As the creator and master of his own distinctive palette, he delivers another nuanced and well-crafted album.

[A] cleverly devised and skillfully performed album that's pleasingly nostalgic, happily (for the most part) danceable, and best of all perhaps, represents a return to form after their ill-advised foray into radio-ready modern pop.

This is as strong anything they've recorded in their forty-plus year history.

The serene hum of nature in harmony leads her to realize that "the care I neglect so often is mine" on "In Gardens," while "Science and Art" is a glowing love song to the creative instinct and humanity's undying need to express itself, whether in a song or video game. On RPG, Me Lost Me continues that tradition brilliantly.

A breakneck blend of craft, experience, fun, and excitement, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons is the most concentrated dose of the band's magic since Tyrannosaurus Hives.

While nothing here increases the pulse like EP standouts such as "Dream Story" and "Infinite Wisdom," the sustained and unusual sense of solace is heartwarming enough.

They expanded upon their crate-digging aesthetic, blending disco, funk, new wave, and hip-hop sounds into their own hooky, dance-ready aesthetic. Volcano is no exception and finds the duo moving through the late '80s house grooves of "Holding On," the '70s soul of "Dominoes," and clubby tropicalia of "Every Night."

It's remarkable how these fusions feel bright and lively and every bit as sharp as the Americana-leaning Freedom Highway. Giddens may be emphasizing a different side of her personality--and perhaps courting a different audience--but she's made no compromises.

Wide-ranging yet cohesive, crafted yet genuine, Homo Anxietatem is an expansive, satisfying standout within his body of work.

Consciousology is the work of an artist who has tapped into something mystical and true, much like she did with Heart-Shaped Scars. Allison has made a record that stands not only with her best work but with that of experimental and inspired singer/songwriters of any era.

Despite all of these guests and shifting stylistic moods, World Music Radio holds together nicely. The production has an organic, musically experimental vibe that feels like Batiste is really bridging his jazz and pop influences. There's also a sense that he is digging deeper emotionally after a tough few years.

Even amid the emerging identities of its two star players, it hangs together as a delightfully cohesive volume. It's the sound of old friends playing guitar and singing together in a good room, a vibe that never gets old.

Taylor has made an album that's happy without being silly, and positive while acknowledging just how much of a challenge it can be. Jump for Joy is an exercise in self-help and self-care, and a few spins might help you on the road to better days. It will certainly make them easier to enjoy.

An album of many strengths -- poetic yet folksy lyrics, charming melodies, an A-plus band, and disarming sincerity -- Haunted Mountain is another delight in a solo career that deserves to be more than a sideline of his Billboard 200-charting main gig.

Hearing Pearl reclaim her agency with an older, wiser, and hopefully more sustainable incarnation of Be Your Own Pet is a thrill for fans old and new.

What gives it resonance is that the album's bones are constructed from the same elements that have made him one of the most interesting singer/songwriters of the punk generation: he's toned down his snarl and cynicism, retaining a D.I.Y. spirit while also honing his powers of observation. All of these come into play in surprising, inventive ways on Leisureland, making it one of his most distinctive records.

Everyone Else Is a Stranger is easily one of Lindstrøm's most gleeful records, and one of the easiest to recommend.

Spellling & the Mystery School demonstrates how some of Cabral's best songs have taken on lives of their own since they were first written.

Despite the cockiness of its title, his songs remain pleasingly mellow and eclectic, working through a range of styles (highlife, dancehall, Afro-Cuban) and delivering memorable hooks and melodies with the confidence of his status.

Georgas' conscious attempts here to be more candid in her songwriting pay off on a no-filler label debut for Lucy Rose's Real Kind Records that stands as her best to this point in her career.

At this point, a Pretenders album is whatever she says it is and Relentless is a good one.

Equally experimental and accessible, brimming over with aquatic atmosphere and pointed emotional feeling, and full of familiar joys and new surprises, everything is alive is the work of a group who are done reforming and have set their sights on brilliant evolution instead.

There isn't a weak moment here, not even a middling one. Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound is forging a unique path into the future of blues, one artist and one impeccable track after another.

Voir Dire pushes the bounds of both Alchemist's old school warmth and Earl's heady verses, landing someplace new that neither would have gotten to on their own.

