Turner seems to be angling for atmosphere, not hooks, with his melodies. The free-floating croon helps The Car amiably drift in space but it also highlights how the record could use a couple of elements to bring it back to earth.

Although this monochromatic palette tends to highlight the limits of co-producer Jack Antonoff's bag of tricks -- nothing here feels surprising, even when he's playing with textures and teasing out the music's dream-pop elements -- the narrow focus is the main attributes of Midnights, as it plays to Swift's sense of control and craft: she may be singing about messy emotions but she sculpts those tangled feelings into shimmering, resonant songs.

The sleekness calls to mind the Strokes, as does the guitar interplay. It's definitely an avenue the band might want to explore more if they get tired of unhinged rock & roll. Not that they needed to change; they could keep putting out records like this -- filled with energy and a tiny bit of polish -- and it would be a long time until the Murlocs got stale.

Only Built for Infinity Links is an energetic, fun, and multifaceted project from Migos members Quavo and Takeoff that stays lively and keeps away from the type of filler that can drag down mainstream rap albums and mixtapes.

The reliably uncompromising Omens includes some of the band's heaviest and most apoplectic works to date, with highlights arriving via the pummeling "Nevermore" and "Greyscale," and the unrelenting title cut.

YG's bouncing between styles gives I Got Issues a scattered flow that pushes the best tracks to the forefront and makes the weaker material feel all the more tedious.

Direction of the Heart is an album by a band that still has something to prove. They deliver big. Without forsaking their core sound, they offer listeners energized, anthemic, poignant, electro-charged rock & roll.

The Watkins Family Hour tackles a number of different emotions, winding up with a record that's simultaneously casual and deep, a testament to the power of community arriving at an hour where such bonds are often tested.

"The Other Ones" is out of place for its melodramatic decluttering of baggage, but the trio of "Pieces," "I Don't Love You Like I Used To," and "Home" come across as wholly heartfelt, respectively striking a rare balance of numbness and hope, expressing total devotion, and turning on the (ocular) waterworks. Legend is at his best when entertainment isn't his objective.

Steady never feels rote -- these guys are in love with rock & roll, and their joy and passion is never far from the surface. If a new band made an album this good and joyously pleasing, they'd be hailed as heroes, and don't let the fact Sloan are grizzled veterans keep you from celebrating Steady on a regular basis.

Oh Death is the kind of uneasy listening record guaranteed to clear the faint of heart out of the room while peaking the interest of anyone not scared to dip a toe into dark and ugly psychedelic music. It may not be pretty and it may not always be nice, but it's always thrilling and might just be the band's best record to date.

It takes them to some different places, but the destinations are still quite satisfying, and this is a brave, compelling, and surprisingly moving set of songs. They seem to be glad to be making this music, and we can only be glad they've chosen to share it with us.

It's mature music played with the energy and passion of youth, full of experience and tenderness but never complacent. It's no wonder that the band have inspired so much devotion since they have never lost the inspiration behind their music and Crybaby is one more shining example of that.

Hearing Dry Cleaning's words and music travel in different ways to the same destination remains fascinating, and the ways they open up their music on Stumpwork with warmth, sensuality, and humor reveal their originality even more fully.

There's nothing sensationalist about the album's most brutal lyrics, and they're balanced out by the record's sly sense of humor and casually innovative production.

What's here sounds fine, but it's nothing revelatory, and there aren't any sections that tap into some sort of divine inspiration. This may as well just be a bootleg recording of a dress rehearsal, certainly of interest to fans, but not one of Can's essential releases.

Arriving after such a long hiatus and during a period of global tumult, Broudie's sweet melodicism and gentle vibes are more welcome than ever on this appealing return to form.

As good as OFF!'s previous releases were, they (in classic hardcore style) sounded like they were produced in hit-and-run style, with the band cutting them live with minimal overdubs. Free LSD, on the other hand, aims to be something more; in its intensity and vision, it succeeds, and it's a gloriously weird triumph.

It's impressive how purposefully murky the band can make this music feel when you notice that the tracks are actually pretty coherent, with imaginative layers of sound working in support of the songs, and the passage of time hasn't robbed them of their spirit or significantly bent vision. Apocalypse Love is as weird as it wants to be, and coming from this band, that's always welcome.

Regret, longing, and grief fill the other songs, but Lusk's soaring, whole-hearted articulations of hope and reassurance prevent this transfixing half-album from being an unqualified downer.

Filled with casually brilliant moments, Component System with the Auto Reverse is easily one of Open Mike Eagle's most enjoyable efforts.

