Alison Sudol lets her hair down for Bomb in a Birdcage, the singer-songwriter’s rock-infused piano pop follow-up to A Fine Frenzy's acclaimed first album.

The Dodos get a dose of electro, but don’t lose their folky intensity, in Time to Die.

Brassy, tacky, flashy, and sassy, Dolly Parton is so notorious for her eye-popping assets, acting career, and amusement-park entrepreneurship that we sometimes forget the reason she’s a star in the first place: her voice—a clear and shining instrument that can bring you to tears or drag you out of a funk with just a few bars.

Langhorne Slim’s Be Set Free is raw, genuine, and speckled with kick-up-yer-boots, honky-tonk flair.

On her latest, Magic Neighbor, Lisa Germano evokes her early-’90s recordings On the Way Down from the Moon Palace and Happiness.