John Amen

With his new album, Mahashmashana, Josh Tillman, a.k.a. Father John Misty, backburners the vintage ambiance of his last album, 2022’s Chloë and the Next 20th Century. Instead, Misty revisits the social commentary and reflections on loss that pervaded 2017’s Pure Comedy and 2018’s God’s

Laura Marling’s latest album, Patterns in Repeat, was inspired by the birth of Marling’s daughter and the singer-songwriter’s initiation into motherhood, but still covers broad thematic ground. Throughout the venture, Marling reflects on her life and the world into which she has brought her child, translating

With their new album, Something Is Working Up Above My Head, the Charleston, SC-based duo Shovels & Rope continue to display their affinity for rock-leaning Americana. The album follows 2022’s Manticore, which was steeped in the agitation and uncertainty of the Covid era. This time, Cary Ann

With their latest and self-titled LP, The Avett Brothers offer earnest and wistfully philosophic songs set within well-polished soundscapes. Continuing to mine the light-pop and folk-rock MO honed on their major-label debut, 2009’s I and Love and You, the band again collaborates — effectively, if

Albums such as Welcome to Hard Times, Music City USA, and his last release, The Man from Waco, highlight Charley Crockett’s unique meld of the tragic, the wistful, and the satirical. With his 13th album, $10 Cowboy, he offers his most fully realized set. Occurring as a cross between

With her new album, Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé forges an expansive take on the traditional canon, integrating a broad swathe of American music, including country, blues, R&B, rock, and gospel. While 2022’s Renaissance spotlighted her as a global MC throwing the party of the decade, Cowboy Carter, framed