编年史的指南值得关注的新音乐。

NEW ALBUMS

Camila Cabello, “Familia” (Epic)

The third solo album from the former Fifth Harmony member is one of the major pop music releases of 2022.

The Cuban-born Cabello moved to Miami when she was 6 and dedicated “Familia” to the joy her family brought each other during the roughest moments of the pandemic and connecting deeply with her Latin roots. Her background definitely informs her brand of pop music with a distinct South Beach flair that’s evident on the bilingual single “Bam Bam,” featuring British megastar Ed Sheeran. Meanwhile, “Don’t Go Yet” feels like a celebratory stroll through the streets of Havana for the 25-year-old, who starred in the 2021 “Cinderella” live action remake alongside Billy Porter and Idina Menzel.

Besides Sheeran, “Familia,” also features guest appearances from Willow Smith, Argentinian urbano pop singer María Becerra and Cuban rapper Yotuel. Together with Lizzo producers Ricky Reed and Mike Sabath, and Latin Grammy-winning beat minders Edgar Barrera and Cheche Alara, they’re all helping Cabello polish her chart-topping Latin American pop.

Father John Misty, “Chloë and the Next 20th Century” (Sub Pop)

Father John Misty has always been a little strange, but it has rendered his music wholly unique.

The suave vocalist and multi-instrumentalist’s fifth album is chock-full of leisure suit indie rock, tinged with folk, country and classical sensibilities. After 2018’s decidedly cynical “God’s Favorite Customer,” he very much still has his wits about him on “Chloë’s” songs, with lyrics like “That Turkish Angora’s ‘bout the only thing left of me and you” on the splendid single “Goodbye Mr. Blue.”

FJM’s Josh Tillman has been up front about going through deep bouts of depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder in the past, and how they shaped his often mercurial personality. Now with his first new album in four years, he’s in top form with smartly penned songwriting and gorgeous arrangements in a package co-produced by fellow Laurel Canyon indie folk maestro Jonathan Wilson.

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Kehlani featuring Justin Bieber, “Up at Night” (Atlantic)

Oakland native Kehlani is gearing up to release their third album, “Blue Water Road,” on April 29, and the stakes have just been raised in a major way. The R&B singer, who recently indicated a preference for gender-neutral pronouns, is leaning deeper into pop with their latest collaboration with Justin Bieber, “Up at Night.” Produced by Pop Wansel and Rogét Chahayed, the song rides a ’90s R&B beat that feels right out of Janet Jackson’s catalog.

Bieber sings the lyrics, “And when you feel like nobody cares, I’ll be right there to remind you that …” before Kehlani takes the baton sinking wonderfully into the hook, “You keep me up at night. Up at night.” “It’s about having a healthily obsessed relationship,” Kehlani said in a statement.

LOCALLY MINDED

Rexx Life Raj, “The Blue Hour” (Empire)

One of the most dynamic forces in Bay Area hip-hop, Rexx Life Raj has been through it all this past year and then some. He coped with the deaths of both his mother and his father within months of each other and is persevering in the best way he knows how, through song.

“It all feels more meaningful now,” he toldThe Chronicle in Octoberahead of his triumphant Outside Lands performance for a hometown-heavy crowd.

Now the Berkeley native’s latest album is expected to be released this year, and the heartfelt songwriting on “The Blue Hour” is his most beautiful output to date.

“Balance” is a gorgeously produced cut where he lays out the struggle of insurmountable loss, rapping “tightrope walking, but you balancing.” He finds the silver linings in the recent ups and downs of life on “Beauty in the Madness,” co-produced by an all-Bay Area team of P-Lo, Dtb and Ekzakt, and featuring a guest verse from Washington, D.C., mainstay rapper Wale. But it’s on “Hands and Knees” where Raj bares his heart and emotions on a different level. He details being a caregiver for his parents through their last days and confesses while singing that “it broke me down into pieces.”

写这些unfath需要极大的勇气omable circumstances and present it all with poise. But throughout the album, listeners get to ride the emotional waves with Raj, from the lowest of lows to finding equilibrium through spirituality and feeling joy again in doing what he loves.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that “The Blue Hour” release has been pushed to a later date still to be determined.