His most elaborately designed work to date, Cry Sugar incorporates grandiose strings, gospel choirs, and soulful wails into its fractured, chest-rattling beatscapes. Channeling the highs of formative clubgoing experiences, the best tracks on the record feature giddy synth melodies and overloaded drum patterns, along with ecstatic vocals.

It's Donnelly's strong songwriting voice -- both in terms of core music and lyrics -- that dominates here and is likely to re-engage fans.

It is quietly passionate, graceful, elegant, utterly moving, and unequivocally beautiful in its honesty and sophistication. He's realized an ambition here that is artful and singular.

Mostly, it means that Joy'All hums to a rhythm that's happy, if not quite beatific: Lewis bears her sorrows and scars proudly, which makes the sepia-toned positivity of the album feel earned.

Tindersticks have never failed to satisfy anyone looking not only for sadness but also those looking for albums that make you feel and songs that will stick with you for a long time. The Hungry Saw is classic Tindersticks.

A deeply comforting album, Okovi is some of Zola Jesus' purest-sounding, most profound music in years.

It's just enough of an update to feel fresh, yet familiar enough to be nothing but a dose of glitzy, cheerful nostalgia.

Weird, wonderful, and otherworldly stuff, as if Lil B. Lil Kim, Beenie Man, Beyonce, and Dr. Frank-N-Furter were spliced together with all their collective sass preserved, then piled high.

If there's any downside, it's a slight excess in length, with a handful of five- and six-minute cuts creating a bit of drag here and there. Still, it's a small grumble from a shockingly reliable ensemble still churning out top-shelf material nearly two decades into its career.

Dizzee has accomplished a lot in two decades, from pioneering a genre as a hotly tipped teenage prodigy to collaborating with pop stars on chart-topping hits, but his dedication to his craft has never been stronger, and E3 AF is proof of his lasting vitality.

Bemis may be seeking to defend the emo genre, but his album instead illustrates the difference between run-of-the-mill emo--which, indeed, comprises most of the genre's output--and the imaginative, skillful tunes that flourish here. The only major downside is the album's length.

If Crows was the first album from a new artist, it would certainly be hailed as the debut of a powerful new voice, and the fact that it comes from someone who has already been making fine music in notably different styles makes the accomplishment all the more impressive.

The way Arca plays with and decorates time, letting sounds and moods mutate spontaneously, makes Xen a complete picture of his artistry and also promises much more.

Without jettisoning the basic stylistic minimalism and scarcity of artistic means which makes footwork such a thrillingly raw, blunt, and immediate form, Traxman manages to subtly expand and redefine the possibilities of the genre.

The record isn’t a complete knockout, but it’s a nice consolidation of the Dum Dum Girls sound to date and a fine starting point in what could be a nice string of noise pop records.

C U L T U R E propels the Migos three into the mainstream with a collection of woozy trap gems that is a peak in their young careers thus far.

The Rocky Road is well worthy of being mentioned alongside classic albums by the Dubliners and Planxty, and that's as big a compliment as it could be paid.

They're playing at full strength, with the rhythm section pumping hard on the opening title track and the three that follow it.

A rather ramshackle collection of rarities, The Second Three Years is perhaps more for his long-term fan base rather than any new converts, but it's an intriguing listen that suggests Turner's slow-burning rise to fame could reach even loftier heights.

Struck by Lightning aren't just going through the motions -- as evidenced by the noticeable injection of clever ideas throughout.

It's a fine set, worth owning along with Endtroducing… while giving beat-friendly newcomers a very persuasive career-to-date overview.

While fans of Tonight Alive's debut will quickly fall in love with their sophomore effort, anyone looking for some powerful new emo-pop will definitely want to check this one out.

Everything seems to be malfunctioning on the album, and yet, Rashad loves the genres he borrows from so much, he can't ignore the solid grip of acid house ("Acid Bit") or the sweet slide of R&B ("She a Go"). These sparking satellites all remain in their respective groove's orbit, making Double Cup footwork's most sensible and revisit-worthy album to date.

