Despite the fact that the album is still almost entirely solo ... the songs seem poppier, trippier; far more open-ended.
You won't hear a more open hearted, impassioned and lyrically rich roots album this year.
Still walking the high wire, with Something More Than Free, Jason Isbell continues his streak of genre-defining masterworks.
Loyalty is undeniably a folk album, underpinned by Lindeman's finger-picked guitar, spacious piano and banjo, her husky, timeless voice having taken on a new maturity, every word now clearly articulated.
Rather than breaking from Newsom's tradition of complex, bewitching songwriting, Divers feels like the culmination of all of Newsom's incredible work over the past decade.
It's Stevens' own life and relationships that he mines here with his trademark deftness and nuance. And gosh, what agonizing, cathartic beauty he's shared.