The top 10 albums out on Oct. 29 : All Songs Considered : NPR

We open this week’s show with the Philly band The War on Drugs, whose rock songs fill stadiums while still finding room to breathe and sprawl. Its fifth album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, is the follow-up to 2017’s A Deeper Understanding, which won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. Chicago’s Mick Jenkins makes rap records that draw on not only hip-hop, but also spoken-word and jazz, not to mention a wide-ranging knowledge of history — musical and otherwise. His outstanding new record is called Elephant in the Room. Tori Amos continues her remarkable career on her 16th album, Ocean to Ocean, which mixes the personal, the political and the mystical. Colorado singer-songwriter Emily Scott Robinson mixes folk and country with gorgeous, clear-eyed examinations of faith, hope and regret; her stunning new album is American Siren. And Palberta’s Lily Konigsberg makes her official solo debut with Lily We Need to Talk Now, a smart and funny record full of sly hooks and wry, sideways humor.

Albums by DJ, producer and all-around thinker Eris Drew, versatile Chilean singer-songwriter Mon Laferte, tuba-rocking polymath Theon Cross, bold Americana storyteller Lilli Lewis and versatile jazz drummer and bandleader Johnathan Blake round out the mix, along with a packed lightning round. Joined by writer Christina Lee and Vocalo Radio’s Ayana Contreras, as well as NPR’s Nate Chinen, Hazel Cills, Jewly Hight, Lyndsey McKenna and Ann Powers, guest host Stephen Thompson shares the gang’s picks for the best new albums out October 29.

Featured Albums

1. The War on Drugs — I Don’t Live Here Anymore
   Featured Song: “Change”
2. Mick Jenkins — Elephant in the Room
   Featured Song: “Stiff Arm”
3. Tori Amos — Ocean to Ocean
   Featured Song: “Speaking With Trees”
4. Emily Scott Robinson — American Siren
   Featured Song: “Let ‘Em Burn”
5. Lily Konigsberg — Lily We Need to Talk Now
   Featured Song: “Alone”
6. Eris Drew — Quivering in Time
   Featured Song: “Show U Love”
7. Mon Laferte — 1940 Carmen
   Featured Song: “Algo Es Mejor”
8. Theon Cross — Intra-I
   Featured Song: “40Tude”
9. Lilli Lewis — Americana
   Featured Song: “Wrecking Ball”
10. Johnathan Blake — Homeward Bound
    Featured Song: “Homeward Bound (For Ana Grace)”

Other notable releases for October 29:

Ed Sheeran — =; Migos — Culture III; Jónsi — Obsidian; Death Cab for Cutie — The Photo Album (20th Anniversary Edition); R.E.M. — New Adventures in Hi-Fi (25th Anniversary Edition); Spice Girls — Spice (25th Anniversary Edition); Johnny Cash — Bear’s Sonic Journals: Johnny Cash at the Carousel Ballroom, April 24 1968; Maya Jane Coles — Night Creature; They Might Be Giants — BOOK; Charlotte Cornfield — Highs in the Minuses; Hayes Carll — You Get It All; Sam Evian — Time to Melt; Marissa Nadler — The Path of the Clouds; Mastodon — Hushed and Grim