ALTERNATIVE
Anna Calvi
“Eliza” (3:42)
Producer: John Congleton
Writer: Anna Calvi
Publishers: Domino Publishing/BarBera Music
Domino
Two years after her spooky art-rock debut LP, Calvi is back with the even more bewitching “Eliza,” a gothic fairy tale of shattered youth and poisonous lust. Calvi’s operative vibrato rustles over pounding tom-toms, grand piano and surging orchestrations, and there’s even an explosive prog-rock guitar solo. -Ryan Reed
COUNTRY
Angel Mary & The Tennessee Werewolves NGEL MARY & THE TENNESSEE
“Folsom Prison Blues” (2:48)
Producers: John Carter Cash, Angel Mary & the Tennessee Werewolves
Writer: Johnny Cash
Publisher: House of Cash Music (ASCAP)
Verado Records
Johnny Cash’s famed prison song is the latest to undergo the country-rock hybrid treatment, as Angel Mary & the Tennessee Werewolves recruit Cash’s son John Carter Cash to serve as producer and amp up the guitars on this cover. There’s plenty of fiddle to go around, if the mid-song instructions to “sweat it” are any indication-this isn’t the Cash song you remember. -Jill Menze
ROCK
Phoenix
“Trying to Be Cool” (3:48)
Producers: Phoenix, Philippe Zdar
Writer: Phoenix
Publishers: Ghettoblaster Publishing/Kobalt Music Publishing America (ASCAP)
Glassnote
Phoenix’s latest “Bankrupt” single recently reappeared on Billboard’s Rock Songs chart and drew some new heat after R. Kelly, the band’s surprise guest at Coachella, hopped on a remix. However, the original track’s downward-sloping guitars and Thomas Mars’ soft-hearted desperation are worth revisiting in their own right. -Jason Lipshutz
POP
The Wanted
“We Own the Night” (3:25)
Producers: Nasri Atweh, Adam Messinger, Nolan Lambrozza
Writers: Nasri Atweh, Adam Messinger, Nolan Lambrozza
Publishers: various
Global Talent/Mercury/IDJMG
To keep up with de facto boy band rival One Direction, the Wanted has switched gears and deserted the dancefloor for new single “We Own the Night,” from the act’s often-delayed debut U.S. full-length. The track finds the five members tossing out questions of mortality before raising their glasses for a vocal hook that strongly recalls fun.’s “Some Nights.” -Jason Lipshutz
R&B
Janelle Monae featuring Miguel
“Primetime” (3:42)
PRODUCERs: Nate “Rocket” Wonder, Roman GianArthur
WRITERs: various
PUBLISHER: various
Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy/Atlantic
For her latest “Electric Lady” single, Monáe recruits fellow alt-R&B crooner Miguel for a slow-burner with its eye on the bedroom instead of the dancefloor. “Primetime” is the kind of slow jam that one might find as the centerpiece of an ’80s Prince album, right down to Miguel’s Purple One-channeling guitar solo, yet the song excels on its own future-soul merits. -Andrew Hampp