Counting Crows, “Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!” Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets! has been a long time coming. Counting Crows released EP Butter Miracle: Suite One in 2021. Originally, the plan was to make another EP, Suite Two, the following year. However, after singing on Gang of Youths’ Angel…

Arcade Fire, “Pink Elephant.” Call it the elephant in the room, or try not thinking about pink elephants, but this seventh album by Arcade Fire is the band’s first since a controversy swirled around allegations of sexual misconduct against lead vocalist Win Butler in 2023. At first glance, it…

Maren Morris, “Dreamsicle.” For her fourth major label album, Maren Morris doesn’t hold back. Dreamsicle plays on her country roots while dipping heavily into pop, furthering what she’s been doing for several years. It also showcases her vocal range and lyricism. Dreamsicle  Maren Morris Columbia, May 9 8/10 Get…

Kaleo, “Mixed Emotion.” Icelandic rock band Kaleo delivers an authentic take on throwback American rock and roll. The band’s fourth album, Mixed Emotions, draws from the Seattle sound, post-grunge, Delta blues and modern alt-rock. The band’s sound flows through vocalist Jökull Júlíusson (JJ Julius Son), whose gravelly howl is…

98 Degrees, “Full Circle.” Full Circle is a fairly fitting description for 98 Degrees‘ surprise seventh album, its first non-holiday offering since 2013. There’s a twist: Half the material is new, while the other half consists of re-recorded versions of the quartet’s biggest hits. The boy (man) band is the…

Lights, “A6.” Canadian artist Lights Poxleitner-Bokan, mononymously known as Lights, has come a long way from the bouncy synth-pop optimism of her debut album, The Listening. With the passage of time comes growth, perspective and a more advanced sense of self. Enter A6, the latest album from the singer-songwriter,…

Ghost, “SKELETÁ.” One wonders how much panic is happening around Skeletá, the latest album by Ghost. Not because it’s not good—it’s very good—but because of an awkward coincidence. Skeletá Ghost Loma Vista, April 25 8/10 Get the album on Amazon Music. See, Ghost is as much performance art as a…

Billy Idol, “Dream Into It.” When your career spans nearly five decades, you’ve earned the creative license to do whatever you like. Dream Into It marks Billy Idol’s ninth studio album and his first new work in more than a decade. The timing and tone feel right for the New Wave…

Julien Baker and Torres, “Send a Prayer My Way.” Neither Julien Baker nor Torres (Mackenzie Scott) came up as country musicians. Baker played in Memphis punk bands before making a name for herself as an open-hearted singer-songwriter and then one-third of supergroup boygenius. Georgia native Torres is garage rock…

OK Go, “And the Adjacent Possible.” OK Go has built its reputation on  creativity through visual mediums like unique videos and unexpected collaborations (The Muppets!). But all of those creative outlets are fed by the band’s music, and on its fifth album, And the Adjacent Possible, OK Go further…