Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards. Automatic for the People captures the group at a crossroads, as they moved from cult heroes to elder statesmen, and the album is a graceful transition into their new status. It is a reflective album, with frank discussions on mortality, but it is not a despairing record -- "Nightswimming," "Everybody Hurts," and "Sweetness Follows" have a comforting melancholy, while "Find the River" provides a positive sense of closure. R.E.M. have never been as emotionally direct as they are on Automatic for the People, nor have they ever created music quite as rich and timeless, and while the record is not an easy listen, it is the most rewarding record in their oeuvre.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

There’s a ‘before and after’ Out Of Time in the life of R.E.M. This ‘before’ for Michael Stipe’s band is mainly found on university campuses where the group gained a cult following in the ‘80s… How then did R.E.M. manage to sell 12 million copies of Out Of Time to the world? The answer is that this record was both sublime and austere. An uncompromising album, like the chamber rock such as Nirvana and the Pixies that you’d blast out without caring about pissing off the neighbours in that year of 1992… Always virtuosic, Peter Buck goes from the mandolin to the acoustic guitar with great ease, John Paul Johns from Led Zeppelin sublimely arranges refined chords and Michael Stipe shines with his melancholic and tortured prose with the candor of a man with self-assured belief. Cinemascope ballads prevail, peaking with Everybody Hurts. It must be said, Automatic For The People is not the most easy-flowing album by R.E.M. but it is one of the most beautiful. Released in 2017, this 25th anniversary edition also offers, alongside the remastered album, a live recording from the 40 Watt Club in Athens on the 19th November 1992 with some cover versions like Funtime by Iggy Pop and Love Is All Around by The Troggs. © MD/Qobuz

4 stars out of 5 -- "While nominally jazz, the whole is on a line between a beats-free Portishead and a subtle union of the voices of June Christy and Mahalia Jackson."© TiVo

The mostly soothing, slightly baleful, ultimately seductive No Deal, the self-produced second album from songwriter, vocalist, and flutist Melanie De Biasio, reached number five on the Ultratop album chart in the artist's native Belgium and gradually charmed DJs and publications in other territories. Released weeks after she performed at BBC DJ Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards ceremony and collected a trophy at the European Border Breakers Awards, this is a rare remix album that can be enjoyed from beginning to end, as an alternative version rather than as a clashing assortment of remixes. Arranged by Peterson, who called upon some of his favorite contemporary musicians and producers, No Deal Remixed presents all of the album's songs in new form, identically sequenced, though Cinematic Orchestra's weighty version of "I'm Gonna Leave You" -- different from Clap! Clap!'s lighter, busier work earlier in the program -- functions like a bonus track. Peterson and Simbad's fusion of "With Love" and "Sweet Darling Pain" is central, the most dramatic and radical rework. Its tremulous juke patterns gradually intensify and fill the original's space and pensiveness with nervous anxiety. Another striking remix comes from Eels (Mark Oliver Everett), who possibly took the first line of "I Feel You" -- "I feel you/A deep echo in me" -- as something of a cue. He makes the album opener sound decades old. Through its squally strings, one can envision a rapid playback of scenes from a past romance. Japanese Blue Note act Hex's stuttering/driving revamp of "The Flow" places greater emphasis on De Biasio's flute, while Seven Davis Jr.'s contribution with "No Deal" is a lean house track that treats her voice like a sample source. © Andy Kellman /TiVo

Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards. Automatic for the People captures the group at a crossroads, as they moved from cult heroes to elder statesmen, and the album is a graceful transition into their new status. It is a reflective album, with frank discussions on mortality, but it is not a despairing record -- "Nightswimming," "Everybody Hurts," and "Sweetness Follows" have a comforting melancholy, while "Find the River" provides a positive sense of closure. R.E.M. have never been as emotionally direct as they are on Automatic for the People, nor have they ever created music quite as rich and timeless, and while the record is not an easy listen, it is the most rewarding record in their oeuvre.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

