Beginning with an elastic beat, “Dark Sunglasses” might have heralded a next-gen moment of pop-song modernity for Chrissie Hynde, except that the rest of it has all of the haunty, ball-busting attitude you’ve come to expect from every great Pretenders track going back to the 1970s. You May Also Like:Read More

A lean groove, a crinkly throwback riff, a pained falsetto. Yes, the Black Keys are back — with a song that thrums with pent-up passion and swirling darkness, with something finally worth celebrating. “Fever” is the sound of a churning, unrequited love, and the sound a band that’s completely returnedRead More

John Paul Jones always brought an avant-garde bent to his work with Led Zeppelin, something he’s more fully exploring with Helde Sten on their outlandishly named, and even more outlandishly conceived new Minibus Pimps project. You May Also Like: Rickie Lee Jones, “Jimmy Choos” from The Other Side of DesireRead More

Inspired as much by dreamscape ruminations on love as she is by Celtic folkways, emerging talent Ashley Davis’ forthcoming Night Travels creates an endlessly involving, warmly enveloping atmosphere across its 11 tracks. To her enormous credit, the results sound at once timeless and new. You May Also Like: Transitional ‘Sorcerer’Read More

This first-time-ever collection of both Eric Carmen’s Raspberries and solo favorites also includes his first new song in some 18 years.

Fish saw his marriage fall apart amidst a throat cancer scare in the run up to this album, and you hear some of that fear and loss.

You’d probably assume that 1981’s The Baron, produced by countrypolitan pioneer Billy Sherrill, would do little to suggest where Johnny Cash would end up a little over a decade later with the American Recordings series. You May Also Like: Johnny Cash’s American VI: Ain’t No Grave was a rustic, spiritual,Read More

What with the semi-permanent scowl that’s plastered on Don Henley’s face these days (ask Frank Ocean! Or better yet, ask Okkervil River!), it’s easy to forget just how resonant his voice can be. “These Days,” a track written by a teenaged Jackson Browne and featured on a forthcoming double-album tributeRead More

Ben Harper has been involved with a number of intriguing collaborative moments lately, including Ringo Starr and Charlie Musselwhite, but this is his most personal yet. You May Also Like: Genesis, “Home by the Sea / Second Home by the Sea” from Genesis (1983): One Track Mind Ellen Foley TalksRead More

Steve Lukather says he gained an even deeper appreciation for Ringo Starr’s easy-going brilliance at the drums while collaborating on a new song for the former Beatles’ upcoming solo album. Impishly titled “You Bring the Party Down,” it’s part of an as-yet unnamed followup to Starr’s Ringo 2012. You MayRead More