The term "triumphant return" might be thrown around too casually, but it certainly applies to I Thought of You.

Whatever hopes you held in the aftermath of "I Am a Bird Now," they have been exponentially exceeded in poetry, music, and honesty here.

Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave's naked emotions and sophisticated music mark a new high point for the Twilight Sad.

Sahel Folk is an enriching and meditative listening experience, and introduces another aspect of the great -- and seemingly inexhaustible -- Malian Songhai musical tradition to the West.

At the outset, it seems austere, but by its conclusion it's a robust celebration of all the weird, wonderful parts of America.

Traditional Techniques feels starkly openhearted and relaxed, which means that the album can surprise emotionally even if it is firmly rooted within his musical wheelhouse.

The Argument never seems like work, as Hart is thoroughly engaged, delivering songs that work on their own terms but purposefully add up to an intriguing, tantalizing enigma.

Never once do they sound desperate on Bloodsports; they sound confident, and comfortable in the knowledge that this is where they all should be.

Lyrically it's so strong and vulnerable that it works, leaving the listener haunted with the notion that something special has occurred, that he or she has born witness to a man becoming aware of the preciousness of his own life.

More New Order and Saint Etienne than Smiths, and with male and female vocals, the band comes across as an electro-pop Belle and Sebastian.

Kid A is easily the most successful electronica album from a rock band -- so much so that it doesn't sound like the work of a rock band, even if it does sound like Radiohead.... Despite its admirable ambition -- ambition that is all the more impressive in 2000, the year when most bands simply stopped trying -- Kid A never is as visionary or stunning as OK Computer, nor does it really repay the intensive time it demands in order for it to sink in.

Filled with vocoders, stylish neo-electro beats, dalliances with trip-hop, and, occasionally, eerie synthesized atmospherics, Music blows by in a kaleidoscopic rush of color, technique, style, and substance.... an appealing, addictive record.

Layer after layer of preconceived notions and excess noise are stripped away to unveil both soft-spoken charm and intense newfound confidence.

This is a good document of Morphine's excellent live show and displays the energy and passion that they played with during the tour that supported their breakthrough album.

Presumably it's not enough for Patterson Hood that he fronts one of the best rock bands in America--Murdering Oscar shows him stepping into an equally impressive solo career, but when the songs he's set aside for himself are this good, you can't blame the man for wanting to share.

REV is the Reverend Horton Heat's strongest rock & roll album since 2000's Spend a Night in the Box, simply because it shows the Reverend and company to their best advantage: they do this stuff better than anyone, and they don't have to apologize for playing to their strengths when they can still wail like this.

Cory Branan may not have any hits--yet--but No-Hit Wonder shows that's sure not for lack of talent or a voice that makes his songs go down easy.

The quartet, occasionally joined by players such as Doyle Bramhall II, Jeff Parker, and Levon Henry, roams fluidly through funk, roots music, and unclassifiable stylistic amalgamations, like they're doing so on an intuitive level.

Oneida never left, so this isn't a comeback by any means, but they certainly seem re-energized, making this their best work in at least a decade.

With eight tracks and a playing time of 30 minutes, it's an efficient debut without a weak song in the bunch, one noteworthy for its poise as well as its engaging eccentricity.

It may be premature to lump Say Sue Me in with such legendary acts [as Pale Saints, Slowdive, Black Tambourine], but Where We Were Together is so undeniably good it's hard not to do just that.

The execution isn't quite as strong as Earle's good intentions on Guy, though if he wanted to either remind old fans on the greatness of Clark's songs or convince new ones to explore his body of work, he makes his case will eloquence and affection.

Loose yet consistently engaging, i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley is the work of a band in its element.

The sunlit reflections that Wasner traversed as Flock of Dimes are similarly parsed on The Louder I Call, though Wye Oak is still very much a collaboration between her and Stack. When working together, their push and pull remains an attractive part of their appeal and never more so than on this exciting outing.

Michael Trent receives co-writing credits for roughly half of these tracks, but I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart is a Butch Walker album through and through. It’s also one of his best, proof that Walker still can’t take a step without bumping into a usable hook.

Cave In has always been a multifaceted band, but their stylistic range has never been as thoroughly explored as it is on White Silence.

While Have We Met doesn't sound quite like top-shelf Destroyer, it's a fine testament to Bejar's talent and his gift for having things both ways at once, lyrically droll and musically cool and on point.

This is a band built for flexibility at live shows and for stretching numbers out, but thanks to Brown's easy, natural honky tonk singing and sharp songwriting, ZBB also deliver confidently in the tighter restraints of a studio setting.

The amplification of their strengths as a group and the new avenues they travel make this the TERRY album that rewards a deep listen most.

This three track set is a casebook on the nature of true collaboration; everyone here places himself at the service of music made in the moment from mutally assured trust and goodwill; it sparks creation at every turn. God knows we need more albums like this. what an unexpected pleasure.

While this album will undoubtedly be embraced by those who have been following the L.A. group since their early days in Brooklyn, it's never too late to get on the Lucius train, and this eponymous LP is a great representative of what they do.

