NPR Music

The best new albums out this week include Sturgill Simpson's scuzzy rock record Sound & Fury, reliably infectious pop from The New Pornographers, new Tegan & Sara, a lost John Coltrane album and more.

1. The New Pornographers — In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
2. Tegan & Sara — Hey, I'm Just Like You
3. John Coltrane — Blue World
4. Guillermo Klein and Los Guachos
5. Sturgill Simpson — Sound & Fury
6. Girl Band — The Talkies
7. Laurie Anderson, Tenzin Choegyal and Jesse Paris Smith — Songs From the Bardo

Other Notable Releases For Sept. 27: Allesandro Cortini — Volume Massimo; The Beatles — Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Edition; The Comet is Coming — The Afterlife; Jon Pardi — Heartache Medication; Kefaya & Elaha Soroor — Songs of Our Mothers; Kevin Gates — I'm Him; Molly Brazy — Built to Last; Opeth — In Cauda Venenum; Ronin Arkestra — Sonkei.

Warning: The opening cut on this week's show, by Fran got stuck in my head and kept me wide awake at four in the morning. But a song from Soccer Mommy about dealing with temptation and the devil, Chastity Belt's first new music since 2017 and (Sandy) Alex G's devastating song titled "Hope" will help when taken at a hefty volume. Once dosed, you will be lulled by the deep, sullen sounds of the late Leonard Cohen and all-new material he recorded before his death. You can top it off with harmonies Christopher Paul Stelling's fine guitar picking and poetry on his new tune "Have To Do For Now," and River Whyless' cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe."

Our shortlist of the best albums out this week includes Brittany Howard's masterpiece, Jaime, sad bangers from Tove Lo, a profoundly beautiful, debut solo LP from Mountain Man's Molly Sarlé and more.

On the day before his album came out, Hobo Johnson joined me to play DJ. We discussed the making of his album and played some of the music that has inspired him over the years. I think you'll be surprised by some of his picks.

The week's best new album drops includes the genre-bending pop of Charli XCX, an ambitious concept record by The Lumineers, the euphoric songs of Emeli Sandé, new Chelsea Wolfe, Sampa The Great, more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. The Lumineers - 'III,' 2. Charli XCX - 'Charli,' 3. Bethlehem Steel - 'Bethlehem Steel,' 4. Emeli Sandé - 'Real Life,' 5. Microwave - 'Microwave,' 6. Chelsea Wolfe - 'Birth of Violence,' 7. Sampa The Great - 'The Return,' 8. Jeremy Ivey - 'The Dream and the Dreamer.' OTHER NOTABLE ALBUMS FOR SEP. 13: Alex Cameron — Miami Memory; Belle & Sebastian — Days of the Bangold Summer; Chasity — Homemade Satan; Devendra Banhart — Ma; Goo Goo Dolls — Miracle Pill; Gruff Rhys — Pang; Hobo Johnson — The Fall of Hobo Johnson; Jenny Hval — The Practice of Love; Joseph — Good Luck Kid; Long Beard — Means to Me; Pixies — Beneath the Eyrie; (Sandy) Alex G — House of Sugar; Shawn Colvin — Steady On 30th Anniversary; Trupa Trupa — Of the Sun.

There's a cinematic theme in the songs on this edition of All Songs Considered, including a new track from Thom Yorke called "Daily Battles" and an instrumental version of it from trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. These two songs were created for the Edward Norton film Motherless Brooklyn. FEATURED SONGS AND ARTISTS: 1. Ride: "R.I.D.E.," 2. Overcoats: "The Fool," 3. Arthur Moon: "Myelin," 4. Lydia Ramsey: "Story Untold," 5. Jim James & Teddy Abrams: "Set it to Song," 6. Thom Yorke & Flea: "Daily Battles," 7. Wynton Marsalis: "Daily Battles"

Our list of the best albums out this week includes The Highwomen's self-titled release, R&B singer Mahalia's remarkable Love and Compromise, new Frankie Cosmos, MUNA, Lower Dens and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Muna – 'Saves the World,' 2. Tinariwen – 'Amadjar,' 3. Lower Dens – 'The Competition,' 4. Frankie Cosmos – 'Close it Quietly,' 5. The Highwomen – 'The Highwomen,' 6. Mahalia – 'Love and Compromise,' 7. Daymé Arocena – 'Sonocardiogram,' 8. Bat for Lashes – 'The Lost Girls.' OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR SEP. 6: Adam Green — Engine of Paradise; Alessia Cara — This Summer (EP); Chrissie Hynde — Valve Bone Woe; Crystal Gayle — You Don't Know Me; Death Cab For Cutie — The Blue EP; Ghostface Killah — Ghostface Killahs; Iggy Pop — Free; Kindness — Something Like War; Miles Davis — Rubberband

This edition of All Songs Considered has songs of gratitude from Pinegrove, a take on intimacy from Norway's Jenny Hval, a song of quietude from Anna Meredith and the magic of the Mellotron. 1. Sudan Archives: "Confessions," 2. Jenny Hval: "High Alice," 3. Pinegrove: "Moment," 4. Anna Meredith: "moonmoons," 5. Mellotron Variations: "Pulsar," 6. Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "One with the Birds."

Our shortlist for the week's best new albums includes Lana Del Rey's odyssey-length adventure Norman F****** Rockwell, Sheryl Crow's final album, Threads, new Black Belt Eagle Scout and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. G Flip - About Us, 2. Boy Scouts - Free Company, 3. Black Belt Eagle Scout - At The Party With My Brown Friends, 4. Lana Del Rey - Norman F****** Rockwell, 5. Close Talker - How Do We Stay Here, 6. Somos - Prison On A Hill, 7. Sheryl Crow - Threads. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR AUG. 30: Bon Iver - i.i (physical release); Common - Let Love; The Futureheads - Powers; Joan Shelley - Like The River Loves The Sea; Pharmakon - Devour; Tool - Fear Inoculum; Trisha Yearwood - Every Girl; Whitney - Forever Turned Around.

In this encore presentation of an episode from July, 2018, we fill you in on how to shade your summer pink, with unapologetically good pop music that is ready for any mood.