The entire album sparkles with this same brilliant pacing and the group's thoughtful trek between detached analog electronics and passionate acoustic instrumentation.

It's a powerful chapter in Bachmann's expansive discography, and while it might require a closer listen than some of his earlier material, the rewards are as fulfilling and slow burning as the songs themselves.

Teleman prove that following their bliss is more important to them than more predictable markers of success, and it's hard to hear Family of Aliens as anything other than a soft-spoken declaration of independence.

Tuscaloosa presents Neil and his band in a warmer mood, sometimes downbeat but far less confrontational, and the vibe here is generally positive.

Corpse Flower is a dark jewel from two remarkable musical iconoclasts. It offers surprise, humor, revelation, tenderness, and excess, with flair and a certain tarnished elegance. It's a high-water mark for both men, albeit one born from the belly of hell itself.

For his part, Jennings deftly plays to the duo's strengths and surrounds them with a complementary sonic environment that dips and swells in all the right places, helping to keep the Mastersons just slightly adjacent to Americana's more obvious paths and in their own unique little world.

Hollywood Park dials back the trashy glam rock of its predecessor in favor of big earnest indie rock with the occasional flourish of gothic folk and Americana-laced post-punk.

This aptly titled set is perfect for driving fast on long, lonely stretches of highway with the windows down and the wide-open night for company.

Covers is a treat for fans, and reaffirms that Marshall can find the Cat Power -- as well as new meanings -- in the music that moves her.

With guest spots from Margo Price, Billy Strings, Old Crow Medicine Show, Sierra Hull, Dan Tyminski, and Gillian Welch, Crooked Tree can feel a little busy, but the playing is reliably top-notch, and the songs, which approach trad-bluegrass themes from a female perspective, are both potent and timely.

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.

Trouble on Big Beat Street sometimes meanders, and not all of its detours are rewarding. Nevertheless, this is some of Pere Ubu's most rawly experimental music in some time; for fans who want to feel like they're listening in on the band working out these songs instead of being presented a perfected product, there's a lot to love.

Wispy, strings-and-chimes-enhanced indie popper "All Over" is contrasted stylistically by the pop slickness of "Climbing Trees," which is replete with synth shimmer and vocal processing. Throughout, however, punchy hooks and melodic "whoa-ohs" accompany lyrics delivered with an ever-present frown and the suggestion that the title Supermodels was chosen to evoke alienation.

Tuttle and company have released another assured collection of songs that pair virtuosic musicianship with relatable and erudite songwriting.

Vera Sola's blurring of past and present sounds especially apt to the early 2020s here, but more often, Peacemaker's dreamlike world has a timeless appeal that fans of Calexico, Timber Timbre, and Marissa Nadler will love.

A welcome standout in Eels' body of work.

Throughout BITE ME, Rapp serves up plenty of wry pop charisma, which is more than enough to sink your teeth into.

Barry Can't Swim presented a volume of the Late Night Tales mix series, showcasing music he's fond of but wouldn't necessarily be appropriate for him to drop in a club. While there's a little of the type of lush, organic house that he produces, much of the mix is more downtempo, often exploring Balearic chillout territory, but also venturing into a few other directions.

His singing is of a piece with the music, at once clearer and more conventional than ever before and still touched with the reflective spoken-to-oneself melancholy that defines his work.

Calling Forever Sounds a masterpiece would probably be wildly premature, but this is a deeply satisfying work that reveals new pleasures with repeated listens, and reminds listeners this band is still expanding on what they do best.

For all its thematic focus and political commentary, Wheeltappers and Shunters is quintessentially Clinic; at once pointed and oblique, its bad trips and cheap thrills are a subversive rebuke to a sanitized notion of the past, present, or future.

Though this emotional nakedness is an unusual move after Made in the Dark pushed Hot Chip to a new level of attention and acclaim, it also shows they’re in it for the long haul.

