The Best New Vinyl to Spin This Fall

Day Breaks, by Norah Jones
Norah Jones returns to the piano for this upcoming album, released on translucent orange vinyl as a B&N exclusive. By her own admission, Jones has been favoring guitar over piano recently, but wrote most of this album the way she wrote her first one, drawing from soulful 1960s jazz. Day Breaks is a smokier, more intimate-sounding record than her last one, especially on tracks like “Carry On,” and even more upbeat numbers like the organ-driven “Flipside.” Accompanying her nine original songs are three covers, including Neil Young’s “Don’t Be Denied” and Duke Ellington’s “African Flower.”

Lover Beloved; Songs from An Evening with Carson Rosetta, by Suzanne Vega
This album, Vega’s ninth studio release, is based on the play Carson McCullers Talks About Love, which Vega wrote about author and playwright Carson McCullers. The idea was to capture McCullers’ essence as both a writer—McCullers remains one of the best examples of the Southern Gothic style—and a colorful personality, and Vega collaborated with much-celebrated composer Duncan Sheik to do just that. A clever writer herself, Vega moves from playful, jazzy tracks like “Harper Lee” to genuine ballads like “Annemarie,” and shines brightest in the alt-country territory of “We of Me,” where her equally sharp instrumentation and diction are best featured.

Rosetta, by Vangelis
You may not know Vangelis by name, but you’ve heard his music before. The Greek composer and electronic musician won an Oscar for scoring Chariots of Fire, and also provided music for Blade Runner and Carl Sagan’s original Cosmos documentary for PBS. He’s an important figure in electronic music, and his new album, Rosetta, is a modern treasure. Vangelis’ vast, ambient compositions mix the bombast of classical music with futuristic synth and prog-rock pacing (Vangelis has collaborated with Jon Anderson of Yes in the past). Standout tracks include “Exo Genesis,” “Philae’s Descent,” and “Sunlight.”

Holiday Wishes, by Idina Menzel
Listeners who recognize Idina Menzel as the voice of Queen Elsa in Frozen, and possibly from her roles in Rent, Wicked, and the TV show Glee, will be happy to hear that her collection of holiday songs, appropriately titled Holiday Wishes, is getting a proper vinyl release. Holiday Wishes was her first solo effort in six years when she released it in 2014, and it’s a mix of classics and newer material, including covers of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and Joni Mitchell’s “River.” She also duets with Michael Bublé on “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” and they’re both so charming they breathe new life into the lyrics.

Nobody But Me, by Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé continues dipping his toes into the waters of original songwriting with upcoming record Nobody But Me (which is, in fact, an original song). Along with the title track, Bublé had a hand in writing the album’s opener, “I Believe in You,” and reveals himself to be a more than competent pop songwriter. This album also sees Bublé take on another classic Johnny Mercer song (“I Wanna Be Around”), a Meghan Trainor song for which she contributes guest vocals (“Someday”), and Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows,” which is the album’s high point. Not only is Bublé’s vocal range perfect for the song, he sings every word like he means it, without the burden of the original version’s tangled composition.

Lighthouse, by David Crosby
Considering the length and variety of David Crosby’s music career, it’s surprising that Lighthouse is only his fifth studio album. The past couple of years have been productive for Crosby, and he cranked out this record (cowritten with Snarky Puppy’s Michael League) in something like two weeks. It’s a very stripped-down record; all nine tracks are primarily Crosby’s vocals and guitar, both of which are delivered with a plainspoken, refreshing earnestness. Lyrically, Crosby gets political in “Somebody Other Than You” and “Look In Their Eyes,” the latter of which was written in response to the Syrian refugee crisis, and proves with “Things We Do For Love” that he can still write a great love song.