Many of the big-name collaborators he's worked with in recent years - including Beyoncé, Drake, and Kanye West - became superstars after a period of presenting themselves in a public way that established a clear persona fans could identify with. "In terms of people connecting with me, hopefully it comes across that way." It's an odd but revealing quote: Unlike many of his peers, the 28-year-old singer isn't busting his ass to meet hit-seeking listeners in the middle. Why it's great: "I just want to put the music out," the British songwriter Sampha told The Ringer in a profile tied to the release of his debut LP. 2 feel a little like watching a master architect build a pair of birdhouses, that's OK - it's a really perfect birdhouse. 1 and the slightly heavier From a Room: Vol. Stapleton resembles Tom Petty in his quiet, humble pursuit of greatness. Unlike last year's Sturgill Simpson record, which brilliantly toyed with the mischievous singer's reputation as a rule-breaker, this is an old-school affair with songs like "Second One to Know" and "Either Way" wowing you with their precision, emotional depth, and attention to detail. 2 - suggests the self-conscious humility of a craftsman determined to strip away any signs of showiness or displays of pomposity. Even the title of his follow-up - From A Room Vol. But don't hold that against the bearded Nashville singer-songwriter: He's just doing the work, man.
Why it's great: Chris Stapleton's previous album, 2015's Grammy-winning Traveler, was the rare country break-through that appealed to the genre's many skeptics. She's a detective investigating her own impulses. Bridgers is always searching, questioning, and untangling new threads of thought.
The plain-spoken poetry of dark, ruminative songs like "Funeral" or "Killer" are enlivened by a musical nimbleness throughout the record that encourages close-listening. Like Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek or John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, she pens lines packed with hyper-specific cultural references ("Singing 'Ace of Spades' when Lemmy died") and blunt emotional confessions ("Jesus Christ, I'm so blue all the time"). Phoebe Bridgers, a Los Angeles based 23-year-old with a gift for writing simultaneously wry and devastating lyrics, is crafty in a way that encourages contemplation.
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Why it's great: That title, a sly allusion to a line from the bowdlerized cable TV version of The Big Lebowski, should be a tip-off that this isn't your average folk-indebted indie rock record. Luke and the accompanying #FreeKesha campaign informs the lyrics on the record: "You brought the flames and you put me through hell," she sings on the lead single "Praying." But this Rainbow holds a range of colors. Some of the stylistic gambles don't pay off - the title track produced by Ben Folds is a treacly dud - but Kesha's risk-taking instincts and playful vocal performances help redeem the occasional creative missteps. The punk-ish rockabilly of a track like "Boogie Feet," one of two songs featuring the Eagles of Death Metal, is an inventive twist on her party animal persona, while country detours like "Hunt You Down" and "Old Flames (Can't Hold a Candle to You)," a duet with Dolly Parton, hit you in the gut. Luke” Gottwald, but the one-time "Tik Tok" singer has also developed as a songwriter in that time. The time between that album and this more subdued collection of songs was mostly spent in a prolonged legal battle with Kesha's producer - and alleged abuser - Lukasz “Dr. Why it's great: Rainbow arrives nearly five years after the release of 2012's Warrior, a dizzying glitter-bomb of a record.
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