Something to Lose is more like a thoughtful early-morning walk through empty city streets. The glistening production and yearning performances don't change too much from song to song, but converge into an album-length mood of reflective bittersweetness.

Song for song, Hologram is a highly concentrated dose of all of A Place to Bury Strangers' strengths and a welcome return.

Intriguing from beginning to end, Cocker's lush, emphatic takes should delight fans of vintage French and Baroque pop.

He relates without judgment these possibilities for others journeying through this deeply troubled world, rendering I Just Want to Be a Good Man an outsider gospel masterpiece.

Ugly Season is a powerful statement as both an album and a score for a dance piece, and its intertwining of self-expression and healing is peak Perfume Genius.

The results are naturally a bit scattered sonically, as any record featuring Steve Vai and the Roots would inevitably be, yet it's tied together by Rundgren's aural aesthetic and sense of mischief.

Johnson's metered songwriting and warm, textural playing keep the project's earthy spirit intact as it continues evolving with every new set of tunes.

Rajan might not quite reach the top rank of modern psych albums -- "Nightmare" hews a little too closely to blues clichés and the occasional bit of editing could have been done when the tracks started to drift too much -- but Blackwell has made a strong and never less than interesting step in that direction. Even if he swings back to the more well-known Night Beats formula, this will stand as a fun experiment at the very least.

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

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.

It's at times caught between escaping into nostalgic juvenilia and dialing in perfectly manicured indie rock productions, but ultimately, Crack Cloud joyfully exploring that incongruity is the entire point.

Rest assured, there's plenty of rappity rap-rap on Alligator Bites as Doechii lays bare her paradoxical qualities -- declarations of dominance, examinations of self-doubt, both the pressures and exploits of her fame brought to light -- in vivid style.

While in some ways more streamlined than their harsher early singles, British Murder Boys' debut album manages to be heavier and wilder in its own way.

They still manipulate vocals and apply effects the way they've been known to do, but it often sounds closer to the work of a full band rather than a pair of producers.

That Wasn't a Dream is an unexpected, welcome surprise. Its ambitious tonal, textural, and harmonic palettes are intricately tied in a series of sonically sophisticated compositions reflecting the endless possibilities for 21st century jazz in improvisation, aesthetic inclusion, and production.

Mosquito ends up falling just a little short -- by inches, even -- of the very high set by Sincere, but there's no shame in that. It's still a brilliantly played and sung record that will wash over the listener in a vigorously restrained flood of emotion, sounding like just about the best indie rock one could hope for in 2026.

Altogether, their work is intricately detailed (if never overstuffed), vibrating with unease while somehow welcoming the listener with a sense of comfort.

Befitting its origins, the album's sound is blunt and raw, mixing rock, blues, jazz, spirituals, and field recordings into the musical equivalent of photojournalism.

The results are elegant and beautiful, as all Sea and Cake albums are, but also slightly experimental.

Tyler's parents worked as songwriters in Nashville. 41 Longfield Street Late '80s is informed by this nostalgia, but it's also a forward-thinking record that pushes its influences into another realm.

Hold Time will do little to entice listeners for whom Matt Ward's sepia-tone charm holds no sway, but for fans who have enjoyed the ride thus far, this looks like the sunniest stretch of road yet.

They're an absolute must for anyone enamored with the kiwi pop sound and serve to show a different, less produced and more immediate side of the band's wistful, rolling songwriting style and dynamic, moody playing.

While 93696 will take several listens to entirely comprehend the wealth of ideas and techniques on offer here, it is more than worth the effort and time. When absorbed, it results in all-encompassing, immersive, aesthetically and musically sensorial experience, and Liturgy's crowning achievement to date.

Despite its ominous (and lofty) title, No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away/No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away is a dreamy blend of circular melodies and odd time signatures that requires multiple listens (this is par for the course with any Mew album) and a significant amount of cinematic stamina from the listener, and though it may not appeal to the masses, its mass is definitely appealing.

A good album that should please fans of any type of hip-hop.

Dedicated Side B is just as heartwarming, fun, and catchy -- in other words, more of what Carly Rae Jepsen fans have come to know and love.

Wolf Eyes are more than just another noise project, their world-view is intact, and I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces is strong meat for those willing to take a healthy bite.

Unfairground is one of the great records to come out of Great Britain in 2007 and adds exponentially to the legacy and well-deserved reputation of one of the great songsmiths that rock sometimes doesn't know it produced.