The Handsome Family returns with a concept album about wildlife, with an emphasis on nature’s capacity for destruction. Animals may burrow in and out of each of these songs, but they’re merely helping humanity forge a pathway to madness.

Stream Wilderness now.

On The Lighthouse, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins engineer an overstuffed, idea-packed collision of funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz, psychedelic space-rock, spoken-word poetry, protest music and more. Along the way, they examine innumerable intersections of love, politics, spirituality, healthy living, parenthood and world citizenship.

Stream The Lighthouse now.

The American Primitive-style guitarist Glenn Jones wrote My Garden State while caring for his mother in New Jersey. A bittersweet record, it reminds us that our roots are stronger than we remember.

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Often amorphous and mostly instrumental, Matthew Cooper’s songs suggest a sea of emotions: joy, sorrow, fear, love, awe. Eluvium’s Nightmare Ending is a double album of hymns celebrating the majesty and wonder of life.

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All at once, Hanging Gardens feels vibrant and vintage, unmistakably young and inexplicably nostalgic. Classixx’s Michael David and Tyler Blake may be known as DJs, but they’re pop stars at heart, with melody reigning over rhythm and simple chord progressions carrying the day.

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The soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s film transplants Jazz Age sensibilities to the hip-hop era, featuring a wide range of artists like Jay-Z (and his brand new track, “100$ Bill”), Beyoncé, The Bryan Ferry Orchestra, Jack White and more.

Stream the Great Gatsby soundtrack now.

On Mikal Cronin’s second album, the perfectionist and multi-instrumentalist applies a beachy sparkle to 37 minutes of fresh, fun rock ‘n’ roll. The result feels like the work of a young artist who’s both newly grown-up and still growing.

Stream MCII now.

Playful, soft, sunnily melancholy and springlike, Zooey Deschanel’s songs with M. Ward once again subsist on the strength of their own agreeability. Timelessness has long been key to She & Him’s charm, and indeed, Volume 3 seems to be floating through AM speakers at all times.

Stream Volume 3 now.

On an album of impeccably chosen covers, the Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines shows how her fearlessness blends with compassion and stunning vocal chops. This is singing as a way of uncovering the truth, as difficult as it might be to bear.

Stream Mother now.

The saxophonist Colin Stetson infuses his solo records with an unsettling rumble, while still making room for alternately grandiose and guttural moments that awe and unnerve. His new album features vocal contributions from Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.

Stream New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light now.