Bona fide hitmakers — led by one very well-known “Showgirl” — are hitting the road and readying new albums for the fall, along with some of the most fresh and raucous voices in pop, R&B, jazz and more. Dates and lineups are subject to change.
September
KING PRINCESS Mikaela Straus — the confessional pop songwriter who performs as King Princess and recently made her acting debut on the Hulu drama “Nine Perfect Strangers” — crafted her third album, “Girl Violence,” during a period of upheaval: a breakup, a move from Los Angeles back to her native New York, a split from her label. Like the best of her past work, the resulting songs, including the raw kiss-off “Cry Cry Cry,” feel as heart-wrenching as they do anthemic. (Sept. 12; Section1) — HANK SHTEAMER
KASSA OVERALL From its earliest days, hip-hop has been sampling jazz tracks. Now the drummer, bandleader and producer Kassa Overall flips the script with “Cream.” It’s a live-in-the-studio, small-group jazz album that reworks hip-hop standards from Wu-Tang Clan, Outkast, Digable Planets and others, pushing the songs toward brawny Coltrane-era jazz. The arrangements — for quintet or sextet — take plenty of liberties around familiar hooks; meter shifts and extended harmonies are everywhere. But there are also hidden quotes and homages, as when Overall echoes a rapper’s flow in a drum cadence. (“Cream” is due Sept. 12 on Warp; Overall plays the Jazz Gallery Sept. 12-13) — JON PARELES
ED SHEERAN “It feels like I’m getting back into big pop for the first time in a long time,” Ed Sheeran said last year as he worked on what would become “Play,” his eighth album. In contrast to his two most recent full-lengths — both acoustic-leaning efforts he produced and wrote with Aaron Dessner of the National — the LP leans into a brighter, more upbeat sound, and features collaborators like the seasoned Swedish pop producer Ilya, whose Persian heritage inspired its lead single, “Azizam.” (Sept. 12; Gingerbread Man/Atlantic) — SHTEAMER
TWENTY ONE PILOTS “Breach,” the eighth LP from the eclectic Ohio pop-rock duo, marks a major inflection point for its intensely devoted fan base: the end of the elaborate lore the band created, involving life in a repressive fictional city called Dema and a character named Clancy, the rebellious alter ego of the Twenty One Pilots songwriter and frontman Tyler Joseph. The new songs are as dramatic and emotive as ever. (Sept. 12; Atlantic) — SHTEAMER
WYNTON MARSALIS After focusing on American themes in recent large-scale projects including “The Democracy! Suite” and “The Ever Fonky Lowdown,” Wynton Marsalis turns his attention to Africa and the ancestral roots of jazz in “Afro!” — a new work featuring the Ghanaian percussionist and djembe master Weedie Braimah and the vocalist Shenel Johns, heard in recent Jazz at Lincoln Center tributes to Max Roach and Dinah Washington. (Sept. 18-20; Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center) — SHTEAMER
FIELDWORK Twenty years ago, when the saxophonist Steve Lehman, the pianist Vijay Iyer and the drummer Tyshawn Sorey came together in the collective trio Fieldwork, all three were rising stars; now, they’re each firmly established as generational leaders in progressive jazz and beyond. They will play in support of “Thereupon,” their first album in 17 years (due Sept. 5 on Pi Recordings), which triumphantly reclaims their signature sound, combining dazzling intricacy with urgent exploration. (Sept. 19; Roulette) — SHTEAMER
CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT Cécile McLorin Salvant has described her new album, “Oh Snap,” as “literally pajama intimate,” a reference to the fact that most of the vocals were recorded in the morning at home. That personal touch also extends to the material: The Grammy-winning singer is best known as an unusually probing interpreter of the jazz tradition, but here she favors original songs that touch on introspective folk, heady electro-pop and blissful R&B. (Sept. 19; Nonesuch Records) — SHTEAMER
NATION OF LANGUAGE Y2K nostalgia may be cresting, but the Brooklyn trio Nation of Language is fixated on the turn of an earlier decade. The group cites Brian Eno and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark as key influences, and its fourth album, “Dance Called Memory,” continues its study of synth-pop from the late 1970s and early ’80s. The new record adds more guitars to the mix, tempering the machine-made with a human touch. (Sept. 19; Sub Pop) — OLIVIA HORN
