LIZZIE NO Halfsies (Thirty Tigers) — Halfsies, the third album from New Jersey–bred and New York–based singer-songwriter Lizzie No, operates only in full measures. Born Lizzie Quinlan, No makes songs with an ease that makes them seem intuitive. But there’s a lot of craft and creative to be found on her assemblage of folk-pop numbers. The title cut is reminiscent of Kimya Dawson, particularly in its prowling-romping melodic sense, but it’s fuller in its execution, shunting aside the freak part of freak folk. Across the album, the artist Lizzie No calls to mind most is Emmy the Great, who made charming, slyly subversive songs that showed how pop and folk could coexist in the new millennium. Other comparisons come to mind, too: “Lagunita” is a rocker that suggests what Sheryl Crow could do with better materials, and “Getaway Car” melds Bruce Springsteen’s storytelling with the hoedown punch of Old 97’s. An advocate of Black women getting their due in country music spaces, No evokes early Kacey Musgraves with the sweet country drawl of “The Heartbreak Store” and “Deadbeat.” Much as all these other names provide other helpful comparisons, No is strong enough as a performer that she stands on her own. Go all-in with the following additional cuts: “Sleeping in the Next Room,” “Annie Oakley,” and “Shield and Sword.”

POUTY Forgot About Me (Get Better) — Around a decade ago, Rachel Gagliardi and her pal Michelle Zauner decided they needed to kickstart their creativity. They committed to writing and recording one song every day for an entire month. For Zauner, the process led straight to a project she dubbed Japanese Breakfast, and the rest is the stuff of indie rock legend. Although the gestation period for Gagliardi’s offshoot was a little longer, the end result is just as energizing. Forgot About Me, her first outing in the project Gagliardi dubbed Pouty, delivers a delirious dose of pop-puffed hard rock songs. On “TV on TV,” which travels to the OC to evoke the Phantom Planet’s “California,” Gagliardi sings, “I’m feeling just like Courtney/ We’re living like the nineties.” That’s a useful answer key for anyone trying to crack open the album’s inner truths. Forgot About Me is packed with thick, satisfying slabs of song, whether the fab guitar assaults in chewy standout “The Big Stage” or the glorious power pop on “Virgos Need More Love.” On “Denial Is a Heavy Drug,” Gagliardi positions herself as a peer of the Beths, and that’s some dandy creative company to be in these days. Pouty’s debut was worth waiting for. Remember these tracks: “Salty,” “Denial Is a Heavy Drug,” the wild ride of “Kill a Feeling,” and “Underwear.”

MADI DIAZ Weird Faith (Anti-) — How does an artist follow a breakthrough such as the one Madi Diaz experiences with her fifth solo album, History of a Feeling, released in 2021? Well, maybe break on through some more. Following high-profile spots opening for Angel Olsen and Waxahatchee and time on stadium stages playing guitar behind Harry Styles, Diaz reasserts that she’s got the goods on Weird Faith, her second outing for -Anti. The twang of her home base is still in place, and she further demonstrates she’s not straying too awfully far by enlisting country cool queen Kacey Musgraves to sing with her on the lovely duet “Don’t Do Me Good.” But there’s also a sense of a palate expanding a bit. Just as often, Diaz adorns her musical mosaic with a little bit of Allo Darlin’ and a touch of Lucy Dacus, then gives it a thin coat of Norah Jones’s elegant polish. When that inviting pop sheen gets the listener to lean in, Diaz delivers the emotional roundhouse punch of her lyrics. The heartbreaking ballad “For Months Now” is fine, fierce example: “I’ve been leavin’ you for months now/ I just haven’t found a way out/ I don’t love you like I used to/ I just don’t know how to tell you.” On “Get to Know Me,” Diaz follows some tonal and lyrical plight pattern of Phoebe Bridgers, the reigning champ of the verbosely forlorn (“Have you met when I’m belligerent?/ I might make you cry/ Have I introduced insecurity yet?/ Wish I could tell you why”). If Diaz keeps going like this, Styles just might be asking for the opportunity to play in her backing band. Reach out and touch Faith with the following: “Same Risk,” “Everything Almost,” “Kiss the Wall,” the title cut, and “Obsessive Thoughts.”