While occasionally tense and suspenseful, the primarily playful soundtrack to Disney-Pixar's Turning Red consists of Ludwig Göransson's alternately elevator-jazzy and orchestral score alongside three original songs (and various reprises) written by the sibling powerhouse duo of Billie Eilish and FINNEAS. A coming-of-age story about a Chinese-Canadian girl, Meilin, who inherits a problematic supernatural ability triggered by strong emotions, it's set in Toronto in 2002. Majorly factoring into the plot is a concert by fictional teen boy band 4*TOWN, the recipient of the songs -- "Nobody Like U," "True Love," and "U Know What's Up" -- which find the voice lineup of FINNEAS, Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villanueva delivering melodic earworms in tandem with corny gems like "Had friends and I've had buddies, it's true/But they don't turn my tummy the way you do." Bolstered by the popularity of these throwback pop tunes, the Turning Red soundtrack landed on the Billboard 200.© Marcy Donelson /TiVo

When Life Beyond L.A. became their biggest hit to date on the strength of smooth AOR like "How Much I Feel," Ambrosia decided to continue in this direction on One Eighty. It became their most successful album but lacks the ambition or inspiration that infused their first two albums. The prog rock style that characterized the group's early work is almost completely gone: The only real progressive cut is "Kamikaze," which attempts to create a stylized blend of prog rock and traditional Japanese music but comes off as stilted and awkward. The rest of the album's songs are either pop/rock tunes or ballads. Rockers like "Ready" go for an ambitious blend of radio-friendly rock and new wave elements, but sound too forced to be convincing. The ballads are the album's redeeming feature. They are all lovingly crafted and boast strong, often complex melodies that keep them from getting too sappy or sentimental: "You're the Only Woman" is a keyboard-rich song that highlights Christopher North's soulful Hammond organ playing, and "Livin' on My Own" layers harmonies reminiscent of the Doobie Brothers over a jazzy tune driven by an intricate bassline. The album's finale, "Biggest Part of Me," is the best of these ballads. It combines rich Beach Boys-styled harmonies with a heartfelt lyric to create a rich slice of blue-eyed soul that gave the group a number two hit single. These classy ballads make One Eighty worth a listen for devoted Ambrosia fans, but the casual listener might want to seek these songs out on the group's Anthology album.© Donald A. Guarisco /TiVo

In 1972 Van Zandt cut two perfect albums, one of them being High, Low and In Between. Tomato Records' owner Kevin Eggers, who was responsible for many of Van Zandt's best records, produced this album with minimal backing that keeps the spotlight on Van Zandt's vocals and his songwriting. The record includes "To Live Is to Fly," the song Van Zandt considered his best, "No Deal," an absurd hard luck blues, a couple of gospel songs, "Mr. Gold and Mr. Mud," one of his most baffling poetic tunes, and the title track, an aching tale of heartache and confusion. The spare arrangements are as much folk as country, the two genres Van Zandt was most comfortable with. "Two Hands," a rollicking spiritual with bright female backing vocals and tinkling gospel piano opens things up. It's the most straightforward gospel tune Van Zandt ever wrote, full of exuberant joy. "You Are Not Needed Now" radically changes the pace, with its bleak, hopeless message accented by weeping pedal steel and Van Zandt's plaintive vocal. The title track is another forlorn ballad, cut with standup bass and piano providing a sorrowful counterpoint to a vocal that details lost connections, hard work and alienation. It's almost a prayer for salvation, although the lyrics don't shy away from the difficulties of finding comfort in a cold world. "To Live Is to Fly" is another Van Zandt classic, full of the ambivalence that makes his love songs so affecting. Piano and standup bass give the song a gospel feel, while the lyrics address the fleeting nature of love and the loneliness of life on the road. There are two talking blues on the album, "No Deal," which is full of absurd scenarios and Van Zandt's fatalistic humor, and "Mr. Gold and Mr. Mud" a surrealistic tale of a card game between two gamblers with nothing to lose or win, using the language of gambling and poker to describe the struggles of life. Van Zandt crams an amazing amount of brilliant imagery into the songs brief two-minute duration, a performance that's both impressive and impenetrable. "Highway Kind" is a minor-key blues, a brief aching tune in which Van Zandt addresses the perfect lover he's never met while taking full responsibility for his failings and foibles. He sounds so isolated and disconnected from the world that it's hard to listen to. "When He Offers His Hand" is a simple song of faith, without Van Zandt's usual ambivalence or humor, while "Blue Ridge Mountains" is a rewrite of a traditional bluegrass tune that balances spirituality and carnality into its bubbly arrangement. Musically low key, but emotionally potent, High, Low and In Between shows Van Zandt digging deep into his troubled psyche and turning his heartache into soul-stirring art.© j. poet /TiVo