NINE INCH NAILS Starting with “The Social Network” 15 years ago, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have collaborated on soundtracks and scores for movies and television, including “Challengers” (frenetic electro and some woozy atmospherics) and “Watchmen” (at times jazzy, blippy and spare). For the first time, they’re doing film work under the Nine Inch Nails name with a full album for “Tron: Ares,” a 24-track LP complete with Reznor’s vocals and the band’s signature propulsive, chilly grind. (Sept. 19; Interscope) — CARYN GANZ
JOAN SHELLEY The Kentucky native Joan Shelley cut her teeth playing traditional Appalachian music before honing a more contemporary folk sensibility. Her new album, “Real Warmth,” offers what its title evokes: sun-dappled songs filled with golden woodwinds and musings on modern life and love. On “The Orchard,” a standout, she sings about global conflict and rearing children when the weight of the world comes to bear — treading the heaviest subjects with the softest footsteps. (Sept. 19; No Quarter) — HORN
LOLA YOUNG Lola Young has had a foothold in her native Britain for years now, but she crashed into the American popular consciousness in 2025 with her viral hit “Messy.” Capitalizing on the hype, Young is set to release her third album in as many years, “I’m Only Fucking Myself,” which builds on the confessional-yet-assertive mode of “Messy” with rock and soul-pop songs that toggle between bawdiness and melancholy. (Sept. 19; Island) — HORN
MARY HALVORSON For the past decade-plus, Mary Halvorson has situated her instantly identifiable guitar sound within midsize bands that showcase her compositional ambition as much as her improvisational daring. Here she presents music from her recent octet album “About Ghosts” with the same impressive cast from the recording, including the saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles, the trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, the trombonist Jacob Garchik, the vibraphonist Patricia Brennan, the bassist Nick Dunston and the drummer Tomas Fujiwara. (Sept. 21; Roulette) — SHTEAMER
MARIAH CAREY For her third album executive produced with L.A. Reid, and the first on a new label, Gamma, Mariah Carey returns with “Here for It All,” an 11-track jaunt through some of the singer-songwriter’s favored genres. There are nods to golden era hip-hop, dancehall, late ’70s adult contemporary, gospel, and retro soul co-produced by Anderson .Paak that calls up his Silk Sonic work. Carey also engages with current hip-hop production on “Mi,” where she delivers campy nods to her divadom with lyrics like “Harry Winston diamonds and some Louis XIII / I ain’t checked the price since ‘Emancipation of Mi.’” (Sept. 26; Gamma) — ELENA BERGERON
NEKO CASE Neko Case tracked most of her eighth album, “Neon Grey Midnight Green,” live at her own Vermont studio, accompanied by a full band. “I wanted everything to be played by real people,” the mighty-voiced singer-songwriter said earlier this year, “to show how we fill space differently.” The immediacy suits the emotional directness of the songs, such as “Wreck” — a tribute to Dexter Romweber of the rockabilly band Flat Duo Jets — where she sings, over swelling strings, “Please don’t be afraid of me or my love.” (Sept. 26; Anti-) — SHTEAMER
OLIVIA DEAN The English R&B songwriter Olivia Dean’s second album, “The Art of Loving,” takes a levelheaded approach to romance. Harking back to the sound of 1960s and 1970s R&B, with clear-cut melodies and organic arrangements, Dean sings about flirtations, good times, misunderstandings, estrangement and self-preservation. She maintains a gracious composure even when she’s detailing how things went wrong. (Sept. 26; Island) — PARELES
GEESE The New York City rock band Geese delights in upending expectations. Its songs have traversed post-punk, psychedelia, country, funk and math-rock; its cheerfully abrasive lead singer, Cameron Winter, veers between sardonic and sincere, crooning and bawling. Its latest convolutions will be on its third album, “Getting Killed.” (Sept. 26; Partisan) — PARELES
PURITY RING The Canadian duo of Megan James and Corin Roddick looked toward fantasy video games and speedy breakbeats for “Purity Ring,” its self-titled fourth album of proudly synthetic electronic pop. James’s piping, highly processed voice hovers in tracks that can be both grandly spacious and hyperactive, hinting at otherworldly quests. (Sept. 26; The Fellowship) — PARELES
October
ABDULLAH IBRAHIM Across more than 60 years, the South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim has refined a soulful and uplifting style that combines the music of his native Cape Town with the inspirations of his early jazz heroes like Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Here, just ahead of his 91st birthday, he performs in several contexts, including solo piano and at the helm of his long-running septet, Ekaya, with special guests including the trumpeter Terence Blanchard, the saxophonist Kenny Garrett and the bassist Cecil McBee. (Oct. 3, 4; Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center) — SHTEAMER
