Ken Tucker

The holidays have never felt more ambivalent — a feeling captured by Phoebe Bridgers' "Christmas Song"; The Bird and the Bee's "You and I at Christmas Time"; and Nick Lowe's "Winter Wonderland."

Critic Ken Tucker selects his top albums of the year.

Taking notes from Dolly Parton, the California-born singer has made a whole album that insists that women have more complicated stories to tell than country music usually allows.