He puts his own spin on tracks with minimal brooding instrumentation, but he delivers for his idol in conventional fashion even adjusting his vocals to mimic Presley more than he normally would.

Twenty-five years into it, Jurado can still write compelling, emotionally powerful songs driven by little more than his commanding voice and a stripped down acoustic guitar. But the unevenness of this record makes it a hard entry point for those unfamiliar with his work. Longtime fans of Jurado can still find enough to rally behind this one.

You don’t need to have read the book to appreciate the honesty of the album, which makes a compelling argument for Lanegan as a contemporary Lead Belly. ... The tracks aren’t designed to be ornate; they’re designed to support his lyrics. The result is a beautifully haunting journey.

Making A Door Less Open is a worthy addition to the creative evolution of Car Seat Headrest.

LaFarge somehow manages to make the nostalgia sound authentic rather than gimmicky, which is quite an impressive feat.

Not surprisingly, this is as personal, maybe even more so, and autobiographical as any of her output. It’s not far removed from her excellent 2011 Revelation Road either. ... This recording is a huge reminder that Shelby Lynne is not only one of the most fiercely independent artists of our time. She’s clearly one of our best singers too.

Rose is pushing the envelope a bit on this outing. Sometimes it seems as if she’s trying to break through a sound that was bigger than she bargained for but there are still those precious moments where her voice and phrasing may have you reminiscing of classic singers like Bobbie Gentry and Dusty Springfield. That’s mixed with a swagger, self-confidence, and a willingness to rock out.

Shooting for the sweet spot of artists like Radiohead and The National, Other Lives embraces their tense, dramatic, theatrical, orchestral sound, and scope on For [Their] Love.

Overall Benson has crafted an enjoyable, thoughtful slice of pop-rock on Dear Life, embracing his classic rock love while not limiting the scope of his sound and voice.

Diabate and Fleck, though, are considered the prime masters of their respective instruments so their set is especially impressive.

There are songs where she’s smoothed out the edges somewhat. That, with the raw instrumentation framing it, makes this one of her stronger vocal outings.

Brother Sister feels bigger than just the siblings, but it is essentially a gentle folk record with lovely instrumentation and gorgeous harmonies. With Sean primarily on guitar and Sara on fiddle, and both sharing vocals, the sound comes across at times like a full band but it’s usually just the two of them making stirring music.

The Cadillac Three’s Country Fuzz precisely captures the delightfully ragged album, which soaks a straight-forward country in a tub full of distortion, creating music that will delight metal heads and line dancers, both groups previously only in agreement over the appropriateness of mullets.

Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters is a triumphant and very well-timed return after an eight-year hiatus. Apple’s fifth album, an introspective, 13 song journey defies genre. ... Fetch The Bolt Cutters takes many exciting turns. The album exudes freedom, it exudes breaking constraints, it exudes Fiona Apple, and it might just be the album that we look back on when we think back to this COVID-19 era.

Although some fans may be disappointed not to hear the same early aughts NYC sound, discerning listeners will find that consistency as well as hopefully appreciate a new direction for a band with much acclaim.

An extremely cerebral approach to experimental music, which tend to feel more disjointed. Every movement has a purpose and every song on the album combines to make a fantastic album.

Migration Stories is a bright sounding album that draws on Ward’s skills in creating a warm and beaming atmosphere, even if the lyrics are the direct opposite. Gentle songs and tender vocals transport the listener to a world where anything is possible. While the production of the album might sound a bit more polished than past releases, it is still unmistakably M. Ward’s sound and bound to be a favorite with fans.

This third CATS album is wholly in keeping with the growing confidence of the band (in contrast to the somewhat laissez-faire sophomore outing, appropriately titled Let It Wander) as well as the creative progression of its forebears.

The weight of loss, the pain of failed love, the bleakness of it all, combined with Thundercats effervescent playing, unique playfulness and a giddy sense of humor combine on It Is What It Is, resulting in the best album of Brunner’s career and one of the strongest of 2020.

