Star-Crossed cover

Star-Crossed

Released

This is her 808s and Heartbreak, if we pay attention to the artwork, the sense of leaving a genre behind, and suffering some kind of emotional spike (up or down, hard to say). The press tells us it’s all about divorce, but that’s not particularly clear from the lyrics. “Good Wife” makes it sound like they’re still trying to work it out, over an easy groove that some French DJs would call “slow disco.” She gets into all kinds of territory here that falls between many more genres, sounding like she could sub for both k.d. lang and Ariana Grande?

Sasha Frere-Jones

Recommended by

Suggestions
Memory’s Fool cover

Memory’s Fool

Fortunato Durutti Marinetti
Say Laura cover

Say Laura

Eric Chenaux
Chapter & Verse cover

Chapter & Verse

Bruce Springsteen
Microphones in 2020 cover

Microphones in 2020

The Microphones
Big Time cover

Big Time

Angel Olsen
Carrie & Lowell cover

Carrie & Lowell

Sufjan Stevens
Grievous Angel cover

Grievous Angel

Gram Parsons
Perfect Light cover

Perfect Light

40 Watt Sun
Glorious Fool cover

Glorious Fool

John Martyn