The first part contains some of Clay's funkiest and most psychedelic material with poetic reflections on his upbringing that leave a lot to the imagination. .... The LP's middle third is fueled by moments of deeper self-examination. Those songs are more in line with earlier Clay output like Deadpan Love. .... The latter third is where Clay and company truly stretch out.

In the great tradition of punk rock heroes, Jeff Rosenstock might seem ordinary to a lot of folks, but not many folks have the talent and the vision to pull off an album as good as HELLMODE, and it ranks with his finest work.

Club Romantech flows like a well-curated DJ set, and by imagining the club night of their dreams, Icona Pop prove they've still got EDM-pop down to an art.

It sees her collaborate with German producer DJ Koze on a measured and balanced collection that takes in deep house, art pop, disco, and soul.

Just as rewarding as the deeper dives into Garson's discography, Journey to the Moon and Beyond's breadth makes it a tremendously entertaining time capsule and a must-listen for his aficionados.

Romy may have been the last member of the xx to release a solo album, but it was worth the wait: Mid Air's joyful, thoughtful version of dance music is utterly true to her.

Clear Pond Road's mesmerizing sonics and songwriting make it special among her solo albums. Nearly 30 years after Hips and Makers, it offers another chance to savor the intricacies of her music as well as its power.

Tirzah's music may be volatile, but it's also remarkably consistent; trip9love...??? is the third time in a row that they've turned a handful of sounds and a wealth of ideas into a haunting, forward-thinking album.

Recapturing the creativity that made his work stand out in the U.K. club scene around the turn of the 2010s, Playing Robots into Heaven is some of the most honest work of Blake's career.

Bewitched offers up 13 tender, decade-defying originals in all, alongside a seductive, loyal version of the Erroll Garner standard "Misty."

Deeply bruised, cinematic and graceful Western music is no match for their skills and Sea of Mirrors is another triumph for the band.

There's too much life and imagination in the Handsome Family's work to not find some sort of joy in it, and they're far too good at writing songs and working them up to not earn your admiration. If being bummed out allows someone to make an album as good as Hollow, maybe there's some upside to it after all.

She makes a stylistic sharp left turn with the more reserved, acoustic-leaning The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, a quasi-country album.

Bryan does demand that his audience lean into the songs to discern their meaning; he gives a hint of a hook, enough to coax a second listen to unpack all the sorrows racing around in his head. Over the course of a triple album, this approach gets monochromatic, but Zach Bryan is tighter than American Heartbreak not only holistically but in its individual parts.

Though Tamko continues to address uneasy subjects and feelings with her music, she sounds more assured than before on her illuminating third album.

Despite its anxious closing words, "I will never learn," fans of the band's prior releases are almost guaranteed to embrace Strange Disciple, and it's an excellent entry point for the uninitiated.

Despite the preponderance of lighter tunes, the heart of the record lies in "Miles Away," a bittersweet reminiscence Secor co-wrote with Molly Tuttle and sings with Willie Watson, a founding Old Crow Medicine Show member who left years ago whose presence gives the song deep emotional resonance.

Restlessly creative and challenging, Gentle Confrontation is James' most moving work since For You and I.

Fans of Wilson's earlier records might struggle a bit with Eat the Worm's many directions, but before long, the album, despite its sense of adventure, slots easily into his restless, immersive, utterly imaginative catalog.

Protect Your Light expands the group's already abundant gifts. Anyone -- fan or newcomer -- open to avant jazz and spoken word will register delight, surprise, and possibly awe at the creativity and inspiration on the album.

It shows that the sky [i]s the limit for the band and as long as they make records as carefree and positively joyful as this they will always be worth checking out.

While it's not always as easy to listen to as yeule's previous recordings, softscars contains some of their strongest songwriting and most daring sound design, and feels like the most honest expression of their vision to date.

With Nothing Lasts Forever, Teenage Fanclub have made a poignant, delicately rendered rumination on the passing of time and the enduring promise of love, all of which underscores the timeless lyricism of their work.

The pairing of Le Bon's netherworld production and Banhart's malleable talents makes Flying Wig a weird and enjoyable ride. It's a whole new spectrum of sounds and ideas for Banhart, but it fits as one more chapter in his oft-mutating muse.

