No longer able to croon as he once did, Nelson opts for playing around with the rhythms of his delivery, a move that makes him seem limber, adding a sense of vitality to Last Man Standing. Willie realizes he's not going to be here forever but he's made up his mind to make the most of his time here, and that's why Last Man Standing feels richer than so many self-conscious meditations on mortality.

It's easily the band's most direct album, but rather than dumbing things down, they've removed anything that might get in the way of their messages. The more defiant they are, the more accessible they get, and they kick off the album with some of their hookiest songs.

A musical getaway, Rebound finds Friedberger freed from expectations, and with a spring in her music's step that hasn't been heard in some time.

The Sciences may not be as daring and ambitious as Dopesmoker, but it finds Sleep working at the top of their game in the studio, and their resinous howl is still a weird marvel to behold. If you're looking for a king-size dose of heavy, The Sciences is what you need.

On-stage, these same songs straighten themselves out and, in the process, get a touch lighter. On Tonight's the Night, it often appeared as if Young and his crew learned the songs as they recorded them, but on Roxy, the Santa Monica Flyers have the changes under their belts and are really in the mood to have a good time.

Harris takes a minimalist approach on Grid of Points, but she imbues it with so much feeling that it could never be called slight.

It's a tight, sometimes bombastic, sometimes sweet mix of old-school hard, prog, and psych rock with a shot of indie-era slacker keeping it all grounded--at least for the most part.

Right from the outset, the album is filled with dense, complex vocal arrangements, with both MCs (as well as their guests) delivering dozens of vicious caricatures of fake rappers and "woke" folks. ... They complement each other well, and both drive the album's concept.

You're Driving Me Crazy is as energetic as any live show. Of the three successive recordings done in this way, this one stands head and shoulders above for its inspired performances and choices of material.

Altogether, it's a rock-solid set, notable for good songs as well as a distinctive if simultaneously throwback sound.

Conquistador marks another fine chapter in this intrepid frontiersman's musical journey.

Rather than breaking the mold, Dr. Dog instead double down on their strengths to make Critical Equation a surprisingly vital outing.

As striking as Immunity was, Singularity feels more developed, and it's ultimately a tough call as to which album is more exciting.

An absurdly emotional, innovative album.

The singer and songwriter's second album similarly displays different approaches that skillfully build off and depart from the previous release.

The set's detailed liner notes are fascinating and well written, and the music is as lovely and evocative as one would expect from Eno's ambient works.

Anxiety-stricken yet somehow finding ways to enjoy life, BMSR sound creatively re-energized on the excellent Panic Blooms.

Be More Kind is musically inventive in its use of punk, folk, soul, and electronica but deceptively simple in its message, which is as complex as the times we live in.

It's a wonderful debut, and even if Clarke and Cut Worms veer away from this sound in the future, at least he will have left the world this one slice of genius retro-pop.

At 33 minutes, the album is an intense but abrupt ride, with both musicians soaring into bold new territories. For dedicated fans who couldn't get enough, pre-orders of the album were bundled with a bonus disc containing eight additional tracks from the same sessions, which are just as mindblowing as the album proper, if not more so.

Maximizing that powerful female energy is Tennessee-raised lead singer Rachael Price, whose dusky, highly resonant vocals, reminiscent of Dusty Springfield, ground the album with a warm virtuosity. It also doesn't hurt that Kearney, guitarist Mike Olson, drummer Mike Calabrese, and touring keyboardist Akie Bermiss frame her in earthy, organic arrangements with a tactile, live-in-the-studio feel.

Throughout 7, Beach House feel more concerned with capturing moments fully rather than conforming to notions of what a cohesive album is. That these songs sound like they came from different albums is ultimately more refreshing than disorienting, and the excitement that courses through each track is palpable.

Prodigal Son is yet another act of committed intention from one of American music's greatest guardians and purveyors. In its grain, aesthetic pleasure and the will for justice converse and ultimately convince the rest of us to act.

Taken as a whole--SR3MM is nearly two hours long--the album is a serious time investment. However, broken up into three parts as intended, it provides a trio of easily digestible bites that gives Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi freedom to indulge their own artistry while maintaining their bond as a duo.

