Music

Swift's new album, which chronicles 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout her life, includes a bracing amount of clear-headed thoughts about love and life as a pop star.

Film critic Justin Chang reviews the new comic thriller "The Banshees of Inisherin" by writer-director Martin McDonagh and starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.

After decades in New York, Watson has returned to Kansas City. The core KC jazz values — a swinging beat, a personal style, and an earthy, bluesy sensibility — are firmly in place on this new album.

The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Hua Hsu defined himself as a teen by the music he loved. The murder of a close friend when he was in college changed the course of his life. His memoir is Stay True.

Ronstadt's new memoir, Feels Like Home, is an exploration of the food and culture of her Mexican roots. In 2013, she spoke about the health concerns that caused her to end her musical career early.

Wait's two lyrical concept albums, Blood Money and Alice, are being reissued on vinyl for their 20th Anniversary. We listen back to archival interviews with the musician, broadcast in 2002 and 2011.

Our film critic Justin Chang says that "Tar," which opens this week in theaters, is one of the most exciting new American movies he's seen this year.

After her husband's death in 1979, Sue Graham Mingus worked to keep his legacy alive, forming a repertory ensemble devoted to playing his compositions. She died Sept. 24. Originally broadcast in 2002.

Lynn, who died Oct. 4, grew up in poverty in eastern Kentucky and went on to have 16 No. 1 hits. Her life story was portrayed in the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter. Originally broadcast in 2010.

In 1965, Lewis' trio had a crossover hit with The 'In' Crowd, a jazz recording they made in a Washington, D.C. nightclub, which reached the pop charts. Lewis died Sept. 12.

Shires made a name for herself, both as a solo artist and as the founder of the country supergroup The Highwomen, which includes Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby. In 2020, The Highwomen won Album of the Year at the Americana Music Honors and Awards ceremony. Shires' new album, Take it Like a Man, includes several songs she wrote during a rough period in her marriage to musician Jason Isbell.

In 2016, Springsteen spoke about New Jersey, masculinity and wishing to be his stage persona: "People see you onstage and, yeah, I'd want to be that guy. ... I want to be that guy myself very often."

The folk singer, who died in 2014, was famous for his songs about working people, unions and social justice. In this 1984 interview, Seeger cited Woody Guthrie as one his most important influences.

A self-described "showgirl at its finest," Lizzo initially thought she'd be a classical flautist. Though rap and pop won out, she still brings the flute into her music. Originally broadcast in 2019.

In 2010, Jay-Z reflected on growing up in Brooklyn surrounded by drugs and violence. "One day, your best friend could be killed. The day before, you could be celebrating him getting a brand-new bike."

Best known for novelty songs like "King of the Road," Miller was also a serious songwriter who wrote ballads for artists such as Ray Price. Miller's '70 album A Trip in the Country is newly available.

On Valse Sinistre, Drummond's ride-cymbal beat is lively, varied and full of passing cross-rhythms — the sound of a musician fully engaged and in the habit of attentive listening.

The singer-songwriter is known for his intensely autobiographical writing. When Wainwright turned 75 recently, he decided to make an album about trying — and mostly failing — to age gracefully.

Dozier and his songwriting partners Brian and Eddie Holland wrote the Motown hits "Stop in the Name of Love," "Baby Love" and "You Can't Hurry Love." He died Aug. 8. Originally broadcast in 2003.

The escapist aesthetic of Renaissance is its own kind of statement — Beyoncé's way of asserting the primacy of Black musical forms throughout American pop history.