Whereas Fyah relied on jazz and funk as twin lines of harmonic and rhythmic inquiry, Intra-I multiplies their import by strategically locating them inside a far deeper, wider mix to create an original music that looks squarely at the future.

Lone always manages to go back in time and see things as they never truly were, and Always Inside Your Head is an immersive venture into the realm of fantasy and magic.

Confident, inward-looking, forgiving, yet bruising in all the right places, it's not just a great album by Cantrell's standards; it's a great record, period.

Titling her second album Water, she acknowledges that she's in her element, and more assured of her work than ever. Post-transition, her voice has developed into a more delicate yet deeply expressive instrument, and her soaring vocals magnificently blend with her rumbling beats and atmospheric, neo-classical arrangements.

It's never sappy but offers a message of spiritual succor to those who need it, and it's a great, rewarding listening.

They're still blazingly idiosyncratic, but in taming the sprawling improvisations of the past, they've discovered their pop acumen.

By the time they close with the fiery Motown vamp "Love Don't," Rateliff and his band have covered a nice range of moods on what is their most diverse release yet.

Outperforming what was an impressive debut, Which Way to Happy takes its immersive qualities to another level.

The combination of the airiness of the arrangements and the warmth of Mann's performance is wistfully hopeful, turning Queens of the Summer Hotel into a record that soothes and consoles during moments of uncertainty.

You Get It All does practically everything a Hayes Carll album should do just right, and its unpretentious excellence makes it one of the best and most satisfying albums he's released to date.

Everyone involved shines, but for Wasser, it's a feather in her cap and an excellent way to kick off the next phase in what continues to be an exciting career.

Somewhere in the second half of this hour-plus album, the mostly sedate sequence of productions -- some without beats, others with dragging trap-styled percussion -- make for laborious listening. The trade-off is Walker's vivid and biting lyrics and knack for singing them with such grace that they please the ear as much as they raise eyebrows.

Unhurried and stark without being austere, The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows seems suspended from time but not place: as misty and evocative as it is, the music is grounded in a specific location, which gives this elegiac, enveloping album an emotional weight.

Whilst it doesn't always stick the landing, the new spaces it does explore are well worth the journey.

Heavy Load Blues is raw, heavy, and immediate, the sound of a band unfettered while pursuing a deep blue groove that never quits.

Both a reflective sound bath and an ecstatic celebration of creative freedom, Space 1.8 is a singular, eye-opening debut.

It often feels like they're delighted that they're making an album that lives up to their debut, and it's hard not to share their thrill.

Thanks to their renewed focus, their willingness to embrace new ideas, Cleveland's songs, and the symbiotic relationship between the group and Younge, this feels like a fresh start for the band and some of the best psychedelic rock around in the early 2020s.

It might take some time for Flying Dream 1 to fully grab you, but when it does, the album's measured, artful introspection is hard to shake.

Consistently entertaining with a few flashes of brilliance, Book kicks off the band's fifth decade of music-making with substance and style.

Pilgrimage of the Soul is at once a sonic portrait of everything Mono has ever been, yet looks toward a future rife with possibilities as increased physical and sonic force are tempered by graceful subtlety, tense drama, and haunted lyricism.

His own hope for Deciphering the Message is to point new listeners toward the originals. As wonderful as that intention is, this album is a phenomenal listening experience in its own right.

Though it's just over 20 minutes long, In Virus Times has plenty of the experimental openness and welcoming warmth of Ranaldo's other solo work for Mute, and artfully approximates the feeling of a live improvisation during a time when concerts were difficult at best.

Mandatory Enjoyment is much more than a dusty museum piece, and while Dummy may be proudly retro, like their heroes Stereolab they make their love of the past sound brand new and exciting.

This slyly crafted collection of big bass and even bigger brags manages to bridge the old school and the new, with Uncle Snoop's encouragement as the host with the most.

Gordon and Nace never followed an obvious path with Body/Head's prior releases, but bringing in Dilloway presents entirely new possibilities that they use with fascinating, often haunting results on Body/Dilloway/Head.

These are wild, protean hard rock songs rooted in psychedelic folk and delivered with Green Man-worthy gusto. What's not to love?

Toy features Bowie revisiting a bunch of songs he wrote in the '60s, most written and recorded prior to "Space Oddity." Hearing Bowie apply Hours aesthetics to swinging, mod-ish material is odd but mildly appealing; it's a slight record but it's nice to have it as part of the official discography. The rest of the box follows a familiar and comforting pattern, confirming that the '90s were a bit of a creative resurgence for Bowie.