With her tragic early death (though hardly surprising given Amy Winehouse's lifestyle) a truly unique voice of contemporary soul stopped singing on July 23, 2011. She has a voice that should never be overshadowed either by her chaotic life covering the pages of British tabloids, or by her struggles with alcohol and drugs, or even the hundreds of videos of failed concerts on YouTube... When the Winehouse phenomenon exploded with this second album, the sublime Back To Black being far superior to her first record Frank, soul music was going through a slump with hollow, syrupy R&B singers and sanitized productions flooding the scene. Few people tried to develop the path established by Aretha Franklin, Ann Peebles, Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Dinah Washington and Marlena Shaw. But then along came Amy Winehouse, with her incredible timbre, her genuine songs (which she wrote herself, unlike 90% of her peers), her vintage-tinged productions (which were never passé) and brass-filled instrumentation. To top it all off, even her image was distinctive: 50’s beehive, biker tattoos and a cheeky attitude. Back To Black topped the charts for months all over the world, and it's still a real masterpiece of soul music and R&B. When critical opinion meets popular opinion – something relatively rare that’s worth underlining - the enjoyment is only tenfold. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Few are the career artists who can create music over the long haul that continually sounds fresh and contemporary without seeming faddish or desperate. Across eight solo studio albums, Norah Jones has effortlessly embraced the here-and-now, followed her muse and allowed her assured sense of self to carry her forward without any embarrassing missteps. Jones wanted to explore darkness on 2020's Pick Me Off the Floor, her most recent studio album, so she flipped the switch. Two years later she swerved to record Playing Along, an oft-buoyant album of duets with artists including Mavis Staples, Valerie June and Jeff Tweedy. It succeeded on its own terms. For Visions, Jones wanted to write with a single collaborator, Leon Michels, to make a mid-tempo record with session players and solo artists who've recorded with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Brazilian Girls, Joni Mitchell and others. So she invited him into the studio, shut the door and made Visions.Billed by Jones' label as a more carefree, upbeat record, Visions sets a mood across twelve soulful, wood-paneled originals. Despite mentions of dance or dancing in a few songs, it's often bliss driven by solitude that's suggested. The happy-go-lucky "On My Way" floats across its measures, a joyful ode to moving forward not with a partner or lover, but alone, where the notion that "no one cares what you have to say" lives in the same space as "in the dark you can dance and sway." That many of the ideas for Visions, as Jones has said, "came in the middle of the night or in that moment right before sleep," it makes sense that she's focused on solitude, and that she's embracing it."Everyday we do God's little dance," she sings on "Staring at the Wall," an uptempo groover with a twangy, Sun Records-suggestive guitar line and a piano-propelled counter melody that, combined with sturdy snare-drum snaps, could power a Saturday night dance floor at a dive bar. "Running" gets energy from a piano melody, a reverbed drum pattern and a layered chorus of Jones' voice adding responses. "Swept Up in the Night" is a ballad of longing set after midnight. Lost in a dream, Jones can't shake her memories of a certain someone: "I find you a thousand times/ Underneath the stones in my mind." These are sturdy songs, the kind that not only linger in the psyche, but are so well crafted as to be indestructible. © Randall Roberts/Qobuz

In 2021, Bob Dylan was on the road for his Never-Ending Tour – his tours have been going by the same name since the late 80s. However, it ultimately came to an abrupt end due to a health crisis. Dylan started livestreaming the same year due to his inability to play in public, holding an intimate virtual concert filmed and broadcasted for just a few days. The performance is now known as the Shadow Kingdom, and is accessible to a large number of people despite remaining shrouded in mystery. Subtitled "The early songs of Bob Dylan", this album does not draw on the first albums of the indestructible folk-rock bard. Instead, he plays songs from the 70s and 80s. But the acoustic style, hovering between blues, folk and tipsy crooner songs, is from the time when Dylan made his debut.Mandolins, accordions, guitars, harmonicas, double bass, stories, and the exquisite voice that sings old songs that you can’t help but listen to and share. At 80 years of age, Dylan is completely at ease in this wooded and retro setting. The sound is acoustic, but there is still electricity in the air; the original rock'n'roll is never too far away. Recognisable anywhere, his instrument-like voice undulates around the melodies, before covering and transfroming them into pure dylanries, little pastoral epics. On Sierra's Theme, the unreleased instrumental that closes the album, we find ourselves humming like Dylan, almost as if we’d always known the song. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz

