Hypersonic Missiles is smart, passionate, and loaded with rock-solid anthems that surpass the "promising" designation.

Intimate, theatrical, and strange, House of Sugar is designed to reward repeat listens, but like other (Sandy) Alex G sets, it's above all affecting.

It may be her subtlest, most approachable album yet; though its ideas are just as complex and provocative as those of Blood Bitch or Apocalypse, Girl, there's something welcoming about it that engages the hearts and minds of her listeners fully.

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.

Full of insight and inspiration, The Return is an impressive, powerful work.

One hopes that M.C. Taylor's dark clouds have parted, but on Terms of Surrender he's taken his troubles and made something beautiful and inspiring out of them. If you want to use music as therapy, this is the way to do it.

All My Heroes Are Cornballs manages a mellow, even reserved instrumental tone without losing any of the scathing social commentary or frenetic energy that defined earlier work. If anything, the album is more intense, hiding biting and bilious (and often surreal) lyrical threats beneath a deceptively low-energy facade.

Howard's embrace of all the mess of life gives Jaime its sustenance. Her audacity is apparent upon the first listen, but subsequent spins are profound and nourishing.

This is music that takes its time but is never less than absorbing and rewards repeated listening. Chastity Belt's musical evolution has been a fascinating and rewarding thing to witness, and this may be their smartest and most compelling music to date.

Okie is a laid-back collection of original songs that are more poignant and more nakedly autobiographical and topical than anything he's previously issued.

Memory isn't just their best record, it makes good on all the promise they displayed early on and will hopefully shut their critics up once and for all.

By choosing to take on the subject [mental health] head-on, they've crafted an album which is half-noise rock record and half-audio representation of Kiely's mind. While it may be a struggle to listen to for anyone caught unaware, it's that same struggle that makes their output so captivating as an experience.

One True Pairing is an equally welcome return and introduction to his music.

In the Morse Code of Brake Lights has a tone of thematic consistency that isn't always apparent in a New Pornographers album, but with this group, music has always carried more weight than lyrics, and on that level, it's an especially strong effort from an act that's never been short on stylistic ambition.

In concert, the Replacements sounded like a tighter version of classic Replacements, and the same can be said of the Matt Wallace version of Don't Tell a Soul, which is why Dead Man's Pop is such a blessing: this set helps make this era seem like a grand farewell from the band instead of the beginning of a messy end.

The only thing that would have made it perfect would have been releasing the original demos alongside the redos so T&S devotees could do some compare-and-contrast work. That's an extra-credit quibble that can be easily dismissed, though, because in every other way Hey, I'm Just Like You is a vital addition to the Tegan and Sara catalog.

It may seem like a backtrack after the experimental nature of Volcano; really it's more like they are heartily reclaiming and celebrating the sound that made them one of the more exciting psychedelic bands of their time.

The songs are filled with good humor and wry details, the music played with exuberance and casual virtuosity, a combination that amounts to an outright celebration of the many things that makes Texas great.

The collection concludes with its title track, a dreamy blend of starry arpeggios and reflective yet buoyant pianos. A magnificent release from an act who have remained DFA's most reliable signing without ever sticking to a tried-and-true formula.

Ode to Joy reveals that after their sabbatical, Wilco are more than willing to explore the boundaries of their music, and they do so with the confidence and sense of daring that has marked their best work from Being There onward.

Kill or Be Kind is a watermark for Fish. Her writing, singing, and playing all serve the truth of what she seeks here: the heart of song.

As vocalists and songwriters, Kacy & Clayton have proven to be as consistently satisfying and emotionally resonant as anyone in contemporary folk, and Carrying On finds them making their homeland very proud indeed.

A unified, deliberate, and conscious work.

The collaboration as a whole is a unique treat that shows the best attributes of each of its participants.

On Deceiver, DIIV have done the work, and the results are new levels of emotional and musical depth.

More dense, driven, and complexly rendered than anything else in the band's catalog, Spectre expands on the strongest moments of Lightning Dust's ever-shifting muse. The production, songwriting, and performances all reach new levels of curiosity and unpredictable moves, making it some of the band's most captivating work.

