Never before has Beyoncé made her fans wait so long between solo albums. Of course, these past six and a half years haven’t been easy for the singer—far from it. However, such levels of anticipation inevitably lead to impatience. After unveiling the house-pop influenced single Break My Soul, which definitely came as a surprise, you’d be forgiven for expecting her new album to be something more along the lines of Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind released a month prior, but it’s nothing of the sort. Renaissance has electronic rhythms at its core, but it’s extremely wide-ranging. Beyoncé flirts with disco-funk on Cuff It, summons huge choirs fit for a queen on Cozy, and includes a new ode to feminist empowerment with Church Girl (which gives an insight into her soul and gospel influences). Perhaps the best musical synthesis on the album is found in the track Virgo’s Groove, reviving the Latin sounds that feature on Move and Heated. With Renaissance, Beyoncé has really upped her pace, creating a highspeed musical freeway that’ll take you to a lot of different places. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz

His third album is entitled Kiwanuka… does that mean that Michael Kiwanuka has finally come to peace with himself? Since starting out in 2012, the Londoner has not stopped questioning his place in the arts, his relationship to his musical influences, his own identity and his role in a society still plagued by racism… Following the release of his brilliant debut album Home Again, Kiwanuka was inaugurated as the next big thing for contemporary soul. His thought-provoking soul was blended with Terry Callier-style folk and scents of the seventies. Some even compared him to Bill Withers, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye! On his second album, Love & Hate, released in 2016, the songwriter explored his rock side without forgetting his gospel and soul roots, and was joined by Danger Mouse in the production studio.Kiwanuka walks in the footsteps of the artist’s previous records: the lyrics are still politically engaged and the instrumentals just as rich, though he seems more relaxed on this album. Danger Mouse is once again behind the production console, this time adding a new dimension and strength to the sound: we find cinematic soul, larger-than-life gospel, funky wah-wah guitars, sensual strings, big bass, long instrumentals… we could go on! It’s all there right from the opening track You Ain’t The Problem, a real masterpiece of soul. Michael Kiwanuka has never tried to hide his love for Marvin Gaye and What’s Going On (his favourite album of all time) and Trouble Man often come to mind, even if the two men’s voices are fundamentally different. This third work from the 32-year-old Brit reveals an unprecedented density. And each time you listen you notice something new, be it a subtle arrangement, a thoughtful lyric or a thinly disguised instrument. A magnificent album. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

On her stellar sophomore set, Diamonds & Dancefloors, American pop hitmaker Ava Max bests her 2020 breakthrough debut with precision focus and a bounty of catchy hooks. Yet another instance where every track could be a lead single, the album is indebted to '80s synth-based dance-pop ("Million Dollar Baby," "Weapons") and early-'90s house anthems ("Ghost," "Diamonds & Dancefloors"), extending her pedigree as the next logical progression after forebears like Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa. With executive producer Cirkut back in tow, Diamonds & Dancefloors seamlessly evolves the playful pop heard on Heaven & Hell and hones the attack with an icy determination born from recent breakups. Hardened by heartbreak, Max takes her pain to the dancefloor, drying her tears through the power of pop. The energy never relents -- the skittering two-step of the Omar Fedi-assisted "In the Dark" is the closest thing to a "break" -- and it's pure, irresistible thrills from start to finish, buoyed by the power of Max's vocal range and passionate delivery. Beyond the official singles, other highlights include the dark synth creep of "Sleepwalker"; the disco-kissed earworm "Turn Off the Lights"; the electronic dance bliss of "Get Outta My Heart" (which samples Bernard Herrmann's Twisted Nerve score); and the pulsing neon-electro "Last Night on Earth." Deftly executed and ideal for repeat listens, Diamonds & Dancefloors makes it two-for-two for Max's catalog, delivering on the promise of her debut and pushing her even further toward the top of the early-2020s pop pantheon.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

"[T]he prog metal band refines their interplay and finds a sweet spot between technical precision and human flourish."© TiVo

The very title of Bloodline Maintenance underscores Ben Harper's mission on his 2022 album: he's focusing on how trauma and tradition are passed down from one generation to the next. Certainly, these ideas are inspired by the general turbulence of the 2020s, an era where there's been an attempt at reckoning with the effects of systemic racism, but Harper's personal framing is due to the 2021 passing of Juan Nelson, his longtime friend and bandmate. In the aftermath of Nelson's death, Harper composed the bulk of Bloodline Maintenance on bass, which may be the reason why the record has an inherent deep funkiness: much of it slides and grooves, even when it's drifting into provocative territory. Harper does dress Bloodline Maintenance with meditative grace notes -- the eerie shimmer of "Below Sea Level" functions as a slightly deceptive keynote -- but most of the record finds social commentary and soul intertwining in a smooth, vibrant fashion reminiscent of the prime Curtis Mayfield albums of the 1970s. That's not to say that Harper is stirring up old ghosts or is bound by the confines of retro-revivalism. The soul at the heart of Bloodline Maintenance functions as the music that bonds generations, allowing the singer/songwriter to delve into blues, doo wop, and hip-hop, all in a manner that feels heartfelt, not flashy. The result is one of Harper's richer records: it's impossible to separate the music from the message, which makes it all the more resonant. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

