The Black Keys were on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday to discuss their new album, "Let's Rock." "We just kind of have always had this connection, where we can make music without really talking about it or thinking about it," says Dan Auerbach. "And when we were sixteen, that's why—that's what we realized right away. We just started playing, and it worked, you know? And that's just how it's always been." Patrick Carney adds: "I think this record—it made the most sense just to keep it simple and bring it back to the basics, which was just guitar and drums." You can hear the full interview here.

The Black Keys' ninth studio album, "Let's Rock," is out now. The long-awaited album, the band's first in five years, is a return to the straightforward rock of the singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney's early days as a band. Auerbach says, "When we're together we are The Black Keys, that's where that real magic is, and always has been since we were sixteen." The band will tour North America this fall.

Dawnbreaker, the debut album from Daughter of Swords, aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, is out now on Nonesuch. Working with Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn, who co-produced the record with her, Sauser-Monnig shaped what began as quiet reflections into confident compositions, crackling with country swagger and a sparkling pop warmth, preemptive odes to the next phase of life. Guests include Mountain Man's Amelia Meath and Molly Sarlé, bandleader Phil Cook, and guitarist Ryan Gustafson.

The Black Keys were on CBS This Morning. They spoke with host Anthony Mason about their new album, "Let's Rock," what lies ahead as the band tours this fall, and more. "I love this album," says Mason. "I think it's great. It's so good to have them back." Watch the interview here. In a feature profile on the band, the New York Times' Jon Pareles writes: "In an era of blatantly computerized pop, 'Let’s Rock' flaunts basics from yesteryear: guitars, drums, vocals."

Daughter of Swords, aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, has shared a new song, "Fields of Gold," from her upcoming album, Dawnbreaker. You can watch the lyric video, which features drawings by Sauser-Monnig and animation by Robert Edridge-Waks, below. Stereogum, which premiered the video, says of the track: "It shimmers and shines like a ray of light, a true field of gold if you will."

Devendra Banhart's new album, Ma, is due September 13, 2019, on Nonesuch Records. With tender, autobiographical vignettes, Ma displays a shift from the sonic experimentation of his previous albums to an intricate, captivating story-telling and emotional intimacy. Banhart favors organic sounds to accompany his voice and guitar, the arrangements bolstered by strings, woodwinds, brass, and keyboards. The album was produced by his longtime musical compadre Noah Georgeson and includes a background vocal from Cate Le Bon and a duet with Banhart's mentor, muse, and dear friend Vashti Bunyan. Pre-order to download the track "Kantori Ongaku," a video for which can be seen here.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi were on NPR's World Cafe to perform from the new album there is no Other and talk with host Talia Schlanger. It's "a fascinating collaboration," says Schlanger. "Both Rhiannon and Francesco are devoted students of music history whose mission is to use the past to illuminate the present and to give credit where credit’s due for the way instruments and ideas have moved over time between people. They used all that knowledge to make gorgeous music together on a new album called there is no Other." Hear the episode here.

The latest episode of Robert Plant's new podcast series, Digging Deep, digs deep into "Bones of Saints," a song from his latest album, Carry Fire. "It's about vitality. I can't hold back the hands of time or anything like that, but I can only be in environments where people really, really mean it musically," Plant says of creating new music with his band the Sensational Space Shifters. "We have a kind of inherent capacity to start a new project and know that we have business to do ... If it gets anywhere at all, this music, it ought to be saying something, it ought to be reflecting." You can listen to the episode and watch the video for the track here.

The Black Keys have shared a public service announcement. And remember, when you get your friends to pre-order the band's new album, "Let's Rock," you can say: "This is the coolest thing you've ever done in your life."

Vagabon (aka Lætitia Tamko)'s self-titled Nonesuch debut is due October 18, 2019, on Nonesuch Records. The follow up to her breakout debut, Infinite Worlds, it is an artistic leap for Tamko, who wrote and produced the entire album. Guitar-driven melodies are largely absent, replaced by hybridized analog and digital arrangements. Pre-order in the Nonesuch Store—on limited blue vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and cassette—to download the track "Flood" now and get an exclusive, limited-edition autographed print. Vagabon will tour this fall with headlining shows and a run with Angel Olsen.

In celebration of the recent release of William Brittelle's new album, Spiritual America, a walk-about concert and listening party will be held at Public Records in Brooklyn on Tuesday, June 25. The event, Forbidden Colors, is named for a piece on Spiritual America, an album on which Wye Oak, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the Metropolis Ensemble perform an electro-acoustic song cycle by Brittelle. Selections from the album will be played on the sound system between live performances by various artists, as will pieces from Daniel Wohl's new album, État.

A new full-length opera by Rhiannon Giddens will receive its world premiere at the 2020 Spoleto Festival in Charleston, then travel to Carolina Performing Arts in Chapel Hill, NC. The opera traces the spiritual journey of Omar Ibn Said, from his life in West Africa to his capture and enslavement in the Carolinas in 1807. Giddens says: "My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard, but that can also add to the conversation about what's going on now. This is a story that hasn't been represented in the operatic world—or in any world."