WAYLON JENNINGS In 1972, Waylon Jennings renegotiated his contract with RCA, gaining full artistic freedom and clearing the way for a wealth of self-produced recordings. Going through his father’s archives recently, the songwriter and producer Shooter Jennings compiled three albums’ worth of unreleased material, some fleshed out with new contributions from surviving members of the outlaw-country icon’s backing band, the Waylors. The first album, titled “Songbird” after a resurfaced cover of the Christine McVie-penned Fleetwood Mac classic, spans 1973 through 1984, when some of Jennings’s biggest hits were released. (Oct. 3; Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers) — SHTEAMER
PINO PALLADINO AND BLAKE MILLS Two of the most respected session musicians in contemporary pop, Pino Palladino and Blake Mills have worked with major artists including D’Angelo and John Mayer (the bassist, Palladino) and Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell (the guitarist, Mills). They make a rare local live appearance this fall in Brooklyn, performing in support of “That Wasn’t a Dream,” their second collaborative album, where they survey an appealing middle ground between jazz, folk and R&B with help from the saxophonist Sam Gendel and the drummer Chris Dave, both of whom will join them here. (Oct. 3; Pioneer Works) — SHTEAMER
TAYLOR SWIFT In the past three years, America’s biggest pop star has been an insomniac and a tormented writer. She’s also been a touring powerhouse, and it is that guise she will next inhabit on record: Her 12th original studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” transposes the feather on her quill pen to a bejeweled headpiece. The LP was made on breaks in her Eras Tour and captures the behind-the-scenes vibe of a life onstage. Swift’s fellow producers are two Swedish hitmakers: Max Martin and Shellback, who worked on “Red” and “1989” (as well as with Britney Spears, Ariana Grande and Pink) and are known for super-catchy, upbeat pop anthems. And thus, a new era was born. (Oct. 3; Republic) — GANZ
PRISCILLA BLOCK One of Priscilla Block’s great strengths is her range: The Nashville singer and songwriter found early success with both sassy singalongs (“Thick Thighs”) and raw confessions (“Just About Over You”). Her second album, “Things You Didn’t See,” retains this dynamism across its tightly crafted, wordplay-heavy pop-country songs, which showcase both a tender heart and a smart mouth. (Oct. 10; MCA) — HORN
MADI DIAZ Madi Diaz had logged her 10,000 hours in writer’s rooms, penning songs for the likes of Miranda Lambert and Kesha, by the time her solo career took off. In recent years, Diaz’s cleareyed folk-pop songs about love and its undoing have made her an emerging bard of heartbreak. “Fatal Optimist,” her new album, reinforces this reputation with a pared-down sound that intensifies her songs’ sense of intimacy. (Oct. 10; Anti-) — HORN
FLOCK OF DIMES Jenn Wasner exercises her rock prerogatives as the guitarist and singer in Wye Oak. Her more introspective songwriting and production emerge in the solo recordings she makes as Flock of Dimes. Her thoughtful, intricately layered ballads on “The Life You Save,” grapple with codependency, addiction, responsibilities and limits, with how much anyone can help someone they cherish. (Oct. 10; Sub Pop) — PARELES
KHALID Physical pleasure is the priority for the R&B songwriter Khalid — in the bedroom, on the dance floor, anywhere the impulse strikes — on his new album, “After the Sun Goes Down.” With his suave croon, sweet falsetto and elaborate vocal harmonies set amid blissful electronics, he revels in sensuality, and occasionally hints at some angst behind it. (Oct. 10; RCA) — PARELES
JAY SOM Melina Duterte’s recording project is historically a self-reliant operation: As Jay Som, Duterte earned indie acclaim with shoegazey pop that she performed, recorded, produced and engineered herself. In the six years since her last album, she has lent those skills out to Troye Sivan (with whom she dueted) and boygenius (whose touring band she joined). Created with a newly expanded network of collaborators, Duterte’s third album, “Belong,” has both pillowy guitar textures and plenty of bite. (Oct. 10; Polyvinyl) — HORN
NATHY PELUSO The Argentine songwriter Nathy Peluso has brought her hardheaded, tough-gal attitude to songs that have dipped into R&B, hip-hop, pop, rock, bolero and reggaeton. From the beginning, she has also been drawn to the kinetic rhythms and blunt commentary of vintage salsa, and her new EP sticks to that style. It was recorded in Puerto Rico and features guest appearances from longtime salsa stars. (Oct. 10; 5020 Records/Sony Music Entertainment España) — PARELES
