Mackenzie Scott's fourth record, which came after a period of self-reflection and romantic pursuit, is fixated on desire. "I want people to understand that women can burn for each other," she says.
Olney had a gift for character — creating them in his lyrics, inhabiting them in his performances — and that literarily bent musical talent made him a fixture in Nashville for decades.
Two reports released recently shine a light on the decade-long trends shaping our relationships to listening, from the dominance of video to the vinyl "boom" that isn't quite.
"We're only immortal for a limited time." Peart, who died on Jan. 7, guided Rush through the decades with a pen, a massive drum kit and an openness towards life's many shades.
The pedal steel guitar is, for many, inextricable from its roots in country music — but its well runs much deeper than simply providing some smooth twang.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" made Nirvana's Kurt Cobain a reluctant spokesman for Generation X, and the song became an anthem for a generation that didn't want one.
Fiddler Jenee Fleenor is the first woman ever to win the Country Music Association's Musician of the Year Award. Her work is partly responsible for the instrument's resurgence.
"En Mi Viejo San Juan" is an unofficial anthem of Puerto Rico and the official anthem of San Juan. It evokes memories of the island for those who have left and a yearning on the island for those who are gone.
"It's fascinating how this guy could be this master draftsman and do hyper-realistic paintings, and then the next he puts the ear on the back of the guy's head."
The width and breadth of expression within Latin music stretches that single designation beyond its seams — and the best Latin music of 2019 is proof of that.
After a decade of genre-blending, the definition of rock is very much up for debate. But for us — and for the purposes of this list — it means one thing: Guitars.
Emerging as a major pop star in 2019, Eilish is emblematic of her moment: a rebel who is also a popular kid, a loud cultural presence emanating from a carefully maintained private place.
Alan Tripp always wanted to make an album. It only took 102 years to make it happen. Tripp speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about his debut album Senior Song Book.
No, songs addressing climate change aren't new. But the new music that does seems animated less by a sunny streak of mainstream activism, and more by a certain feeling we all seem to be sharing.
Following All Things Considered's annual Thanksgiving musical chain of gratitude, we asked listeners what's some of the music they're grateful for this year. Here's what they said.
Ari Shapiro names The New Pornographers as a musical act he's thankful for in 2019. That gratitude is passed forward to nêhiyawak, then Leikeli47 and finally to Chick Corea.
Beloved, but gone — when it comes to our favorite artists, the assumption is that more is always better. But what effect do these patchworked releases have on their legacies?
