Chiddy Bang

“BREAKFAST”

Virgin Records

Chiddy Bang — the Philadelphia duo of Chidera Anamege and Noah Bersin — shows how important “Breakfast” really is. While mainstream hip-hop gets boxed in by formulas, Chiddy Bang simply plays around with different styles.

The inventive single “Ray Charles” bounces all over a ’50s soul groove and feels more like ’90s De La Soul than today’s more dance-oriented rap. “Happening,” featuring the lovely V.V. Brown, is a lighthearted slice of fizzy, OutKast-ish pop, while “Baby Roulette,” with its video game sound effects, should cement Chiddy Bang as one of 2012’s breakout stars.

Magnetic Fields

“LOVE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA”

Merge Records

Stephin Merritt’s Magnetic Fields, after detouring for album-length considerations of “Distortion” and the letter “i,” have returned to love, the concept they cleverly tackled in the landmark “69 Love Songs.”

For “Love at the Bottom of the Sea,” there are more clever short stories — starting boldly with the new-wave tale of abstinence “God Wants Us to Wait” paired with the joyous, Beach Boys-styled pop of “Andrew in Drag.”

Aside from building memorable melodies and clever one-liners, Merritt’s biggest talent may be his brevity. None of the songs breaks three minutes, yet he can craft a fully formed, murderous world in “Your Girlfriend’s Face,” declaring, “I’ve taken a contract out on y’all for making me feel incredibly small.”

Though most of the album elegantly centers on spare, electro-pop, the most memorable track is “All She Cares About Is Mariachi,” where Merritt invents a new electro-Mariachi genre to charmingly match his lyrics.

“Love at the Bottom of the Sea” may not have the depth or the ambition of the “69 Love Songs” cycle, but it certainly delivers a good time.

Andrew Bird

“BREAK IT YOURSELF”

Mom + Pop Records

Andrew Bird writes thoughtful songs that are as prone to flights of fancy as they are to academic diction. He is a casual and sensitive singer, an even better whistler, and an even better-than-that violinist. And on “Break It Yourself,” his first album of new songs since 2009’s “Noble Beast,” all of those talents come together in a near-perfect balance.

It’s a mostly subdued album with songs that flow gradually and often end up in very different places from where they started. “Orpheo Looks Back” begins in plucky syncopation, but violins begin sawing, looping and conversing, and Bird whistles a refrain between verses that allude to Orpheus, the mythic Greek musician.

“Desperation Breeds …” begins with a murmuring pulse as Bird considers “accidental pollination in this era without bees,” and the song builds to an arabesque of “peculiar incantations.”

It’s gorgeous, as is the rest of this impressive album

Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Will Johnson and Anders Parker

“NEW MULTITUDES”

Rounder Records

Since Nora Guthrie opened her father’s archives to select artists, we’ve been treated to several collections of newly unearthed Woody Guthrie lyrics set to new tunes, starting with the two volumes of Billy Bragg and Wilco’s “Mermaid Avenue.”

Like that project, “New Multitudes” is a collaboration, in this case of lead guys associated with alt-country bands. Son Volt’s Jay Farrar, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson, and Varnaline’s Anders Parker alternate lead vocals but share harmonies and guitar leads throughout.

It’s no surprise that Guthrie’s plainspoken lyrics, many penned during his Los Angeles years in the 1930s, make perfect songs. More surprising is how easily they’re turned into what sound like great Son Volt rockers or My Morning Jacket acoustic ballads.

Bruce Springsteen

“WRECKING BALL”

Columbia Records

Bruce Springsteen talks about how he wrote his album “The Rising” after a fan stopped him on the street after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and begged for new music, saying, “We need you now.”

You can almost imagine that a similar plea inspired his new album, “Wrecking Ball,” as Springsteen takes the shocks caused by America’s economic crisis as seriously as he took the losses at the World Trade Center. And, once again, he answered the call with one of the best albums of his career.

“Wrecking Ball” acknowledges the struggle of everyday Americans, offering the 99 percent their own personalized soundtrack and confirmation that their worries have been heard. Springsteen then goes the extra mile and also provides uplifting anthems to help get us through.

There are moments of darkness here. “This Depression” sounds desperate and fitful, while “Swallowed Up (in the Belly of the Whale)” is wrenching with its hauntingly empty arrangement. Perhaps even more upsetting is “Jack of All Trades,” where Springsteen repeatedly sings “I’m a jack of all trades, honey, we’ll be all right” in a wavering voice that suggests he might not actually believe his comforting words. He sounds far more certain, though, once the mournful piano switches to a raucous guitar solo and he thinks about taking revenge on those responsible for his troubles.

Springsteen’s inspirational declarations are even more effective. “Land of Hope and Dreams,” which has been part of his live show since the ’90s when he reunited with the E Street Band, finally found a home on a studio album, and its surroundings couldn’t be more complementary.

The title track from “Wrecking Ball” has also been a fan favorite from recent E Street Band tours.

“Wrecking Ball” (the song) will eventually stand next to “Born to Run” as one of the defining songs of both Springsteen and his fans. “Wrecking Ball” (the album) will show that the 62-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer still has some amazing surprises left in him.