With its fascination quotient running so high, Walker's musical restlessness generously offers a sense of welcome anticipation that listeners can return to almost endlessly.

Murmurations is a standout moment for Deep Throat Choir, while in the Simian Mobile Disco canon it sits as an interesting and pleasant experience but, ultimately, a sideline in their discography.

Just as the group's first two albums fit into the shoegaze revival category without coming close to playing by the rules, Miserable Miracles demonstrates Pinkshinyultrablast's truly unique approach to making pop music, which is equally as exciting and refreshing.

What makes the record so satisfying is how Millsap winds up fusing this thoroughly Southern sound with his literate, folky storytelling, which means that Other Arrangements is vibrant and alive even when he's evoking styles that have been around for ages.

There really isn't anyone else who combines ear-bleeding noise, desolation, and ravenous beauty like the Body, and I Have Fought Against It is one of their most emotionally heavy albums yet.

At its core, Attention Attention is a fun, engaging ride, maintaining Shinedown's power while making subtle bids to attract a wider audience.

The Siren's Song is perhaps a bit too gentle in its attack to make Kacy & Clayton stars, but anyone with an interest in modern-day folk music will be happily mesmerized by it.

While Rausch initially doesn't feel like quite as much of a momentous occasion as Narkopop did when it first arrived, it certainly isn't any less beautiful, and holds up to repeated listens as well as anything else in the project's essential discography.

Hundreds of Days finds Lattimore gracefully adapting to her new surroundings, adding new dimensions to her sound but keeping its dreaminess and sentimentality intact.

Bay never seems like he's pandering; he sounds thrilled that he has a chance to make the kind of layered, genre-bending pop that he wants to make, and listeners may well find that freedom alluring.

The resulting Violet Psalms is more measured, but no less distinctive (and destructive) than previous outings, delivering all of the architectural twists and turns, fragmented rhythms, and surreal narratives that have come to define the group over the years.

Rich and soothing, it's a focused and warmly crafted debut that sounds unlike anything else in Watson's previous recordings.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/gods-favorite-customer-mw0003172246

Throughout Wildness, Lightbody pushes his message with evocative lyrical imagery and the consoling empathy of someone who has fought the battle and emerged triumphant. The result is one of the most comforting and relatable inclusions in the band's catalog.

If the decision to make Tunnel of Love, Human Touch, and In Concert into double LPs means they're slightly cumbersome listens, they nevertheless sound wonderful, and that's the ultimate reason for acquiring this box: these records have never sounded--or have been presented--better than they are here.

Stylish and yearning, Love Yourself: Tear is BTS at a polished and focused peak, cohesive enough to feel like it was conceived in one particular period rather than cobbled together like some of their previous releases.

The result is an impressive step forward, an album that finds Natalie Prass straddling the border between the future and the past, just as she promised.

There's a palpable sweetness to music that endures, even when a production is as bright and glistening as it is on Shawn Mendes. That bodes well for the future that Shawn Mendes is so evidently planning for.

Kanye West grants taut, grimace-inducing beats, assisted infrequently by Mike Dean and Andrew Dawson, enabling Pusha to pack each one of the seven tracks with characteristically trenchant and terse rhymes. The lyrical focus is similarly laser-sharp.

Rhys' words may be filled with dread but his music offers solace in its deftly executed songcraft and reassuring soft focus, which means Babelsberg can soothe the very emotions it stirs up.

Like Going Back Home before it, As Long as I Have You benefits from Daltrey's diminished range, as it adds gravity and grit to his interpretation. This album also benefits from its tight backing band, which is graced with a swinging horn section but distinguished by Townshend playing a secondary, sympathetic role to Daltrey, helping to give this muscular, occasionally moving record an air of grace.

A really good album; one that shows Rault reshaping his sound and sounding even better than before.

Vibras is more consistent and varied than Energia. Its songwriting, performances, and production are truly inspired, making for an utterly compelling listen and one of the essential soundtracks of summer.

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.

On Prequelle, Ghost deliver fully on the promises of earlier records. Their strengths--including one for imitation--are fully assembled and focused in an exercise of irresistible arena rock excess without sounding like a pastiche.

