Matt Berry has been releasing albums for a long time -- some of them inevitably better than others. Heard Noises ranks right near the top, and if the sun hits it just right and one squints a little, it might be sitting merrily atop the very summit.

It's when the band is in full swing that Oldham sounds tuned-in and excited (even giddy) to be crafting the kind of classic country record that he's enjoyed so much himself. The depth of the production helps deliver this feeling, elevating the sound of The Purple Bird to a place where all of its carefully placed details and rusty joy can be clearly heard, and even more markedly felt.

Honey from a Winter Stone is arguably the most forward-thinking, emotionally vulnerable, and moving album in Akinmusire's catalog. It offers an intimate musical language that transcends genres while being at home in them all.

This is special, timeless music that speaks equally to the heart and the brain and it positions Horsegirl as the keepers of the indie rock flame.

McRae delivers on the promise of Think Later, levelling up with this set of addictive pop gems and heartfelt confessionals.

List of Demands is both archival and of the present -- engrossing and energizing, to be blasted from every boombox.

A Paradise in the Hold is a masterpiece, a work of tremendous sensitivity and creative insight brought to life by a musical visionary capable of advancing and remaking 21st century jazz.

This is a life-affirming triumph of an album that dares to be uplifting during difficult times.

For Zauner and Japanese Breakfast, the answer is always something in between and more complex and creatively assured than what has come before. With For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), Zauner invites us into the magic mirror of her life and pulls us through to the other side.

Can't Lose My (Soul) is a shining addition to the Caldwells' legacy and fits beside gospel-soul comps like Overdose of the Holy Ghost, Divine Disco, and Divine Funk.

With Glory, Hadreas discovers a rare balance between approachable songwriting and musical ambition that reinvigorates his music.

Black Country, New Road remain one of the most intriguing indie bands of the 2020s, and their flair for reinvention makes every release a thrill.

With The Crux, Keery doesn't just prove he more than owns his space in the pop world as Djo, he's found a home.

In an unexpected way, this is also June's most overtly pop record; despite its genre-hopping nature, her melodies are insistent and memorable with strong hooks and relatively short runtimes. Although the tempos wane during the album's second half, its quality persists.

Though less immediate and accessible than his earlier work, Time Indefinite is another career highlight that pushes Tyler boldly into the future.

If you fell in love with Sunflower Bean's early indie-pop and marveled at their turn towards alt-rock cool, Mortal Primetime is the best of both worlds; an assured album of rock and roll magic, dusted with emotive pop pathos.

Here's to Thackray seeing a payoff beyond this brilliant and enriching work of art.

The second chapter in their collaborative work is such a natural progression that it feels simultaneously like a continuation of a single moment and light years ahead of where they started.

Toledo is young enough that it's premature to call The Scholars a masterpiece, though it's unquestionably his finest work to date and one of the best albums of 2025.

A resounding return, The World Is Still Here and So Are We suggests the planet is that much better with Mclusky back on it

Sleep Token's music, at the core, is absolutely gorgeous escapism executed by a highly-proficient, imaginative outfit. They've leveled-up to the mainstream majors on Even in Arcadia, a heart-rending beauty that is wholly unexpected.

Throughout Animaru, Semones and her band play with dynamics, dramatic pauses, chord voicings, harmonics, and a steady stream of surprises -- the closer is a waltz -- resulting in a memorable debut that's much more likely to delight than challenge.

Capturing the inspiring spark in bygone visions of what the future could be is one of Stereolab's greatest strengths, and the brilliant ways they do this on Instant Holograms on Metal Film don't just live up to their legacy -- they push it forward.

It's definitely a milestone and a career highlight, as well as a release that anyone who likes real live, breathing and bleeding rock & roll should be glad exists.

With membership that includes guitarists, string players, multiple percussionists, instrumentalist-vocalists, a woodwindist, and a brass specialist. their sophomore album, caroline 2, is at least as intoxicating as previous releases. Paradoxically exciting and narcotic at the same time.

