They've honed their sound even further, zeroing in on a vintage-inspired, '60s soul aesthetic.

FKA twigs may have already made 2025 her own with Eusexua, but Eusexua Afterglow is far from an afterthought.

While the grand and sometimes snotty lyrics might not be to all tastes, anyone who misses the days when rock radio loved Nirvana and Blur will find his retro rave-up easy to embrace.

Year Zero is the finest Nine Inch Nails recording since Downward Spiral. Its songs are memorable, beautifully constructed and articulated.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a musical labyrinth that is well worth getting lost in for Ross and Reznor fans as well as soundtrack buffs.

The band is in top form, sounding every bit as fresh and relevant in 2005 as they did 15-years prior.

The songs are deliberately loose and minimalist -- intricacy tends to get lost in the booming, resonant halls of a factory -- but the substance that remains is strong, potent stuff.

The serious vibe and timely message of Hang make it an album that fans of the band (and punk in general) won't want to pass up.

Wolfroy... is all about lonesome beauty, and the idiosyncratic wordplay that has become Oldham's forte.

Everything's OK is the home run Green fans have been dreaming about. It may not replace Let's Stay Together or I'm Still in Love With You but you could play it back to back with either of them and not hear much difference other than time.

Unfinished Business shows that six decades after her first recordings, that strategy [simplicity] still works, and she can still deliver the goods without a lot of needless fuss.

Marigold offers no major surprises or alterations in the band's sound, just quality songwriting and a rather remarkable consistency.

White Lung make their case as one of the best bands of their kind anywhere with Sorry, picking up where they left off two years ago almost seamlessly while innovating just enough to ready them for a larger stage.

These are exquisite productions where Le'aupepe's rich, throaty baritone is framed by wiry bass lines, artfully arranged orchestral sections, and spiraling guitar accents. There's a frankness to Le'aupepe's lyrics, as if he's talking directly to you. Yet, even in his most earnest, off-hand moments, he finds poetry.

Once again working with co-producer Dave Cobb, Stapleton also has his wife Morgane behind the boards in addition to singing harmony and playing keyboards, a tight, familial group of collaborators that gives Higher a relaxed, familiar feel that keeps things buoyant even in its darkest moments.

The album is just so uniform in its beauty that tracks simply blend into one another.

Rare proves that when she has strong songs and the producers get a little weird, she's just enough outside the mainstream to sound fresh. Add in some deeply felt and real emotion like she does here, and it verges on being something special, maybe her best record yet. If it isn't that, it's at least her most interesting one yet and that's something fans of the homogenized pop scene of the era should celebrate.

The bold effort unfolds as it wants and deserves.

It's a grower that demands and rewards close listening--especially under headphones, where it unfolds like a spell cast just for the listener.

A restrained lamentation, a controlled elegiac mediation on the death of a loved one.

Loud guitars, gritty vocals, and more soul than a Sunday morning sermon best sums up Carolina.

So Far Gone shows that Drake is for real, and works as a tantalizing teaser for his first full-length record.

Time Flies does a better job of rounding up the highlights from their patchy turn-of-the-millennium albums--actually, it emphasizes Heathen Chemistry almost a bit too much, with its five tracks outweighing the number of selections from Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory--and has space for selections from their smashing final album Dig Out Your Soul.

Urban's sixth American release is a lean collection of country-rockers and bedroom ballads.

A great example of how compelling Sonic Youth's instrumental work is, even when it's as subtle as it is here, Simon Werner a Disparu stands among the band's best soundtrack work.

Fake History is an album that really cements Letlive's place in the vanguard of the current crop of modern post-hardcore, making for an album that will not only please longtime fans, but could also pique the interest of some of the genre's disenfranchised old guard.

One of the more riveting and idiosyncratic tribute albums of the past ten years.

Macaroni is classic Bobby Conn, and much like its crudely drawn cover depicting an appropriation of the classic blue and orange Kraft Mac n' Cheese box, those who like it will love it, and those who don't will likely pay it no mind.