Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu's new CD, New Amerykah, Pt. 1 (4th World War), is only her fourth studio album since she emerged as a neosoul Billie Holiday with Badizm in 1997 and her first since the loose-limbed Worldwide Underground in 2003. In the intervening years, it seems the Texas-born "Southern Gul" has had a lot on her mind: New Amerykah is a sprawling funkadelic mix of autobiography ("Me"), protest ("Soldier") and the transformative power of hip-hop ("The Healer"), which is "bigger than religion . . . bigger than the government." Badu is spending the spring touring with the Roots, but the bountifully Afro'd mystic earth mother will be without the Philadelphia hip-hoppers when she plays a Mother's Day show here Sunday at the Tower Theater. - Dan DeLuca

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Erykah Badu at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow Streets, Upper Darby. Tickets: $49.50. Phone: 610-352-2887.

The Cure

During their considerable heyday, the Cure were equally adept at pop singles (from 1979's "Boys Don't Cry" to 1992's "Friday I'm in Love") and mope albums (1982's Pornography; 1989's Disintegration). During the last 15 years, their few albums, including 2004's credible, self-titled one, have been as heavy and dark as the eye makeup Robert Smith still wears. But their 13th album is due in September, and they plan to release a single each month in anticipation, starting next Tuesday with "The Only One." Maybe it's too much to hope that one of these singles will equal any of those past cornerstones of the college-rock canon. But one can dream and one can hope that Saturday's show, rescheduled from September, will be just like heaven for both pop and goth nostalgics. - Steve Klinge

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The Cure, with 65 Days of Static, play at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Wachovia Spectrum, 3601 S. Broad St. Tickets: $40 to $65. Phone: 1-800-298-4200.

The Wood Brothers

Chris Wood is the bassist for the progressive-jazz outfit Medeski, Martin & Wood. But this collaboration with his brother, singer-guitarist Oliver Wood, leans toward rustic blues and soul. Their new album, Loaded, again produced by John Medeski, adds more accompanists, but it essentially picks up where they left off on 2006's terrific Ways Not to Lose. Mixing originals with songs by Dylan and Hendrix and the traditional "Make Me Down a Pallet on Your Floor," the Woods again sound right at home in this warmly rootsy milieu.

- Nick Cristiano

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The Wood Brothers, with Pieta Brown, play at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Tickets: $16. Phone: 215-222-1400.