1) The music of Charley Crockett / The Texan has two albums out (so far) this year, his eighth and ninth of the decade (so far). That prolific output means some misses among the hits—but oh, the hits. When Crockett is on, his retro-meets-right now country sound is sweeping, beautiful and personal. There’s always gold to be mined here.
2) No Joy, “Bugland” / Jasamine White-Gluz and Co. offer up a glitchy, twitchy pop masterpiece that will unsettle you and set your feet on the dancefloor.
3) Adrian Quesada, “Boleros Psicodélicos II” / The supremely gifted Quesada’s fingerprints are on a number of projects, most notably Black Pumas and his film and TV scores. But this is my favorite Quesada mode: mingling psychedelic rock with traditional and modern Mexican sounds to irresistible effect.
4) Hembree, “Dive Bar Funeral” / All these L.A.-by-way-of-KC fellows do is churn out vivid pop experiences, as they do on their excellent new EP that’s all killer, no filler.
5) Jana Prikryl, “Midwood” / The poems in this 2022 collection often begin like flights of fancy or streams of consciousness before turning evocative, elemental phrases that land with emotional gravity.