Cerebral yet soulful, Any Random Kindness strikes an ideal balance for Hælos, a significant step forward in their evolution.

With all of the organic classical instrumentation employed here, the electronic side of Maps is significantly downplayed, lending Colours the added weight of strength in acoustic numbers, an effect that has consistently delivered emotional resonance to listeners for hundreds of years.

As a writer, Kempner's antennae are acutely tuned in to the heart's dizzying range of emotions, and with Black Friday, her connection remains as strong as ever.

The radical changes Trash Kit made to their music only heighten their time-tested strengths, and Horizon is some of their most satisfying music as well as their most forward-looking.

The band rounds out the album with more familiar-sounding songs like "Stranger in a New Town" and "Good Night Out," but it's Powers' riskier, more revealing moments that prove the Futureheads have more to say than ever before.

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.

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.

While some of the musicians play with the frameworks of Allison's music -- most notably Robbie Fulks' fractured reading of "My Brain" and the electro-processed New Orleans vibe of Iggy Pop's "If You're Going to the City" -- most are content to find a middle ground between their own signature approach and Allison's laid-back but emphatic groove.

The more subdued affect of Aloha makes it a less immediately satisfying listen than New Magic, but that does nothing to change that this is a rewarding effort from an exciting and engaging talent.

Dixie Blur is Wilson's most personal and direct collection of songs. They are wrought poetically from memory and inspired by the excellence of the sublime performances from his sidemen.

In The Color Out of Space, Stetson's score is, in its empathy, an actual character, one that accompanies the protagonists as a witness, portraying every encounter with an alien force without ever being intrusive.

Arguably, this edition of 8: Kindred Spirits, though only a first set, is one of Lloyd's strongest live offerings to date.

The individual tunes hold their own, but Monovision is a record where the whole means more than the individual numbers, since LaMontagne strikes a very specific mood -- one that's reassuring, even soothing -- and then manages to sustain it until the end.

[Some songs] are new, some of which were handed out to other musicians over the years. When collected on Living on Mercy -- and delivered by a crew of empathetic old pros -- they feel of a piece, a sweet, soulful, and reflective effort from a masterful singer/songwriter that benefits from its mellowness and slow, assured gait.

Even if The Last Exit is sometimes a little too wispy, it's still a fitting soundtrack for getting lost on the open road.

These nine songs are some of the most neatly rendered of the band's post-2010 output, but lose none of their mind-bending effect in the production upgrade. If anything, the album finds the Telescopes delivering their messages of self-discovery and cosmic love louder than ever.

This is entertaining from front to back, if not quite as much of a thrill as Waterhouse's previous studio LP.

None of the Indications' contemporaries have put together a set as distinctly purpose-built and delightful as this one.

At times, American Noir sounds like the product of an undead E Street Band, like a strong line of thunderstorms suddenly appearing above "highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive."

This is still a smart, powerful rock band with sharp wit and an abundance of well-deserved confidence -- but the added details and textures make a difference, and this music points to a more interesting future for them than one might have imagined after Femejism.

Mahal and Cooder stay close to the originals, but whether faithfully evoking the sound and spirit of their mentors or using them as lift-off points for expansion, this glorious album honors their subjects with joy and swagger as well as devotion.

Listeners with an aversion to the zeitgeist razzle-dazzle and rambunctious frivolity are very well served. "Why Try" and "No ID," located in the middle, are supple disco-funk throwbacks; the latter is as bubbly-tough as anything off Evelyn "Champagne" King's first album (if with 2022 attitude). They lead to a second half where the madness is mostly mellow.

Is it possible Guided by Voices have become the best recording act of their day? Add Tremblers and Goggles by Rank to the dozen other LPs they released in the 60 months previous, and the argument doesn't seem the least bit unreasonable.

The album's production is warm, spacious, and full of depth, but not in an overwhelming way. Ali is casual-sounding yet inspired, and a tremendously inviting listen.

The reliably uncompromising Omens includes some of the band's heaviest and most apoplectic works to date, with highlights arriving via the pummeling "Nevermore" and "Greyscale," and the unrelenting title cut.

Only a few select moments that are more illuminated provide enough clarity to give you an idea of where things are going. Still, the drive for exploration is what makes the voyage worth taking, and rRoxymore's music eludes easy comparison.

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.

The starkness of the arrangements helps draw attention to the distance between the origin of a song and Young's present. Now creeping toward 80, Young doesn't sound fragile yet his vocals display some age-related raggedness. Embracing his weathered, keening voice, Young highlights the tender yearning that runs throughout these songs.