MARK TURNER Studio recordings featuring the saxophonist Mark Turner as a bandleader don’t appear often and tend to register as events. But his upcoming album, “Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man,” feels even weightier than usual thanks to a compelling premise. It’s inspired in part by James Weldon Johnson’s 1912 novel dealing with a biracial man passing as white, a theme that resonated with Turner’s own family experience — and features some of his richest writing to date. (Oct. 10; Giant Step Arts) — SHTEAMER
DON WAS AND THE PAN-DETROIT ENSEMBLE Don Was has been a behind-the-scenes catalyst ever since he arrived in the 1980s in the Detroit band Was (Not Was). He has been a bassist, a songwriter and a Grammy-winning producer, and is still the president of Blue Note Records. Now he has assembled a funk-jazz-rock-reggae group with vocals from Steffanie Christ’ian for an LP called “Groove in the Face of Adversity.” In new songs — and revamped ones from Hank Williams and Curtis Mayfield — the band bears down on sounds that connect the 1960s and 1970s to 2025. (Oct. 10; Mack Avenue) — PARELES
THE LAST DINNER PARTY The runaway success of “Prelude to Ecstasy,” the 2024 debut album by the Last Dinner Party, made a compelling case for maximalism: Operatic flourishes, flashy guitar solos and fanciful costuming were all part of the British group’s recipe. Still hot off its breakout year, the band will release “From the Pyre,” ambitiously pitched as a sort of concept album about concept albums. The aesthetic is flamboyant, femme and a touch bloody. (Oct. 17; Island) — HORN
MILITARIE GUN Two years after its debut, the Los Angeles rock band returns with “God Save the Gun,” a set of frayed-nerve fist-pumpers fueled by the frontman Ian Shelton’s struggles with addiction and the shadows of a destabilizing childhood. “Things you’ll never remember / I never get to forget,” he sings on “God Owes Me Money.” The barrage of chunky guitars are a salve. (Oct. 17; Loma Vista) — GANZ
TAME IMPALA Negative thoughts are nothing new for the Australian musician Kevin Parker, whose lyrics are expert at mining, and acknowledging, the mundanity of self-loathing. On “Deadbeat,” the bummer is less existential than on his previous two LPs. Through the drum-and-bass of the nearly seven-minute “End of Summer” and other sonic landscapes, these are the breakup songs of someone who realizes they may be dancing alone for a while. (Oct. 17; Columbia) — BERGERON
BRANDI CARLILE Over the past few years, Brandi Carlile has become a consummate collaborator: coaxing Joni Mitchell back to the stage, recording an album with Elton John. “Returning to Myself” centers her own explorations, with some twists: She expanded her band beyond the Hanseroth twins, who have been by her side from the start. And she produced along with Aaron Dessner, Justin Vernon and Andrew Watt. The result is songs that thrum to a broader palette, and a standout in “Church & State,” a ’90s-inflected rocker with sharp teeth. (Oct. 24; Interscope) — GANZ
ILE The Puerto Rican singer iLe takes a break from songwriting with “Como Las Canto Yo” (“How I Sing Them”), an album of her favorite vintage boleros. Backed by a small, guitar-centered group, she savors the romance, heartache and elegantly smoldering emotions of bolero, while she sets aside the old orchestral arrangements for 21st-century close-ups. (Oct. 24; La Buena Fortuna) — PARELES
SPIRITUAL CRAMP Cut in the spirit of hooky punks like the Ramones and the Hives, the San Francisco quintet Spiritual Cramp winks and swaggers through 13 tracks on its second LP, “Rude,” even tossing in a homage to the dancey indie rock of the early 2000s with “Automatic” and a spacey, dubby tune called “Violence in the Supermarket.” (Oct. 24; Blue Grape) — GANZ
HORACE SILVER In 1965, the pianist Horace Silver was holding down the center of jazz, honing and expanding the hard-bop sound that he had helped to pioneer. A never-before-released live album, “Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse,” captures him during this creative peak — and features personnel similar to that of his classic records of the era like “The Cape Verdean Blues,” with the masterful saxophone-trumpet tandem of Joe Henderson and Woody Shaw out front. (Oct. 24; Blue Note) — SHTEAMER
