"Sometimes the good guys lose/We try not to lose our hearts" begins the 13th LP by the sublimely hangdog indie-rock forebears. On an album about staying the course as time passes and things fall apart, producer John McEntire hones arrangements that are more layered than usual. Guitar noise dazzles; "Is That Enough" and "Before We Run" even have strings. But the standouts are lean: The Nick Drake-ish "I'll Be Around" is little more than Ira Kaplan's whispery vocals and fingerpicked acoustic guitar, and in the Sandy Denny-ish "Cornelia and Jane," Georgia Hubley sets whispery vocals over muted brass. The band revels in its pop modesty, as beautifully as ever.

Listen to Fade:

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.