Herbie Hancock's debut as a leader, Takin' Off, revealed a composer and pianist able to balance sophistication and accessibility, somewhat in the vein of Blue Note's prototype hard bopper Horace Silver. Yet while Hancock could be just as funky and blues-rooted as Silver, their overall styles diverged in several ways: Hancock was lighter and more cerebral, a bit more adventurous in his harmonies, and more apt to break his solos out of a groove (instead of using them to create one). So even if, in retrospect, Takin' Off is among Hancock's most conventional albums, it shows a young stylist already strikingly mature for his age, and one who can interpret established forms with spirit and imagination. Case in point: the simple, catchy "Watermelon Man," which became a Hancock signature tune and a jazz standard in the wake of a hit cover by Latin jazz star Mongo Santamaria. Hancock's original version is classic Blue Note hard bop: spare, funky piano riffing and tight, focused solo statements. The other compositions are memorable and well-constructed too (if not quite hit material); all have their moments, but particular highlights include the ruminative ballad "Alone and I," the minor-key "The Maze" (which features a little bit of free improvisation in the rhythm section), and the bluesy "Empty Pockets." The backing group includes then up-and-coming trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Billy Higgins. All in all, Takin' Off is an exceptional first effort, laying the groundwork for Hancock to begin pushing the boundaries of hard bop on his next several records.© Steve Huey /TiVo

On his official debut effort, Jimin takes a wide step away from his usual role as the sensitive, angel-voiced member of BTS, delivering a surprisingly defiant and bold set of songs, Face. Ready to take his turn in the spotlight, he immediately unloads with "Face-off," lamenting, "Tonight I don't wanna be sober/Pour it up, it's all f*cking over," over a hypnotic loop that sounds like an artist descending into the depths of madness. On the escapist hedonism of "Like Crazy," a sensual opening dialogue gives way to shimmering synths that propel the track through a neon skyline. It's sexy, provocative, and a welcome change of pace. Later, on the raucous "Set Me Free Pt. 2," horns blare, beats pop, and Jimin shows off his rapping skills, shouting to the heavens about freedom and release. Balancing both his vulnerable and fiercely intense sides, he manages to reveal more of himself in 20 minutes than he has to date. Unlike the (mostly) expected solo directions of his BTS bandmates, Face is a revelation, setting aside the tender softness and purging his inner demons in thrilling fashion.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