An absolutely crushing listen, and every bit as powerful as the previous three TTA albums.

Cave hasn't played much honest-to-goodness rock & roll in the decade prior to this release, and in its place he's created something that's rich and emotionally potent, and he's truly mastered his own creation.

Conveying a sense of childlike wonder about the natural world, the album is full of life and immensely enjoyable.

Up and Rolling clears away decades of cobwebs, dust, and wisteria vines from the doorway to the past: It's a family reunion offering that looks to the Hill Country's history and mystery for both its inspiration from the past and guidance to its present.

These are the elements of White Noise/White Lines that make this feel like the arrival of a major singer/songwriter.

Drawing more from the backroads grit of Little Feat or Hot Tuna than the easier-to-pigeonhole sunshiny daydreams of the Dead, Desire Path sounds like a weird party happening outside of time.

With its raw edges and open ends, No Home Record exposes the deepest levels of Gordon's art, and they're more thought-provoking and bracing than ever.

While it's hard to talk about Two Hands in 2019 without the context of the stunning U.F.O.F., the album's quality stands on its own, offering its own grade of intimacy, sound, and feel for alternate moods.

Lands somewhere between the widescreen dynamics of their Mercury Prize-short-listed debut, the workmanlike grandiosity of Seldom Seen Kid, and the aching melancholy of The Take Off and Landing of Everything.

A multi-faceted and especially curious collection of Lightning Bolt material, Sonic Citadel shows the band still growing and developing nearly a quarter century in.

Crush certainly comes across as fragmentary, as if a dozen tracks, at least a couple albums worth of ideas, were truncated, quickly sequenced, and packed onto one LP. That said, it's hard to imagine more forethought and deliberation resulting in a listen more riveting than this one.

Battles pack so much into Juice B Crypts that, perhaps more than any of their albums since Mirrored, it needs to be taken as a whole to appreciate its constantly changing, consistently engaging sounds.

At a lean ten tracks, Surviving quickly makes its point, pushing through years of pain and emotional turmoil by setting sights on a stronger, more confident future.

Fabula Mendax is another winning installment of the Monochrome Set story that reaches the same heady heights as their recent work, and proves yet again that the group somehow remain as surprising, witty, and tunefully intriguing as they have been right from the start.

Daveed Diggs' rapid-fire verses are precise and unflinching, detailing gruesome scenes with pinpoint accuracy. Much of the album, particularly the interludes, is filled with field recordings, giving the sensation of being on the run and uncertain of one's fate.

Ultimately, War Music doesn't sound especially innovative, particularly stacked up against their 1998 masterpiece The Shape of Punk to Come. But it speaks to a world still wrestling with problems that have divided society for centuries, and Refused aren't rehashing old arguments so much as they're launching one more campaign in a war they cannot bear to surrender.

more thought-through and sounds more honed [than her 2018 mixtape Last Day Of Summer].

As immaculately crafted as anything else in Greene's catalog, Dawn Chorus is a bleary but vivid journal of the thoughts clouding one's head as morning finally breaks after an earthshaking night out.

Everything is streamlined and stitched together with consummate finesse by producer Jay Joyce. None of this good-time, borderline silly music is going to earn the band any critical hosannas and anyone who had hopes that the group would ditch this sound and go back to howling garage punk is going to feel let down. That being said, people who don't take their music too seriously might find that You Deserve Love is just the kind of record to put on when some mood elevation is required.

Kiwanuka stands head and shoulders above it as a complex, communicative, poetic, and sometimes even profound collection that wears its heart on its sleeve and its sophistication in its grooves.

That Jules is so hard to pin down is a big part of its appeal; wondering where he'll go next is almost as exciting as the music he's already made. One thing is for sure: This album is an introduction to a first-rate musical mind.

For anyone who thought MCIII was heading in a direction that sounded promising, Seeker arrives at the destination in a tumbling, exciting cloud of dust, sound and craft.

FIBS takes listeners for a ride, so to speak, along the meticulously plotted rhythms of its very physical, narrative-free presentation, one that, in Meredith's hands, is both stimulating and engaging.

