Elena See

Listening to the Oregon band's debut is like walking onto the set of an HBO show about fear, longing, betrayal and loneliness. Black Prairie was founded by two members of The Decemberists, and its songs evoke images of barren Midwestern landscapes. Hear Feast of the Hunter's Moon in its entirety a week prior to its release on April 6.

Downtown Church, Griffin's seventh album, is the equivalent of a slow walk into a field of wildflowers — a journey in which you look up at a bluebird sky and take a deep breath with your eyes closed. It sounds like the soundtrack to a spiritual awakening, which makes sense, given that it's a gospel album. Hear Downtown Church in its entirety here, until its release on Jan. 26.

Virtually everyone has heard the siren song of the open road at some point or another. Out of the thousands of great road songs, here are five which provide a soundtrack to that long journey we're all forced to take at least once: to try to figure out what we're supposed to be doing with our lives.