James Franco plays Stephen Elliot, a contemporary writer on the upswing of his career, who has built his success (mostly) upon true stories of abuse he suffered from his father.

We promise you, this is not a Beach House record. And Sam Sarty, despite her vocals, is not a pseudonym of Victoria Legrand. No, really.

Bonnie Raitt gets down to business on her new LP, Dig In Deep, churning out some seriously unfussy alt-country. All of the album’s strengths are encompassed in Raitt’s offbeat INXS cover “Need You Tonight.”

It was a bit unnerving when we were driving on the 40 between Memphis and Little Rock in a terrible rain storm and a loud emergency alert flashed up on my phone telling us there was a tornado warning and to take shelter immediately. What shelter?

Sometimes two distinctly good-sounding things come together and don’t quite synch like you wish they would. No matter how independently persuasive their formulas for musical emotiveness, there’s always the question of chemistry when it comes to the first time collaboration of artists with already evolved identities.

Amber Heard is Jude, a young musician stuck in a rut and unable to make it in the big city.

Loretta Lynn is an 83-year-old badass. For proof, hear the legendary Coal Miner’s Daughter reinterpret one of her earliest singles, “Fist City.” Lynn sings the tune, originally penned in 1968, with renewed conviction on her aptly titled new album, Full Circle, tossing off lyrics about clobbering a rival for her lover’s heart with steadfast and sly self-assurance.

Humble consistency and commitment to craft have long been Woods’ defining virtues, so the boldness of the band’s ninth full-length, City Sun Eater in the River of Light, is an invigorating rush.

In an era when most bands are afraid to say anything, almost every song on Tacocat‘s great third album has something to say.