None of these parts seem to fit on paper, but on record it's a gas hearing a group of gangsters and pranksters giddy on their own good times.

Pirog's imagination is just as strong as his technique; whether he's tossing out a flurry of notes at light speed or inviting the spirit in using a more languid structure, the music feels great throughout. Anthropocosmic Nest is a must for anyone with a taste for music that's smart, challenging, and exciting, and it's a step up from their impressive first effort.

Along with her pop hooks, what makes Straus' music so indelible on Cheap Queen is her strong sense of self. As King Princess, Straus is both the chilled-out R&B loverman and genderqueer lesbian songwriter, a tangible combination that's anything but cheap, and always real.

With its surprising warmth and immediacy, Bigger Than Life is some of Black Marble's most affecting music.

A sense of nearly parental patience and understanding flows throughout, reflecting some of the maturation and new feelings Teebs was living through while making Anicca. It's another excellent slice of the producer's developing language, one that manages to be mellow without fading into the background.

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.

No matter the name, it's impressive that O'Hagan continues to examine this one small corner of the musical universe, still finding new ways to combine sounds in ways that please the ear and stimulate the mind.

Alcest don't pursue darkness or dwell in it; they understand it as a part of the unbearable light that holds everything in its embrace. The end of the journey on Spiritual Instinct, while deeply satisfying, signals yet another beginning.

The 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival is widely regarded as a legendary event among blues purists, and this set lives up to the hype; anyone who loves the blues raw and direct will be thoroughly knocked out by this collection.

All the added instrumental layering and effects -- wriggling synthesizers, buzzing basslines, ricocheting percussion, apparition-like vocal processing, and suchlike -- are nuanced, not once getting in the way of a musician who can put forth an affecting message with just her voice and violin.

This record is both a note-perfect summing up and a great introduction to the Young Guv universe.

Taken on an individual basis, each track is clever and playful, yet the cumulative effect of Wildcard is ever so slightly slight, a possible side effect of an album meant to be nothing but a party. Perhaps that may mean that Wildcard isn't as emotionally resonant as some of Lambert's other records, but there's no denying she's delivered exactly what she intended with this album: It's one hell of a good time.

The seven tracks represent different, curious branches extending out from the seeds planted by Some Rap Songs, each reaching for new ideas and switching gears when another thought arrives. It continues Sweatshirt's streak as an innovator and as one of the more compelling artists of his time.

What You See Is What You Get is a solid album, proudly made just the way they used to back in the 1990s.

Though it's a smaller-scale work than either A Crow Looked at Me or Now Only, Lost Wisdom pt. 2 is filled with just as much insight and compassion.

In revisiting the traditional directly, and investing it with such a disciplined application of freedom, Xylouris White's The Sisypheans is their most compelling record to date.

Their earlier recordings were all top-notch indie rock, worthy of all the Omni comparisons that were flung their way. Junior is Corridor's coming-of-age party, and now Omni might have to work a little harder to keep up with them.

Like Ruinism, Amnioverse is an ambitious, striking record that seems to assess the entirety of existence, and it's hard not to feel moved by it.

With unprecedented access and insight into Dion's world following such a life-changing few years, Courage is a triumph of spirit and resolve.

Blood may have been written and recorded as a companion piece to Moorer's book, but the work is powerful and eloquent, and stands on its own as a vital addition to the catalog of a talent who deserves and demands greater recognition.

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.

Using largely homemade acoustic instruments with farming tools often contributing to percussion, the three musicians create a sparse, rustic sound that while occasionally mournful, is also surprisingly buoyant.

Though this isn't the cleanest and tidiest album of his career, the emotional honesty of this material is striking, and this is some of the boldest and most inspiring work of Joe Henry's career.

Thanks for the Dance might not seem to be a major statement at first glance, but it's a missive that carries startling power, and it's clearly not built from scraps and leftovers, but assembled with a love that's equal to the knowledge Cohen put into it. This adds more documentation to the wholly unexpected and satisfying final act of a truly great songwriter, and it deserves your attention.

It's obvious that Broadrick and Martin left a considerable amount of space for Ayewa's righteous venting, as the bass and drums get bigger and louder during the album's instrumental second half.

