As 2020 draws to a close, and the Nonesuch Journal takes a bit of a hiatus till the start of what we hope will be a much happier, healthier new year, it's time to take a look back and remember all of the great and diverse music made by Nonesuch artists over the past year—despite and in some cases in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Nonesuch artists and their recent Nonesuch releases have made music critics' and fans' year-end best lists. Here, in words and music and in chronological order, is a look back at the year in Nonesuch music, in gratitude.

Lianne La Havas has released Live at the Roundhouse, an EP of five tracks she performed during an intimate live-streamed concert from the famed London venue in July.  The EP includes four songs from her new, self-titled album, as well as “Midnight” from her previous album, Blood. You can watch La Havas’ Roundhouse performance of “Bittersweet” from the Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s #PlayAtHome series here. Vocalist Frida Touray joins for the song and on “Midnight.”

The Black Keys' Brothers (Deluxe Remastered Anniversary Edition), an expanded version of their watershed 2010 multi-platinum, Grammy-winning sixth studio album, is out now in the US and Canada and on January 1, 2021, in all other territories, via Nonesuch Records, on which the record is newly available throughout the world. To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Brothers' new edition includes three added bonus songs—“Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth,” “Black Mud Part II,” and “Chop and Change”—available in three formats: a 7” box set, a 2-LP set, and a CD.

Mountain Man has shared a live video of its performance of Kacey Musgraves' "Slow Burn," from the third and final set of its streaming concert series Live From the Garden, which you can watch here. The trio had previously recorded "Slow Burn" for Mountain Man Sings Kacey Musgraves, part of its series of covers songs.

Joachim Cooder releases a cover of Steve Earle’s timely “Christmas in Washington” today. Recorded two weeks ago in Los Angeles, the single features Cooder, who produced the track, on vocals, array mbira, and percussion; Rayna Gellert on fiddle; and Juliette Commagere on backing vocals. "Since Steve Earle released ‘Christmas in Washington’ in 1997," says Cooder, "I’ve been listening to it year in and year out. After the election and the last four years we’ve been through, and with Christmas approaching, I thought it was time we all checked back in with Steve. Now more than ever, it seems all a man can do is call out for Woody Guthrie to rise again."

Just in time for the holidays, The Staves have released an intimate live performance video of their 2018 holiday tune "Home Alone, Too," which you can watch here. The original recording can be heard at the close of the Christmas Eve episode of the new Netflix series Dash & Lily.

Mountain Man has shared a live video of its performance of Wilco's "You and I," from its streaming concert series Live From the Garden, which you can watch here. The third and final concert takes place this Thursday, December 17. The band filmed the three shows in North Carolina: in the woods, at home, and by the fire. Each night has a different set list.

The Staves' Camilla and Jessica Staveley-Taylor in London spoke with The Current's Jill Riley in St. Paul, Minnesota, about the upcoming Staves album, Good Woman, due February 5. You can watch the conversation, which touches on life, loss, renewal, and, well, Dawson's Creek, plus a live performance of the new album's title track here.

Mountain Man has shared a live video of "Moon," a song from its 2018 Nonesuch debut album, Magic Ship, performed for the second of its streaming concert series, Live From the Garden, last night, which you can watch here. The third and final concert takes place next Thursday, December 17. The band filmed the three shows in North Carolina: in the woods, at home, and by the fire. Each night has a different set list.

"I can't overstate the tremendous beauty and mastery glimmering here," says Simon Rentner, host of WGBO's The Checkout, about Brad Mehldau's new album, Suite: April 2020. Mehldau discusses the album, which he wrote while sheltering at home with his family and recorded during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with WBGO's Nate Chinen on the latest episode of the show, which you can hear here.

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider has released a video for 'Credo' from her critically acclaimed new album, Mass for the Endangered. The video by CandyStations, aka Deborah Johnson, is the fourth in the series for the album from the visual artist, following 'Alleluia,' 'Kyrie,' and 'Sanctus/Benedictus.'

Nonesuch Records releases its second album from Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Caroline Shaw, Narrow Sea, on January 22, 2021. The title piece was written for Sō Percussion, Dawn Upshaw, and Gilbert Kalish, who perform it on this recording: five parts, each a new setting of a text from The Sacred Harp nineteenth century collection of shape-note hymns. Also on the album is Sō Percussion's performance of Shaw's Taxidermy, which she wrote for the ensemble. A video for Part 2 of Narrow Sea can be seen here.