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.

Composer William Brittelle has shared the full score for and story of "Forbidden Colors," from his new album, Spiritual America. On the album, Wye Oak, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the Metropolis Ensemble perform a genre-defying electro-acoustic song cycle written by Brittelle, who works to reconcile his youth in a conservative Christian household with his adult life as an "agnostic Buddhist." You can download the "Forbidden Colors" score and follow along as Brittelle breaks it down 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.

Joshua Redman Quartet plays Saratoga Jazz Fest in upstate New York … Sam Amidon concludes US tour with Bruce Hornsby … Lake Street Dive plays Minneapolis, Milwaukee … Gaby Moreno concludes tour with David Gray out West … Robert Plant returns to Norway … Caroline Shaw performs with Roomful of Teeth at Caramoor in upstate New York … Yola opens for The Killers in Cardiff, plays Glastonbury Fest …

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."

The Rhiannon Giddens–hosted podcast series Aria Code, presented by The Metropolitan Opera and WQXR, has returned with a special episode. It's focused on the aria "The Trees on the Mountain," from Carlisle Floyd's opera Susannah, which Giddens performs on her new album, there is no Other. She is joined by soprano Renée Fleming, writer/director Thomas Holliday, and feminist writer Leora Tanenbaum. You can hear the episode, including Fleming’s 1999 performance of the aria and Giddens's own from the new album, here.

Brad Mehldau Quintet leads Village Vanguard residency in NYC … Sam Amidon plays solo set in Brooklyn, tours with Bruce Hornsby … Daughter of Swords supports Mandolin Orange … Emmylou Harris is in Colonial Williamsburg … Gabriel Kahane brings Book of Travelers back to NYC … Kronos Quartet live-scores documentary in East Hampton ... Lake Street Dive, Punch Brothers play Telluride Bluegrass … Gaby Moreno continues tour with David Gray … Robert Plant tours Scandinavia ... Yola is in Spain …

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.