This is a leap forward for Hiatt who delivers her most fully realized album yet.

If you’re looking for fast, lighthearted punk music in the Buzzcocks vein, look no further. With their smashing drums and Zulu Robson-esque snarl to Sandwith’s voice, The Chats suberbly capture their day-to-day life in Australia as the true inspiration for their work. The ability to translate their influence and perspective makes them a much more accessible band than most.

Basia Bulat’s music can transport you to another place. It’s exactly the kind of comfort we need right now.

Overall, it was an excellent example of electronic production by two masters at the craft. A lot of instrumentally based albums move all as one piece, but “Aporia” was a combination of tracks each made as an individual piece creating a distinct musical picture. Listen with headphones.

Undoubtedly other posthumous recordings from Masakela are forthcoming but this serves as a vital essential part of his storied legacy.

Anybody Out There? may have been four years in the making, but it proves to be well worth the wait.

This first set that comprises three Lloyd originals and the traditional often performed, exquisite “La Llorona.” It’s a masterpiece of saxophone tone and spiritual playing, punctuated with scintillating solo spots from Lage and Clayton. ... The second set is a clinic in deep R&B and blues.

This generous outpouring of songcraft from Wilson is one to savor over many listens. It’s the perfect hot toddy for these winter days, or, said another way, a harbinger of early spring.

Its messaging is almost diametrically opposed to the spiritual optimism of Pharaoh Sanders’ great 1969 Impulse! album Karma, yet, ironically, the lasting effect is similar due to the inspired, passionate playing.

No Time for Love Songs is an album that channels a range of adult emotions from grief, anger, disbelief, and a deep respect for those lost into charming, evocative, gorgeous songcraft that serves for both an excellent listen and outlook.

The result is deeply evocative music because the production is as restrained as the interplay is energetic.

Nothing new here, just Hunter and company wearing their love for rocking soul music on their sleeve as they dive through the thirteen tracks on Nick of Time with vigor, affection and professionalism.

The reason it’s so hard to find something to say is that every song is perfection. ... This remastered collection is impressive no matter how you look at it.

Wasted Shirt might not immediately hit the expected highs, but the anything-can-happen jam session feeling hints that the duo has more to offer in the future and Fungus II is just the cap and stem of a larger organism underneath.

Albums don’t get much more soulful than the Memphis sound the two channeled on Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm, yet this continues in a similar vein, plunging deeper to include not just soul but some deep gospel too.

Marshall is an artist who will work in any genre and his art digs into his psyche yet the end result can be just as messy as most psyches are. Man Alive! is far from a celebration, it sounds transitional casting a wide net unsurely searching and grasping for what is coming next.

True to form, Ordinary Man provides the rock and roll heft Osbourne’s fans crave.

Personnel differs slightly on each selection and the support is both sturdy and nuanced. It’s as if you need to listen at least twice even for the initial listen, once for the vocal beauty and again for the instrumentation. Even though the year has just begun, expect this marvelous project to show up on many Year’s Best lists for 2020

For those of you who haven’t been acquainted with Sergio Mendes since the glory days of AM Radio, and for others that are in the know, this may prove both surprising, and yes, joyful.

It’s very dreamy and a bit fuzzy; but magnetic. Once pulled in, it’s hard to let go. It’s a mysterious place that seemingly offers no easy exits.

Throughout The Slow Rush, Parker melds different elements of pop, funk, disco, and psychedelia. It is not as eclectic as early Tame Impala but deftly blends Parker’s various influences into a slowly-building groove record that hits all of its marks.

The end result works better in some spots than others, “Lights Out” feels like the artists tossed everything they possibly could into the mix and the overload/instant shift in styles is a bit much while “The Art of Losing” featuring Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux )is torn between traditional song structure and free for all, never truly coalescing around either.

The dynamic of this recording is truly special. You’ll hear something new with each listen. It’s one to best listen to alone to appreciate the mind-blowing experience it delivers.

