By Christopher R. Weingarten, David Fricke, Jody Rosen, Jon Dolan, Jon Freeman, Hank Shteamer, Elias Leight, Jonathan Bernstein, Brittany Spanos, Charles Aaron, Mosi Reeves, Kory Grow, Jessica Hopper,Simon Vozick-Levinson, Richard Gehr, Maura Johnston, Joe Levy, Will Hermes, Rob Sheffield,Meaghan Garvey

David Byrne, 'American Utopia'

We Say: American Utopia – abetted by an old comrade (Brian Eno, contributing beats) and new ones (Daniel "Oneohtrix Point Never" Lopatin, Sampha/XX producer Rodaidh McDonald) – boasts some of the most exciting music Byrne has made in years. The balance of light and dark is especially compelling on "Bullet," a travelogue of just that ("His skin did part in two/Skin that women had touched") and "Everybody's Comin' to My House," a sort of agoraphobic's kidnapping fantasy. W.H.