Who feels like a Who album: The two still bring out the best in each other.

Coldplay manages to grow even bigger with Everyday Life, absorbing flavors from across the globe with their most indulgent and, perhaps, poignant album yet.

The 19 tracks here are all over the place, true to form for Russell and his ever-expanding inspirations. ... For all the fans who discovered Russell after his passing, collections like Iowa Dream are bittersweet time capsules, holding new evidence of his one-of-a-kind talents that still occupy a space all their own, even when unearthed decades later.

Released to coincide with the albums' 40th anniversary and lovingly encased in a gnarly black biker jacket box, the vinyl-only collection includes half-speed mastered 180-gram vinyl reissues of Bomber and Overkill, a pair of double-live LPs featuring previously unreleased material from the era, a collection of B-sides and outtakes, a 40-page magazine, an Overkill sheet music book, a "No Class" 7" single, a Bomber tour program, and a 1979 badge set.

Shlon is the album where Souleyman reveals his comfort with his new band, who have, after all, traveled tens of thousands of miles together. He also returns to the incendiary approach of his early albums, worrying not so much about hip textures and beats as delivering these songs as soulfully and energetically as possible.

Cut during the same sessions as Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery, it's not a collection of outtakes or even a sequel, but a holistic mirror image that comes from the same sphere of aesthetic investigation and font of inspiration.

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.

If Romance is an album about Cabello feeling loved and seen by someone else, it's just as much about her seeing and understanding herself as an artist.

Balances the adventurous and traditional sides of Tiersen's music in a way that honors the sense of wonder and beauty in his work since the beginning.

Opening piece "Disappearance / Reappearance" recalls the second part of 1994's Treetop Drive, with stark blasts of electronic noise repeatedly shooting out and dissipating into empty space, providing a consistent series of electrifying jolts that are as brutal as they are mesmerizing. Most of the remaining pieces are a series of numerically titled "Occultations," and while they usually aren't nearly as harsh, they're just as striking.

Dusty is another winning set of pointed observations from Sandman, who effortlessly unloads his thoughts without seeming like a burden on the listener.

More enjoyable overall than Gang Signs, Heavy Is the Head is a well-rounded mix of toughness and sentimentality, and another rightful triumph.

Stott's music is disorienting and sickly, but it's also undeniably full of life, and It Should Be Us is just as fascinating as one would expect.

It's a modernization of his sound but not a bowdlerization; if anything, it's perhaps the finest realization of Holmes' blues. At the very least, it's certainly the liveliest and boldest album he's made.

It takes skills to make a record this smooth and soft without it ever being boring or sounding trite. Noir has those skills and AM Jazz is another example of his abilities as a songwriter, performer, and above all, maker of fine recordings.

Like the first Georgia album, Seeking Thrills is a sophisticated, emotionally complex pop effort that seems to encapsulate the London native's life experiences to date.

Like each of their previous releases, Making a New World is an ambitious, original, and exquisitely crafted work, full of rich details and compelling songs that translate the past into modern new shapes.

Truly a natural-sounding collaboration, Saariselka's debut is rich, evocative, and sublime.

As both a symbolic avatar for her life changes and a strong empowerment statement, I Disagree celebrates Poppy's rebirth as a pop-metal alchemist and unabashed rule-breaker.

Rare proves that when she has strong songs and the producers get a little weird, she's just enough outside the mainstream to sound fresh. Add in some deeply felt and real emotion like she does here, and it verges on being something special, maybe her best record yet. If it isn't that, it's at least her most interesting one yet and that's something fans of the homogenized pop scene of the era should celebrate.

These tight, explosive songs combine a refined poetic lyric approach in songwriting and arranging that's every bit as urgent as the album's two predecessors, yet it's so emotionally charged, it leaves the listener breathless and exhausted, as well as compelled and excited.

A quarter century after they formed, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories is triumphant proof that they're as passionate as ever.

Tipping closer to dance-pop than noise-rock, Deleter is one of Holy Fuck's most finely tuned albums, yet the band sound as spontaneous as ever.

Marigold offers no major surprises or alterations in the band's sound, just quality songwriting and a rather remarkable consistency.