Swimmer doesn’t quite reach the peaks of other Tennis albums but is a solid album featuring expertly composed and performed piano pop.

This is Tami’s fifth solo album. Her trajectory is climbing and her boundless talent is a wonder to behold. Listen up.

This six song collection from Daptone Records is a vibrant display of what Antibalas does best; fusing the spirit and soul of Fela Kuti with modern funky sounds.

Working with producer and percussionist Matt Pence, regular collaborator and multi-instrumentalist John Calvin Abney, and incorporating the angelic vocal harmonies of Bonnie Whitmore, Moreland has unearthed a sweet spot for himself, sonically. LP5 is textured, soft and gentle, and then rugged and dirty exactly where it needs to be

With Never Not Together, Nada Surf adds more songs destined to become fan favorites to their catalogue.

These three-part harmonies and killer songwriting mix light and dark to muster a complex ode to memory, a call for hope, and an exercise in empathy, yet the overriding result is joyous. Careful planning and years of work went into this project that breathes a spirit of collaboration and freedom beyond the meticulous decisions about instrumental textures.

The Baltimore based artist has released and produced a variety of EP’s, soundtracks and experimental offerings but on Mystic Familiar he succeeds in combing passions and moving things slightly to a more personal tone amongst the cluttering digital world in which we all live.

Silver Tongue is an excellent collection of Scott’s strengths as a producer, performer and songwriter as her sounds run the gamut from modern pulsing anxious odes to open confessional natural pleas, each delivered with grace and ease.

Imaginative, highly literate tales. There’s a real mix of moods, tempos, and themes so it’s best to listen to it in its entirety. You’ll be rewarded.

This album is especially personal.” Not only that, strikingly, while not a quantum leap, it’s a major step forward in lyrical and musical intensity from its predecessor.

A tense, polished, cold affair that never truly explodes into something larger.

This simplicity is what first brought them to national attention and this collection of seven tracks is solid, but feels like a regression for a band who was just stepping out of their comfort zone. The dynamite harmonies and strong acoustic playing is still there, but nothing presented on the EP is must-hear.

Michaela Anne has been on a steady rise since her 2014 debut Ease My Mind. Desert Dove will certainly steepen this trajectory. She is deservedly a major emerging voice in country and Americana circles.

Don’t be frightened by the spiritual nature of this album. You don’t have to be a regular churchgoer to appreciate the moving, soulful tunes. In fact, you can enjoy this album even if you’ve never been to a church for anything other than a wedding.

Auerbach captured an energy and fire in Holmes that’s never been heard on record, and remarkably, was able to do so in a studio setting.

As the avid completists and longstanding fans decide whether they need the whole of The Later Years 1987-2019 for the sake of the books and peripherals the mammoth compendium contains, more than one music lover who aspires to maintain a grasp of contemporary rock history may find this Pink Floyd title is more than just a sampler album. Its instantly-recognizable cover imagery and the kinetic photo array in the enclosed booklet are more than just cosmetic inclusions, but a reflection of the music inside.

As is the case with almost all tribute albums, not every track is consistently great but this one is leaps and bounds better than most.

It takes a while to get through this collection, but it’s time well spent. This collection is full of songs that will get your head bobbing and your body moving. On top of that, it is a must-have for collectors due to the rarity of some of the tracks and the presentation of the box set.

If this LP isn’t so groundbreaking as Tommy, it’s definitely a logical extension of The Who By Numbers and certain preferable to the forced and pedestrian It’s Hard.

Each tune is hummable and lovely, the kind of soft-spoken tune that Bonnie weaves around acoustic guitar strums. The latter half of the album remains slow and steady—a pace broken only by the snaking horns on “Thick Air”—in contrast to the first half that culls the all the upbeat optimism into a packed room.

