With nine short songs, Tyler Childers has deepened and expanded the world he etched in Purgatory.

Take the tapes back in time to 1992 or so, and Young Guv would be right in holy firmament of that era's power pop scene right next to Mr. Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Sloan, and Velvet Crush. Maybe even slightly ahead, or at least a little to the left, of a few of them. It's certainly the best power pop anyone is likely to hear in 2019.

Thrashing Thru The Passion feels mature but not stuffy or settled; it's the sound of a group that cherishes their own peculiar chemistry and choose to bask within the righteous noise they make.

More than anything else, We Are Not Your Kind feels locked-in on a personal level -- that aforementioned sense of melancholy resides uncomfortably close to the surface throughout -- and that human touch resonates, even as the band unleashes volley after volley of tribal rhythms, scorching riffage, and fathomless decibels.

Along with its generous set list and powerful performances, the attention to details like these makes Live at Troxy another riveting expression of Dreijer's passionate commitment to their work.

Maybe the group loses some of the kinetic kick that made Feel Your Feelings Fool! such a gas, but How Do You Love? proves that Night and the Regrettes have figured out how to turn ebullient punk-pop into a sustainable source of energy.

More Arriving is a giant step for Korwar, who pushes musical boundaries to the breaking point as his tunes articulate righteous anger, passion, pain, and pride with a militancy that emerges from the plight of human decency itself. Brilliant.

Instead of drowning in dense reflections, these songs see Cohen carefully, patiently sorting them out, and creating another stellar work of art in the process.

In many ways, Animated Violence Mild feels like the inevitable sequel to World Eater. Where that album used the full force of Power's music to rail against the world's injustices, this one reflects the resignation, frustration, and emotional overload of its time in its startling and moving tracks.

The variety of styles, sounds, and beats means that this is one of the more satisfying albums Drake has issued. Despite it being made up of songs that were cast off, leaked, or used as bait, it serves as a kind of shadow career overview that gives a full picture of Drake as a talented, forward-thinking, frustrating, monomaniacal, and important artist.

The rapper's skills aren't in question on The Lost Boy, but the album sometimes overshoots in its ambition, aiming for too many styles to hit them all with excellence. It's still a strong collection, and when Cordae strikes a perfect balance of mellow production and lyrical power on standout tracks like "We Gon Make It," it points to even more fully formed work ahead from a strong talent just getting started.

The sheer dynamism of When I Have Fears threatens to derail the album, but a dedication to themes makes it cohesive, with the softer moments highlighting the louder counterparts and vice-versa. It's captivating from start to finish, heartbreaking in its delivery, and intense in all the right ways.

Triumphantly romantic, Forevher announces Shura as an artist who's as deft at soul-baring songwriting and soaring pop as Carly Rae Jepsen or Christine and the Queens.

Uniform and the Body are both fascinating and terrifying on their own, and their creative superpowers only multiply when they're together.

On Black Love & War, they channel love for one another and their people, vexation in the face of escalating tyranny, and seemingly inextinguishable positivity into some of their most determined and stimulating funk.

King Gizzard aren't sugarcoating anything, either musically or thematically, and that makes for their most timely and political album yet. It's also one of their most musically compelling and impressive, too, and that's saying a lot.

It's music that's lush yet spare, tuneful but not forceful, cinematic yet small scale. Those ambiguous contradictions give the album emotional undercurrents both sweet and sad, an appealing blend that sets it apart from most other albums in 2019, along with most of Yorn's catalog.

Other Girls benefits from Cobb adding a sense of spectral melancholy to the proceedings. It's a quality that's thankfully not overplayed; it's there just enough to add dimension and mystery, emotions that still linger when the record turns and eases into something a little simpler.

Hints are abundant that they are on the cusp of stylistic and sonic evolutions balancing bold and experimental elements, but their commitment to the material, as well as their energy and focus, aren't forced but are occurring naturally. This is easily the band's strongest outing since Leach's return.

As impressive as these textured emotions are, Gypsy succeeds as a record because of Jewell's facility with roots music.

This skillful balance of consistency and surprises -- as well as the past, present, and future of dance, indie, and pop -- makes Inflorescent a more than welcome return.

Stieglitz's and Morgan's work both speak to the desire to preserve the power of a moment, and to make something fleeting eternal, whether with a photograph or a piece of ambient music. There's something noble about that, and on Equivalents, Morgan captures it eloquently.

Amazingly, Childish doesn't show a single sign of slowing down or losing a step. At this rate, he may indeed be the last punk standing; he's certainly one of the few still making records as impressive as this.

Shannon Lay lives in the real world even as she's fascinated with all that is not obvious to us, and she's rarely in better form than on August. Anyone this good certainly deserves not to work in retail.

Strange and exciting as ever, So Much Fun touches on the various elements of Young Thug's unconventional appeal and also turns in some of his best material to date.

Despite these variations, discernable influences, and the involvement of collaborators, the comforting Anak Ko is more unified in tone than prior releases and benefits from its marriage of immersive sound design with consistently engaging songs.

These are songs that make you want to roll the windows down, light up a smoke, and pound the dashboard in agreement.

The whole album revolves around the idea of rock & roll as a freeing source of energy, a non-stop party that can uplift those who embrace it. The McDonald brothers are living proof of that idea and Beyond the Door is another example of how pure their love for the form is and how powerfully they channel the true unadulterated ideals of the music.