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE Pop’s glorious enchantress Florence Welch teased her sixth album with a video showing her screeching into a hole. (Who can relate?) “Everybody Scream” continues her flair for grand vocals and full-band dramatics with a witchier touch than usual: The LP is out on Halloween and an Instagram post hinting at its inspirations was titled “Toil and trouble.” Her writing and producing coven includes Mark Bowen of Idles, Aaron Dessner and Mitski. (Oct. 31; Republic) — GANZ
RADIOHEAD It’s been nearly a decade since Radiohead put out a new album, so we’ll take what we can get: The band revisits one of its best (and most criminally underrated), from 2003, with “Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009”). The project, which arrived digitally last month, recreates the track list of “Hail to the Thief” via newly mixed live versions performed in Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Dublin and London. You’d be forgiven for mistaking the crowd’s reaction to the opening notes of “There, There” for a World Cup goal. (Oct. 31; XL) — GANZ
DEMI LOVATO Demi Lovato’s voice is both mighty and chameleonic: She’s convincingly performed power ballads, EDM-pop fire starters and silky R&B. Most recently, Lovato has been on a pop-punk kick, going so far as to put out guitar-ified versions of her old songs. This upcoming ninth album promises another change of scenery, from the rock club to the rave. The sweat-streaked single “Fast” points the way. (October; Island) — HORN
November
ALLIE X The Canadian singer-songwriter Allie X has a gothic streak and a flair for the theatrical; she uses pop as a vehicle for elaborate concepts and characters. After embracing chilly synth-pop on last year’s “Girl With No Face,” she returns with “Happiness Is Going to Get You.” The title is more threat than promise; the album’s whimsical touches of jaunty melody and music-box piano have a dark aura, fitting for haunted dollhouses or Tim Burton films. (Nov. 7; Allie X Music) — HORN
CYRO BAPTISTA For 40-plus years, the Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista has added color and verve to a broad swath of musical settings, including concerts and recordings by Paul Simon, John Zorn, David Byrne, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma and Sting. Special guests from throughout his career are promised at these 75th birthday shows, named “A Banquet for the Spirits” in a nod to Banquet of the Spirits, his eclectic, long-running ensemble drawing on Arabic, African and Indian music as well as that of his home country. (Nov. 7, 8; Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center) — SHTEAMER
MAVIS STAPLES The sole surviving member of the Staple Singers, Mavis Staples is the sort of trailblazing artist to whom tribute can’t be overpaid. But her new (mostly) covers album “Sad and Beautiful World” turns the tables, recognizing the work of her contemporaries and successors. It features songs by Frank Ocean and Leonard Cohen; contributors include Katie Crutchfield, Justin Vernon, MJ Lendermann and Hozier. (Nov. 7; Anti-) — HORN
TORTOISE New music from Tortoise arrives less frequently these days than in the ’90s, when the Chicago outfit spearheaded a shift toward supple sounds informed by krautrock, Minimalism and early jazz fusion. The band will perform in support of “Touch,” out Nov. 11, its first album in nine years and its debut for the International Anthem and Nonesuch labels after a long association with Thrill Jockey. (Nov. 14, 15; Bowery Ballroom) — SHTEAMER
December
PATRICIA BRENNAN During the past few years, the vibraphonist Patricia Brennan has emerged as a powerfully assured composer-bandleader to watch. Building on last year’s excellent “Breaking Stretch,” her next effort, “Of the Near and Far” — due on Pyroclastic Oct. 24, and to be celebrated later at this record-release show — ventures boldly into new zones, drawing on her classical background, her love of ’90s alternative rock and her passion for astronomy. (Dec. 1; Roulette) — SHTEAMER
AL FOSTER The jazz drumming great Al Foster remained an active presence on the New York scene until shortly before his death in May at 82. “Live at Smoke,” recorded in January at the Upper West Side club and approved for release by Foster, documents his last-ever run of shows, where he led a band featuring three stellar players decades his junior: the saxophonist Chris Potter, the pianist Brad Mehldau and the bassist Joe Martin. (Dec. 5; Smoke Sessions) — SHTEAMER
Elena Bergeron is an editor and writer in the Culture section of The Times.
Caryn Ganz is The Times’s pop music editor.
Jon Pareles has been The Times’s chief pop music critic since 1988. He studied music, played in rock, jazz and classical groups and was a college-radio disc jockey. He was previously an editor at Rolling Stone and The Village Voice.
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