I’m With Her close out their impressive debut.

Like his dad, Nelson has a way of combining emotion, humor, and happenstance in equal proportions. That said, no comparisons are necessary. At this point in his career, this Nelson rests on a reputation all his own.

The National prove with I Am Easy To Find that they don’t need the old bang and clatter to achieve their signature melancholic glory.

He's no less daring than before. Marked by a series of ominous atmospheric soundscapes, the album finds Cale seemingly beckoning whatever spirits surround him with a dire yet distinctive vocal that casts a spell on the effort overall.

The five-piece band's new album, Easy Wonderful, is full of those same universal ponderings and investigations of love.

As with the best concept sets, you don’t need to follow the story, or even know there is one, to enjoy these songs, since most stand on their own. They may not be the best or catchiest ones Escovedo has written, but this is one of the most passionate, relevant, politically charged and personal projects he has released in a career pushing 40 years.

The Age of Adz builds on his previous dabblings in electronica by integrating the ideas he has clearly been stewing with the aspects of his work so dear to fans.

While this is still a typical Alan Jackson album in many ways, it’s a fine bluegrass album, and a good primer for those who aren’t all that familiar with what bluegrass is supposed to be.

Goodnight Tender may not be a radical sonic departure but by recording an entire country album, Amy Ray can check another box on her career genre list, and do it with pride in a job beautifully done.

The album’s title implies a wider expansion of the SteelDrivers’ already elastic sound that doesn’t appear, yet the group has rarely sounded more focused or passionate. That makes The Muscle Shoals Recordings another notable entry into the group’s already distinctive catalog.

If Gill maintained the rawness displayed on a few tracks and added more upbeat tunes, this would have been an edgier return to form.

Another in a series of endearingly quirky albums from one of Americana’s most intriguing and unconventional artists.

Willie provides each with a rendition that stays true to the iconic originals, and while there’s a certain sense of deja vu underlining it all, he remains undeterred by any hint that he’s merely mimicking the master. With sweeping orchestral accompaniment intact, he captures the feel and finesse of the original renditions and succeeds in making them his own.

It's mood music with a melody, orchestral pop without the pomp, midwest Americana with Euro-classical training. And despite the title, it's far from broken.

You may wish the songs were a little tougher (the Wilco frontman might have spread himself too thin writing the entire album), but Tweedy’s words preach without sounding overly preachy. The backing musicians effortlessly find a funky/soulful groove and even at low boil, Mavis Staples remains a force of nature.

It may be a stop-gap disc to welcome them to their new label (New West), but Native Sons is a delightful, heartfelt introduction to the music that most moved Los Lobos as they were getting started and remains a touchstone for their own compositions.

Sometimes the rhythms skitter and stutter; sometimes they throb, or soothe. More often than anything, they surprise and intrigue.

The Ascension, Stevens’ eighth studio album over all, and the follow-up to his highly lauded outing Carrie & Lowell, diminishes the accessibility factor in favor of a more amorphous imprint, one that finds all manner of effects and an ever-constant shift in sounds that drift through practically every selection.

Kelly is a tenured veteran songsmith who creates melodies, if perhaps not hooky ones here, that grow on you like kudzu, intentionally creating an album that is greater than the sum of its parts.

While almost all of the music is five-star material, it’s hard to recommend this collection wholeheartedly when anyone paying attention long enough could have easily picked up every item in the set individually.

A closing cover of Sam Phillips’ plaintive and rarely heard ballad “Where is Love Now” shows the group knows how to dig for a great song, even if the originals that dominate this disc aren’t immediately as accessible. This isn’t the band’s finest (half) hour, yet it’s great to have them back.

[A] terrific, moving and occasionally emotionally intense examination of the black experience in America.

Even at their most carefree and explorative, these tracks are tight, well crafted, and time conscious.

What Steve Earle and the Dukes make clear with Guy is that these songs are old friends as well, somehow truer and purer today than when they were written by one of the masters.

The new Jicks album benefits from Beck's imaginative treatment, which foregrounds headphone moments while not stinting on pure, spontaneous rock goodness, and Malkmus's songwriting, which sounds inspired and confident.

An extra disc of 19 newly remixed demos is more than window dressing. Stripped from the production flourishes, these early raw versions of every OOT track show the songs taking shape with hummed sections where words hadn’t been written, different lyrics and sometimes no lyrics at all. Not just for fans, these bring us closer to the creation of the tunes, generating a terrific alternative version of one of R.E.M.’s finest collections.

There are at least a handful of tracks that should be included in the next Morrison greatest hits package. ... Based on the vibrant, often vivacious Three Chords and the Truth, he still has plenty of artistic gas left in his tank.

Combined with The Unraveling, The New OK is a powerful one-two punch to the gut from a band unafraid to lay their political stance out for the world to see. It’s a brave move.