At best, a rich man's Air. At worst, tedious, superfluous, hippy-dippy, overly ironic trash. Lemon Jelly .KY can be both, of course -- often at the same time...

While Luke Steele's influences show through on all of Lovers' tracks, somehow the album avoids sounding totally derivative; instead, it just reveals Steele as a pop chameleon and an expert at pastiche.

2004's early front-runner for art rock album of the year.

Historical Conquests is above all a fun record. It's got all of the heartache, acute observation, and crushing truth that fans are used to, but it never preaches without a wink and, most importantly, sounds as good blisteringly loud as it does drifting out of a clock radio in the garage.

Live at the Gluepot is a crucially important document for fans of New Zealand's fabled indie pop heyday, but anyone who likes good, heavily snarky rock & roll will appreciate this recording of Toy Love going out in a blaze of glory.

No doubt, Lord Steppington is a niche album, but whenever a combination of 3rd Bass and Adult Swim is required, this one shows its pimp-hand with some dry, elevated humor.

There's really no one else who does exactly what Tindersticks can, and No Treasure But Hope confirms they can not only create music of striking and forbidding beauty, they can do it in a hurry if need be.

It's tempting to want these songs to have the space to breathe. Nevertheless, McMahon always takes his music wherever it needs to go, and Death Jokes is the bracing sound of Amen Dunes actively engaging with the world and its problems.

Wincing the Night Away is the sound of the Shins acknowledging where they've been and moving on to new territory, and while it probably won't change your life, it probably will make it more enjoyable.

The band beautifully marries its dense and intricate compositions with Abraham's sledgehammer vocals to create something that feels like the next evolution of the genre.

There is a purity to their sound and vision that gives the album its power.

Never less than sweet and engaging, The Loveliest Time may not be as ambitious as its predecessor, but when it comes to Jepsen's lighter-than-air pop, it just might be more consistent.

It's not always the most forceful or aggressive protest music, though it does have its harder, more bracing moments. Instead, much of it seems to search for the peace and tranquility that would be present in the absence of war and violence.

As big and as diverse as the guest list is, the album hangs and flows effortlessly.

At its heart it's just a collection of songs, but it's that rare thing for a songwriter: it works as a piece of writing and a sterling pop album of its own.

All in all, Copeland has delivered a solid set of music, easily recommended, that should please her fans and translate to some dynamic performances on tour.

The List is a renewal and a testament to life, and it belongs to her father as much as it belongs to her, a beautiful restatement of her father's passions, only now, they've become his daughter's treasures, as well.

Gloss Drop may be more accomplished than the band's debut; even if it's not quite as much of a powerhouse as Mirrored was, it shows that the trio version of Battles is lean, creative, and surprisingly adaptable.

Sprawling and searching for truth, Hella Personal Film Festival is another excellent Open Mike Eagle album, and if it doesn't entice those with short attention spans, that's their loss.

Seven years is a long time to wait between albums, but if that's how long it takes to make the album as good as this is, then the wait was worth it.

I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep has a despairing seductive power.

A fascinating musical ride that defies any attempt at categorization.

It all makes for a breezy yet powerful expression of independence from an artist who is always true to herself.

Nothing here is surprising, of course, but Years of Refusal is a full-bodied, full-blooded album that also happens to be fully realized--even if it is on a rather modest scale.

Preoccupations is a more coherent, more accessible set of songs that proves this band doesn't need an edgy name to attract the attention they deserve.

The addition of simple pop elements to Commontime and the fact that the Brewis brothers manage to keep cranking out music this intelligent and flat-out fun to listen to without ever having the slightest dip in quality, makes it one of their more interesting and rewarding efforts to date.

The album comes out as their most organic since 1998's Good Humor; even the tracks driven by programming are warm in comparison to vast chunks of both Sound of Water and Finisterre.

While Conatus isn't as direct as Stridulum, it's still some of her most satisfying work.

