An album that's not only satisfying, but one of the band's strongest works to date.

At just 30 years old and with seven albums to her credit, Marling's songwriting has been honed to a level of literate maturity that few artists achieve in their careers.

With this flawless effort, she manages to achieve both. Future Nostalgia could have just as well been titled "Future Classic."

At its core, these demos are the sound of Dylan becoming Bob Dylan, and it's an evolution that's spellbinding.

Newsom can make her audience work almost as hard as she does, but the rewards are worth it: Dazzling, profound and affecting, Divers' explorations of time only grow richer the more time listeners spend with them.

Meeting titanic expectations, this linear journey of the heart is Adele's most cohesive statement to date, pairing her inimitable voice with a dozen engrossing vignettes, reminding us that all we can do is keep trying.

Stephin Merritt's most ambitious as well as fully realized work to date, a three-disc epic of classically chiseled pop songs that explore both the promise and pitfalls of modern romance through the jaundiced eye of an irredeemable misanthrope.

The best tracks on this album stand up well against the likes of the Move and the Creation, or at the very least, the Green Pajamas and the Apples in Stereo.

Agreeable yet melancholic and peppered with moments of cinematic Lynch-ian weirdness, it's the purest and most satisfying distillation of Lord Huron's pastoral folk-pop to date, and the perfect soundtrack for a road trip to nowhere.

Longtime fans need not fear that Shomo has gone too mainstream, as evidenced by ragers like "Dominate," "Phantom Pain," and "Hell of It," which pack enough of a punch to keep the mosh pits bruised and bloody. Combining those catchy flourishes with the band's trademark heaviness creates a great balance, and Below winds up being one of Beartooth's most enjoyable and immediate releases to date.

Perhaps it'd be better to sample this ten-disc travelog in pieces--perhaps that's the only way to listen to a box as large as this--but each individual installment provides its own peculiar, satisfying pleasures and, when combined, all the discs paint a deep, detailed portrait of a rocker unlike any other.

Loud City Song is Holter's most polished work to date, and another example of how she upholds and redefines what it means to be an avant-garde singer/songwriter.

A well-balanced marriage of all of Phonte's musical inclinations.

Bad as Me is an aural portrait of all the places he's traveled as a recording artist, which is, in and of itself, illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable.

Radiohead is recognizably the same band that made that pioneering piece of electronica-rock but they're older and wiser on A Moon Shaped Pool, deciding not to push at the borders of their sound but rather settle into the territory they've marked as their own. This may not result in a radical shift in sound but rather a welcome change in tone: for the first time Radiohead feels comfortable in their own skin.

Lives Outgrown reveals Gibbons' music is only getting richer as the years pass.

Masseduction delivers sketches of chaos with stunning clarity. It's the work of an always savvy artist at her wittiest and saddest.

Accelerando is a triumph in creativity and expert musicianship, and further underscores Iyer's status as a genuine jazz innovator.

Formula of Love surpasses expectations, infusing the group's love-centric lyricism with newfound confidence and creative flair. This is one of Twice's most assertive and varied releases to date -- and with a more concise track listing, perhaps their best.

While alternating between regretful slower tracks, midtempo drawls, and livelier, foot-tapping fare, the album never moves off dirt roads and adjacent orchards, and proves to be her most carefree-sounding effort to date. That's despite doggedly self-examining lyrics that keep Saint Cloud squarely in the realm of prior releases from an artist who continues to ward off complacency.

'Dancing Choose's' title is pointed enough that the song almost doesn't need to prove that dancing on your troubles is powerfully therapeutic as thoroughly as it does, but that's just another example of this album's rare balance between craft and passion.

A greater amount of collaboration notwithstanding, Ten Fold couldn't feel more personal, from the in-the-moment experiential songwriting to sampled and recorded appearances from her father, Juice Crew associate Grand Daddy I.U.

Much more than a victory lap, brat and it's completely different but also still brat enriches the Brat listening experience and the understanding of Charli xcx's artistry.

As on Grey Area, there are no dry spells or dips in quality, just a master class in modern songwriting with heaps of poise and a beating, soulful heart.

Proof is a shining example of how to do it well, drawing listeners in with the familiar and enriching the experience with a special, personal touch.

Chaotic, poignant, pretentious, fascinating, and thoroughly entertaining despite or because of it all.

Her previous album was a breakout success for good reason, but My Light, My Destroyer succeeds in all the right ways, pushing Jenkins' songcraft ever forward and expanding her already impressive catalog.

Even more so than woods' other albums, GOLLIWOG is a challenging work dealing with grim yet truthful subject matter, but it's fascinating and enjoyable due to the rapper's brilliant writing and focused delivery, as well as innovative production from his collaborators.