A misconception has sometimes been associate with Norah Jones: that the Texan is little more than a pleasant light-jazz singer whose albums serve as harmless background music for high-brow and proper evening dinners. Though her writing, playing and eclectic collaborations, she has clearly proved that she is far more interesting than this cliché. And this 2020 offering is a new illustration of her complexity. As is often the case with Norah Jones, Pick Me Up Off the Floor is not quite jazz, not quite blues, not quite country, etc… Her genre-defying music works primarily to suit the song being played. Here we find what has been left behind after sessions with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Thomas Bartlett, Mavis Staples, Rodrigo Amarante and several others.But for all that the result is not simply a contrived mishmash of collaborations but a collection of songs that hold the same silky groove (present on six out of 11 tracks on the record in which Brian Blade’s drums work delicate miracles) and calm sound which increasingly suits the artist, somewhere between pure poetry and realism. “Every session I’ve done, there’ve been extra songs I didn’t release, and they’ve sort of been collecting for the last two years. I became really enamoured with them, having the rough mixes on my phone, listening while I walk the dog. The songs stayed stuck in my head and I realised that they had this surreal thread running through them. It feels like a fever dream taking place somewhere between God, the Devil, the heart, the Country, the planet, and me.” Rarely has Norah Jones sang with such strength, like on I’m Alive where she sings of women’s resilience, or on How I Weep in which she tackles love and exasperation with unequalled grace. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Jason Isbell released his first solo record not long after parting ways with the Drive-By Truckers and quickly settled into a groove with his band, the 400 Unit, releasing two well-received albums and winning Song of the Year at the 2012 Americana Music Awards for "Alabama Pines." But his fourth solo record, Southeastern—the first released under his own name—is even more stunning. Produced by Dave Cobb and released in the wake of Isbell getting sober, the landmark modern Americana album feels like a collection of short stories populated by vibrant, deeply human characters grappling with challenging life experiences. "Elephant" is a striking song about the complicated emotions that crop up with a friend dying from cancer; "Songs That She Sang In The Shower" features someone in a dark mental space haunted by the memory of an ex's presence; and "Yvette" is from the perspective of a teenage boy ready to protect a classmate from abuse. And the stark "Traveling Alone" on which Isbell's wife Amanda Shires contributes solemn fiddle and vocals, focuses on a narrator who's weary of his own behaviors (and past) and is looking for a fresh start.Isbell's strident guitars cut to the emotional quick throughout, whether hewing toward delicate folk-rock or his trademark Southern rock roar. However, he also cut many of his vocals in one take, which gives Southeastern a feeling of raw immediacy that's matched by Cobb's warm production. But in a nod to one of the album's thematic undercurrents—searching for connection and community wherever you can—Isbell surrounds himself with guest musicians. Will Johnson's vocals enrich the barnstorming "Super 8," while Kim Richey appears on two songs, including the waltzing folk number "Stockholm." Isbell's 400 Unit bandmates Chad Gamble and Derry deBorja add drums and keyboards (respectively). An expanded 2023 version of Southeastern contains demos and live tracks (and is also newly in hi-res), which amplifies the nuances of the songwriting. A decade-plus on, the album remains one of Isbell's finest—and most vulnerable—moments. © Annie Zaleski/Qobuz

If Dream of the Blue Turtles was an unabashedly pretentious affair, it looks positively lighthearted in comparison to Sting's sophomore effort, Nothing Like the Sun, one of the most doggedly serious pop albums ever recorded. This is an album where the only up-tempo track, the only trifle -- the cheerfully stiff white-funk "We'll Be Together" -- was added at the insistence of the label because they believed there wasn't a cut on the record that could be pulled as a single, one that would break down the doors to mainstream radio. And they were right, since everything else here is too measured, calm, and deliberately subtle to be immediate (including the intentional throwaway, "Rock Steady"). So, why is it a better album than its predecessor? Because Sting doesn't seem to be trying so hard. It flows naturally, largely because this isn't trying to explicitly be a jazz-rock record (thank the presence of a new rhythm section of Sting and drummer Manu Katche for that) and because the melodies are insinuating, slowly working their way into memory, while the entire record plays like a mood piece -- playing equally well as background music or as intensive, serious listening. Sting's words can still grate -- the stifling pompousness of "History Will Teach Us Nothing" the clearest example, yet calls of "Hey Mr. Pinochet" also strike an uneasy chord -- but his lyricism shines on "The Lazarus Heart," "Be Still My Beating Heart," "They Dance Alone," and "Fragile," a quartet of his very finest songs. If Nothing Like the Sun runs a little too long, with only his Gil Evans-assisted cover of "Little Wing" standing out in the final quarter, it still maintains its tone until the end and, since it's buoyed by those previously mentioned stunners, it's one of his better albums.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