Even if The Will to Live ultimately proves the old adage that you can't will a masterpiece into existence, what's here is the work of a great band with a fine songwriter giving their all in the studio and playing at the top of their game, and that makes it a great listen, if not quite an example of Ultimate Rock.

On The Bible, Kurt Wagner bravely steps into new territory both musically and lyrically, and it's a beautiful and frequently moving experience.

Lo is maturing but holding onto the most important parts of herself. Dirt Femme gives the confessional, sexual, and danceable sides of her music equal time and offers a fuller portrait of her music than we've heard before.

With Being Funny in a Foreign Language, Healy and the 1975 do seem to have matured, confidently jumping off the ropes and back into the center of the pop music ring.

Like its sibling Unlimited Love, Return of the Dream Canteen benefits from the positive energy of these four friends just having fun in the studio, and is designed for listeners to plug in and bliss out without any expectations of mainstream-ready fare.

King Gizzard are restless and brilliant and listeners must follow everything they do like a hawk because they might unleash something classic, just like they did with Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava.

With ¡Ay!, Dalt succeeds at constructing and exploring an elaborate sound world that resembles a surreal reflection of her past.

While some of the record's lyrics are lost in ambiance, Ballentine's ethereal vocals are a key component of an artful sound design that, like a movie, is optimized in its full-length context.

One of Eno's most sobering releases, FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE is a cautious reflection on the state of our planet and its future.

Nymph isn't exactly the type of album full of bangers that one might have previously expected from Shygirl, but it reveals a greater depth to her personality, and it's consistently inventive and awe-inspiring.

A like-minded, generally uplifting, uptempo set (this time comprising a still generous 12 songs).

Well-sequenced and brimming with heartfelt energy, Capricorn Sun is an inspired effort.

Although Sparke thrives in quieter surroundings, her voice is capable of commanding this more confrontational material, if made slightly less distinctive in the process.

CHAOS NOW* is defined not just by Dawson's genre hopscotching, but by how he manages to make every new style he inhabits his own. His music has always been a little all over the place, and with the increasingly strong songwriting showcased here, it becomes clear that being all over the place is the entire point of Dawson's restless artistry.

Tableau is definitely the work of a young band growing and exploring, looking for new territory to explore, new feelings to delve into, and exciting sounds to dig into.

Strange is a rare talent with a multi-tooled approach that encompasses thoughtful songwriting, surprising arrangements, and a sonically layered production aesthetic that feels both original and understated.

As bleak as In Amber can be, it's as thrilling to hear such unguarded yet exquisitely crafted confessions from Hercules & Love Affair as it was to have them transport listeners to dance floor nirvana.

With Empire Central, Snarky Puppy transform the Dallas music and culture that inspired them into a tangible listening experience.

Though Loose Future lacks a bit of the grand-scale drama of Honest Life and Old Flowers, it's full of well-crafted songs performed with the skill and passion they deserve, and it's another worthy album from a songwriter who only gets better as she matures.

If Forever Blue was a great debut, As the Moon Rests is a very good follow-up, and leaves no doubt that A.A. Williams is a remarkable talent who is still honoring her singular vision.

Too many of these melodies are similar enough that they're indistinguishable from one another. On balance, jams such as "Outer Heaven," "Impermanence," and "Vendetta X" solidly reveal that this band still has plenty of creative dazzle left in the tank.

It may be a bit disjointed, but Into the Blue offers enough thoughtful songwriting and creative sonics to suggest Broken Bells has matured into the pleasantly offbeat side project it was always meant to be.

The creation of Blue Rev may have been beset with trial and tribulation but the result is a heavenly indie pop hit guaranteed to make their already besotted fans fall even more head over heels in love with the band.

Revitalized, Bush is reborn with The Art of Survival, an essential late-catalog installment that re-energizes their sound with fresh tricks and newfound purpose.

Charlie offers hope to both the singer and to sympathetic listeners, closing this very relatable chapter of his life with optimism hard-won through this catchy pop package.

The last time Suede sounded this muscular and urgent they were still in the process of discovering themselves. Here, the quintet know how to deploy not just their strengths but their distinctive blend of nervy post-punk, overheated glam, and yearning poetry to make an album that sounds full, complete, and utterly alive.

The End, So Far may not be a home run, but it proves that the band are still in it to win it, even if they're playing the long game.

Throughout the album, Dungen try new things without getting caught up in the excitement of changing their sound, successfully evolving rather than merely throwing random ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks.