With her second album, UK dance-pop star Mabel should be poised to break big in the US, 33 years after her mom Neneh Cherry did with her excellent album Raw Like Sushi. Mabel's on the same wavelength as hitmakers Dua Lipa and Doja Cat, who gets a shout-out on "Let Them Know," a pulsing "Vogue"-style house groove about getting ready for the party. "Nails shining like Christmas/ Heels on six inches/ Waist cinched, Mugler fit," Mabel sings, celebrating a culture that's all about beauty, feeling good and liberation. She has said she watched Paris Is Burning and Pose for songwriting inspiration, and while there are retro touches all over the place—especially on songs like the exuberant "Animal," with its disco shimmer, kitty-cat purr and '70s-style strings—About Last Night… feels completely right-now.  It's a trip around the globe, too, as "Shy" borrows from Bollywood and Hindi-dance glam, and "LOL" applies its infectious chorus ("LOLOL, LOL") to beats that nod at both island and second-line drums. "Crying On The Dance Floor'' shows off Italo disco flourishes, including vocoder and some maddeningly chimey sound that will make you think a phone is ringing nearby. The glossy and light as a soap bubble "I Love Your Girl'' starts out like a dance-pop version of Little Big Town's "Girl Crush"—spying on a guy and getting jealous over seeing him with another girl—but takes it to a new place by realizing maybe the other woman is the real prize. "I keep on watching you kiss her/ Thought it was you I was missing/ But now I realize/ I think I love your girl." "Overthinking'' mashes up '80s Euro synth-pop with emo verses from 24kGoldn.  "I Wish"—a track by DJ Joel Corry featuring Mabel—is a party builder, all whistles and high-energy house beats and an unshakable melody. "Good Luck" is Daft Punk-catchy and shows off Mabel's impressive range, diving low and flitting high like a real house diva, as she belts out the song's empowering "you can do better than that guy" theme. The title is sure to be yelled along to at a dance floor near you soon, while "Let Love Go"—big disco vibes with suave verses by Lil Tecca—is a ready-to-go summer jam made for booming out of a car window. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards. Automatic for the People captures the group at a crossroads, as they moved from cult heroes to elder statesmen, and the album is a graceful transition into their new status. It is a reflective album, with frank discussions on mortality, but it is not a despairing record -- "Nightswimming," "Everybody Hurts," and "Sweetness Follows" have a comforting melancholy, while "Find the River" provides a positive sense of closure. R.E.M. have never been as emotionally direct as they are on Automatic for the People, nor have they ever created music quite as rich and timeless, and while the record is not an easy listen, it is the most rewarding record in their oeuvre.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

A new hitmaker on the British music scene, Mura Masa has certainly proven his capacity to have his finger on the pulse of what’s in style in recent years. His 2017 eponymous album was filled with top-tier collaborations, such as Charli XCX, Christine And The Queens, Damon Albarn, Jamie Lidell and A$AP Rocky (on the hit Love$ick). Capable of going from dark hip-hop beats with Jay Prince to futuristic R&B (à la Kaytranada) featuring Nao, the Guernsey native recentred himself on this third LP, with a less prestigious lineup but a better rounded and successful concept. Mura Masa, real name Alex Crossan, stated that the album “wasn't so much centred around a musical idea or a sonic idea. It was more centred around the theme of exploring the memories that make up our childhood, and why we depend on them. I picked the features according to that.” The tone is still somewhat electric folk/rock, with the guitar in pole position: acoustic in some intimate confessional moments, like Today with Tirzah, or electric when invoking images of a group of young lads, like on the catchy No Hope Generation, a rock beat which is ‘junglified’ by the end. Youngsters will surely be attracted to the electro-pop hymn and single I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again featuring lo-fi pop singer Clairo (the artist behind Internet hit Pretty Girl), but the best track on the album is Deal Wiv It, a piece of pure Britannia which reminds you of The Streets, featuring the new British rap star slowthai, who unapologetically and deliciously bellows over the crazy guitars. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz