The Gloria Darlings,

Come Home to Me (out now, self-released, thegloriadarlings.com): Country-folk excellence, complete with double-tracked twang vocals, fiddles, mandolins, and finger-picked guitar. Most songs deal with classic-country themes—heartbreak, longing, moving on—with “To Care About You” and “Ghost Girl” the ablest of them. CORBIN REIFF

Bill Frisell,

Big Sur (out now, Okeh Records, billfrisell.com): The most striking thing about this record is that the guitarist whose name appears on the cover remains quite content to be just another member of the band. There are exceptions in which Frisell’s iconic reverby guitar is allowed to shine—like “The Big One” and “A Beautiful View”—but overall the string section dominates the show. CR

Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood, Black Pudding (out now, Ipecac Recordings, ipecac.com): Beyond his gravelly baritone, you can never be exactly sure what Mark Lanegan’s next collaboration might sound like, given the breadth of his work with folks like Greg Dulli, Isobel Campbell, and Josh Homme. His latest collaboration, his first with British multi-instrumentalist Duke Garwood, is dark and bluesy; Lanegan’s elastic voice mostly overshadows Garwood’s musical contributions, which ultimately doesn’t serve him as well as the point/counterpoint approach that anchors his best pairings. DAVE LAKE

Lark vs. Owl, Sanguine (out now, Wandering Infinity Productions, wanderinginfinityproductions.bandcamp.com/album/sanguine): On this Mike Sebring–engineered and –mixed album, Matthew Payne and Dennis Jolin juggle multiple instruments, including glockenspiel, gong, keyboard, and ukulele, making each song sound so big that it’s hard to believe LvO is only a duo. (Sat., July 20, The White Rabbit) AZARIA PODPLESKY

Pineola, Pineola (out now, self-released, pineolaband.com): Leslie Braly’s delicate voice is at the center of the debut full-length from this Seattle quartet, which formed via the friendships of its members’ children. The songs are rootsy ballads, mostly, with steel guitar and banjo scattered throughout; drummer Collin Schulze plays with brushes rather than sticks, giving the album a sleepy, introspective vibe rather than a rocking one. (Sat., July 20, Phinney Neighborhood Center) DL

Spekulation, Truth Be Told EP (out now, self-released, spekulation.bandcamp.com/album/truthbe-told): MC/producer Spekulation didn’t have to look far to find talent to feature on his latest EP. Every guest artist, including vocalists Michele Khazak and Ripynt, violinists Alex Guy and Alina To, and cellist Maria Scherer Wilson, are from Seattle. I know what you’re thinking: violins, cellos, and hip-hop? Trust me, it works. AP

Various artists,

Twitch and Gloam: Dark Sounds From the Pacific Northwest (out now, Flat Field Records, flatfieldrecords.com): A friend of mine, a huge Joy Division fan, likes to use the phrase “Ghosting the ’Verb”—loosely defined as cranking up the reverb on a track until you can’t make out anything underneath it. This compilation of local neo-goth bands might be good, but they ghosted the ’verb so hard on every track, I can’t even really tell you. The echoey wash certainly sounds spooky, though. (Featured artist Alicia Amiri from Nightmare Fortress plays the Croc’s back bar Wed., July 17.) KELTON SEARS

Jack Wilson,

Spare Key
(out now, Fluff & Gravy Records, jack-wilson.com): Jack Wilson will inevitably invite comparisons to Elliott Smith due to his affinity for minor-key melodies and a similar backstory—a singer/songwriter from Texas relocates to the Pacific Northwest to write and record melancholic folk/pop—but Wilson is no Elliott Smith. Instead, Spare Key, his second full-length release, flourishes with string accompaniments, female choral backup vocals, and beautifully understated guitar work. Standout track “Rainbow/Tiger” is elegant in its sparse arrangement, yet full of yearning lyrics over a solo bass and sparkling-clean guitar riff. It should also be noted that the album—which also features local power couple Sean Nelson and Shenandoah Davis—was made in response to the May 2012 shootings at Cafe Racer, where Wilson often performed. CR