From the cumbia-inspired opener, "Blacklight Shine," and the skittering "Flash Burns from Flashbacks" to the power ballad "Vigil," the veteran band sound confident and invigorated, adding another surprising chapter to a consistently eclectic career.

This is Sherwood's album more than Andy's, experimenting wildly with his dub mixes with all the abandon of an excitable kid at recess. This willingness to go off the deep end makes Midnight Scorchers an enjoyable ride, but it's not quite the essential listen that the original album was.

As dense as the mix gets, it never suffocates, and all of the instruments are allowed to breathe easily. Shebang is an inventive, vibrant work that constantly surprises and uplifts.

The Bordeaux Concert is not for the Jarrett beginner, but for seasoned fans of his many solo recordings, that are, after all, responsible for a sizeable portion of his legendary reputation. The dialogue he engages in with the piano here challenges its own assertions with an unassuming, even reverential authority. This is not only masterful, it soulful, interrogatory, and virtuosic.

They may never lose all their restlessness -- nor should they -- but it's undeniable that Cool It Down is one of their most consistent albums.

The cooperative spirit, the canny interplay, the imaginative, boundary-less compositions and solos, and the dedication and sophistication to make music -- no matter how difficult or wide-ranging -- make The Bad Plus at once compelling and compulsively listenable.

The Badu influence on Lennox hasn't been clearer, but the song ["POF"] is also a showcase for some of Lennox's most striking vocals and her strongest, pithiest writing -- singular qualities that remain throughout the album.

Grander in scope than Gibbs' rightly praised single-producer efforts, $oul $old $eparately is nearly as consistent, as the project is driven by his unyielding focus.

Doggerel pushes the boundaries of what a Pixies album can be, but not aggressively -- quite the opposite, in fact. The peaks may not be quite as high as they were on Beneath the Eyrie, but it's still a lot of fun to hear the band's reinvention.

On this soul-nourishing tour de force, her one-of-a-kind mix of innovation and emotion is as inspiring as it's ever been over her decades-long career.

While 50 offers a fitting tribute on the occasion of Neu!'s first recordings reaching the half-century milestone, more than anything it reminds us that there's never a bad time to listen to Neu!

Though Pye Corner Audio didn't necessarily need make such a drastic change, Jenkins pulls it off brilliantly, and Let's Emerge! celebrates the beauty of his music like never before.

Ocean offers a document of spontaneously created music-making of a very high order. A snapshot of a moment in time, the energy, creativity, and surprise offered here are a delight.

Game tends to overreach with his mix of the referential and the personal. When there's less obvious effort, the results are favorable, as on the Kanye West collaboration "Eazy," containing some of Game's best lyrics, illustrating the contrast between his upbringing and his ascendancy.

I Ran Down Every Dream arrived when McLain was 82 years old, and if it's not likely to be as big a hit as "Sweet Dreams," it sets the record straight that he was and remains an artist well worth knowing.

Some tracks work better than others, but the album ends on an impressive note with the open, ringing distortion of "Or Head On."

NAV reveals feelings of vulnerability and loneliness on some tracks, while concentrating on jewelry, money, and fame on the more club-ready songs.

An even sharper, more musically dense articulation of JID's profound talents with The Forever Story. The album is packed with nonstop displays of technical ability, complex wordplay, inventive use of beat switches, unpredictable shifts in flow and delivery, and forthright expression of experiences both personal and culturally shared.

Wave's formula of recounting painful memories and reflecting on how far he's come on the road to stardom starts to wear a little thin midway through Beautiful Mind, but he switches things up enough with the unexpected R&B vocal samples of "No Deal" and the booming, anthemic arrangement of "Mafia" to keep things moving along.

While lyrically bleak, Gulp! delivers its pessimism with fist-pumping enthusiasm for the most part, at least until the meditative, Kinks-evoking closer "Light Industry" emphasizes life's repetition on the album's one true outlier, like a final wink and a nod.

By the time the title track brings the album to a close with mournful synths and drums that sound like they could punch holes in the sky, Exister finds Vasquez reclaiming all of himself with painful eloquence.

Anderson's gift is less about her technical virtuosity, than in her ability to contain complex moods and emotions in even the sparest of parts. Aptly titled with its comma-assisted double meaning, Still, Here is indeed a meditation on both resilience and stillness of the mind.

The combination of open heart and open road -- there's no other place the stomping "Black Widow" would sound better -- makes Denim & Diamonds a remarkable record.

