Will Hermes
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Producer and singer-songwriter Abel Tesfaye became an Internet phenomenon in 2010, when he began self-releasing free mixtapes of woozy, haunted R&B songs. His proper major-label debut, Kiss Land, marks his official step into the limelight.
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With tracks like "Southern Comfort Zone" and "Accidental Racist," the superstar's new album performs a balancing act of cultural examinations. But there are still enough twangy guitar solos and all-purpose love songs to engage country-music tradition.
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On her major-label debut, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter explores themes steeped in tradition, yet views them through the lens of youth culture.
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The latest album by Berlin-based electronic artist Pantha du Prince is a collaboration built around a decidedly nondigital device: a series of large church bells.
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The British group's moody debut carried the ring of 1980s post-punk. The grooves are magnified on its second album, and plenty of moments feel like straight-up club music.
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Chan Marshall's songs have traditionally been sad and sparse, pecked out on piano or guitar. Sun, her first collection of new songs since 2006, takes a different approach.
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Critic Will Hermes says the singer's new record is an instant classic that sounds fresh even as it mines the golden era of Jamaican R&B.
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The duo, which sounds like Tom Petty after some Red Bull-and-vodkas, hones the scream to an art.
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Van Etten's new album, Tramp, is titled after the touring artist's time of essential homelessness. It's full of unresolved restlessness, infinite-loop longing and expansive vocals.
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The Brazilian artist's new album, Sem Nostalgia, is a tribute to the spirit of the traditional bossa nova movement in Brazil.