POP/ROCK
Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer, "Not Dark Yet" (Thirty Tigers)
Even though they are sisters working in the same field, Lynne and Moorer have always kept their distance from each other artistically.
It's an understandable decision, but they sound so stunning together on their first joint project that you can't help but wonder what took so long. "Is It Too Much," co-written by the sisters, is wrenchingly beautiful as Lynne and Moorer sing separately and together about sharing emotional burdens.
Though that's the only original on the album, their harmonies turn Nick Cave's "Into My Arms" into something completely new, making it sound like a more reverent prayer than the original. Their understated take on the Killers' "My List" strips away the angst of Brandon Flowers' original delivery, turning it into a straightforward, pretty love song, while their twisted harmonies on Nirvana's "Lithium" give the grunge classic an unexpected edge, even without Kurt Cobain's shrieks or heavy guitar riffs.
Lynne and Moorer have made more than their share of great records separately, but their collaboration on "Not Dark Yet" takes them to a new artistic level.
Glenn Gamboa, Newsday
The War on Drugs, "A Deeper Understanding" (Atlantic)
The War on Drugs' fourth album overall and their first with Atlantic matches 2014's "Lost in the Dream" in vision, expansiveness and nuance. Though it mostly employs the same aesthetic calculus characterizing much of their output, subtle differences in mood and pace distinguish the record. On paper, an 11-minute lead single like "Thinking of a Place" might suggest a grandiose, majestic epic in the vein of "Under the Pressure." Certainly, it does have a kind of sweeping yet weary romance to it.