While most of The Trouble with Fever concerns itself with personal issues, it isn't insular; the sound is alluring and open, an invitation for relaxation as much as it is for reflection.

Anchored by Blake Mills' tasteful and creative production, the ten-song set feels like a small step forward for Mumford. It's both rooted in the past and primed for the future, like an exorcism gone right.

In These Times accumulated an arresting abundance of ideas, sounds, textures, and styles. The album is its own jazz labyrinth, and as such is destined for repeated listening and startling discovery.

Maybe it'd be easier to digest if it was broken into a series of EPs, but part of the point of Typical Music is that it offers an immersion into an expansive, eccentric worldview. It needs all of its messiness to paint a full portrait.

At every turn, Diablo puts pleasure front and center, and it's a lot of fun to hear Gurnsey reimagine what gets the dancefloor moving.

It will please fans of the hybrid jazz scene in England and draw in many new listeners internationally who will be deeply attracted to its apocalyptic energy, innovative beats, and rowdy abundance.

Music for Animals might seem daunting due to its length and starkness, but it's actually one of Frahm's most listenable albums, rewarding immersion and half-ignored background placement alike.

Only time will tell, but at this point Courting are delivering some smart, bracing fun that will keep you guessing in plenty of good ways.

Mid-album "Silence," a Homeric ballad in which Smith soars through the cosmos on a delicate rainbow of synth and chimes before crashing to the earth in a meteor shower of over-driven electric guitar squelch and digital distortion. It's a bold, deeply emotive moment, evoking the heartfelt style of Peter Gabriel. That these tracks, as with all of EBM, feel both familiar and unexpectedly fresh speaks to the alchemical spark between Editors and Power.

The album's production is warm, spacious, and full of depth, but not in an overwhelming way. Ali is casual-sounding yet inspired, and a tremendously inviting listen.

If overlong, MOSS is lovely on average and improves over the debut by committing to a design that suits Hawke's vocal qualities.

Most of LongGone feels deeply organic, with Redman and his bandmates feeding off each other and working to build something cohesive and bigger than their individual contributions.

An album that, if challenging, successfully mixes religious motifs with a balance of tactile, earthbound textures and hypnotically dreamy, alien atmospheres.

Things Happen That Way is solid, fun, and a bit sad, but a fitting, heartfelt sign-off from an American treasure. It's quite beautiful. One hopes, however, that the deleted tracks will surface on a later release.

Joe Strummer 002 is worth its weight simply for containing remastered versions of all three Mescaleros albums, but the copious liner notes, ephemera, and bonus disc of demos and rarities make it essential.

The band's confluence of rough-edged workingman's rock and unique melodic character was arguably never stronger than in 1970, and At the Royal Albert Hall offers a snapshot of just how strong that combination could be on-stage.

There is no question that The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: That's What Happened 1982-1985 will cause controversy among jazz fans. But it isn't for them. It's for Miles Davis fans and presents an unvarnished taste of him -- from the cutting room floor no less -- attempting to reinvent himself one last time.

Like Neptune offers a glimpse into one man's heart and soul while reminding us how he got where he is today, and it's an impressive LP from an artist who has some stuff to get off his chest and can still powerfully entertain as he does so.

The trio were always capable of more than mere spaced-out jams, but these four tracks organize all the bliss, curiosity, darkness, and contemplation Bitchin Bajas have shown in the past into something deeply considered and perfectly designed.

Spirituals pushes Santigold's music forward while shoring up its strengths -- and for perhaps the first time since her debut, it feels like art that she had to make for herself.

How Do You Burn? suggests he needs a fiercer and more energetic team of underlings if he's going to remain a force to be reckoned with.

Dense and sometimes overwhelming, Arrangements is a testament to Preoccupations' willingness to stay in their discomfort zone and document everything that happens. This time, however, the results are admirable but not always easy to connect with.

Their shortest salvo to date, Sunrise on Slaughter Beach distills all that's good in late-era Clutch, providing a familiar hit of serotonin and physical release.

Aiming for an even wider international audience, the English-heavy Born Pink matures BlackPink with stronger production, more personal lyrics, and a bold conviction that cannot be contained.

While SPARK's curio-like qualities may win the duo new listeners, and songwriting tendencies could offer a lifeline to certain established fans, it's a change -- signified by its all-caps stylization -- sure to alienate many as well.

Kicking off their third decade post-Barsuk, Death Cab continue their evolution in fascinating and rewarding ways, somehow managing to surprise with fresh directions and sounds yet unheard from this ever-reliable crew.