Ken Tucker

BTS' new record features songs that vary from grandly dramatic to impishly playful. The album's been a near-instant hit, selling over 2 million copies in its first two hours of release in South Korea.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Bethany Cosentino opens up about sobriety on a propulsive new album with musical partner Bobb Bruno. Almost Tomorrow is Best Coast's first record in five years.

Best known as the lead singer for Roxy Music, Ferry released two solo albums in the '70s filled with covers. A marvelous new concert album features Ferry performing many of these songs live.

The Tulsa, Okla.,-based singer-songwriter has a reputation for writing superb sad songs, but his new record shows a wider range of emotions, with novelistic details in the lyrics.

Led by New Pornographers member Dan Bejar, the band takes inspiration from The Twilight Zone and Edgar Allan Poe to evoke a distressed intensity on its new record.

The Canadian singer-songwriter wrote, produced and performed all 11 songs on his new album, presenting himself as a lonely first-person narrator pining over an ex-girlfriend.

The 23-year-old Southern blues rocker strikes out on his own with a soulful new album produced Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The record is a real beauty — and a turning-point for King.

Blessed with a Kentucky croon and a gift for storytelling, Childers offers a slice of country life on his recent album, with songs about marriage, life on the road and the school bus he took as a kid.

Lana Del Rey's Norman F****** Rockwell! topped Tucker's list of the best albums of the year, with Lizzo and Billie Eilish running a close second and third.

Singer Darius Rucker and his band have released their first new record in more than a decade. Imperfect Circle is a well-made and frequently thoughtful album, enhanced by Rucker's warm, buttery tones.

Few rappers have been as entertaining to listen to this year as DaBaby. In the often hyper-masculine context of hip-hop, his new album proves he's not afraid to be goofy.

Country music has take a turn towards pop of late, but Pardi's new album goes back to the genre's roots, with a collection of excellent honky-tonk songs — many of which are about booze.

The new album by the Alabama Shakes lead singer mixes autobiography with an exploration of different musical styles. Listening to Jaime is like discovering Howard as an artist all over again.

Burns is known for finding fresh takes on big topics, but his new eight-part PBS series about country music treads a well-worn path, leaning heavily on the biggest stars and the most obvious ideas.

In the last decade, Del Rey released recordings that expanded our understanding of L.A. pop music. The singer/songwriter's new album is like a series of earthquakes, rendered with supreme confidence.

Cleaver, one of the leaders of Wussy, sings about joy, pain, sorrow and regret on Send Aid. The resulting album stands with the best of anything Cleaver has ever done.

Alessia Cara's "Rooting for You," Megan Thee Stallion's "Hot Girl Summer," and Bon Iver's "U (Man Like)" offer three different takes on — and moods for — the summer.

Titus Andronicus, fronted by Patrick Stickles, favors a louder, more aggressive style in its new album. While the music sounds simple and raw, the ideas behind the songs are quite complex.

The married musicians offer their own synthesis of folk, country, rock and the blues on their new album. The music that results is unsettling, with a beauty that's both comforting and soothing.

Two current country hits by black musicians are challenging traditional notions of the genre. Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" and Blanco Brown's "The Git Up" pulse with history and humor.