His words are worth hearing, but the appeal of Southern Star lies in its mellow vibe. Its funk can seem as deeply felt and idiosyncratic as Leon Russell in his prime, while the backyard balladeering is as tender as James Taylor's, a combination that's cozy and endearing.

The album is bookended by "Abandon" and "Earthbound," the two tracks with Giske, whose presence isn't obvious, submerged and seemingly elongated amid dense constructions. It all resonates more deeply with each listen.

Isn't It Now? carries over the inspiration and fire Animal Collective rekindled on Time Skiffs. It finds them reveling in a state of joyful curiosity, but exploring with a knowing control earned through years of getting to know themselves and their singular sound inside out.

It's hard to imagine any of these songs immediately becoming crowd favorites, but as a carefully considered mood piece, Cousin is a powerful, affecting work that once again shows how many great things Wilco can do -- and how well they respond to the right kind of creative direction.

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips feels like a step forward from a duo whose discography has been consistently innovative from the start.

Sit Down for Dinner finds Blonde Redhead revitalized. Arriving nearly a decade after Barragán and 30 years after they formed, it's a return to be savored.

Compared to the debut, the songs are a little tighter in structure, communicate more, and bounce from style to style -- whereas Lost & Found presented an evolved, commercially minded brand of street soul -- with introspective R&B always somewhere in the mix.

"Nothing on Me" adds more variety yet by coming into view as if Cleo and company have found a sweet spot segueing out of a cover of D'Angelo's "Spanish Joint." "Love Will Lead You There," just voice and guitar, closes out the album on a serene note of togetherness.

Javelin is an album about the need to be loved, agape and philia, and Stevens shows that he can write about both without trivializing or minimizing the importance of either.

Smith helps give Blues Deluxe, Vol. 2 a loose, lived-in feeling that contrasts with the eager fire of the 2003 record. It's a change that suits Bonamassa.

Hostile Environment is a triumphant comeback effort, and it continues On-U Sound's run of late-career highlights from veterans like African Head Charge and Horace Andy.

Layover is a gorgeous dose of adult-oriented pop that might be unexpected for those expecting the big BTS sound, but that's a big part of the allure.

Though Crazymad, For Me lacks a bit of the wit of If My Wife New I'd Be Dead, anyone who has had their heart stepped on in the past 20 years will embrace it as their own.

Goat prove once again on Medicine that they deserve to be in the top echelon where the groups, past or present, who play this style of music with an incalculable amount of imagination and an unquenchable desire to scale new heights of sound are nobly enshrined.

Not many groups sound more mysterious four albums into their career than when they began, but these shifting, shadowy visions suggest Vanishing Twin have more tricks up their collective sleeve.

Perspective displays how her music has evolved from its roots in club culture to the realm of contemporary composition, retaining such a distinctive sound that the boundaries crumble.

The deep involvement of McClenney, assistance from additional producers such as Wynne Bennett and Alissia Benveniste, and the familiar presence of Peter CottonTale all nudge and stretch Woods' sound into new realms of left-field pop, folk, and funk without squeezing out a drop of soul.

Every bit as creative and trippy as L'Rain's first two albums, I Killed Your Dog has some of the artist's most relatable lyrics, and cuts closer to the bone.

His growth is evident on every one of Jonny's touching, impressive moments and near-perfect blend of all the sides of the Drums' music -- and that makes his artistic triumph all the sweeter.

Tomorrow's Fire may be the most melancholic of Squirrel Flower's albums, but its sense of drama is captivating.

While it plays a less-sure hand than classic predecessors like YHLQMDLG, it nonetheless proves a welcome gift for the star's dedicated fanbase.

Goodnight Summerland is a lovely, occasionally profound album with little if anything apart from the intro that could be fairly called filler, and that would be splitting hairs.

More accessible than past Slauson Malone releases, Excelsior is still a strange, mysterious creation that warrants extensive, engrossed listening.

Overall, it feels less like a comeback and more like the latest chapter in the ongoing saga Skinner has been spinning since 2002.

Moving way beyond their debut, Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. is the sound of artistic maturation and sonic expansion, a logical culmination of what they were trying to do in the first place.

It may not be the second -- or third to be more precise -- coming of Lush, but it's good to have Anderson back and making music as pretty, sweetly sad, and ultimately comforting as Pearlies.

One More Time... plays like a love letter, both to fans who stuck with them and to each other -- a letter that doesn't so much ask for forgiveness as offer it willingly, passionately, and without conditions.