Girl is an enchantingly lighthearted delusion of crushes and happy hours, composed with an escapist party of a live show in mind (influenced by their own tour with feel-good NYC synth-pop artist Porches). Girl Ray provides a summer fling of an album and makes it feel like an urgent necessity as we seemingly tick off our waning moments in these late-near-apocalyptic times.

Look closely at the repertoire here. It’s emblematic of the Mavericks approach – classic country, Sun Records, Tejano, ’50s and ‘60s R&B, pop, and contemporary rock. It’s especially remarkable given Malo’s Cuban American heritage but that too has been part of their genre-agnostic approach that has served them well for 30 years, and maybe never better than the way they sound here.

Stunning, dark, poetic. ... Chances are you won’t fall in love with this album immediately but images will liner in your head and you’ll be drawn back to it repeatedly and appreciate it more with each listen.

New Age Norms 1 is a bit formulaic compared to the band’s off-kilter early work, relying too much of the blueprint of piano chords coupled with bouncing bass and danceable beats, but it is a solid blues-inflected indie album as a whole.

The album is spare, economical, and certainly dark in places but there’s a glimmer of light too.

Junior blends a cocktail of urgency and euphoria, delivering a woozy, rosy-cheeked buzz that warms from the inside out.

Up on High does a fantastic job of combining a multitude of influences and creating a sound that is unmistakably Vetiver. The pared down tracks can be numbered amongst the best that Cabic has produced, making Up on High one of the best albums of Vetiver’s career.

Though the rest of the album doesn’t meet the same standard as its closing track, Daylight is a solid pop album with no bad songs and a few brilliant moments.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse renewed their musical bond during a handful of impromptu shows in 2018 and then repaired to the Rocky Mountains to make Colorado. It is a similarly spontaneous affair, one that is perhaps too informal for its own good at certain points, but one that nevertheless captures the potent chemistry between these seasoned musicians.

There’s an abiding sense of confident inspiration permeating the material as well as the musicianship, including most especially the worldly performances of Van Morrison himself.

The beauty in this album lies in the delivery. Her vocals can easily kick your ass and will readily give you the bird, yet she switches these sentiments for vulnerability and pure honesty while remaining distinctly tough. She is a legend at 61, yet she sounds just as vibrant as her landmark album, TNT.

The songs on this album may not end up on rock radio stations, but they would fit right in with a lot of the classic rock that is played incessantly on stations across the country.

No Home Record wraps up on a positive note, proving Gordon is still pushing herself as an artist.

Somebody’s Knocking could be a lost 1980s New Wave album. A really good one. ... What’s impressive about the album is that while the mode of delivery is electronic, there’s a live heartbeat beneath all of the songs that consistently reveals Lanegan’s humanity.

It’s not just a sequel to its counterpart, but an extension of that prior work as well as the live autobiography-in-song that is this group’s their eponymous debut.

All Mirrors belongs in the canon of essential break-up albums, but more Exile in Guyville than Rumours or Blue. ... The resulting instrumentation is impressively cohesive and resoundingly huge.

Spirit Counsel is a testament to Moore’s musical vision, no wave roots, tonal sound and guitar style as he remains both clanging and melodic. Adventurous listeners will reap rewards from the textures and endless twists/turns Moore brings to these three long guitar-based passages.

Waldon has a sharp combination of songwriting craft and requisite twang delivery. ... Waldon is genuine and we need more artists like her that not only rail against current culture but do it unpretentiously from a perspective that’s as real as it gets.

The North Mississippi Allstars’ Up And Rolling is a decidedly tighter and more focused piece of work than their last two albums.

Deceiver packs a much heavier punch than previous releases. Where Is the Is Are had an airier, spacey feeling throughout, Deceiver throws in heavy riffs and grungier distortion. Overall, Deceiver is an album that delivers on both the musical and lyrical sides.

All in all, Ode to Joy is a solid album, if a bit on the languid side, but feels more like a Jeff Tweedy solo album than a proper Wilco album.