More is classic Pulp, aged to near perfection.

Bookended by the rousing title track and radiant "Magic Man," it's a success from start to finish, offering a deft blend of surprise and satisfaction.

Echo delivers on the promise of Happy, surpassing that debut with improved production, more daring choices, and impossible-to-resist choruses.

It's a throwback vibe, evoking the flannel-laden days of '90s underground pop guitar groups like Dinosaur Jr., Sloan, and Teenage Fanclub; unabashed touchstones for Anderson whose work on Raspberry Moon believably lives up to the comparisons.

Tracks II: The Lost Albums never sounds like a box full of also-ran material – in fact, several of these LPs are decidedly superior to most of his work of the 2000s and 2010s – and makes the case that Bruce Springsteen is a more eclectic and ambitious artist than he sometimes lets on.

Do It Afraid is another impelling triumph from a thriving musical dynamo.

On Virgin, she is transcendentally witchy, harmonizing with herself both literally and spiritually, a pop star in the throes of creative rebirth.

. isn't just a good album, it's a decisively great one, full stop.

While the group's sound is timeless, their lyrics are often distinctly modern.

These recordings are not just charming, but along with the other studio out-takes, portray a young artist who’s excited about an opportunity to realize his songs to their highest potential, and motivated to do some homework in preparation. Famously, Drake’s music was gloriously, beautifully sad, but The Making of Five Leaves Left helps show that the experience of creating it was a thing of great joy.

The songs bleed together in a way that invites the record to be listened to from front to back, with Open Mike Eagle's existential metaphors and semi-abstract flows melting into an interconnected statement best experienced in its totality.

With this album, Neale manages to translate existential torment into strange and beautiful sounds, yet again progressing with the chimerical vision of rock & roll that's uniquely her own.

Without diminishing her legacy as the mainstream bounce ambassador to the world, this gospel turn ends up being the most meaningful and powerful album of her career to date.

It's a marvel of design and execution that registers mostly as activated, unrelenting noise pop and invites listeners to discover something new and joyfully befuddling every time they listen back.

Wishbone is a complete arc, capturing both the elated, tidal-wave euphoria of falling in love and the bittersweet comedown off that wave. And it's not just the feelings of love, but the tastes, the smells, and the thrilling sweaty intimacy of being close to another person in every sense that Gray embodies.

The man has hits, but Baby is his apotheosis thus far.

Going two for two in the 2020s so far, Deftones maintain their position as one of the greatest bands of their generation. Throw on a pair of headphones and get lost with Private Music.

A triumph of ambition and heart, each of its songs feels like an epiphany.

He has certainly harnessed the zeitgeist.

A remarkable album with more gateways than a knowing mixtape, Essex Honey shows that Hynes is as ingenious as a would-be DJ, A&R, and talent connector as he is as a songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer.

Who Waters the Wilting Giving Tree... is a nonstop flow of stunning ideas and performances, without ever getting so heady that the fun and strangeness become alienating.

This sounds like it could be her best album to date, and a strong candidate for "Best of 2025" lists.

Joni's Jazz functions as a kind of sublime playlist, providing a stellar grounding of her work in folk, rock, and pop, while almost constantly reflecting jazz's musical vocabulary and influence.

Make no mistake: That's Showbiz Baby! is a must hear for any fan of euphoric, maximalist dance pop.

Refreshing honesty and reflective insight might not be as exciting as the immediate pop bangers, but they help elevate Midnight Sun to something more refined and graceful. Short and sweet, this catalog highlight benefits from its length, offering just enough of what Larsson does best to have listeners craving more of this endless bliss.

As a final album, Mulatu Plays Mulatu stands with his very best work and is a bittersweet joy to celebrate.

Nothing is simply a banger, a vibe, or a mood, however, as Jordan continues to put as much into her verses as she does her hooks. These are fully developed songs, not one of which is reliant upon a groove.

Lullaby for the Lost is the album made possible by a decade's worth of soul searching, and McCaslin's increasingly idiosyncratic, boundary-less, and masterful approach to modern jazz.

