Today marks the release of the new, self-titled record from St Germain (aka Ludovic Navarre), his first in 15 years, and it's "well worth the wait," says the Independent. The album marries percussive grooves, which have always been central to his sound, with a new element: traditional Malian music. "St Germain is a remarkable album of rewarding and organic music," exclaims All About Jazz in a five-star review. "It is really a rare occurrence that an electronic music is crafted with so much style and substance as this record." There are moments "that lift the music into the higher spirit realms," says NPR. Mixmag says it "never strays from the sublime." It "deftly balances tradition and modernity and begs repeated listening," says Jazzwise. "Navarre continues to revolutionise electronic music."

The Arcs have unveiled the video for "Outta My Mind," off Yours, Dreamily, their recently released debut album. The video premiered on The Huffington Post, which says: "A dreamy gift of garage blues wrapped in fuzzy, soulful guitar, the album is a refreshing shift from [Dan] Auerbach that you'll want to keep on repeat all weekend long." Watch the video here. Yours, Dreamily, is WFUV's New Dig and Album of the Week from The Current, which says "this album is chock full of memorable, hooky jams ... [Auerbach] can't help but write songs that get stuck in your brain."

Rhiannon Giddens and Punch Brothers' double bill at the Southern Fried Festival in Perth, Scotland, on Friday was featured on a two-hour show of festival highlights on BBC Radio Scotland's Another Country with Ricky Ross. The first hour is devoted to Giddens, the second hour to Punch Brothers. You can hear it at bbc.co.uk. The concert earned perfect five star reviews from both the Scotsman and the Herald Scotland, which calls Giddens' set "sensational" and Punch Brothers' "breath-taking."

Rhiannon Giddens, Punch Brothers, and Olivia Chaney all performed at the Cambridge Folk Festival this weekend, and judging by the Guardian review, all went well, to say the least. "Giddens was a revelation" and "Chaney showed how it should be sung," says the Guardian's Robin Denselow of their Saturday sets, and "the finest performance of the night came from one of the most inventive acoustic bands on the planet," says Denselow of Punch Brothers' "magnificent" Sunday set. Giddens and Chaney also performed for BBC Radio 2's coverage from Cambridge, which can be heard at bbc.co.uk.

Lianne La Havas made a brief trip to the US for a set at the Essence Festival and sold-out shows in LA and NYC last week. "[W]hat comes across first is the sheer grace of her voice," says the New York Times review of the NYC show. "It can be a breathy purr, a lilting tease, a liquid confession or a torchy declaration ... She was already distinctive on her 2012 debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, which fused neo-soul, folk and jazz in songs built around her briskly syncopated guitar playing, often juggling three-against-two patterns behind supple tunes ... Her music pushes further in the songs on [her new album,] Blood." La Havas returns to North America to tour this fall.

The Staves' new album, If I Was, "is perhaps the most achingly beautiful album released this year," exclaims New York NPR member station WFUV, which has named it New Dig of the week. "If I Was is a heavenly blend of soft, billowy folk and grand anthems of yearning, desire and heartbreak ... Discovering toughness and tenderness concurrently on this handsome release, The Staves are bright stars illuminating the pop music landscape." The trio will be at Justin Vernon's Eaux Claires Festival this weekend.

Rhiannon Giddens's album Tomorrow Is My Turn is among NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums of 2015 (So Far). "The first thought that takes over during a listen to Rhiannon Giddens' solo debut is: This woman can sing anything," exclaims NPR. "Stop marveling for a moment and this impeccably constructed, hotly executed collection reveals the brain and soul that feed the extraordinary voice." She kicks off a European tour in London on Tuesday. Also on the list is the debut album from Congolese band Mbongwana Star, From Kinshasa. The album, a World Circuit release distributed in North America by Nonesuch, "is at once earthy and totally futuristic," says NPR. "[Y]ou hear the band's metamorphic power throttling straight into the fringes of the great beyond."

Songlines magazine has posted its list of the Top 25 Mali Albums, originally from the July 2013 issue of the magazine, and included are several artists and albums familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabaté, Amadou & Mariam, Rokia Traoré, Oumou Sangare, and Fatoumata Diawara. "Mali remains a wellspring of great music and culture," says Songlines. "After much deliberation, we are proud to present the top 25 albums to come from Mali, reminding us that there is an endless amount to celebrate in its music."

The Staves' Nonesuch Records debut album, If I Was, has been named to Stereogum's list of the 50 Best Albums of 2015 So Far. "Some albums demand gushing, so here goes: Once I got past thinking of the Staveley-Taylor sisters as Justin Vernon's pet project or the English folk-rock Haim and immersed myself in If I Was, I scoffed at past-me for ever seeing them as anything but the Staves, one of the greatest bands in the universe," exclaims Stereogum's Chris DeVille. "These 12 elegies for a failed romance are brutally honest and unimaginably beautiful."

Rhiannon Giddens's debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, has been named to Rolling Stone's list of the 45 Best Albums of 2015 So Far. "Over the past two years, Rhiannon Giddens has become one of the most promising voices in American roots music," exclaims Rolling Stone. On the album, she gives classic songs made famous by Nina Simone, Dolly Parton, Odetta, and more "a freshness and vitality that feel right at home in 2015." Also on the list is the debut album from Congolese band Mbongwana Star, From Kinshasa. The album, a World Circuit release distributed in North America by Nonesuch, is a "heady and high-energy Afrofuturist collaboration," says Rolling Stone.

Rhiannon Giddens was the subject of a feature on PBS NewsHour, looking at her solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn. "Her debut celebrates women who influenced her, some famous like Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline, others, like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Libba Cotten, much less so," says NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown. "The album also showcases Giddens’ range through gospel, blues, country, and jazz." Watch the NewsHour piece here. Forbes, reviewing her recent NYC tour stop, exclaims: "Besides a thrilling voice, she comes at you with a barrage of sounds and sights and movements from an arsenal of talents that will positively floor you ... She’s a musician’s musician, and, moreover, a people’s musician, one of the best ever."

The Staves' new Justin Vernon–produced album, If I Was, is out now on CD and digitally in the US on Nonesuch Records, with vinyl due April 21. The trio brings "angelic harmonies" to the "consistently daring" album, writes the New York Times' Jon Pareles. "[T]he songs are illuminated from within." "This entire record is essential listening," raves Stereogum. "The Staveley-Taylor sisters possess the kind of voices that make able-bodied writers lose control of their capacity to avoid terms like ethereal, angelic, and otherworldly." The album earns four stars from the Guardian, Sun, MusicOMH, and Daily Mirror, which calls it "ravishing and inspired ... with astonishing vocals ... an unfailingly tender touch, freshness and natural warmth."