Ken Tucker

Tracey Thorn is best known as half of the British duo Everything but the Girl, in which she performed with her husband, Ben Watt. But since 1999, Thorn has spent much of her time raising her three children with Watt. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Love and Its Opposite, her third solo album.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood, the debut album from a new band called The Mynabirds. The group is led by singer-songwriter Laura Burhenn, whose influences range from Dusty Springfield and Carole King to Carl Jung and Sufi poetry.

Merle Haggard's new album is called I Am What I Am, a phrase that recalls the pugnaciousness of the cartoon character Popeye. But rock critic Ken Tucker says that Haggard's new album is neither combative or passively nostalgic — it's a collection of new songs, all of them written by Haggard, that prove how thoughtful the 73-year-old country star remains.