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Well, at least no one died this week. In the present, anyway.

After the Saint of Killers-inspired bloodbaths of the opening of Season 2, “Preacher” set its gaze on New Orleans, the ultimate destination teased at the outset. The camaraderie that made those first few installments so freeing and energizing fell by the wayside in “Damsels,” but what took its place was a mystery that dug deeper into the philosophical and delivered another prime action set-piece as a chaser.

Before we resumed with Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy in the Big Easy, it was high time the show finally addressed the Hellephant in the room and gave us some Eugene-related answers. Seeing the unfortunate teenager lively and spry and free of any physical or emotional scars was even more jarring than the Jesse and Tulip flashback at the close of Season 1.

“Preacher” is no stranger to irony, but the triumphant...

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee. Or, it could be a listen to this Lynchian mixtape inspired by the massive cast list released for the new iteration of Twin Peaks, which has a surprising number of musicians along with actors.

This list includes, but is not limited to, Trent Reznor, Eddie Vedder, Sky Ferreia, and Sharon Van Etten, along with actors who also dabble in music such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Monica Bellucci, and Richard Chamberlain. The songs are tailor-fitted to the mood of the show, a combination of the eerie, sad, dark, joyous, and full of life.

Costello releases his 29th studio album and first for Starbucks’ Hear Music, assembling one Tasmanian devil of a Nashville bluegrass record in the process

Given its provenance as an acoustic album recorded in Nashville in a mere three days, Elvis Costello’s latest—Secret, Profane and Sugarcane -will inevitably draw comparisons to his last transmission from the Music City, 1981’s affectionate if perhaps overly fussed-over country covers essay Almost Blue. But that sort of snap assessment would be a mistake—the record this one most directly resembles is 1986’s folk-tinged King of America, which also happened to be the first time Costello collaborated with T-Bone Burnett in the producer’s chair, a duty Burnett fills once again here.

Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane You've heard Elvis Costello sing country music before, but not like this. The lad who gave us Almost Blue is quite mature and worldly wise now. On the opening track, when he sings, "Down among the wines and spirits where a man gets what he merits...once it was written in letters 'bout nine feet tall, now he sees how far he's fallen," he sounds like he truly has been sobered by life's hangovers. The song "Down Among The Wine And Spirits," plus a few others featured on Costello's new album, Secret, Profane And Sugarcane, premiered in 2007 on The Bob Dylan Show tour, and fans have been jawin' 'til the cows come home from Harvard about what direction Mr. Prolific's new album would take. Well, it's country, sort of, smart enough for the overly-educated,...