Growing up is working out well for Chastity Belt, and I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone is clever, satisfying proof.

Though it's hard to believe it's possible, Antonoff shares even more of himself on Gone Now than on Bleachers' debut, and it makes for some of his most immersive and satisfying music yet.

Throughout Towards Language, the emergent notion of "slow jazz"--music that unfolds deliberately in a communal context rather than the accepted soloist and accompaniment formula--is almost defined. Its individual utterances are elementary building blocks that collectively move toward an artfully realized goal of musical speech. It achieves its power from the sum total of its sounds and atmospheres. Magnificent.

Hopeless Fountain Kingdom as a whole feels quintessentially 2017 in how it jumbles styles and sentiment, streamlining a teeming, contradictory culture into something smooth, glassy and easy to digest.

Coldcut and Sherwood remain visionary artists, and Outside the Echo Chamber is (for the most part) a worthwhile hour of futuristic reggae.

With Iteration, Haley has retained all of the qualities that made Com Truise so appealing while blowing everything up into a higher resolution than before. If this is truly the end of the Com Truise saga, then it's the project's definitive release.

Overall, while a worthwhile inclusion in Gucci's catalog, Drop Top Wop is most likely to be appreciated primarily by the Wop faithful still hungry after a dizzying seven releases within one year.

Folk Songs is a smart and emotionally effective exploration of the folk tradition that respects musical history without being chained to it, and it's an experiment the Kronos Quartet would do well to repeat in the future.

While not as overwhelming as Craig's main albums, Slow Vessels is still a quietly powerful release that puts a spotlight on the raw emotional power of his work.

Ti Amo's first half is one of the band's most consistent stretches of songs since Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but the wispiness of its second half delivers mixed results.

Adiós ultimately seems more like a coda than a grand farewell, with the album displaying a suitable modesty that suits the somewhat reduced circumstances of the artist. But it's also a potent reminder of Glen Campbell's talent, style, and musical legacy, and this album is the recorded curtain call he truly deserves.

At times, the band's obvious affection for moody, Joy Division-esque post-punk feels a little too heavy-handed, but amid their ongoing sonic evolution there's some solid songwriting.

It's a sprawling effort with an over-70-minute running time, but also a haunting one, recommended for musically adventurous stargazers of all types.

While Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie isn't perfect--and it was smart not to bill this effort as a Fleetwood Mac record--it's far better than expected, and indeed, they should have made it happen long ago.

Berry makes no attempt to chase trends or offer a final statement; he just gathers his ten best recent tunes and that's why Chuck is such a fitting epilogue to a legendary career. It captures the essence of Chuck Berry, how he could turn the everyday into something exciting.

Witness is a conceptual muddle but that incoherence could've been excused if there were hooks in either its grooves or melodies. Instead, Witness is populated with busy, tuneless tracks that seemed designed to pulsate in the background of a regrettable night.

This set is unified, fully realized, and eloquent, on par with the grandest of musical statements, yet utterly accessible.

There's plenty more heavy material to uncover (including a song called "Coma"), though it's all wrapped in a captivating musicality that combines the power of folk storytelling, poetry, and rock angst. In the case of Capacity, it's a quiet power.

To Syria with Love was assembled with an eye toward expanding Souleyman's audience. Given the production and the wide selection of textural palettes and tunes, it's a good bet he'll be successful. It will likely keep longtime listeners in the fold, too, although the raw, unhinged feel of his earlier recordings will be missed.

Hawkline's work up until now was strong, but this album is strong-plus. He's upped his already impressive game across the board, which makes I Romanticize his best album yet and some of the best guitar pop anyone is likely to hear in 2017.

It may not be flashy like their early work, experimental like some of their mid-period albums, or punchy like Words and Music, but the album takes in elements of everything they've done along the way and repurposes it in a lovely, extremely satisfying fashion.

The album's 70-minute length allows enough space for a bounty of mostly nondescript trap productions that support these simplistic boasts. In these tracks, Yachty sounds like he's going through a phase more than refining his individualism.

Certainly, Is This the Life We Really Want? lacks the straightforward narrative or melodic thrust of The Wall, but it isn't as somnolent as The Final Cut, and if the songs don't call attention to themselves, they nevertheless form a long suite that works as a sustained mood piece.

Abdel-Hamid takes her sound in numerous directions and explores several moods on Distractions, and while it seems scattered enough to live up to its title, it's as engaging as anything else she's released.

An excellent first effort from a budding pop star.

ChesnuTT did become a father and famously took several years away from performing to focus on his family. It's that kind of rooted sense of purpose and dedication to the process, whether raising a child or recording a pop album, that permeates and elevates all of My Love Divine Degree.

Clocking in at just under 40 minutes, the album's dizzying stylistic shifts and offbeat arrangements are rendered refreshingly palatable, and even when the band's artistic hubris is drawn front and center, as it is on the aforementioned "Hit Me Like That Snare" and a spectral, almost completely rewritten version of "House of the Rising Sun," there's usually enough craftsmanship on hand to offset the overall air of importance.

His personal embrace of the political galvanizes the album, which has a sense of purpose lacking on his debut, but what's truly startling upon first listen is how Booker's broadened his palette considerably.