As folk duo West of Roan, Annie Schermer (left) and Channing Showalter seek the commonalities among legends, myths and folktales from diverse spots on the globe. Blake McMeekin/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Zach Bryan's fifth album in five years, The Great American Bar Scene, features love songs, thorny anthems, autobiographical lore and even a mini-arc that directly invokes classic Bruce Springsteen songs. Keith Griner/Getty Images hide caption

On Santa Cruz, the third in Pedro the Lion's planned five-part album series, David Bazan continues to understand himself and the world that made him. Ryan Russell/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Artists like Superchunk, Neurosis, Pixies, Low, Mogwai and Joanna Newsom came to recording engineer Steve Albini when they had something righteous or defiant to proclaim. Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty hide caption

On Taylor Swift's 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, her artistry is tangled up in the details of her private life and her deployment of celebrity. But Swift's lack of concern about whether these songs speak to and for anyone but herself is audible throughout the album. Beth Garrabrant/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter has ignited discourse about the place of Black musicians in country music. But it's also evidence of its creator's desire to break genre walls by following her most eccentric impulses. Mason Poole/Courtesy of the artist hide caption