All That Was East Is West of Me Now confirms that as an artist, he's not wasting the days he has left on the trivial, and the craft and the emotional power of this music is strong enough that we can all hope he might have another 10 or 20 years of music this good left in him.

Selvutsletter is some of the duo's most expressive and widest-ranging work -- and given how committed Volden and Hval are to experimentation, that's saying something.

It's always fascinating to hear Barnes take Forest Swords' distinctive musical vocabulary in different directions, especially when the results are as eloquent as Bolted.

The lyrics are wryly humorous, the music gritty and steamy. There isn't a dull moment here. Get it.

The charm of Danse Macabre lies in how Duran Duran seem unencumbered by expectations: they're lying back and having a good time, resulting in a record that captures their silly and serious sides in equal measure.

Madres deals with serious subject matter, but ultimately it's an abundantly thankful, joyous, and celebratory record.

A darker, deconstructed companion to Tracey Denim, The Twits reflects bar italia's growth into an increasingly singular, expressive band.

The album reshuffles a deck of familiar reference points, but it still deals a hand that's engaging and holds a bothered beauty of its own.

Like Justin Timberlake and Harry Styles before him, it's quite clear that Jung Kook has been christened as his boy band's main breakout, and Golden makes a great case for that push.

Hard Light is far from Delaware's rollercoaster ride, but its update of that album's spirit should please the fans Drop Nineteens made in the decades since their debut.

Woven throughout the record is Anderson's rugged, keening voice (its own special instrument) and sense of adventure. Perhaps it's not King Creosote's most cohesive effort, but it's an appropriately ambitious celebration of his first 25 years.

Zig ends up being her most focused and mature work to date, one that finds her spreading her wings and expanding her arsenal yet again.

Though Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert doesn't -- and couldn't -- have the same revelatory feel of Dylan's original concert, Marshall's wise, loving performances strengthen her reputation as one of her generation's most gifted interpreters.

Its deconstructions and creative alterations of underground club music forms, combined with crystalline ambient compositions -- all pieced together like a Rammellzee panoply -- cause more sensations of wonderment, comfort, and unease.

At times, Return to Archive rivals Ultimate Care II when it comes to the more challenging, cerebral side of Matmos' music, but its fascinating reflections on how we build on and reframe the past make for a hip, thoughtful celebration of Smithsonian Folkways' forward-thinking legacy.

Even as PinkPantheress explores her deepest, darkest emotions, her songs are vibrant, hook-filled, and wildly inventive, making Heaven Knows just as worthy of repeated listens as To Hell with It, and confirming her status as a pop visionary.

This mix of warmth and wariness permeates Hadsel and, despite its idiosyncratic inspirations and unorthodox instrumentation, may well make it a timely and timeless destination for those who relate to its juxtaposition of comfort and alienation.

Production-wise, the beats are as on point as ever, typically favoring funky boom-bap with touches of psych-rock guitar, and occasionally drifting close to trip-hop melancholy ("Living Curfew," "Bermuda"). As ever, though, the main attraction is Aesop's compelling wordplay, and his ability to keep the listener's attention while veering into different lyrical and conceptual directions.

Metric have always been the kind of band to take big emotions and make them sound stadium-sized. On these two albums, they take stadium-sized emotions and make them painfully real and bleedingly human.

Choosing to transpose strings to guitar and voice helps Hatfield achieve a sense of intimacy while retaining a sense of romantic grandeur, a combination that gives Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO a distinctly warm and comforting feeling without succumbing to the pitfalls of nostalgia.

Superchunk have always strengthened their reputation with music that ranks with the most powerful and important ever made, able to move, inspire, and impress no matter the sound or subject. This collection reinforces that notion, and proves that in their second act, the band remain at the very top of their game.

Les Jardins Mystiques, Vol.1 is certainly a monolithic package, but it's more than that: it's a statement that reveals the vastness of Atwood-Ferguson's inspiration, creative breadth, and musical vision without compromise. Unique? Sure. But also profound.

If you've somehow managed to avoid hearing Billy Bragg's work, The Roaring 40 1983-2023 is an ideal starting point, and if you're already a fan, this is a top-shelf mixtape of the songs that made him a legend. Either way, it's great music with heart, soul, and a conscience.