To dive into Whale City is to immerse yourself in the stranger side of rock & roll, but it's worth losing your mind over.

Li's defeat and grief are palpable, yet she delivers with such grace and control, which offers a glimmer of hope for the fellow romantically downtrodden. With production to match, so sad so sexy succeeds in providing a relatable therapy session for love's final gasps.

It is a music of sense and memory perceptions, a sonic projection equal to but different from the sources that inspired it. When all are assembled, they constitute a deep, mysterious, and occasionally disruptive journey into shade, texture, nuance, and seductive persuasion.

The extensively detailed liner notes feature interviews with the musicians as well as plenty of gorgeous photos, but the music itself is the main attraction, and it all sounds uniformly incredible.

It's an impressive formula for a debut, and one that succeeds whether listeners are tuning in more for the soundscape or more for the sentiment.

The Alligator Bride is louder and prouder than Mansion Songs, but it's also somehow more relaxed, as if there is nothing to prove. Hopefully, Miller will keep this rocking line-up together for the foreseeable future.

Without Tinsley nor the late LeRoi Moore, Dave Matthews Band doesn't seem as loopy or rangy as it did in its prime, yet this leaner sound suits a middle-aged Matthews who is comfortable in his skin yet restless in his mind.

A powerful tool for repairing a broken heart and indicative of an even brighter future, Lost & Found is satisfying and promising at once.

Soil captures a passionate, complex artist coming into his own.

Every track on this album is densely constructed, colorful, and unpredictable, and while it may seem lighthearted at first, it manages to cover a wide range of emotions. One of the most inventive debut albums of 2018, for sure.

With What Heaven Is Like, Wussy have made it clear they're not giving up their status as one of America's greatest indie bands just yet, and this is another dark but compelling album that deserves your attention.

Call the Comet is more accomplished than compelling, but there is pleasure in hearing how all the parts fit together so tidily.

Their sonic restlessness never falls off track into musical excess, but instead allows keen articulation of the plethora of identities found in non-Anglo culture, and denotes the places they intersect. Besides, you can dance your ass off while absorbing its coded messages. Bravo.

Carla Bozulich is a vital and fearless artist, and Quieter demonstrates that her muse can adapt to whatever fate throws her; this is fascinating music that merits your attention.

Both acts mesh perfectly with each other, and Mental Wounds Not Healing is a brilliant, seamless collaboration.

At first glance, it's easy to underestimate Culture Abuse for the part-time slackers they present themselves to be, but there's a lot more to them than meets the eye on this satisfying second effort.

While Post Traumatic takes an emotional toll, it ultimately instills feelings of hope and the idea that things can get better. For Shinoda, Linkin Park, and their devoted followers, it's an effective group therapy session.

Chaney's robust voice commands the room, deftly weaving between the intersecting lanes of vulnerability and raw power with remarkable poise, especially on standout cuts like "Dragonfly," "Roman Holiday," and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," the latter of which uses the "cockles and mussels alive, alive oh" refrain from the traditional Irish ballad "Molly Malone" to devastating effect.

Like Stateless, New Bodies is vibrant and refreshing, brimming with ideas but never seeming overwrought, and challenging without being too esoteric or off-putting.

Some of the band's finest music yet, to say that Kazuashita was worth the wait is an understatement; it's a timely, necessary expression of hope that also feels like a union of the new and the eternal.

Heaven and Earth is more a refinement of the ideas expressed on The Epic than an entirely new paradigm. There is less wandering, more focus, more inquiry and directed movement, as well as an abundance of colorful tonal and harmonic contrasts.

Some tracks don't fully conclude so much as abruptly end, adding to the dis-ease and resulting in an album that is as compelling to feel as it is to listen to.

As inward-looking as her particular brand of overcast indie rock can be, she possesses a relatability and a knack for crafting delicious earworms that render even the most painful admission or rumination a small joy to ingest, evoking the wry vulnerability of Phoebe Bridgers and the hooky pop acumen of Lucy Dacus.

Sorpresa Familia is a portrait of a band that's grown stronger musically and personally in the face of hardship, and the wisdom and freedom Mourn display on these songs is the best revenge they could get.

