Trespassing marks a strutting step forward for Lambert.
Even when the tempo gets a little sleepy, neither Presley nor T Bone Burnett simply rest on their names or reputations.
The hollowness of Strangeland’s I’m-okay-you’re-okay writing might be a more forgivable offense were the album’s production not so consistently garish.
Jones is usually at her best when she looks to the past for inspiration.
Tigermending trades equally in healing and destruction.
Underwood rises to the occasion when given the opportunity to tackle multifaceted, well-written material.
Stuart has been playing this same hand since 1999’s The Pilgrim.
There’s very little power behind the power-pop here.
Elliott Yamin moves in a much more natural sounding, vintage soul-inspired direction on Let’s Get to What’s Real.
In the Time of Gods’s backstory is ultimately incidental to what works and what doesn’t about the album.
Monica’s on-point vocal turns are squandered on some cliché-addled songs and embarrassingly cheap-sounding production.
Boys & Girls is curiously and deliberately subdued.
T Bone Burnett has become the go-to guy when it comes to roots-music soundtracks.
While You & I loses some of the distinctive details of its predecessor, the duo pulls off “conventional” just as well as they do twisted.
Radio Music Society makes it clear that Spalding’s a fine, intuitive singer and a natural bandleader.
The Ting Tings give the impression that they’ve set out to fail deliberately, as some kind of juvenile attempt at punk.
Justin Townes Earle leans on the brushed drums, Hammond B3 organ fills, and horn sections that signify Memphis soul.
Agnostic Hymns doesn’t reserve its scorn for the 1%.
The inconsistencies in the quality of the singer’s songwriting keep the set from being as powerful as her earlier work.
Beatrix Runs announces Elizaveta as a refreshing new talent.