Kurt Wagner reinvents his band yet again, this time slimming down to a bare-bones acoustic setup and stripping away the studio artifice. But his storytelling remains as expansive as ever.

With Waylon Jennings’ drawl and a profound sincerity, the Killers frontman sells the blustery, Nashville-via-Utah sound of his gaudy but affecting new country album.

The singer tries to fashion himself as a troubled and thirsted-after pop idol on his debut album, but relies too heavily on mall-pop beats and formulaic lyrics to craft a compelling character.

On her dance-oriented third LP, the UK singer glides through producer P2J’s tasteful, frictionless blend of two-step garage, UK funky, and house.