Admittedly, his embrace of slick pop aesthetics, Rat Pack swagger, and cheeky turns of phrase can be a bit much on first listen. But that being said, when it's backed with a strong hook and just a modicum of earnest emotion, as on the sanguine club jam "Hey Look Ma, I Made It," it's hard to deny.

While it may not be any easier to make one's way through the distortion that James references, it is somehow easier to bear because of the empathy, joy, and contradiction in these songs.

Their stylistic shifts never feel contrived, especially when the results are as stunning as "Cool & Collected."

As dark as Goldsmith gets on Passwords, he remains hopeful, even romantic, summoning images of Romeo and Juliet and "Cusack holding that stereo" on the tender love song "Never Gonna Say Goodbye." It's that bittersweet message of hope for humanity on Passwords that resonates the strongest.

None of these more pointedly thought-provoking [spoken word] additions detract from the overall flow of the album, and instead add to the overarching vibe of open-minded creativity, love, and empowerment.

Wet Will Always Dry is yet more proof that he's one of the decade's greatest techno producers. Undoubtedly one of the best techno albums of 2018.

Free for All is a fascinating, innovative record that provides a fresh perspective on trap and other contemporary hip-hop styles.

Both Directions at Once is truly a rare thing: an important discovery from the vault that's also a blast to hear.

The record is good enough, and the band skilled enough, that even one year without a new album from them would feel like an eternity.

Bodega aren't doing anything new or unusual, as the easy-to-grasp reference points make clear, but they make it all sound factory-fresh and super-fun--and because of those two factors, fans of any of the bands mentioned above will likely find Endless Scroll quite worth checking out.

This band is still crazy after all these years, and on Sixth House, they make their special madness signify, and it's a genuine achievement.

As part of the Bees, Fletcher and Parkin helped make a lot of really good songs and albums. On their own, they went right ahead and topped their old band's catalog on their very first try.

Ordinary Corrupt Human Love isn't going to change detractors' minds about Deafheaven. Instead, with its searing depictions of emotional and spiritual struggle in a relentlessly ambitious musical presentation, it should attract a new legion of listeners as well as deliver assurance and solace to those who found their earlier records so compelling.

Employing a handful of tasteful collaborators, including J Mascis, Dirty Three drummer Jim White, and the National's Aaron Dessner, who co-produced Passerby, Randall and Hassett have made a record that boldly turns a corner while still slotting neatly into their already sterling catalog.

With Palo Santo, Years & Years have crafted an album that pulses with that richness.

The Nude Party does everything right in capturing a certain irreverent spirit here, including emphatic vocals and catchy songs about not only war, but astral planes, record shops, and ignoring advice to get a real job.

RP Boo's style is a mix of experimentation and hard-fought confidence, and releases like I'll Tell You What! prove that the inventor of footwork is still several steps ahead of everyone else.

While HAIM, Amber Mark, Syd (of the Internet), Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes) and Empress Of all contribute their talents to these songs, this is very much David Longstreth's music, and it's heartfelt, passionate, and beguiling in the tradition of Dirty Projectors' best work.

While it's true that Immortal doesn’t break new ground here, it was perhaps more important at this juncture to reassert their sound to fans as they move forward in the aftermath of Abbath's departure. They not only carry on here, but sound more like their unhinged, malevolent selves than ever.

K.O. is their most successful collaboration so far, and a flat-out thriller above all else.

The Switch serves as a potent reminder that experimental music isn't always cerebral. Transfixing, haunting, and lingering, this is some of Body/Head's most emotionally eloquent music.

Voids is yet another taut and lavishly detailed, yet never congested, set of productions that hybridize U.K. garage, dubstep, drum'n'bass, house, and techno, with an emphasis on the rhythmic friction of the first two styles.

Expressing grief, angst, and uncertainty just as loudly with a croon as a scream is no easy task, but Death Lust archives it masterfully.

Automata II can be listened to on its own, but it holds much greater power when taken together with its predecessor. It is easily the more musically adventurous of the two recordings, making it an indispensable part of Between the Buried and Me's provocative catalog.

Another exhilarating triumph from one of the most original underground electronic artists.