Sabrina Carpenter featuring Dolly Parton, 'Please Please Please'

Carpenter teases out the latent country elements of her slick synth-pop smash "Please Please Please" on this rework from the new deluxe edition of her Grammy-winning album "Short n' Sweet." Lightly brushed percussion replaces the original's insistent, syncopated smacks, while fiddle embellishments take the place of electric guitar licks. But what's most interesting about this version is how little needs to be changed to make "Please Please Please" work as a convincing country tune — although it certainly helps to have none other than Parton providing high harmony. "I beg you, don't embarrass me like the others," Carpenter and Parton sing together on a cleaned-up rewrite of the chorus' most irreverent line. Which is to say that although Parton is willing to meet the young star on Carpenter's turf, she still has decorous boundaries.

LINDSAY ZOLADZ, New York Times

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, 'Scared of Loving You'

Billie Eilish's brother, Finneas, is behind the scenes as collaborating songwriter and producer on the quietly imploring "Scared of Loving You." It's a folky ballad, with a glockenspiel tinkling behind an acoustic guitar and piano, as Gomez sings — just above a whisper — about an obsessive infatuation. "How could they love you as much as I do?" she sings, along with a worrisome line: "Don't let 'em send me back." Is this a romance or a stalking situation?

JON PARELES, New York Times

PartyNextDoor and Drake, 'Somebody Loves Me'

It's unlikely that many people were clamoring for a Valentine from Drake this year, but he's offering one up just the same: "Some Sexy Songs 4 U," a 21-track collaborative album with longtime Canadian collaborator PartyNextDoor. These 74 minutes are heavy on amorphous braying, broken up by several interesting genre experiments. The single "Somebody Loves Me" isn't exactly a standout, but it's representative of much of the album's midtempo, melancholic sound. "Who's out there for me?" Drake croons through auto-tune; the question echoes unanswered in the song's cold, nocturnal atmosphere.

LINDSAY ZOLADZ, New York Times

Ani DiFranco and Stone Gossard, 'The Message'

DiFranco's second collaboration with Pearl Jam guitarist Gossard is a slinky funk groove with New Orleans syncopations from Galactic drummer Stanton Moore. DiFranco sings slyly and tartly about a romance that didn't happen because the one she loved was driven and restless, perpetually on the run. "I feel your pain, trust me," she urges, adding, "We have changed, haven't we?" But she's not getting her hopes up.

JON PARELES, New York Times

The Lumineers, 'You're All I Got'

"Automatic," the new album by the Lumineers, plunges into the torments of a breakup: regrets, recriminations, self-doubt, shattered assumptions, lingering need. In "You're All I've Got," Wesley Schultz bemoans the loss of "All the years we walked hand in hand" over strummed minor chords and tolling piano notes. Even as he knows it's over, he makes a falsetto plea: "You're all that I got / And I can't give it up like Sisyphus below the rock."

JON PARELES, New York Times

New releases

Tate McRae, "So Close to What"

Sam Fender, "People Watching"

Patterson Hood, "Exploding Trees & Airplane Scream"

The Wombats, "Oh! The Ocean"