Even with the dark lyrics, which at times overshadow some strong poetry, this album is a great listen due to Kacy’s lovely, lilting voice and Clayton’s all-over-the-fretboard guitar playing. And, for all the ballyhoo about moving to a full band sound, the rhythm section support is mostly subtle and Kacy and Clayton rightly assume the duo spotlight, as Tweedy stayed hands off, knowing that Kacy and Clayton had the songs and the chops.

These are Fish’s most fully realized songs yet and while the album displays aspects of her sound heard on her previous albums, it’s clearly moving toward a more pop, more densely produced sound. She is still developing. Enjoy the change but expect her to keep evolving.

Blue World reveals Coltrane’s personal progress, as well as the interactive consistency and sonic details the Classic Quartet had firmly established as their collective signature by 1964.

It is a very groovy record, full of disco and funk beats. It was also brought to life with the help of Sonic Boom, a former member of Spaceman 3, who has also worked with Beach House. Any fan of Moon Duo or psych-rock will not be let down by Stars Are the Light.

Sonic textures, melodies, and interesting arrangements are used to prop up the storytelling, rather than the stories taking a backseat to musicianship. Beneath the Eyrie is not as instantly catchy as the band’s early work, but it rewards repeated listens with an emphasis on lyrics and musical layers.

Most of the songs maintain a decidedly hollow-eyed sound, one that requires the listener to lean in and patiently wait for the songs to reach a crescendo. Happily, it’s well worth the indulgence.

There’s attitude aplenty from the very outset. In fact, its first track, “Shockwave,” contains the clarion call of electric guitars combined with bluesy harp, at least partially giving the lie to chest-thumping lyrics Liam delivers with an almost audible sneer. The repetition of the refrain might be better served with an extra dollop or two of spontaneity, and while this somewhat stilted production might well be expected from Kurstin and Wyatt–who’ve worked with the likes of Adele and Lady Gaga–it doesn’t lessen the dampening effect on this performance and that of “Now That’ I’ve Found You.”

Taylor wrote and recorded the 10 tracks that makeup Terms of Surrender, and ended up with something that feels nothing like anything he’s made before it.

This is a highly creative album that only Robertson could deliver. It’s not perfect but it’s highly memorable and well-conceived.

There’s a pop progressiveness coupled with an old-fashioned loneliness. It sounds nothing at all like Presley, but he lived in and understood those two worlds and might have appreciated the chance to bridge them in the way that Howard has here. ... Her distinctive vocal timbre is the twine that keeps Jamie wrapped-up tight. Not many artists can make loops and electronic sounds feel authentic, but Howard is more than able to keep them feeling warm and natural.

LP5 is a solid effort by a vital musician, worthy of multiple listens – ideally, with no distractions, and complemented by a glass of wine or tea and some low lighting.

Instead of the fire-burning street-taking bloodlust of your 20’s, the fight in your 30’s feels seated deeper in the belly. Birth of Violence feels like it’s about that fight: finding strength, power and will, and rising up to exert it all in the face of unending victimization and marginalization. Wolfe draws parallels between the treatment of women throughout history and the treatment and disregard of Mother Earth, also in the throes of shaking off her human oppressors.

Although the album’s new psychedelic undercurrent absolutely deserves mention as a previously unexplored avenue for Del Rey, even with the new dimension, this is unmistakably a Lana Del Rey album, optimized for languid West Coast afternoons: contemplative, moving, and thematically consistent music to get lost inside.

At only nine songs in length, Pang! provides a relatively brief encounter, but its brevity is more than made up for in its upbeat attitude and carefully constructed melodies. Its cross-cultural references may require a more concerted listen, but the vibe and variety all but ensure an endearing effect right from the start. There’s no pain in this Pang!, but instead, a wealth of pure pleasure.

An almost biblical journey to freedom, Tinariwen have inspired compatriots from Tamikrest to Bombino, artists that encapsulate the struggle of a people, taking it to the world through music that truly brings people together.