Sturgill Simpson

“METAMODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY MUSIC”

Thirty Tigers Records

The album title is an intriguing one, and the first number, “Turtles (All the Way Down),” is certainly a trippy affair, with its mentions of “reptile aliens” and mind-altering substances, as well as Jesus, Buddha and the Devil. But don’t be fooled: On his second album, Sturgill Simpson remains hard-core country at heart — more Waylon than way out.

Simpson might have more on his mind than the average honky-tonker or new-country hunk — “Gonna transmigrate to my destination/ Far beyond time in an eternal dream,” he sings on “Just Let Go.” But his musings are tethered mostly to chip-kicking barroom twang, and he’s not above delivering such age-old sentiments as this from the swaggering “Life of Sin”: “Gonna drink myself silly/ Only way for this hillbilly.” Like any good country boy, Simpson can also deliver a dose of straight-up gospel, as he does with “A Little Light Within.”

— Nick Cristiano,

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires

“DERECONSTRUCTED”

Sub Pop Records

From Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Black Crowes to the Drive-By Truckers, Southern rockers have been acutely self-conscious about where they come from, writing songs steeped in history, local color, memories, everyday life, expectations and paradoxes. Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires, a four-man band from Alabama, proudly join the Southern-rock tradition of wild-eyed music hitched to serious deliberation.

“Dereconstructed,” the band’s second album, ponders Southern identity in a welter of cranked-up guitars, bristling drums and rasping, hollering vocals. It’s pandemonium with a conscience.

Bains played guitar in the last lineup of the Dexateens, a fondly remembered Alabama band that supercharged Southern rock with punk. Bains’ 2012 debut album with the Glory Fires, “There Is a Bomb in Gilead,” eased off the noise and speed, looking toward the lucidity of the Allman Brothers, but “Dereconstructed” blasts anew. Bains accelerates all the way into punk in “Flags,” raging through lyrics that touch on slavery, the Civil War, women’s clinic bombings and the Pledge of Allegiance.

But most of “Dereconstructed” is genre-proud Southern rock with 21st-century momentum. In “Dirt Track,” Bains sings about “squeezing glory out of three rusty chords,” which is one task he sets himself. The Glory Fires repatriate the two-guitar mesh of the Rolling Stones back toward a raw swampland twang that sounds like the band’s own birthright.

The album begins with a blare of distorted rhythm guitar and Bains working himself up, unscripted, moaning and soon yowling, “Oh, yessir, tell me why, tell me why, tell me why, yeah, yeah, YEAH,” followed by a high, flat-out scream. He never finds out why, but that spirit of questioning, flailing and just letting rip makes every song crackle.

ON TOUR: June 18 — Mississippi Studios, Portland; www.mississippistudios.com or 503-288-3895.

June 19 — Sam Bond’s Garage, Eugene; www.sambonds.com.

— Jon Pareles,

The New York Times

Sharon Van Etten

“ARE WE THERE”

Jagjaguwar Records

Sharon Van Etten sings simple love songs that are anything but simple. On her fourth and best album, the North Jersey native songwriter teams with veteran producer Stewart Lerman and collaborates with a cast of musical helpmates that includes Dave Hartley and Adam Granduciel of Philadelphia band the War On Drugs to craft a set of 11 wounded, openhearted songs that soar with heightened emotional intensity.

Van Etten’s voice sweeps you up in its richly luxurious tone, and here she varies and refines her approach. The quietly hypnotic “Our Love” sneaks in lyrics like “I’m reliving my own hell.” The majestically wounded “Your Love is Killing Me” is enacted on a mythic plane akin to epic heartbreak songs such as Lucinda Williams’ “I Changed the Locks.” And the supervulnerable “You Know Me Well” and “Break Me” make the search for “your own true self” seem an operatic matter of life and death.

ON TOUR: July 2-3 — Doug Fir Lounge, Portland; www.ticketfly.com or 877-435-9849.

— Dan DeLuca,

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Mariah Carey

“ME. I AM MARIAH … THE ELUSIVE CHANTEUSE”

Def Jam Recordings

Mariah Carey is at her best when she feels like the underdog.

It’s a tough mindset for her, considering she was crowned the top-selling female artist of the last millennium and has more No. 1 singles than any other woman.

After several high-profile delays and changes of direction, Carey heads back to her musical sweet spot on “Me. I Am Mariah … The Elusive Chanteuse”: big R&B ballads that show off her powerful voice and its stunning range. While Carey, in recent years, has been concerned with sounding timely, on “Chanteuse,” she goes for timeless, with grand results.

Carey hasn’t abandoned her love of hip-hop production, but she’s opting for a more laid-back approach this time. On “Dedicated,” she pays tribute to hip-hop’s heyday with Nas, but settles into a ’90s-style groove, while “Made It Look Good” feels like an early Kanye West production. Her duet with Wale, “You Don’t Know What to Do,” floats by on disco-era breeziness. Even the new single, “Thirsty,” manages to be strong-willed without being aggressive.

It’s a balance that may be elusive to many, but Carey has nailed it once again on “Chanteuse,” her strongest effort since 1995’s “Daydream.”

— Glenn Gamboa,

Newsday