Stream new albums from Paul McCartney, Sharon Van Etten & Heartless Bastards

Once again, NPR is where you'll be able to first stream some of the most anticipated new albums set to drop next week. This time around, the National Public Radio has Paul McCartney's fifteenth solo studio album, Kisses on the Bottom, Sharon Van Etten's Tramp and Heartless Bastards' fourth LP, Arrows. Give them a listen right here.

NPR on Kisses on the Bottom:

Only McCartney's rich and instantly recognizable voice tethers Kisses on the Bottom to any modern musical era, and he's spanned quite a few of those himself. Which is part of what's jarring about the record: Paul McCartney has written or co-written so many standards, in The Beatles and beyond, that it's easy to forget he grew up loving music that wasn't his. [Stephen Thompson]

on Tramp:

The albums which follow, 2010's epic and the new Tramp, stretch muscles and viscera over those raw nerves. Even when she's conveying disappointment, hurt or longing, Van Etten sounds more assertive and complex these days, aided by the ever-knottier contributions of guest players from The National, Wye Oak, Beirut and The Walkmen. [Stephen Thompson]

on Arrows:

While the rawness of the group's early garage rock has been smoothed out and refined on recent records, a current of white-knuckle tension still roils just beneath the surface. It may open as a lazy, knockabout shuffle, but the single "Parted Ways" builds and builds, hanging on Wennerstrom's every confidently delivered word until it blooms into a sprawling guitar solo, retreats to calmer terrain and finally accelerates with abandon. [Stephen Thompson]