Covered in a shiny electronic gloss, the album flits between slow-burners and mellow pop.

For all the conflict imagery, War & Leisure is often brightly colored, even upbeat.

The future will not be too kind if subsequent efforts continue to climb the stairway to heaven, but there are worse ways to get your Led out. Ramble on, gents.

Small Town is an excellent showcase for this duo; here's hoping it's only a first volley.

Despite its more collaborative origins, Thanks for Listening plays like a singer/songwriter album from Thile, one with moments of humor, poignancy, dread, and playfulness. Particularly "for anyone trying to hear through the din of a boorish year," it captures the Zeitgeist of the first half of 2017 with a very human touch.

What's most important is that nearly everything here is brilliant. Highly recommended for anyone with the urge to plunge deeper into the Fall's tremendous body of work.

Laila's Wisdom is Evans' lyrically broadest and musically richest work, yet it doesn't have the sprawling quality of the first album.

Overall, The Animal Spirits feels very organic, brought about by the spontaneity of the performances, the brief window of time in which it was recorded, and Holden's own evolutionary arc. It also offers a glimpse into the deeper corners of his psyche, peeling back another layer to reveal just how colorful his imagination can be.

It's the razor-sharp precision of his words that allows for effective interlocking with the rest of the band, so much so that they seem to move through each song as a combined force of nature, matching tight yet crunchy instruments to the poignancy of every syllable.

The kind of musically rich and emotionally powerful debut that feels timeless and stands far enough apart from the rest of the music scene surrounding it that it feels like a cleansing blast of fresh air.

The journey to dive into commitment that Dreijer takes her listeners on with Plunge boasts more moods and colors than Fever Ray's debut, or any single Knife album; ultimately, it's some of her most powerful work with yet.

With We All Want the Same Things, Finn has crafted some of the strongest and most moving music of his career, and if his tales aren't often upbeat, they have the ring of truth and will stay in your memory long after the album is over.

The Way Is Read's sequencing, which mixes songs and connective tissue, sometimes within and across tracks, has the effect of an album-length work, if one with distinct tunes. Perhaps its biggest achievement is that it so often seems the work of a single group of nine.

Lackluster as music and downright puzzling as a cultural artifact, Unleash the Love confirms that whatever you think of Mike Love's 21st century edition of the Beach Boys, he's better off doing that than trying to make music by himself.

Rot is the kind of album only a band with a full grasp of rock & roll history could have made--no doubt they've worn out a copy or two of Radios Appear in their time--and it should appeal to anyone who likes their punk scrappy as can be with a bunch of wiry pop mixed in, too.

Overall, this is a strong debut with heart, style, and some nice hooks.

Ultimately, Tribute to 2 is uneven and fuzzy. When it works, it's lovely; when it doesn't, it's a head-scratcher. This is for fans only.

Like Ryuichi Sakamoto's async, Finding Shore seems to find magic in everyday objects and scenes.

Front-loaded with a trio of deceptively powerful singles ("Smoke Signals," "Motion Sickness," and "Funeral"), the ten-track set loses some focus near the end, but Bridgers remains such a compelling presence throughout, that even her less immediate material bears weight.

Although Uzi's post-breakup pain rears its head throughout the entirety of the album, many of the tracks are too fun to get too bogged down in emotions.

A thrumming version of "Afro Blue" excepted, Lilies is a set of originals--one that's enticing and breathtaking in an unconventional, as in almost stifling, sense.

All of this is familiar, so what counts on Prince of Tears is execution, and from top to bottom, it's one of his strongest albums, benefitting from his assurance and lack of nonsense.

As a debut, it has enough standout moments to pique interest in a future when Smith could stand toe to toe with his many inspirations.

With Rest, she grows more fearless as an artist while facing her losses, and the future, with courage and love.

Permo is a fine work by a band finding its feet; a rousing rumble through the wilds of Scottish pop; and the kind of record lovers of knotty guitars, deadpan (but deep) emotions, and undersold (but undeniably lasting) melodies should recognize and embrace like an old friend in new clothing.

Kweli persists as one of the most inspired storytellers, wasting no syllables as he condenses and elucidates complex non-fiction.

With The Architect, Faith has constructed an album of empowered, mainstream pop that retains all of the complexity, artfulness, and raw emotion of her previous work.

Post Self is more moody than direct, and isn't the most hard-hitting, immediate album in the Godflesh catalog, but for anyone who equally appreciates Broadrick's metal and electronic sides, the album is as stunning as one would expect.