Music reviews: Tyler Childers and Madonna

'Snipe Hunter' by Tyler Childers

★★★

In the growing Tyler Childers songbook, the Appalachian region he calls home is "just as contradictory, complex, and full of surprises as he is," said Jonathan Bernstein in Rolling Stone. While the 34-year-old Kentucky native has already graduated from indie artist to arena-filling headliner, his Rick Rubin–produced seventh album is a "career redefining" collection that "triples down on the trailblazing he's known for." His new songs reference hunting, Hindu scripture, and koala STDs as his band, the Food Stamps, explore new sonic territory ranging from garage rock to "Phil Spector pop."

Childers' cultural stances have made him "one of country music's most singular artists," said Millan Verma in Pitchfork. Yes, he grew up in a trailer next to a Baptist church and "plays fiddle as if he's soundtracking bootleggers in a wagon race." But he also wrote an anthem supporting Black Lives Matter, made a gospel record preaching interfaith harmony, and featured a gay couple in a music video. Snipe Hunter captures his depth yet leaves his mischievous humor intact, as on "Bitin' List," a rumination on whom he'd bite first if he ever contracted rabies.

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'Veronica Electronica' by Madonna

★★★

For Madonna diehards, Veronica Electronica is "something of a holy grail," said Shaad D'Souza in The Guardian. Never mind that it's uneven and offers just two previously unreleased tracks. Conceived as a follow-up to 1998's Ray of Light, it gathers some "all-time great" remixes of the songs from that breakthrough melding of Madonna's pop instincts with William Orbit's electronica beats. "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" sounds incredible here, transformed by remixers BT and Sasha from "glacial trip-hop" into "a Day-Glo acid rager."

As for the "new" material, it's easy to see why the "brilliantly weird" demo "Gone, Gone, Gone" didn't make it onto Ray of Light, while the previously unreleased remix of "Skin" heightens the original's "innate moodiness" with a "tweaky and unsettled" beat. Some great remixes "smash the original into pieces" and turn it into something "newer and weirder," said Katie Bain in Billboard. On "The Power of Goodbye," Fabien "throws the kitchen sink" at his edit, adding chimes, ambient riffs, and "an acid bass line" that give the song "so much life and energy that it seems to actually breathe."