His craft is far too strong to regard these as throwaways, and the intimacy of the home-recorded production and performances is a fine match for the material. Jump for Joy never suggests Louris intends this to be a grand statement or his break with the Jayhawks, but it serves him well, and hopefully he won't wait 12 years before he tries this again.

Even if it's not quite as varied as Beabadoobee's debut album, Our Extended Play is still a welcome follow-up to Fake It Flowers' success.

Captaining the expected band of L.A. studio stalwarts with easy grace, it's an album full of strong performances, few missteps, and the weary charisma that has been one of the singer's hallmarks.

Only on a couple occasions does Bridges let loose a touch while in the moment. ... Even in those moments, there is never an indication that Bridges could possibly lose his composure. The unswerving self-control he has demonstrated across three albums both impresses and mystifies.

Triage finds Rodney Crowell wearing his heart on his sleeve, and it's a heart that's open and unafraid of life and its challenges. It's a compelling and absorbing work from one of America's best working songwriters.

While coming off somewhat like a late-period album by a vocal-era star, the performances and material on Romantic Images still have the goods.

"Moonstar" has a country-rock air in its nearly spoken word verse not to mention its harmonica break, "Look What You've Done" is given a sleek New Wave gloss, and "Sound of My Voice" bops along on a rhythm reminiscent of the Strokes' "Last Night." These mild departures are highlights, but Texas deliver their signature pop-soul with precision and style on the rest of Hi, offering the familiar while never quite sounding stiff.

As on Union, Electro Melodier sounds more like the work of a commentator than an activist, but he has something to say and he says it with intelligence and eloquence, and as his hero Woody Guthrie proved ages ago, that's no small thing.

At times, American Noir sounds like the product of an undead E Street Band, like a strong line of thunderstorms suddenly appearing above "highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive."

While THIB is a back-to-front vibe and an intriguing experiment for Zay's mellowed-out sound, it's one that's still negotiating its own limits.

Detour de Force is a thoughtfully constructed album with songs that reveal the group's continued knack for balancing intimate, often humorous personal sentiments with more anthemic feel-good moments.

Where Chorusing excels, however, is on experimental-leaning tracks best represented here by "Watching the Beams" and "Billowing," which affect with a distorted mix of organic and inorganic textures alongside more of the album's melancholic folk song.

A frequently lovely album born out of introspection and loss, Love Drips and Gathers captures the complex ways life and music change while upholding Piroshka's musical legacy.

For the most part, it's a continuation of what the giants have done over the preceding several years with the likes of Dave Hollister, Johnny Gill, and Peabo Bryson: compositionally rock-solid adult contemporary R&B with an emphasis on ballads and slow jams. And, as always, the songs are tailor-made for the singers.

Infinite Granite is a transitional record, but it's an enormously pretty one, and it suggests that their directional shift is an excellent idea that warrants further exploration.

Its brevity means that The Ballad of Dood & Juanita can initially seem a bit slight, yet it's ultimately quite sturdy, an album that gains its strength from Simpson's dogged dedication to the concept -- there's nothing extraneous in his songs here -- and the impeccable execution of the band.

The songs on Saturday Night, Sunday Morning are the kind you could easily see getting placed in the background of TV shows or used in commercials. Taken on their own, these are fine songs and Bugg's reedy alto is showcased to nice effect throughout.

Featuring a distinctly intimate, shadowy, surf-infused sound, Everything may be dimly lit and occasionally grief-stricken, but it avoids being persistently maudlin.

While How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?'s mellow poignancy is likely to stick more than any of its songs; its pathos is genuine and immersive.

Clocking in at a very 1950s 25 minutes, Encore doesn't feel like a major event and it doesn't add a great deal to the Wanda Jackson story, but it's a welcome reminder that the first truly great female rocker is still among us and hasn't surrendered to time, changing tastes, or the music business. Encore confirms that Wanda Jackson is still Wanda Jackson, and that's no small feat.

Tess Parks' simmering vocals on the title track drive home the range of Korody's colorful vision, simultaneously offering up a reimagination of Manchester's swirling '90s peak, while at the same time feeling futuristic and unfamiliar.

Listen closely, it's evident that Star-Crossed is a quintessential divorce record--the story is laid out quite clearly in its 15 songs--but in a practical sense, the album delivers sophisticated mood music, providing a soothing soundtrack for all manners of quiet domestic activities.

Seinfeld has mentioned that the album's title refers to how he's been able to reflect on who he is through experiences such as relationships and family trauma, and his music skillfully expresses a mixture of loneliness, uncertainty, and wistful nostalgia.

Both occasionally cringy and refreshing for its willingness to express bitterness, History of a Feeling's greatest strength lies in its emotional honesty.

Sparhawk and Parker are still trying to make sense of a world that seems increasingly alien, and the paradox of raging against the artificiality while using it as a creative choice is powerfully effective here.

Not so much a retreat as a celebration of what Sleigh Bells do best, Texis' finest moments thrive on the razor's edge between sweetness and annihilation.

Her self-produced full-length debut feels more elaborate than her EPs while also seeming impulsive and off-the-cuff.

God Is Partying might be his most honest piece of work. Playing all of the instruments himself and singing in a more direct style than on any of his previous releases, he lays bare his soul with a newfound earnestness that compliments rather than conflicts with his longtime brand.