Soar Tom

Surrounded by Time is Tom Jones' 42nd album, his first since the passing of wife Linda in 2016. Since 1965, the Welsh vocalist, possessed of a singular booming baritone, has sung almost every form of popular music of all stripes. This is Jones' fourth album with producer Ethan Johns, and includes his manager/son Mark Woodward as co-producer. Surrounded by Time differs from Jones' previous outings with Johns, which were rooted in Americana sources. The set opens with a sparsely orchestrated reinvention of Bernice Johnson Reagon's activist classic "I Won't Crumble with You If You Fall." Jones performs the lyric like a gospel preacher atop Neil Cowley's and Johns' layered Moogs, Nick Pini's arco bass, and Dan See's mallets.

Rise, Tom Keifer’s second solo album, pulls at both sides of his previous effort, The Way Life Goes. Gritty songs are a bit harder and more riff-driven. Introspective songs delve deeper, both musically and in subject matter. Believability provides a backstop to sounds that may feel welcome, outdated or completely foreign, depending on the audience…