FLOOD

The pop star’s big voice and actorly prowess help convince us that the choppy, Sapphic-punkish pop and curt, self-reproaching snipe of her second LP burrow deep into her soul.

On their fifth proper LP, Ruby da Cherry and Scrim’s usually dense, trap-imbued soundscapes are open and airier, leaving more room for the duo and their guests to misery-wallow within.

A companion to her 1998 downtempo LP Ray of Light, this collection is a series of fresh, future-forward edits, remixes, and demo tracks meant to expand the vision of the original album.

Meant to tell a deeper story behind the songwriter’s 1969 debut, each demo, outtake, and alternate version on this 4-LP set radiates the piecemeal feel of a novice grasping his way through a new endeavor.

The band’s first album with Brian Eno is a portrait of two ecosystems learning each other’s ways, with this box set’s exclusive rarities further revealing the collaboration’s inner workings.

Extended to a two-album set, this anniversary remastering of Elliott Smith and Neil Gust’s post-hardcore band’s third and final statement features unreleased songs and demos.

This unearthed 1967 live gig from Redwood City, California features raw, soulful R&B covers recorded with a roomful of memorable voices that audiences would soon grow to love.

A follow-up to last fall’s full-length, this four-song EP sees the London-based songwriter strengthening her case for pop-chart status while continuing to prove that that’s not her goal.

The drummer and Mantra of the Cosmos co-founder riffs about recent collaborators Noel Gallagher, Sean Lennon, and James McCartney, his standing with The Who, and more.

This second solo LP moves further into the Raincoats co-founder’s melodic mix of dub-rock, neo-jazz, skeletal R&B, and space-pop as she continues to eschew creature comforts.

The pop star retains the tainted-love throb of electro rhythm on a fourth LP that’s high on affection, low on gloss, and geared toward transcendence and sneaky sexuality.

From Laura Jane Grace to Public Enemy, these are just a few of the tracks certain to be remembered within the context of this moment of violence and injustice they rail against.

The UK-via-NJ songwriter’s blackly comic neo-chamber-pop missive on sobriety still manages to speak to the upbeat without a snip of excess emotion.

This new box breaks down seven well-framed sets of sessions spanning 1983 to 2018, essentially designed as full-album capsules of mood previously deemed unfit for canonization.

John C. Reilly’s latest role as a lonely vaudevillian singer of Great American Songbook standards sees him unwrap each melody and lyric without irony or snarky dispatch.

Released in celebration of Pride Month, this repackaging of the Athens new wave icons’ first 13 years of music makes you want to live through their original release dates all over again.

Composed entirely from the vibrations of metal objects, the compact experimental duo’s new anticapitalist allegory is as unique a prospect as a fingerprint.

In its 18 brief, blipping songs, the Brooklyn neo-soul artist’s latest venture into old-school rap, acid jazz, soca, and trip-dub is closer to a groove mixtape than a cohesive album.

The Beach Boys co-founder was his own world-builder—a universalist whose visions will never be attempted, let alone replicated.

Upholding his fascination with the crunch and snap of shiny alt-rock, Weezy’s sixth chapter of his ongoing soap opera is as eclectic as its list of features might suggest.