Two decades after her debut, Still on My Mind stands impressively strong, a late-era peak that is refreshing in its fearlessness and comforting with a familiarity that doesn't rest too heavily upon the past. Considering the long gap between albums, Still on My Mind is more than worth the wait.

A winning combination of his long-standing and more recently developed gifts, This Is How You Smile is a culmination of Helado Negro's work and completely relevant to when it was released.

Waterhouse's approach here is as painstaking as ever, and the writing is on par with the best across his discography. What puts this set over the top is his performances, which are more spirited and less mannered, consequently less like those of an entertainer.

The focal point of the EP is the jaw-dropping "I Need You," a nearly ten-minute epic blending the type of lush, dreamy synths she's been known for with rough, forceful breakbeats, as well as her first vocal performance since her transition. ... The EP's other two songs aren't quite as emotional, but they're still highly enjoyable house tracks.

Rap or Go to the League is a step forward in 2 Chainz's artistry, and reveals sides of his personality that were previously harder to see in the shadow of his enormous persona.

When "Nox Lumina" closes the album by bringing it full circle, it reaffirms that Lux Prima is the sophisticated, sonically adventurous album Karen O deserves to make at this point in her career.

Even though Punk might not be the pop explosion that Pink was, it's a well-rounded album that capitalizes on the band's imagination and capacity for experimentation while blending the sounds more organically. Plus, it's more fun than just about anything else going on in the late 2010s and that alone makes the record and the band worth checking out and falling (and staying madly) in love with.

Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery is urgent, sophisticated, and humorous. It actually delivers the music of tomorrow via the traditions of past and present; it's a convulsive exercise in the articulation of inner and outer space.

Warm and enveloping, it offers immediate comfort, easing the listener into a world so textured and reassuring it invites the kind of revisits that will let the songs unlock their internal logic at their own speed.

Like Lambchop's best work, This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You) takes the listener someplace they haven't been before, and in this case that includes the fictive homelands of Nixon and Mr. M, but it's also a place worth visiting.

It's just one rock-solid blast after another, each one showcasing the involved parties at their sharpest and mightiest.

When the album closes with the lucid "Song After Song" ("Song after song after song all about me and my misery..."), it's a touching, unexpectedly hummable end to a set that's intricate yet understated, and sad yet comforting.

Without taking a breath or leaving room to rest, Only Things We Love throbs and pulses its way through the shadows, a hook-heavy romp for dance-loving misfits.

Thanks to Ex Hex's sheer commitment to their rock & roll fantasies, It's Real never feels less than genuine.

Over a decade into their career, These New Puritans continue to defy expectation or catagory, making a significant event out of each release.

Yanya covers a wide breadth of styles and emotions here and even if it all doesn't hang together perfectly, Miss Universe is a fascinating debut that is reflective of the pressures we place on ourselves and others which all too often result in a striving but imperfect mess.

Lattimore's tranquil and introspective playing guides the duo's meditations to some of the same cosmic zones as her solo work. The combination of the two personalities results in a beautifully troubled unfurling, one that offers quiet comfort in its moments of both darkness and light.

Dense and nearly overwhelming at times but always following a linear progression, ATAXIA is an exciting, challenging release which charts an advanced evolution of dance culture.

Significant Changes is a superb album which balances a concern for the planet with a shameless urge to have fun, all representing a sincere, unconquerable love of life.

Taken as a whole, Doko Mien is two things at once: An assertive collection of forceful dance tunes that defies listeners to sit still, and the most sonically ambitious offering in Ibibio Sound Machine's catalog.

Rather than issuing directives, Bird, like most of us, is struggling to figure out what to make of trying times without reducing himself to the level of the worst among us, and the process has helped him create an album that is likely to stay relevant and satisfying for a long time to come.

With Pony, Orville Peck could probably get over on sheer audacity, but his talent is as impressive as his ideas are smart and unexpected, and this is one of the best and most fascinating debuts from an alt-country adjacent artist in a very long time.

Illegal Moves is another strong chapter of Sunwatchers' unique voice and probably their most clear-minded presentation of their collective powers to date.

The mix never seems to have a specific direction in mind; what's more important is the fact that the energy is kept up throughout, as well as the level of anticipation.

Essentially, Side Effects showcases White Denim's knack for making '60s- and '70s-style psychedelic garage rock that feels authentic but retains the modern punk energy that made their early albums so engaging.

The unpolished feel of Agora is a bit striking for a Fennesz release, but it's clearly just as carefully considered as his other albums, and makes a welcome addition to his catalog.

As different as it is from anything else in her body of work, Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" is an affecting example of Gibbons' willingness to take her music in unexpected--but ultimately winning--directions.

The brooding, hymn-like closer "Care" and the resplendent coming out anthem "He Came From the Sun" hew closer to the sonic intimacy that was generated on 2015's Architect, but even they feel larger than life, signaling not so much a stylistic shift for Duncan, but a maturation of his ability to build worlds out of sound, and in his overall confidence as well.