What is immediately striking when listening to this new record (her fifth on the ECM label, and the second at the head of this quartet after they already released the very fine Lost Ships in 2020) by Elina Duni, the Swiss singer of Albanian origin, is the deep aesthetic coherence of a collective discourse brought to maturity. Immersed in the precious setting of this extraordinary organic arrangement, featuring Rob Luft on guitar, Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn, and Fred Thomas on percussion and piano, Elina Duni’s voice is deep, sensual, and constantly expressive, yet lacking the slightest trace of affected sentimental mannerisms. Like a hyper-sensitive instrument, we are treated to a repertoire as eclectic as it is masterfully balanced, which pulls at the very essence of music and emotion. Progressing with ease from traditional Albanian and Kosovar tunes to a carefully selected selection of American songs (the Broadway standard I'll Be Seeing You, Stephen Sondheim's ballad Send In The Clowns, and the magnificent Charlie Haden theme, First Song ), while simultaneously using her natural talent to remain resolutely committed to the composition of original pieces that she co-authored with Rob Luft, Elina passes effortlessly from one language to another, allowing herself to be carried by the poetry of sophisticated and dreamlike arrangements that ride the edge of folk, jazz, and pop. A real work of art. © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz

Thirty years later and the musical talent and inspiration is still as impressive as ever. Dream Theater release not a mere 13th album in a glorious career, but a real rock opera - and in two acts! A mammoth project called The Astonishing comes into being as James LaBrie (vocals), John Petrucci (guitar), Jordan Rudess (keyboards), John Myung (bass) and Mike Mangini (drums and percussion) take up their instruments in this tribute to rock. The score is an impressive masterpiece, with instrumental virtuosity managing. Untouchable masters of progressive metal, the Boston gang recorded these 34 titles in Cove City Sound Studios, Long Island, with Petrucci as producer and the participation of sound engineer Richard Chycki (Aerosmith, Rush) - combine this with the input of legendary arranger, composer and Canadian conductor David Campbell (also Beck's father), and you've got yourself a seriously impressive team. The Astonishing tells the story of a post-apocalyptic retro-futuristic dystopia... need we say more? © CM / Qobuz

Jean-Marc Luisada is a passionate man. Cinema captivates him as much as music and his latest recording allows him to bring together the two worlds that are close to his heart. By taking the name of a famous French television programme by Armand Panigel as the title of his new album (Au Cinéma ce soir), the pianist invites us to share in his love of cinema, inflected with a good dose of nostalgia from the memory of his parents’ love. It would appear that the record is entirely dedicated to their memory.The fourteen films, chosen here by Jean-Marc Luisada for the publisher-bibliophile La Dolce Volta, span a period from 1958 (Les Amants by Louis Malle) to 1979 (Manhattan by Woody Allen). So many films, and so much music remaining true to the images. But what a choice for such a refined and informed film buff! Fellini’s La Dolce Vita rubs shoulders with Death in Venice by Luchino Visconti, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful films in the history of cinema, in which the adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony (transcribed for the piano by Alexandre Tharaud) is the recurring theme of Gustav von Aschenbach's impossible quest in the alleys of Venice (which serve to illustrate August von Platen’s poetic verses): "Anyone who has ever contemplated Beauty with his eyes is already doomed to death".Amongst all these films, there is one that has a particular flavour; the disturbing Rendez-vous à Bray that André Delvaux shot in 1971, based on a short story by Julien Gracq. The music of the last piano opuses by Brahms turns the soul inside out like a glove, asking essential questions about absence, silence, and the confusion of feelings. The films evoked in this beautiful album seem to have rubbed off on Jean-Marc Luisada’s interpretations of Nino Rota, Mahler, Mozart (the moving Fantasy in D minor), Brahms, Wagner, and Chopin (who closes the programme with Cris and Chuchotements, the Ingmar Bergman film which ruthlessly examines the difficulty of human relationships). Of course, let’s not forget the dazzling smiles of Scott Joplin and George Gershwin, for whom Luisada gives an exuberant rendition of Rhapsody in Blue. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Born out of the ashes of Joy Division in the early 1980s, New Order symbolises one of the first truly successful unions between rock’n’roll and dance music. The darkest Mancunian band of the punk era who had transformed into masters of the dancefloor signed the perfect soundtrack to the gloomy England under Thatcher. Released in the summer of 1987 on the label Factory, Substance brings together all their various styles and singles like the hits Blue Monday, Ceremony, Confusion, The Perfect Kiss or Bizarre Love Triangle. This was obviously the golden age for the quartet made up of Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris. Despite a few highlights (such as the album Technique in 1989), New Order never really reached this level of composition again... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

