There's also an unexpected flow to the album, with the more robust, high-energy tracks appearing earlier and the more subdued, introspective ones coming later; all of which beautifully reflects the ebb and flow of life. The Million Masks of God captures this flow, taking you on a theatrical journey that's often as moving and poignant as it is aurally engaging.

He can clearly make a piano do just about anything he wants it to, and Solo is a project that puts the thought that went into its construction right up in your face, but it's never breathtaking in the way a truly great solo piano performance can be.

The Sleepwalking Society is a stunner; a jazz-pop record with brilliant R&B and folk undertones woven throughout.

Overall, Colours is a joyful and inventive record which suggests Scott may have finally found his forte.

It's obvious he's grown and matured as both a songwriter and a producer, and this is the finest moment in his catalog thus far.

Bring Me the Horizon have been working slowly but surely to refine their sound for years now, and with Sempiternal, it feels like their patience and hard work are finally beginning to pay dividends.

The experience of listening to the album is a harrowing one, but the bevy of unexpected shifts, sidesteps, and complete submission into patches of noise makes it one of the more adventurous metal records of its type, and speaks to the long-fought amounts of work and thought the Body have put into their ever brutal, ever forward-looking sound.

This is a debut by default and not an all-encompassing coming out party, but Skull and Popcaan are simpatico on Where We Come From, so love it for what it is.

With There's a Blue Bird in My Heart, Parker circles to embrace his electric guitar and crafty songwriting again with excellent results.

So although introspection may be on full display, it feels more like a celebration of life--a post-realization that it's a mix of highs and lows.

It's clear that she feels strongly about the words she is singing, and she inhabits every song fully. The music, words, and voice come together on Le Kov like fragments of the past put back together and made into a satisfying new whole that works as a lovely tribute to Cornish culture, while also solidifying Gwenno's place as an important artist.

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.

As arranged by Good and Ferry, these are all wry and romantic productions that evoke the smoky ambiance of Babylon Berlin's Weimar Republic-era setting. Elsewhere, Ferry transforms the new wave sophistication of "While My Heart Is Still Beating" off 1982's Avalon into a slinky, half-lidded crawl, and similarly mutates the pop exotica of his 1985 title track "Boys and Girls" into a slow-burn flamenco fever dream.

In all respects, Sundara Karma have come out with a winner, mining choice bits from rock's mighty canon and fusing their own quirks and imagination to a complex but engaging set of songs.

Against all odds, Weller has delivered a live album as quietly adventurous and resonant as the studio album it supports.

The fragmented patchwork nature of the album can at times make it difficult to separate the songs from the sonics, but adventurous listeners willing to get past this will find that Yves Jarvis hides beautifully soul-bearing sentiments just beneath his veneer of blurry tape manipulation and impressionistic production.

Despite this contemporary flair, what keeps Help Us Stranger lively is how the Raconteurs blend and mix barbed pop and blues skronk so their classicism seems fresh, not stale.

Finley's singing radiates with hard-won experience and gratitude, and his producer succeeds in reflecting that spiritual power and emotional honesty without self-reference or artifice.

Try It... You Might Like It! is a stellar second effort from GA-20. They get the spirit and the sound right here in delivering enough sweaty, raucous, grooves to fuel a rent party all night long.

In subtle ways, this album ties together all of the various disciplines Gunn has previously explored, from American primitive guitar playing to jazz, folk, indie rock, and drone music. Yet it is also something entirely new with a unique sound that is a joy to spend time with.

IRL doesn't truly feel like a return or even a follow-up. Still, she immediately set this album apart from Love and Compromise by previewing it with the fluid and bumping "Terms and Conditions," a shrewd collaboration with RAYE that is unequivocal about its "rules in place" for a potential lover.

The Crying Out of Things is a powerful high point in the Body's massive discography.

Even grappling with mortality, De La Soul retain their eternal warmth and optimism on Cabin in the Sky, crafting a fun, jubilant set of tracks as they process deeper shades of reflection, thoughtfulness, and ultimately, acceptance.

Though the songs here aren't quite as immediately infectious as Clean, its combination of deceptively warm surfaces, alluring melodies, and subtly distorted textures reward repeat listens with that sense of discovery.

The album's a cathartic self-study, executed without drama, during a time of major personal upheaval, and it will truly resonate with anyone who's ever found themselves at the end of a relationship.

Well over a decade after the release of Eluvium's brilliant 2003 debut, Lambent Material, Cooper continues to sound inspired and inventive.

Apollo XXI, his first album, is a little more refined, advancing his lazing, heartfelt mix of soul and funk with minimal varnish and no evident fuss.

Nothing here indicates they won't continue to rank among progressive music's leading explorers, well beyond those temporal musical fashions discussed earlier.