Though the set feels somewhat sleepy upon first listen, repeat visits reward listeners with Staples' depth and wit, cementing Vince Staples as a simple yet focused statement from one of the West Coast's most relevant voices.

Forest of Your Problems is unlikely to win over anyone not already sold on their particularly odd formula, but there is something admirable about the continuation of their off-kilter approach, making this record a victory lap for their existing fan base and a promise that the rhythms won't stop anytime soon.

["Grow"] is worth the price of admission alone, but the rest of this brief set is such an unexpected surprise that it's worth the nearly half-hour investment. There seems to be nothing that Willow can't do as she adds rock to her résumé with ease.

Hotel Surrender is a testament to Murphy's skills as an artist and his attitude as a person.

Song for song, Hologram is a highly concentrated dose of all of A Place to Bury Strangers' strengths and a welcome return.

It's one of those rare albums where dropping the needle at different spots in the same song would yield wildly different sounds, but every move is so gradual and well thought out that the wild changes and potentially jarring clashes blend into one another seamlessly.

In sum, it doesn't displace or replace the original, but adds immeasurably to its meaning and dimension.

The end result is vast and ambitious yet deliberately welcoming. Its many sounds and rhythms greet listeners wherever they are and compel them to invest in an altogether wondrous sonic journey for body, mind, and soul.

The result is a crisp, concise package -- a bundle of summer anthems with the vivid emotions of summertime passion.

An album that fulfills the promise Aalegra showed on Feels and Ugh, Those Feels Again.

Crosby hints at his folkier origins without dispensing with the musical elasticity that characterized the rest of For Free, an expansion that serves as a gentle reminder that Crosby is in the midst of the longest sustained burst of creativity in his entire career.

It's a new and fantastic chapter in an ongoing body of uncontainable work, one where Birgy has never hesitated to dive into her own psyche and wrestle what she finds there back up to the surface for all to see.

Dave makes a potent second statement. His first steps outside of PSYCHODRAMA's concrete sphere of influence continue to cement his generational talent.

Change's artful, heartfelt expressions of frustration and hope aren't just perfect for the transformative time in which they appeared, they're also an exciting and satisfying reintroduction to Anika the solo artist.

Stand for Myself is a stunner with plenty of emotional firepower, but it can also feel soft as a wool blanket.

Native Sons is a tribute that manages to be more than a set of covers -- it shows what the band learned from these songs, as well as showing us where their long musical journey has taken them. It's essential listening from one of America's greatest bands.

Thirstier's confidence and optimism arrived when listeners in the early 2020s were hungry for both. If making her music as big and loud as it is here is what it takes to get people to realize what they've been missing with her music, then Thirstier is a wild success.

It's exceedingly rare for a band to come back after decades away and make something that measures up to what they were doing when they left off. Scientists have done that on Negativity, and that's something to celebrate.

More mature than either Strange Desire or Gone Now but just as life-affirming, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night is a refreshingly different perspective on Bleachers and a heartfelt soundtrack to millennial midlife crises.

Presenting raw emotion and over-the-top braggadocio with such exacting balance is part of IDK's talent, and he delivers on USEE4YOURSELF like never before.

None of the Indications' contemporaries have put together a set as distinctly purpose-built and delightful as this one.

A reinvigorated return, The Apple Drop shows that Liars can still reinvent their music and surprise listeners as they close out their second decade.

Nas sounds sharp and inspired throughout, giving performances that recall the uncanny brilliance that made his earliest work essential, but also showing he's still capable of taking his art to new places.

Jungle are at their most elevated throughout Loving in Stereo, in terms of both creativity and the general tone of the album. The songs are exploratory and fun, exuding energy and positivity and resulting in some of the group's best work to date.

Not only has she written an engaging set of songs, but they are played and captured with gusto.

This matured focus on concept and mood saves the album from becoming an odd catalog misstep, serving instead as a dignified artistic exercise that rewards the band's bravery by becoming the most heartfelt and poignant statement of their careers.

Still Slipping, Vol. 1 isn't the type of release that an artist would be likely to make at the beginning of their career. It's a labor of love requiring extensive reflection about how music and family have impacted one's life.