Ultimately, 40 is a delightful way to sum up the career of a band that's been constantly surprising and surprisingly constant for far longer than a band has the right to.

This doesn't sound much like anything Miller has released in the past, and that only adds to its power; this is a chronicle of a man pondering an uncertain future with both courage and trepidation, and A Lifetime of Riding by Night is the most powerful solo effort he's ever made.

Corporal is a stunning reinvention for the duo that will please those who like their psychedelia spiked with unhealthy amounts of real danger and devil may care sonic experimentation.

The Cords LP easily lives up to the hype. .... With the charm factor at 11, plenty of bah-bah-bahs, and a couple early-Beatles harmonics thrown in for good measure, The Cords is an all-ages bop fest that welcomes everyone but the creeps, poseurs, and haters.

Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18, 1956-1963 is an epic-scale document on how Bob Dylan became Bob Dylan, both as a persona and an artist, and the abundant audience recordings of his early gigs that appear here are a vital reminder that bringing a recording device to a concert is never a bad idea.

Most longtime fans will be astonished by von Hausswolff's masterful developmental achievement, as well as the emotional and spiritual power, poetics, and musicality of Iconoclasts. For newcomers, this album presents a near perfect, accessible entry into her recordings.

TBWPTH is skeletal, grandiose, and contemplative, a web of contradictions where answers come with questions of their own; caught between darkness and light, the U.K. legend wrings out some of his most compelling meditations yet.

Unbelievably, Shudall and Circa Waves have managed to expand and deepen what already felt like a complete emotional arc.

Fearless, maximalist, and laden with emotion, Lux is a work worthy of both the Heavens and the Earth.

Stardust is among his more adventurous collections to date. When paired with the clarity and vulnerability of Brown’s lyrical portrayals of his victories and failures, the fearlessness with which he embraces every creative impulse he considers make Stardust even more of a triumph.

Highlights like "Hadrian's Wall," "Loon," and the title track are gently mesmerizing, made even more special by Elkington's gorgeous arrangements which were said to be inspired by Ennio Morricone.

Their combination of on-point messaging, unyielding intensity, and wall-rattling musical power guarantees their future even as I'm Nice Now goes a long way to positioning them as the most important band of right now.

He sounds freer than he has in years on Tranquilizer, and within its infinity mirror of transience and permanence, he uncovers the lasting soul within the digital abyss.

A thrilling glimpse into one of the pianist's most vital periods.

There have been other Wings collections and they were fine; this double-disc does the best job of capturing all aspects of the band’s career. Anyone wanting to study pop music of the era should make this one of their first stops.

Balloon Balloon Balloon is pure pop music for now-and-then people, skillfully crafted from bits and bobs of the past, then melded together into a sound that is exactly what the smoothed-out, homogenous mid-2020s need.

A record that is just as impressively crafted as anything Prochet has done. That is high praise indeed, considering she's made some of the most inventive and pleasing neo-psychedelic adjacent albums of the previous decade or so.

Wreckless Eric has rescued a handful of first-rate songs from their initial second-rate presentation, and his belief in this material pays handsome dividends here, ranking with his best work of the 21st century.

Though colored by tragedy, on Lightning Might Strike Hatfield's songs are as ringingly melodic as ever; a sound that's only grown more indelible.

Dry Cleaning sound more expansive and present than ever on Secret Love, transcending their role as sprechgesang post-punk standard-bearers to become innovators whose surreal, poetic expressions of emotion reveal hearts as open as their eyes.

Simply put, Tragic Magic is an affecting, powerfully gentle testament to the alchemy that comes from sharing the burdens -- and opportunities -- of hard times with love and creativity.

On Off the Fence, Hunter's crew display their richest stylistic and rhythmic varieties to date in songs that stimulate the body and resonate in the heart.

With its highly developed songwriting, excellent vocal performances, and rootsy production style that support and showcase both albums, Can't Take My Story Away is a career-defining album.

