Ken Tucker

Looking for music that's soothing without being sentimental? Listen to "Guilty," by Courtney Marie Andrews; "Sleeping Without You Is a Dragg," by Swamp Dogg; and "End of My Rope," by Pokey LaFarge.

Swift's eighth studio album came as a surprise. In the isolation of the past months, she's cooked up a yeasty kind of sugar-free pop that rises above much recent music-making.

The new album by three Los Angeles sisters feels like it was meant to be blasted loud in your car as you try to time all the green lights along Sunset Boulevard.