Sky Blue ranks with Townes’ Live at the Old Quarter, a similarly intimate album, long regarded as one of his best. This, for many, will be more intriguing as it shows Townes laying down his tunes with sheer confidence and dripping emotion.

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.

Enter into Rajan with zero expectations and allow Night Beats to whisk you off on a mind-expanding journey that blends genres while keeping the unfiltered creativity of Danny Lee Blackwell at the center of it all.

More than just a comeback, Hallucinating Love is a testament to the resilience of Maribou State. Their sound has evolved without losing its essence, channeling hardship into something immersive and profoundly affecting.

The Heartless Bastards have constantly evolved but Wennerstrom has been consistent, the outfits voice, heart, and soul; A Beautiful Life puts those perpetually on display.

Four stands among the tallest in Frisell’s storied catalog and should be destined for classic status.

This is unbridled passion, an unyielding declaration of freedom. As strong as it is, however, a little tempering down in a few places could only add to the overall impact.

The mix of songs that sound like they’re being written on the spot sitting on a stool in a bar, with tracks that are a bit more polished and contain several musical layers makes for a compelling listen.

The slow tempos are fine in doses but that novelty wears off quickly. More variations in tempo would likely work better. When we get to the closer “It’s All in the Game” it just seems that Rickie Lee is stuck in that molasses-like groove. She’s intent on being a torch singer and she’s damn good at it although it takes plenty of hutzpah to take on the Great American Songbook.

Their strongest and most cohesive album to date. ... The band has now clearly developed their own signature sound and style, not following trends or outside influences. Roots encapsulates the band and their music at this point.

Hellfire is a decent album, one where on at least half the tracks come from the Black Midi we remember, always on the cusp of something brilliant and humbling and confounding in the best way possible. On the other half though, they are lost in their own precision, echoing their better work and confusing ability with purpose.

With its mix of punk and metal, thrashing speed with sludgy grooves, off-kilter rhythms and odd patterns, Working with God is a worthy addition to a Melvins catalog that would be equally revered if it had ended decades ago.

Just Dropped in (To See What Condition My Rendition Was in) is a heartwarming posthumous release by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings that adds some heat to a series of familiar tunes that simultaneously pays tributes to Jones’ influences while honoring her legacy as the Godmother of a neo-soul movement that made stars out of the likes of Adele, Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Ray.

[“Rushin’ River Valley” is] up there with the solid indie pop mid-tempo “Waking Up in Los Angeles” and the charming “Tacoma,” (see two more geographical references!) as some of the record’s early highlights. Those tracks serve as a counterweight for some of the mellower numbers on the album.

The album is a darkly sweet exploration of heavy themes like cancer, death, and motherhood, delivered with a newfound confidence and maturity. On News of the Universe, La Luz has crafted an album that sounds timeless yet fresh, pushing their boundaries while maintaining the hypnotic beauty that defines their music.

The musical conversations span different genres and styles as Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog hit new highs on Connection as the band throws out any sort of expectations and just delivers highly vibrant music that goes where the spirit takes it.

Two misses aside, this is the Delbert we’ve long known and enjoy, doing it as only he can.

The successes on Always Been prove that this combo works well, but the missteps also show that things can be improved upon if Craig Finn decides to record with Adam Granduciel again.

This is indeed as animated as we’ve heard Lucinda in some time. Her articulation and her songs are strong, while buoyed by excellent backing musicians, vocalists, and superb production values.

There are moments when some editing may have tightened things up and Segall’s lyrics are opaque even at the best of times, but for an album built out of experimentation, it is surprising how well First Taste links together; and most of the credit for that success can be given to those killer drums. ... Segall continues to blaze his own sonic path.

The songs vary in songwriting quality but you can’t argue with the performances. Everything she puts on the album is elevated.

Hayes Carll has made some great records. This is his best one.

An LP as disciplined as it is versatile.

I Need A New War is organic, human, and alive in the moment while conscious of the fleeting frailty of it all, it may just be the next step in his musical journey, but it is a confident stride.

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.

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.

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

Despite coming in at 16 tracks – normally a bloated affair for an album – the band’s tendency to careen from one song to the next at breakneck speed, keeping most tracks to about two-and-a-half minutes allows Rancid to hold the listener’s attention until the very last distorted chord rings out.