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Through the ’90s, Cox dominated the Junos as Canada’s top r&b vocalist. Then the Toronto-born songbird, a former Céline Dion backup singer, flew south to further her career. Now, following acting roles and taking the lead turn in Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, Cox is back with this tribute to her childhood idol Dinah Washington. Featuring big-band numbers (“All of Me”), sultry blues (“Misery”) and evocative ballads (“This Bitter Earth”), the album stretches Cox’s range and proves her versatility as a vocalist. June 19

The first breakout act of electronica is also the movement’s longest surviving one. Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have kept their block-rockin’ beats fresh by collaborating with artists as diverse as Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, the Flaming Lips and k-os. On their sixth album, the Grammy winning duo teams up with the Pharcyde’s Fatlip on the zany “Salmon Dance,” singer-songwriter Willy Mason on the hypnotic “Battle Scars” and U.K. buzzband the Klaxons on the dizzying psych-synth workout “All Rights Reserved.” June 19    

Yes, they favor heavy-duty riffage and jackhammer beats. But QOTSA are no hard-rock Neanderthals. There’s an intelligence to Josh Homme’s modus operandi that even pop queens like Nelly Furtado find appealing. The band’s fifth album offers the usual serving of thrashy tracks such as “3’s & 7’s,” the corrosive “Battery Acid” and the frenetic “Sick, Sick, Sick,” featuring the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. But there are also such softer psych sounds like “Into the Hollow” and the oh-so-sweet-and-sexy “Make It Wit Chu.” June 12

Like Tal Bachman, Adam Cohen and Rufus Wainwright, Titcomb has impressive musical genes (Liam’s father is singer-songwriter Brent Titcomb). Songs like “It’s You” and the title track nod to his dad’s folky influence. But most of this second album aims for a more upbeat stance—with mixed results. Songs like “Nothing at All” and “Life Me Up” strive too hard for commerciality. Better are spirited numbers like “Got a Lot,” co-written with Craig Northey (the Odds), and “That’s All for Now, which truly rock out. June 5   

“Come over to the sick side,” sings Wiley. Clearly his producer, Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin, welcomed the invitation to get a little weird and funky on the P.E.I. singer-songwriter’s third album. From the voodoo blues of “One Bad Woman” and the junkyard dub of “Wouldn’t You” to the moody, drum-laden title track, Wiley displays a penchant for not only Dick Dale and Tom Waits but Lee “Scratch” Perry. He also knows his way around sweet ballads like “Back to Bed.” But Wiley’s darker side is the real revelation here. May 29

Céline has ruled Caesar’s Palace since 2003. By year’s end, Canada’s ultimate diva will be leaving Las Vegas and resuming her mega-selling recording career (175 million albums and counting). A new English album and a duet with Annie Lennox are planned, but in the meantime the former child star releases this collection of songs by female writers from France and Quebec. Power ballads like “Et s’il n’en restait qu’une (je serais celle-là)” prove that La Dion is still a more convincing singer in French than in English. May 22

He lives in a Vancouver Island forest and his single name conjures up visions of Bim and Valdy, two popular B.C. folkies from the 1970s. But Wil is no tree-hugging wannabe. Nor is his latest album a collection of crunchy granola ditties. In fact, robust numbers like “Tell You Twice,” “Wedding Dress” and “Big Life,” a hopeful epic co-written with 54-40’s Neil Osborne, bear more of a resemblance to driving, anthemic songs by Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, whose members contribute to this powerful major-label debut. May 22

Feist and Stars are labelmates on Arts & Crafts, which is giving the remix treatment to Montreal dream-pop collective’s Set Yourself on Fire the way it did with Feist’s Let it Die. Although it’s hard to imagine improving on Stars’ wondrous album, several “re-interpretations and re-imaginings” of those songs standout, including Final Fantasy’s chamber-quartet rendition of “Your Ex-Lover is Dead,” the Most Serene Republic’s Django-ish “Ageless Beauty” and Junior Boys’ minimalist take on “Sleep Tonight.” May 22    

The Chicago rock legends have released some inspired albums, from 1996’s classic Being There to 2004’s Grammy winning A Ghost is Born. Fueled by leader Jeff Tweedy’s fertile imagination, the group’s latest features the folky opening gem “Either Way,” the funky “Walken” and the Band-like “You Are My Face.” “Impossible Germany,” with its clever rejoinder “unlikely Japan,” is a clever observational road song, while the moving “Hate it Here” is Tweedy’s spirited tale of heartache and housework. May 15

Muldaur has made it her mission of late to celebrate the music created by classic blues women from the 1920s to the 1940s. Here, the onetime Kweskin Jugband member and “Midnight at the Oasis” singer turns Red Hot Mama tackles the work of Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter and others. Muldaur’s sensuous voice is perfectly suited to suggestive blues and jazz numbers like “Handy Man” and Bessie Smith’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Bonnie Raitt joins her for a sassy duet on Sippie Wallace’s “Separation Blues.” May 15