Lean and hurtful, anthemic and damaged, Alabama Shakes’ “Don’t Wanna Fight” pulls no punches — not musically, not emotionally.

Ray Wylie Hubbard has been sticking a steel-toed boot up country’s rear for generations, and this new song is — thankfully — no different.

If you loved Toto before, this is a song that will speak to that passion. If you wondered whether they still had anything left, “Orphan” answers that, too.

Steven Wilson’s “Perfect Life” is as gorgeous as it is enigmatic, and an involving reminder of the larger things at play on the upcoming ‘Hand. Cannot. Erase.’

This entirely unexpected Meghan Trainor cover doesn’t display the maturity of Bob Wayne’s last album. But it’s a fun and funny few minutes.

The Staple Singers’ stirring sense of community comes through in every line of “Friendship” from patriarch Pops Staples’ forthcoming posthumous album.

The Church let their muses guide them through a furious period of creativity, as ‘Further/Deeper’ was created over just eight days in 2013.

The opening track from Steve Earle’s upcoming ‘Terraplane,’ a chugging Howlin’ Wolf-esque electric blues, works on two levels.

Ultimate Painting’s “Riverside” is one of those songs which drift slowly into your head, and it’s hard to resist a replay.

The Florida-based JJ Grey and Mofro return to make an absolutely heavenly, cross-pollinated racket — like a bourbon tabernacle hootenanny.