In a bold and unexpected move, Halsey seizes their artistic crown on the creative triumph If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power. Teaming with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, they pack a lifetime of emotions into a ticking time bomb of angst buffered by the Nine Inch Nails duo's unmistakable production, which deftly serves Halsey's whims and allows the artist to outshine not only them, but a team of famous faces from the NIN orbit. When the project was first announced, the combination of global-pop-star-plus-industrial-wizards seemed a bit incongruous. However, they've succeeded in bringing out the best in each other, with Reznor and Ross setting the stage for Halsey to finally indulge in her alternative rock side, and Halsey giving the guys an excuse to flex their mainstream pop fancies. If I Can't Have Love... isn't simply "Halsey singing over NIN songs," but rather a true artistic union, where familiar NIN touchstones -- ominous atmospherics, minor-key piano tinkling, techno glitches, and distorted riffs -- support Halsey's visceral explorations of pregnancy, childbirth, life, and death. Along the way, they delve into the sacred and profane, face mortality, and reconcile vulnerability and empowerment. No strangers to the darker side of the human experience, Reznor and Ross match the self-loathing, regret, and pain coursing through Halsey's soul with production that stirs tension, frustration, and rage. From the opening piano waltz "The Tradition" to the sparse guitar thrumming of the morbid ode to her daughter "Ya'aburnee" (an Arabic phrase meaning "You bury me," as in "I'll die first so I don't have to live without you"), it's clear that this is a purposefully un-pop version of Halsey. Delivering on the promise of the rock-leaning 2019 single "Nightmare" and the explosive collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon from the Birds of Prey soundtrack, "Experiment on Me," Halsey launches headfirst into pop-punk (the bouncy "Honey"), industrial (the thrillingly cacophonous "Easier Than Lying"), and distorted sludge (the gothic horror showcase "The Lighthouse," an engrossing tale featuring whispered vocals from Reznor). Additional standouts include "Girl Is a Gun," which features neon synths and bubble-pop beats courtesy of Meat Beat Manifesto's Jack Dangers, and "Bells in Santa Fe," a gorgeous showcase of Halsey's poetic lyricism, commanding vocals, and the studio sorcery of Reznor, Ross, and the Bug's Kevin Martin. The album's big moment lands toward the end with the enthralling showstopper "I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God," a throbbing culmination of the core trio's power as a sonic unit. Throughout, Halsey maintains full control of this cinematic concept album, reducing all-stars such as Lindsey Buckingham (on the "Landslide"-esque acoustic break "Darling"), Dave Grohl ("Honey"), Pino Palladino and Kerriem Riggins (on the rhythmic "Lilith"), and Dave Sitek (on the '90s alt rock affair "You Asked for This") to mere studio hands. With Reznor and Ross supporting such a weighty artistic vision, Halsey takes a huge leap forward with this course-changing opus, a revelation that finally presents their most authentic representation of self. © Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Where Crowded House's previous album, Temple of Low Men, showcased the often dark side of a man alone with his thoughts, Woodface represents the joy of reunion and the freedom of a collaborative effort -- more than half of the album was originally conceived as a Finn Brothers project, which was Tim and Neil's first crack at writing together. The songs are easily their finest to date, combining flawless melodies and the outstanding harmonies of the brothers' perfectly matched voices.© Chris Woodstra /TiVo

After the fallout both psychologically and physically of Pornography, it looked unlikely that anyone would hear from the Cure ever again. Surprisingly, from 1982-1983 Robert Smith and (now keyboardist) Lol Tolhurst put out some of the catchiest singles of their career. "Let's Go to Bed," "The Walk," and "The Lovecats" were not only singles that got the Cure radio play and made them a household name, but more importantly marked the next phase in the music of the Cure, which would reach its peak with albums like Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Dropping the stripped-down darkness of Faith and Pornography, the songs on Japanese Whispers (the aforementioned singles from that era, including all the B-sides) are light, dancy, and at times jazzy. Adding new keyboard sounds, old-timey percussion, standup bass, and some damn silly lyrics rejuvenated Robert Smith and sent him on a course that would cement his role as one of the most interesting musicians to emerge from the '80s underground. Japanese Whispers is one of those rare releases when a singles collection works just as well as a standard-issue album.© Chris True /TiVo

The gap between The Sea and The Heart Speaks in Whispers, Corinne Bailey Rae's second and third albums, was over six years in duration. During the wait for full-length number three, Bailey Rae released The Love EP, a brief set of covers that featured a Grammy-winning update of Bob Marley's "Is This Love." She married Steve Brown, a keyboardist and producer who had been a factor in all of her releases for Capitol. Bailey Rae also shifted from that label to Virgin and worked on new recordings with a handful of old and new collaborators, including Brown and Steve Chrisanthou, as well as Paris and Amber Strother of the emergent King. The Heart Speaks in Whispers naturally doesn't pack the heavy emotional weight of The Sea, an album issued after the multi-instrumentalist tragically lost her then-partner Jason Rae. It's all spirited and lively. At their best, the wide-eyed folk-soul moments tend to evoke a contemporized version of fellow Englishwoman Linda Lewis, even on "Do You Ever Think of Me," assisted by songwriting demigod Valerie Simpson and, through references to "The Makings of You," Curtis Mayfield. The more electrified and groove-oriented material is bound to elicit parallels drawn to the likes of early Erykah Badu and, well, King. Each one of the Strother collaborations is stimulating, with lyrics and productions that complement one another. "Been to the Moon" swoops and slides, reflecting Bailey Rae's alternation between delighted and demanding exclamations. Its dazzling electro-soul gives way to a trumpet, saxophone, and flute coda that works far better than it should. "Horse Print Dress," more like purple paisley, is ecstatic, private, joyful synth-funk, while the dazed "Green Aphrodisiac" drifts along on a sinewy, unmistakable Marcus Miller bassline. Multiple allusions to working past bitterness and metaphorical storms help cast the album in a rejuvenating light. Despite all the likenesses that can be heard, it all comes out fresh, pieced together and transmitted in a way that no one but Bailey Rae -- a remarkable and flexible artist with some very real life experiences -- can approximate.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

NMA proved that they were well worth waiting for. Thunder and Consolation begins grandly, keeping the keyboards from "White Coats" on "I Love the World," an anthem filled with bittersweet irony and sarcasm. Self-produced, the album never falters, and the single "Stupid Questions" made an impression on American college and modern-rock radio, especially when working visas were granted to the band and they were allowed to tour the U.S. Violin was added by Ed Elain Johnson to further fill out the sound and give it an "Irish Folk" quality on epic songs "Green and Grey," and "Vagabonds." The band uses samples on "225" and "Green and Grey" to further enhance the flavor of the album.© Jason Smith /TiVo