In his 2016 autobiography Substance: Inside New Order, Peter Hook writes: “I’ve often said that the magic of New Order was all that push-and-pull between the rock and electronic sides of the music, the yin and yang of Barney [Sumner] and me.” Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order’s second studio album released in May 1983, confirms this comment and features an even more electronic sound. With its famous cover art that depicts a reworking by graphic designer Peter Saville of 19th century French painter Henri Fantin-Latour’s Un panier de roses (A basket of roses), the record alternates between innovative electro-pop (5-6-8) and synthetic cold wave (Your Silent Face), but also more classic post-punk (Age of Consent). What’s more, Sumner’s vocals are his own and the influence of Ian Curtis is a distant memory. With Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order fused the influences of Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder to give birth to their own unstoppable compositions, cornerstones for the British electronic pop of that era. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, is back with his anticipated fourth album After Hours, an intoxicating R&B record that feels like a natural progression from its predecessors. After 2016’s Starboy and the EP My Dear Melancholy 2 years later, the chart-topping singer made his acting debut in the Netflix thriller Uncut Gems alongside Adam Sandler. This may have been behind the inspiration for this new character the singer portrays with a broken nose, leather gloves and deep red tux in the album cover and the music video for lead single Blinding Lights, reminiscent of A-Ha’s Take On Me, the new wave from the 1980s and its synthwave revival. “I don’t like to leave my house too much. It’s a gift and a curse but it helps me give undivided attention to my work… It distracts from the loneliness, I guess”, confesses the Canadian. Unlike Starboy, there are no features on this album, The Weeknd choosing instead to invite a range of top tier producers to refine the music: Metro Boomin on the epilogue Until I Bleed Out, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker on Repeat After Me (Interlude), the loyal Illangelo, vaporwave pioneer Oneohtrix Point Never for Scared to Live and even hitmaker Max Martin (Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Britney Spears) for the pop-sounding Save Your Tears, resulting in 14 tracks that blend soul, R&B and new wave nuances. ©️ Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

Both artistically and commercially, Boz Scaggs had his greatest success with Silk Degrees. The laid-back singer hit the R&B charts in a big way with the addictive, sly "Lowdown" (which has been sampled by more than a few rappers and remains a favorite among baby-boomer soul fans) and expressed his love of smooth soul music almost as well on the appealing "What Can I Say." But Scaggs was essentially a pop/rocker, and in that area he has a considerable amount of fun on "Lido Shuffle" (another major hit single), "What Do You Want the Girl to Do," and "Jump Street." Meanwhile, "We're All Alone" and "Harbor Lights" became staples on adult contemporary radio. Though not remarkable, the ballads have more heart than most of the bland material dominating that format.© Alex Henderson /TiVo

Signed to a major label at an early age, she was groomed in the darkness of studios, the label knowing the potential they had in their singer/songwriter. She wrote on her own, then she was paired with a sympathetic producer/songwriter, live performances taking a back seat to woodshedding. If this story in the early years of the 2010s brings to mind Lana Del Rey, it's no coincidence that it also applies to New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde, whose 2013 debut, Pure Heroine, contains all of the stylized goth foreboding of LDR's Born to Die and almost none of the louche, languid glamour. This is not a small thing. Lana Del Rey is a self-created starlet willing herself into stardom but Lorde fancies herself a poet, churning away at the darker recesses of her soul. Some of this may be due to age. Lorde, as any pre-release review or portrait helpfully illustrated, was only 16 when she wrote and recorded Pure Heroine with producer Joel Little, and an adolescent aggrievance and angst certainly underpin the songs here. Lorde favors a tragic romanticism, an all-or-nothing melodrama that Little accentuates with his alternately moody and insistent productions. Where Lana Del Rey favors a studiously detached irony, Lorde pours it all out which, in itself, may be an act: her bedsit poetry is superficially more authentic but the music is certainly more pop, both in its construction -- there are big hooks in the choruses and verses -- and in the production, which accentuates a sad shimmer where everything is beautiful and broken. There is a topical appeal here, particularly because Lorde and Little do spend so much time on the surface, turning it into something seductive, but it is no more real than the studied detachment of Lana Del Rey, who Lorde so strongly (and intentionally) resembles. Born to Die is meant to be appreciated as slippery, elusive pop; Pure Heroine seems to hint at the truth...but the truth is, Lorde is a pop invention as much as LDR and is not nearly as honest about her intentions.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Stevie Ray Vaughan had always been a phenomenal guitarist, but prior to In Step, his songwriting was hit or miss. Even when he wrote a classic modern blues song, it was firmly within the genre's conventions; only on Soul to Soul's exquisite soul-blues "Life Without You" did he attempt to stretch the boundaries of the form. As it turns out, that was the keynote for In Step, an album where Vaughan found his own songwriting voice, blending blues, soul, and rock in unique ways, and writing with startling emotional honesty. Yes, there are a few covers, all well chosen, but the heart of the album rests in the songs he co-wrote with Doyle Bramhall, the man who penned the Soul to Soul highlight "Change It." Bramhall proved to be an ideal collaborator for Vaughan; tunes like the terse "Tightrope" and the dense "Wall of Denial" feel so intensely personal, it's hard to believe that they weren't the product of just one man. Yet the lighter numbers -- the dynamite boogie "The House Is Rockin'" and the breakneck blues of "Scratch-n-Sniff" -- are just as effective as songs. Of course, he didn't need words to make effective music: "Travis Walk" is a blistering instrumental, complete with intricate fingerpicking reminiscent of the great country guitarist Merle Travis, while the shimmering "Riviera Paradise" is every bit as lyrical and lovely as his previous charmer, "Lenny." The magnificent thing about In Step is how it's fully realized, presenting every facet of Vaughan's musical personality, yet it still soars with a sense of discovery. It's a bittersweet triumph, given Vaughan's tragic death a little over a year after its release, yet it's a triumph all the same.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