It takes a certain hubris to release a double record for your second album, even if five of your first six singles were chart-toppers. Introducing Morgan Wallen's Dangerous. Outside of country radio, the singer's best known for what many saw as foolishness: His Saturday Night Live debut opportunity was pulled after he was seen on TikTok breaking the show's quarantine rules by partying. Wallen's aware of how he's perceived. "It's funny how some strangers like to size me up...this accent makes me dumb," he sings on "More Surprised Than Me." But he's sure smart enough to work with some of the best songwriters in Nashville right now: Thomas Rhett and his dad, the legendary Rhett Akins, on the full-bodied "Your Bartender"; Hillary Lindsey on the twanged-out swinger "Need a Boat"; and Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally on the fantastic "7 Summers." He also has the good taste to cover Jason Isbell (the dark ballad "Cover Me Up") and Eric Church (the previously unreleased "Quittin' Time"), and duet with Chris Stapleton on my-baby-left-me Southern rocker "Only Thing That's Gone." Even when his songs remind you of someone else—"Blame It On Me" has an Old Dominion jauntiness; Florida Georgia Line should be jealous of "Somethin' Country"—Wallen's scratchy, true-blue redneck (a pejorative he wholeheartedly embraces) voice is uniquely appealing. At just 27, he has carved out a fully-formed identity. He's a party dude, but not a bro; he's retro (complete with Billy Ray Cyrus mullet) but it's more celebration than TikTok irony. If you go by his lyrics, he has an aw-shucks humility; adores the ladies even though they always break his heart; and god, does he love his hometown. The terrific "More Than My Hometown" puts it best: Girl, he can't love you more than his hometown. Wallen comes from Sneedville, a dot-on-the-map of East Tennessee that's viewed as a backwoods cowtown by its bigger-city neighbors. He wears that as a point of pride, and paints the region as the most beautiful place on Earth. "Blue like an East Tennessee June sky," he croons on the canyon-country track "Neon Eyes." It works, in that it feels authentic and heartfelt. He also has a phrasing emphasis that, subject matter aside, is clever on lines like "Think about them tan lines/ And I'm thinking damn I'd/ love to drown in heartbreakin' blue eyes" from the Tim McGraw-ish "Somebody's Problem" and "Buddy tell me I'm a liar/ Still circle up big trucks around a fire/ Still kickin' up some dust behind the tires" on "Still Goin' Down." Elsewhere, "Dangerous," "Beer Don't," "Country A$$ Shit" and "Whatcha Think of Country Now" are Friday night fun. "Sand in My Boots," "Whiskey'd My Way" and "Heartless" (a Diplo collab) are Sunday morning commiserations. Did Dangerous need to be a double album? Probably not. But Wallen backs up his hubris with charm, talent and moments of sheer joy. He's the fuck-up you can't help but root for. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Note : The last track "Un Día (One Day)" is not available in 24-bit, you should download the album through your Qobuz application for PC / Mac.

Twangier than most Americana, and at once more traditional and cooler than most contemporary country records, the first album from Plains—Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and Texas singer-songwriter Jess Williamson—is what would've been called "alt country" 25 years ago, before that catch-all fell out of style. It immediately feels as comfortable as a perfectly worn-in old denim jacket. There are shades of both artists' solo work, for sure: Opener "Summer Sun" is as breezy and welcoming as Waxahatchee's excellent "Can't Do Much," with the added bonus of Williamson (not to mention evocative scene-setting: "When the summer sun melts candles/ I dig out the wick"). The two reference a slew of great duos, including Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham—both in vocal harmony and guitar—on the groovy break-up song "Problem With It": "If it's all you got, yeah/ It's all you gave/ I got a problem with it/ If you can't do better than that, babe/ I got a problem with it," they sing, even the lyrics befitting Fleetwood Mac. Crystal-clear "No Record of Wrongs" recalls the unjustly overlooked Belle Brigade (who themselves often sounded like a Buckingham-Christine McVie tribute band), while "Hurricane" echoes The Wreckers, with Williamson and Crutchfield sounding charmed on lines like "I come in like a cannonball/ I've been that way my whole life/ Sweet as honeysuckle/ When you want a pocket knife." "Bellafatima," with its romantic border-country swoon, is something like Freakwater polished to a high-brass sheen. Expanding the ranks, drawling and warm-hearted "Line of Sight" brings to mind The Chicks. Ballad "Easy" offers a balm of pragmatic, chin-up reassurance: "You're not going to believe it/ When you shake off/ What's weighing down heavily/ But it's not going to be easy." And memorable "Abilene," which exudes a cool, The Band-style of country, probes the new American dream of escaping to an easier town and way of life—and trying to put the ache of breakup and "What if?" behind you when it doesn't work out. "Young lovers like to dream/ We'll settle down and make a good team/ The Main Street was cute and the rents there were cheap/ But I was too much for you and your Abilene," Williamson leads. Classify it as you will, but I Walked With You A Ways is the kind of country record that country music needs more of. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

During the six years that separate Carolyn's Boy from its predecessor When Was the Last Time, Darius Rucker reunited with his old mates in Hootie & the Blowfish, a decision that seemed to have absolutely no effect on the form or content of this 2023 album. Rucker picks up precisely where he left off with When Was the Last Time, never acknowledging COVID-era turmoil or any musical trend: he's simply resumed making resolutely relaxed music. "Beers and Sunshine," a number one Billboard Country Airplay hit from back in 2020, serves as the record's touchstone. Sunny, cheerful, and just clever enough not to be dull, "Beers and Sunshine" has many companions on Carolyn's Boy, including "Same Beer Different Problem," which has just enough recognizable drinking song tropes to be comforting, and just enough twists to sound fresh. The same could be said about a nostalgic ode to lovers lost ("Sara," which was co-written by Ed Sheeran), family, and home, all familiar topics for Rucker and delivered in a familiar fashion, but the singer/songwriter and his collaborators -- primarily longtime associate Ross Copperman, but there is a bevy of co-writers here, along with the vocal group Chapel Hart on "Ol' Church Hymn" -- are sharp craftsmen, managing to make Carolyn's Boy into a satisfying piece of polished professional country-pop.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo