Stephen Thompson

Even in a studio, backed by a symphony orchestra as they survey their long career in pop music, these guys know how to work a room.

The Against Me! singer bounds around outside the boundaries and margins of punk, while still sounding unfiltered, playfully profane and overstuffed with ideas.

This week's batch of essential new albums includes Robyn's melancholy return to the dance floor, rock-and-roll madness from Ty Segall, the otherworldly voice of R&B singer NAO and more.

Cornell's performance of Prince's classic ballad, recorded live at SiriusXM in 2015, appears on an upcoming, career-spanning compilation of the late singer's work.

Cher's 1998 hit "Believe" turns 20 this year. There's a long history of artists using vocal modifications, but this song brings the Auto-Tune front and center.

On her gripping new album, Gibson diversifies her arrangements to allow for everything from barren ballads to grandiose stormers that boom and swirl.

We all have distractions in our lives that keep us from working, studying, concentrating or otherwise attempting to unlock something in our own brains. This two-hour playlist is engineered to help.

Explore the versatile country of Eric Church, the spiky pop-rock of Swearin', the rugged metal of High on Fire and other albums due out this week.

Givson's new single is a warm, searching beauty that swoops dramatically through a treatise on wolves, womanhood and the pressure she feels to "make me into somebody easy."

Remind Me Tomorrow, Van Etten's forthcoming new album, follows four years of dramatic changes and ambitious pursuits in the singer's life.

In the gently elegant "Time We Made Time" — from the forthcoming Tides of a Teardrop — the duo sings about the importance of breathing deeply, cooling off and drawing loved ones close.

Cher tackling ABBA, Nile Rodgers & Chic returning for the first time in 26 years, Loretta Lynn surveying her career and other essential new releases this week.

The singer's bighearted sound and style revolve around spirited statements of affirmation, a sprawling artistic palette and the pursuit of boldness in every sense of the word.

If you've ever wanted to see the Internet fold itself up into a burrito and consume itself hungrily over the course of four minutes, you've come to the right place.

On String Theory, out Nov. 9, the band revisits its catalog and performs new songs with the aid of a 46-piece symphony orchestra. Watch Hanson perform "Siren Call."

On its seventh album, the Canadian band returns to the spiky, effusive pleasures of guitar-driven rock and roll.

Ribot's new collection, Songs of Resistance 1948-2018, is a collection of protest music with special guests — including Tom Waits, who makes his first recorded appearance in two years.

"Fresh Start" sets epically crunching guitar riffs against a larger message about learning from your mistakes, starting over and seizing the opportunities in front of you.

The Korean boy band and the hip-hop star already have a continent-straddling hit on their hands. Now, their colorful new video portends a viral dance craze.

The static-scarred loops that open Double Negative portend another subtle reinvention: This is the sound of beauty as it's distorted to the point of disintegration.