A duets collection of folk song covers could be pure novelty, but Rufus Wainwright infuses this recording with so much thought and care, it feels essential. Wainwright's song choices aren't precious. There are plenty of traditionals, including a jazzy version of the bluegrass standard "Cotton Eyed Joe" that finds him melting like butter next to Chaka Khan's heat. And Brandi Carlile brings incredible earthiness to the high harmonies of "Down in the Willow Garden," a gruesome Appalachian murder ballad ("I drew a saber through her/ It was an awful sight/ I threw her in the river/ Then ran off in fright") previously recorded by Flatt & Scruggs (as "Rose Connelly") and the Everly Brothers. But there's also a delightful take on "Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)," with Wainwright assembling his own version of the Mamas & the Papas—himself, Susanna Hoffs, Sheryl Crow, and Chris Stills (son of Stephen)—that captures all the charm and chamber-pop melancholy of the original (while making it clear that Hoffs and Crow should do more together). Stills and Andrew Bird contribute rich harmonies, as well as weepy violin from Bird, for Neil Young's "Harvest." Van Dyke Parks guests on accordion and spritely piano for his own "Black Gold," with Wainwright playfully leaping from note to note. And Wainwright even stages a theatrical reimagining of his own "Going to a Town." First released in 2007, the song is about giving up on the political division of America—written when gay marriage was being debated—and decamping to Berlin; it feels painfully relevant all over again in 2023, especially with trans artist Anohni silkily shadowing Wainwright. A warm and earthy John Legend joins in for a feather-light version of Peggy Seeger's "Heading for Home," while David Byrne shows up for Moondog's "High on a Rocky Ledge"; his and Wainwright's eccentricities are so different and yet so complementary. Make no mistake, Wainwright is the star of the show here, and does not shy away from the spotlight, with his inimitable vocal tone warming up each and every track. He even takes a couple of solo turns, including a cover of "Shenandoah," velvety with bell-piano, that showcase his remarkable ability to meld with the music: effortlessly alternating restraint, sustain, and full-throated power. And yes, he brings in his talented family, teaming with siblings Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche on a chilling version of the traditional lullaby "Hush Little Baby";  on "Wild Mountain Thyme" they’re joined by their aunt Anna McGarrigle and her daughter Lily Lanken, as well as Chaim Tannenbaum, a longtime musical collaborator of both of Wainwright's parents, Loudon Wainwright III and the late Kate McGarrigle. The harmonies are at once celestial, yet so human—vibrantly alive and warm with flesh and spirit. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

With Wallflower, Diana Krall has made a journey to the wellspring of pop. For this album, coming out on Verve, the Canadian singer and pianist revisits tracks that were made famous by The Mamas & The Papas, Elton John, the Eagles, the Carpenters, Gilbert O’Sullivan, 10CC, Randy Newman, Crowded House, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Diana Krall lends this collection charm, class and refinement which are all her own… © CM/Qobuz