There are no weak tracks on the entire compilation, making it essential for anyone who's into jungle in its purest, uncut form.

On One Mississippi, the songs, production, and inspired performances offer honest emotions and direct messages, elevating this record above his other recordings, and most 21st century albums in the genre.

As a culmination of everything she's been building toward in the years since I Disagree, Empty Hands is a towering success, priming Poppy for the arena big leagues with her twisted and wildly engrossing style.

The emotional backbone of The Mountain, however, pushes that expert musicianship beyond the typically reliable Gorillaz sound and into new territory, adding more heart and humanity than this cartoon crew has ever mustered.

Nothing's About to Happen to Me may be the Mitski-est Mitski album yet, despite its character-driven nature and partly because, at least on some level, it captures the anxiety of the Zeitgeist of its time.

With In My Dreams, Frisell pulls you into his western reverie, a wagon train journey into his soul.

Heavenly have done a fine job of delivering what their fans might expect -- indie pop at its finest -- with enough curveballs, gentle bite, and brilliant songs to make it sound 100% brand new, exciting, and impossible to write off as just another nostalgia trip.

The wait was worth it: Side-Eye III+ is the most holistic, tender, and joyful recording from the guitarist in more than a decade.

This blend of great tracks by well-known bands (add to the list of already mentioned groups a few more like the Three O'Clock, Green on Red, Redd Kross, Cynics, and Long Ryders), strong picks by the really good bands who filled out the ranks, and the occasional left-field surprise (looking at you, Camper Van Beethoven) makes for a collection that serves as a reminder of just how thrilling an age it was to be an open-eared and broad-minded fan of psychedelic and garage music.

Normal Isn't is focused and polished, going for the jugular on every single track -- both musically and lyrically -- leaving no room for ambiguity. They're pissed and anxious, with a fear that's turned to desperation on lyrical highlights such as "The Quiet Parts," "Thrust," and "A Public Stoning."

If The Collective was punishing in its density, Play Me is its equal and opposite: leaner and more melodic without sacrificing invention. It's an album that reaffirms Gordon still knows how, and why, to push forward.

The band deserve all kinds of praise for pulling off the somewhat rare feat of being both musically adventurous and emotionally gripping on Only You Left; it feels like the destination to which all their previous excursions were leading and is a fine example of indie rock at its all-around best.

Arirang not only stakes a solid claim for the group's place in the cultural heritage that helped inspire it, it's also a triumphant statement that cements the BTS legacy beyond the bounds of K-pop and Korea's borders.

Attempted Martyr is a brilliantly brutal debut, one that leaves listeners nearly exhausted when it ends, only because of its nonstop outpouring of magnificent noise.

It's the Long Goodbye is a fiercely beautiful tribute to a life and the love left behind. Like Mount Eerie’s A Crow Looked at Me, it tells the entire story of loss with exceptional honesty.

MEMORIALS have upped their game in a massive way on All Clouds Bring Not Rain, building on their already impressive skills as crafters of sound by adding truckloads of drama, plumbing some deep emotional depths, and stretching their arrangements in fascinating and very satisfying ways.

Hitting on the familiars and blanketing the listener with worthy obscurities is a one-way ticket to compilation glory, and CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 is a triumph of sound and education that brings an important moment in time fully to life.

Fidelity is of a piece with Do It Afraid and caps a three-album/three-year streak for the ages.

Everything -- from the vocals to the production -- is top-notch, and the record is a glittering late-career triumph.

The vital In Times of Dragons whisks Amos back to hallowed days, penetrating the soul and shaking foundations in a manner that hasn't been heard since Pele, Choirgirl, Scarlet, or Posse.

While the production still has bite and the danger of unpredictable straight-to-tape recording, the songcraft is completely in focus. It's where the long-germinating seeds of White Fence's psychedelic excellence finally bloom into their full glory, and these songs are among the best the group has ever put to tape.

They’ve been honing something so unique for so long that the new material emphasizes how timeless the older material is, and how it’s all been part of the same strange and beautiful continuum.