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Mourning [A] BLKstar's The Cycle is necessary, secular gospel for the healing of a truly damaged nation. Their music somehow sounds like salvation.

Co-authored by Tony Fletcher, Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood features interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Bill Wyman, Paul Young, William Bell, Steve Cropper, and more. Eddie Floyd gives insights into some of his most beloved songs and relationships with Bell, Cropper and Wilson Pickett.

Jack White/Luther Dickinson collaborator, JD Simo delivers the trippy, soulful, and emotional "One of Those Days" about the importance of perseverance.

Detroit's Motown Records will forever be important as both a hit factory and an African American-owned label that achieved massive mainstream success and influence. We select our 25 favorite singles from the "Sound of Young America".

New Orleans music is renowned for its piano players. Here's a dozen jams from great Crescent City keyboardists, past and present, and a little something extra.

How did Bruce Sudano become a superhero? PopMatters has the answer as Sudano celebrates the release of Spirals and reflects on his career from Brooklyn Dreams to Broadway.

Jarrod Dickenson's rootsy, broad-ranged Americana draws deeply from tradition while forging all-new sounds on Ready the Horses.

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Featuring several originals paired with timeless covers, Live at the Paramount finds the Ruthie Foster Big Band bringing the house down.

Zeshan B's latest track "Only in My Dreams" is full of hooks and heart. He says that the melody "arrived in a dream during a period plagued by insomnia, undiagnosed sleep apnea, and severe depression".

After debuting on a 2015 record by childhood friend Earl Sweatshirt, Cassowary merges jazz, funk, soul, and hip-hop on his self-titled debut album and creates a jazz-funk gem.

As guest Artistic Director for 'The Cosmic Synthesis of Sun Ra and Afrofuturism' at Harlem Stage, funk rock icon Nona Hendryx brings audiences to other dimensions.

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Jeff Buckley's journals, photographs, and memorabilia of the late singer are compiled by his mother, Mary Guibert, and Rolling Stone's David Browne in Jeff Buckley: His Own Voice.

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Shira Elias emerges with "NAH", a confident, funk-fueled single from her upcoming solo debut EP, GOODS.

New York musical omnivore Anda spins some delicious, mellow electrosoul on "Blinded". It's also the title tune from her new EP, releasing this Friday.

Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad bring their live collaborative efforts with jazz veterans to recorded life with Jazz Is Dead 001, a taste of more music to come.

Jordan Rakei is a restless artistic spirit who brings R&B, jazz, hip-hop, and pop craft into his sumptuous, warm music. Rakei discusses his latest album and new music he's working on that will sound completely different from everything he's done so far.

"Lean on Me" singer-songwriter Bill Withers was the voice of morality in an industry without honor. It's amazing he lasted this long.

Bill Withers' Live at Carnegie Hall manages to feel both exceptionally funky and like a new level of grown-up pop music for its time.

The third time's the charm as Bay Area soul sextet Monophonics release their shiniest record yet in It's Only Us.

Stone Crush shines a light on the forgotten -- or never known -- artists that passed through the doors of Memphis' most storied studios in an attempt at just one fleeting moment of fame.

As society contends with sickness, anger, and fear, Donald Glover remedies the malignancy while fueling the anguish. 3.15.20 signals an important shift for Childish Gambino and secures the album's spot as one of the best of the year.

The Soul Motivators, one of Canada's leading funk bands, do the damn thing on their sophomore album. And they strongly encourage you to as well.

On Aloha, Son Little ponders the ambivalence of life and love, and decides he could be right. Or he could be wrong. Either way, the music is soulful and comforting.

With "Spotlight", Jessie Ware delivers a smooth pop masterpiece of driving rhythms, understated vocals, and lyrics of longing and lust.

Legendary psychedelic soulman Swamp Dogg reinvents his aesthetic or perhaps pulls back the layers to expose what he's been all along on Sorry You Couldn't Make It.

Son Little finds commonalities across jazz, hip-hop, soul, R&B, and rock. His latest album grew out of a setback, but he created a stronger, simpler, more ruminative set of songs. Here he talks about creativity and obstacles and how they work together.

Marvin Gaye's What's Going On has been called the greatest soul album of all time. But is it truly "right on"—or maybe a little bit "jive"? Counterbalance’s Mendelsohn and Klinger find out what's happening, brother.

Think of the James Hunter Six's Nick of Time as a lost jukebox of singles from that bar and grill on the edge of the nostalgia highway that always has a full parking lot of semi-trucks and convertibles, beaters, and hot rods.

For Black History Month 2020, we are showcasing films and videos featuring Black American artists. Enjoy them and learn about the origin of each Black music legend featured.

Forty years into his career, Robert Cray has been steadily building one of the most consistent catalogs of pure soul and smooth blues with the help of his stinging Stratocaster and a voice that somehow gets even better with age.

From Phil Spector's Wall of Sound to 20 Feet from Stardom, Julia, Maxine, Luther, and Oren Waters reflect on their six-decade career, including historic sessions with Herbie Hancock, Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, and countless other music legends.

Texas artists Leon Bridges and Khruangbin create some mellow, cosmic soul on a delightful EP that shows off their respective strengths.

Vocalist Martha High spent three decades with James Brown, and she tells PopMatters about her resurrected solo career as well as her path through the music industry.