Will Hermes
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Producer and singer-songwriter Abel Tesfaye became an Internet phenomenon in 2010, when he began self-releasing free mixtapes of woozy, haunted R&B songs. His proper major-label debut, Kiss Land, marks his official step into the limelight.
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With tracks like "Southern Comfort Zone" and "Accidental Racist," the superstar's new album performs a balancing act of cultural examinations. But there are still enough twangy guitar solos and all-purpose love songs to engage country-music tradition.
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On her major-label debut, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter explores themes steeped in tradition, yet views them through the lens of youth culture.
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Four of the Brazilian singer-songwriter's classic records are being re-released this week. Critic Will Hermes says that, while the music is steeped in a political climate of the past, they still resonate with the present.
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The latest album by Berlin-based electronic artist Pantha du Prince is a collaboration built around a decidedly nondigital device: a series of large church bells.
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The British group's moody debut carried the ring of 1980s post-punk. The grooves are magnified on its second album, and plenty of moments feel like straight-up club music.
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Chan Marshall's songs have traditionally been sad and sparse, pecked out on piano or guitar. Sun, her first collection of new songs since 2006, takes a different approach.
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Critic Will Hermes says the singer's new record is an instant classic that sounds fresh even as it mines the golden era of Jamaican R&B.
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The duo, which sounds like Tom Petty after some Red Bull-and-vodkas, hones the scream to an art.
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Helm played superpowered, shifting backbeats, helped Bob Dylan go electric and sang some of The Band's biggest hits, including "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek." He was 71 years old.