Aw C'mon is lovely, compelling, mysterious, and confounding.

Ratchet is a fully realized, entertaining portrait of an artist who knows where he's from and where he's going.

Just about all of the new tracks would make fine A-sides, though they all fall into place as part of a flowing album.

A rich, exciting, and emotionally deep sounding album that carries on the freewheeling spirit and sound of the Unicorns as well as that of the Elephant 6 bands of the late '90s.

For as relaxed as Mirror Traffic is, there is real structure to the songs and clarity to the production, two things that turn it into Malkmus' most satisfying solo album to date.

Because of their association with Bowie, the quartet's Beyond Now will get attention from a wider range of music fans than a jazz album normally would. But this record warrants attention on its own merits because it showcases the exciting, genre-blurring sound of a sophisticated band coming into its own.

Fortitude is a fitting, welcome follow-up, and a brave new chapter in Gojira's continuing musical evolution as they weave old sounds with new ones in creating a sonic tapestry that showcases startling imagination, thought-provoking musical and human intelligence, complex emotions, and immense physical power.

A different kind of enjoyment than in the past, but just as good. Maybe even better.

It's not as cheeky as Pulp and not nearly as abrasive as British Sea Power; however, Clearlake is equally provocative.

Noonday Dream can feel ephemeral at times, but never is it unpleasant, even when it's fishing for emotional truth in unstable waters. Introspection rarely feels this inclusive.

Humming by the Flowered Vine is an album that's a joy to listen to without sounding simple or hollow, and resonates with an evocative beauty comprised of both compassion and intellect.

It's as a joyous a record as you'll ever hear, a testament that the power of music lies not in its writing but in its performance.

Every bit as compelling as contemporaneous efforts from likeminded electronic artists Daft Punk, Lemon Jelly, and the Orb.

While words like "fun" or "entertaining" aren't likely to ever be used to describe I Shall Die Here, those with the fortitude to endure its savagery and stare into the abyss will definitely know what they're made of.

n. As with the best music of this kind, Sonnet rewards paying rapt attention to its minute changes as well as its wider sweep. Either way of listening reveals it as a beautiful, affecting exploration of form and freedom.

Given Three Chords and the Truth's 70-minute run time, there's a lot to digest, but it's worth it. Morrison is in excellent voice throughout; his energy is kinetic and his songwriting -- even when he's complaining -- is fresh, humorous, soulful, and insightful. A natural companion to Keep Me Singing, this is Morrison at his best.

The New OK sometimes feels uneven and precarious, which in this context is an asset rather than a failing; as a snapshot of America in October 2020, it's unnervingly accurate and devastatingly relatable, as well as a powerful set of work from a great American band.

A thrilling showcase of Daniel’s compositional abilities, Can Such Delightful Times Go On Forever? makes a compelling case that beauty and expression are essential tools for much more than mere survival.

He's still finding joy inside the pain, supplying the high notes with that ethereal contratenor and the low end with those sinuous basslines.

Throughout, Tweedy and company give Mavis even more room than on You Are Not Alone. While this isn't as exciting, the grip is instant, hard to break.

Far from a rehash of the band's previous glories, American Head feels transformational; at once magical and down-to-earth, it's the album the Flaming Lips needed to make and fans needed to hear at this point in their career.

Tyler builds on his already sterling reputation as a player and composer, while further establishing himself as a bandleader, on this breezy but neatly sewn collection.

She may not have the range of a Roísin Murphy yet, the raw emotion of Robyn's best work, or the glam explosiveness of Goldfrapp, but she's not too far behind, and if she makes more albums like Stellular, it won't be long before she's joining their rarified class.

Ali returns with All the Beauty in This Whole Life, a record that never shies away from facing injustice but focuses on a different aspect of activism: inner transformation. That's not a new age slogan but ancient wisdom carried from Tao to Gandhi to MLK; Ali brings it down the pipe with the hammer of compassion.

DiCaprio 2 surpasses everything the rapper offered before it, with his strengths in full focus at a level that can't help but remind of the career peaks of greats that came before him.

From start to finish, lolling hooks flood Cara's mind as much as indecision, skepticism, and other negative thoughts. They make all the bad stuff go down easy, enabling the listener to have a proper sulk that soothes.

Those looking for the cleverness of MC Paul Barman and the conceptual weight of Deltron 3030 really ought to give this a listen.

Assbring's discovery of the world of sounds, and the inspiration it gave her, has helped provide El Perro del Mar with a stunning upgrade, and KoKoro stands as one of the best works of her already pretty great career.

Kozelek is simply continuing on his way here, but that said, to stand apart from all the superlatives and just get lost in his creation here, he has made the best record of his career.

The tempos on Reckless are more varied than those on their self-titled debut, but even the slower tracks pack the big emotional punch that bluegrass fans love, the kind of feeling that used to make country music dangerous.

The album as a whole abounds with effective, intriguing atmospherics. It's just that, for all its potential, Fin is merely fine.

Overall, the sound on Dead Silence isn't that different from the band's previous work, but is certainly some of the best work they've done.

