COUNTRY
Chris Stapleton, "From a Room: Vol. 1" (Mercury Nashville)
With the stunning success of his debut, "Traveller," Stapleton proved that talent and authenticity can still top the charts, as well as grab attention in the music industry. His follow-up, "From a Room: Volume 1," shows that he is ready to hold onto that attention on his own terms.
Aside from a wrenching version of the Willie Nelson 1982 hit "Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning," Stapleton co-wrote all these songs before the success of "Traveller." In most cases, that makes them even grittier and more straightforward than his songs from that album. (A second volume of songs will be released later this year.)
In a way, "Broken Halos" begins the journey where "Traveller" left off, with Stapleton's powerful voice showing how he deals with loss. The gorgeous harmonies he sings with his wife, Morgane, make lines like "They've all gone wherever they go, broken halos that used to shine" all the more poignant.
But from there, Stapleton goes off in a variety of directions. "Second One to Know" heads to Southern-fried rock, strutting around with Allman Brothers' guitar heroics. On "Them Stems," he laments the exit of his ex, as well as his weed dealer, over a blues-rock creation that is part jam band and part Rolling Stones. And on "Either Way," first recorded by Lee Ann Womack, Stapleton passionately howls over simple guitar riffs about reaching a dead end in a relationship.
"From a Room" isn't quite the bold, all-encompassing statement that "Traveller" was, but Stapleton's unpolished, heart-on-his-sleeve approach is bold enough to keep him at the front of the country pack.
GLENN GAMBOA, Newsday
ROCK
Paramore, "After Laughter" (Fueled by Ramen)
On its way to becoming one of the most influential bands of the 2000s, Paramore made the case for pop-punk at arena scale, and the band's DNA — and especially that of its frontwoman, Hayley Williams, one of the most signature yelpers in mainstream rock — has been heard in musicians across the pop spectrum: Best Coast, Taylor Swift, Grimes, Hey Violet and beyond.
"After Laughter" is Paramore's fifth album. And Williams and her bandmates Zac Farro and Taylor York have remade themselves into a 1980s pop-rock outfit: tinny digital percussion, synthesizers and mostly constrained, saccharine singing from Williams. This album suggests, in places, early-'80s Blondie and the music of John Hughes films, but also recent club-pop revivalists like La Roux and Kiesza.
It is an odd choice to release a 1980s revival album just when a 1990s revival is moving to the center of pop culture and also to split so definitively with the pop-punk and emo of the band's past just as those sounds are beginning to thrive again.
Instead, Paramore has removed itself from the narrative, making an album that mostly reveals how fatigued it was with its old idea of itself. Perhaps the least surprising thing about it is that one of the biggest rock bands of the 2000s isn't much interested in being a rock band at all.
JON CARAMANICA, New York Times
new releases
• Harry Styles, "Harry Styles"
• Danzig, "Black Laden Crown"
• Zac Brown Band, "Welcome Home"
• Todd Rundgren, "White Knight"
• Pwr Bttm, "Pageant"