Graduation is neither as bold nor as scattered as "The College Dropout," and it's neither as extroverted nor as sonically rich as "Late Registration." Kanye still makes up for his shortcomings as an MC and lyricist by remaining charmingly clumsy, frequently dealing nonsense through suspect rhyme schemes.

While the accompaniment is always thoughtful and inventive, Prekop's vocal idiosyncrasies tend to be a double-edged sword, delightful on the good songs but only accentuating the dreariness of failed experiments like "Le Baron" or "Try Nothing."

What they really are is a 21st century version of a good old Southern rock band who know all too well that the hills of North Mississippi are alive with real folk music.

The Mendoza Line have mined this kind of socio-political territory before, but never with so much fatalistic maturity.

Retro-soul aficionados who claim they don't make 'em like they used to will obviously be thrilled with this, but even contemporary R&B fans can't help but be moved by the emotion and passion evident in every note of this riveting set.

On the surface of things, this is a bit of an odd task, taking left-behind lyrics from one of the great songwriters and breathing life into them. But nobody here seems intimidated; they seem honored -- and there are some pretty good songs that come out of the project.

The band's free-form style of playing is every bit as anti-musical and explosive as '70s no wave, making for a savage listen.

They work hard to make it a true collaboration, and due to that effort and the high quality of the songs they each brought, it works amazingly well.

Algiers, both band and album, offer musical and topical intensity alternately malevolent and passionate in searching and affirming truth, human and otherworldly. All of these seemingly disparate historical musical elements are distilled in such a startling manner, they carve something new from the fragments.

Gunnera is bound to appeal more to Menomena fans than to casual fans of the National, but while it's unconventional, it's even more so enthralling, loaded with worthwhile atmospheres and grooves.

A fun, unpredictable album that is sure to confuse some listeners, but it fits right at home with the nonconformist ethos of Ninja Tune.

With 15 tracks totaling over 70 minutes, including a 17-minute closer, Mystère's ambition will challenge the ears and endurance of some. Having said that, the album is well sequenced, alternating lighter and heavier tracks, and the whole presentation has that enviable je ne sais quoi--c'est cool.

With some of the best and most interesting flashes of library music's colossal archives, Unusual Sounds offers a look at an arcane avenue of music that will engage those previously unfamiliar and well-versed fans.

Older, wiser, and still passionate, Phoenix is a worthy continuation of Pedro the Lion's legacy with just enough spirit to set it apart from his 2010s solo work.

While Ma isn't the most eclectic chapter of Banhart's work, it's an inspired and wide-reaching collection that goes all over the place without ever losing track of his restless creative vision.

More than just a remix album, Heavy Rain stands out on its own merit, demonstrating that Perry's inspiration and creative drive haven't dulled in his advanced age.

While just about everything here is darkly anxious yet engaging, highlights include the line “Life’s just time chasing your mind with the body you get" (from "In the Red") and the bouncy, utterly infectious "Big Air," which, in keeping with the rest of the album, adds injury to elation: "I got big air/Flew and landed strange."

While arguably Sam Evian's strongest set of songs yet, he's nothing if not consistent, and Plunge sits well alongside project debut Premium (2016) while at the same time offering something a little "more so" thanks to a live-in-studio recording philosophy that shunned headphones and playback and kept overdubs to a minimum.

It may not match See Through You's consistent brilliance, but at its best, Synthesizer delivers the noise for which A Place to Bury Strangers is known and quite a bit more.

In Our Heads is some of their finest and most accessible music.

It's not only her biggest and most ambitious production to date, but also the album that best showcases her gift for communicating complex emotional entanglements so simply and clearly they become almost weightless.

It carefully builds--creatively and emotionally--on everything Baird had accomplished so far and ascends to another level entirely.

It makes for an utterly compelling, even obsessive listen.

The density of the Twilight Sad's sound evokes wide open spaces, yet the louder they are, the more intimate they sound.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress [is] the richest musical offering yet from Belle & Sebastian.