While still plenty noisy and messy-headed, Sky Larkin sound their most organized on Motto, and the deeper focus they apply to their energetic sounds is what makes the end results work better than any of their previous albums.

If Lemmy croaks or wheezes more often on Bad Magic than he has before, it suits his tales of foul-minded bastards and their despicable deeds, and it's a fine fit with the bloody-minded attitude that has always been Motörhead's stock in trade.

This busy collection is really just more free.

Turbulent yet strangely comforting, No Future is one of Moiré's best works yet.

Produced by Manfred Eicher, Elegy fits ECM's aesthetic to a T. More than that, however, it reveals Bleckmann's creative authority as he searches the limits of both sound and silence for an expression that utters its own name. The album is a gentle wonder; it bodes well for an enduring relationship between artist and label.

They're working on keeping the flame burning, and Black Coffee may be their most effective testament in that effort to date.

By the time The Loves of Your Life closes with the joyous "The Old King," Leithauser stretches his music into a wide embrace of the past and present that's all the more impressive because it feels so lived-in and genuine.

It's an album anchored in unsettled rumination, with compellingly grainy surfaces that reveal either the expertise of its accomplished collaborators or a sophistication beyond Owen's years -- likely both.

While Versions of the Truth's second half is more subtle and laid-back, it is also more adventurous; it adds dimension and balance to an already deeply resonant outing.

What makes Hardware cook are the very elements that always work for Gibbons: deceptively sharp songwriting that supports full-throttle rockers and soulful, slow(er) grooves. It's a formula that's yielded great results for Gibbons throughout the years, and they do once again here.

It continues his measured progression as a stylist of mellow pop songs with soul that articulate pensive self-awareness and a level of empathy best summarized in "Spinner": "I just wanna spin the truth about the ones I care about/All in the name of sufferin', but I'll see this through."

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.

The Lone Bellow took a risk in self-producing Love Songs for Losers, and they pulled it off. Through this deeply moving collection of songs with a wide range of musical expressions, the album offers creative abundance and possibility.

Deftly executed and ideal for repeat listens, Diamonds & Dancefloors makes it two-for-two for Max's catalog, delivering on the promise of her debut and pushing her even further toward the top of the early-2020s pop pantheon.

It's perfectly fine that they chose to head backwards to a sound they were familiar with. Aşk is proof that there is plenty of mileage left before the sound, or the band, runs out of gas.

Formal Growth in the Desert plays like another State of the Union essay from this band of intelligent malcontents, and what they have to say is strikingly effective as editorial commentary and as music.

Perennial is yet another step forward for Woods, a band that continues to get stronger as their music becomes gentler and more graceful.

Passing through the Valley of Abandoned Songs, it seems, is a little like visiting the Lost & Found, and there's definite value in these reclaimed works of art.

It can just as easily function as music for quiet reflection, nature exploration, travel, studying, or most other activities. II is their most distinctive, sophisticated, and emotionally rich work yet.

Nothing is overly ornate. For the most part, it's a lowrider delight, all the way down to the weeping "Rust and Steel," where Jones compares the end of a relationship to a vehicular breakdown.

Everest never strays far from the hard rock and heavy metal foundation that has propelled Halestorm to the upper echelons of the modern rock scene. Instead, it expands their sonic palette, proving that evolution doesn't have to mean compromise.

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.

The different textures and timbres at work on Emmaar reveal Tinariwen's evolution; one derived from the need to grow musically, as well as respond to adversity with creativity.

Snakes for the Divine is another physically punishing tour de force from a band whose fans will settle for nothing less, and have rarely been let down--certainly not this time around.

Hairless Toys [is] a welcome return and Murphy's most satisfying album yet.

Given the level of the performances, the majority of the guests evidently approached this as a Kendrick Lamar album, not as a soundtrack. Black Panther: The Album serves both purposes well.

It's clearly a challenging, confrontational album, but it also feels like the artist's purest expression yet.

A classically trained ivory tickler, Krug's compositional style is as esoteric as his prose, lending an unpredictable musicality to the proceedings that allows the listener to forget that they’re essentially listening in on a very intimate solo performance.

It's impressive stuff, and that it feels like the work of a much more seasoned crew of bandmates suggests that they had as much fun making it as the listener will have devouring it.

Total Freedom is aptly named, as these songs are the work of a songwriter who demands no more and no less; now more than ever, Kathleen Edwards is living and making music in a way that honors her own spirit, and it reminds us why you don't take the work of someone this talented for granted.

It's not easy to grasp at first, but it reveals van Dinther as a restless creative spirit, and seems to only hint at the directions his artistic career could take in the future.

It takes courage to make an album like La Vita Nuova, and it takes a rare talent to make it work, and this leaves no doubt Maria McKee has plenty of both.

Each song on Fetch feels so meticulous and so conscientiously crafted, it's hard to listen to it without arriving at a cliched but undeniable truism: good things come to those who wait.

In Between is usually quiet, but it's never cautious; this is very much the work of one of America's best and most venerable independent bands, and it confirms the Feelies are still a genuine creative force as they approach their 40th anniversary.

The world of Future is as wobbly and as wonderful as ever, and thanks to Honest, it just got grand.