Cat Power · 1998 · She wrote these songs after a night of screaming, sang them once, and never played them the same way again.

Cat Power · 2006 · She walked into Ardent Studios with the Memphis Rhythm Band and a stack of broken-hearted songs — no safety net, no lo-fi hiding place.

A Girl Called Eddy · 2004 · She sat on the follow-up for fifteen years. This one record made the wait almost worth it.

Sarah McLachlan · 1993 · She turned piano ballads into stadium-filling anthems without losing the whisper.

Jenny Lewis · 2014 · Produced by Ryan Adams at his home studio, this album sounds like the last honest record to come out of that strange era.

Natalie Prass · 2015 · The producer of the album also runs Spacebomb Records, and this is what happens when you let a 23-year-old with punk roots write a soul record for a 40-piece orchestra.

Gary Clark · 2014 · The Scottish songwriter who gave us Danny Wilson finally made the quiet album he always had in him.

Bedouine · 2017 · Folk songs built from intuition rather than rules.

Neil Young · 1974 · The one where he stopped trying to make friends and started making records that sounded like the inside of his head.

Kadhja Bonet · 2016 · She plays harp and sings like a lost session singer from 1972—but the record came out in 2016.

Leonard Cohen · 1967 · The voice you either fall into or never understand — but the writing is beyond question.

Van Morrison · 1968 · Van Morrison walked into Century Sound Studios with a guitar and a notebook and walked out with something nobody had ever heard before.

Laura Nyro · 1969 · She married the grit of New York to the ache of gospel and called it a tendaberry.

Bill Withers · 1973 · He walked out nervous, cracked a few jokes, then turned Carnegie Hall into a living room. This is the sound of a man who knew he had nothing to prove, and proved everything anyway.

Steve Goodman · 1971 · He wrote 'City of New Orleans' on a napkin during an Amtrak ride. The version on this record is the one nobody made for radio.

Townes Van Zandt · 1968 · A drunk poet walks into a Nashville barn and records the saddest songs you'll ever hear.

Kris Kristofferson · 1970 · A man who flew helicopters and swept floors before writing songs that feel like confessions.

John Prine · 1971 · The mailman who wrote 'Sam Stone' and 'Angel from Montgomery' before anyone knew his name.

Jessica Pratt · 2019 · She recorded this in a Brooklyn closet on a two-track. It sounds like secrets.

Adrianne Lenker · 2020 · She set up two microphones in a rented cabin and didn't let herself fix anything.