnership with producer Dan Auerbach in a searingly honest, emotionally powerful set of originals.
Rochelle Jordan
Play With the Changes
Assisted by KLSH, Jimmy Edgar, and Machinedrum, the progressive electronic R&B specialist hits her stride by integrating house, garage, and drum'n'bass.
Roxana Amed
Ontology
A vibrant, globally cross-pollinated album from the Miami-based Argentine jazz vocalist.
Saint Etienne
I've Been Trying to Tell You
The long-running group abandon song structures in favor of impressionistic, sample-based pieces that sound like dub versions of imagined late-'90s pop ballads.
Smile Machine
Bye for Now
Debut effort from drummer/vocalist Jordyn Blakely's solo project updates the over-utilized shoegaze template with distant lo-fi production choices.
Sons of Kemet
Black to the Future
On this almost uncategorizable musical milestone, the band and guests move across Black history and create an already present future.
Squid
Bright Green Field
The U.K. band's invigorating debut is an energetic shouting match of new wave, Krautrock, and post-punk.
Steve Gunn
Other You
Gunn's marvelous sixth outing is an airy, sun-dappled delight of relaxed songwriting and accomplished playing.
Teke::Teke
Shirushi
Beginning with Japanese instrumental rock and folding in a wealth of other influences, this is an eclectic and ambitious delight.
Terrace Martin
Drones
The likes of Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and Kamasi Washington join the Grammy-nominated musician/producer on his first proper LP in five years.
The Armed
Ultrapop
The Detroit art-punk collective delivers a barrage of sounds and styles that show no delineation between discomfort, reassurance, pain, or pleasure.
The Coral
Coral Island
Inspired by faded seaside resorts, the group explore pre-Beatles pop, psychedelia, folk-rock and more on a brilliant double-record that's both expansive and focused.
The Hold Steady
Open Door Policy
A self-styled cinematic album populated with vivid characters captured with bold colors and nuance.
The Mountain Goats
Dark in Here
The third album in 14 months from John Darnielle and friends is a smart, masterful study in constructive paranoia.
The Reds, Pinks & Purples
Uncommon Weather
Beautifully melancholy, world-weary, and hook-filled Sarah Records-inspired indie pop that displays a total mastery of the form.
The Weather Station
Ignorance
Tamara Lindeman's brilliant fifth album examines environmental and emotional crises with dazzling yet heartfelt words and music.
The William Loveday Intention
The Dept. of Discontinued Lines
England's godfather of garage punk changes things up with a four-volume set informed by '60s pop and classic Bob Dylan.
Theo Croker
Blk2Life/A Future Past
The trumpeter crafts another uplifting blend of funky jazz, hip-hop, and R&B.
Torres
Thirstier
Singer/songwriter Mackenzie Scott turns up the volume -- and the happiness -- on some of her catchiest and most confident songs.
Turnstile
Glow On
The Baltimore punk outift's third long-player rolls in like a violent, late-summer storm and pummels the power grid but mercifully leaves the lights on.
Tyler, The Creator
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
The rapper's sixth LP is a cosmopolitan embrace of his hip-hop roots, fusing the pure rap abilities of his early years with the complex subjects of his recent works.
Valerie June
The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers
A rare gem of heartfelt expression and celestial liminality, June's dreamy fifth album mixes folk, soul, and light psychedelia.
Viktoria Mullova / Alasdair Beatson
Beethoven: Sonatas 4, 5 & 7
Extraordinary Beethoven violin sonatas, animated not only by deep, pandemic-era reflections but by a new edition of the music.
Wolf Alice
Blue Weekend
The band's ambitious, unabashedly emotional third album balances intimacy and majesty with cinematic skill.
Yasmin Williams
Urban Driftwood
A delight of winsome melodies and meticulous, yet soulful execution from the young guitarist.
Yola
Stand for Myself
The Nashville-based Brit delivers a sophomore set that is as inviting as it is powerful.
