While The Gods We Can Touch is ultimately a pop record, it only expands upon AURORA's already mystical bearing.

Much of the magic in Change the Show, as with most of Kane's work, is in the way he turns being a kid of the '90s with an obsession for all things mod into something of his own oeuvre.

While Night Call builds nicely upon Years & Years' indie electronic roots, it primarily feels like a new beginning for Alexander as he boldly embraces his pop future.

Wilds stands proudly next to the albums that have come before it. A little bit more song focused, a little rougher around the edges, but still transcendent and heavily psychedelic in all the right ways.

As the uplifting positivity of "For You" closes the album on an optimistic note, Billy Talent takes the storm of emotions churning through the preceding cuts and salvages the light that remains, avoiding the titular inner conflict by focusing on that which gives us hope and peace.

Extreme Witchcraft isn't a big basket of musical sunshine, but it's been a while since Eels have made an album with this sort of muddled joy, and it's a welcome development from one of pop's major misfits.

The subtle shifts in tempo and arrangement make this brief record feel fully realized: these are renditions that are deep and soulful, carrying the same richness of Cobb's secular material while having a palpable spiritual undercurrent.

Her music has always been thoughtful, personal, and uniquely constructed, but Godmother is especially exciting as it runs so far and so fast in a different direction than she ever has before, committing fully to the risks and swooping changes that come to define the album.

The Sun Is Shining Down sounds hungry and vital. Mayall delivers these rough-and-ready blues like a champ.

Pinegrove has yet to deliver a clunker, and 11:11 should be a welcome addition to any fan's regular rotation, in addition to offering a few gems for anyone partial to a tuneful, earnest protest song.

Set Sail is easily the band's most mature, far-reaching, affirmative statement. Making it even more indispensable is that it is as infectiously danceable as it is life affirming.

Simone Felice wears his heart on his sleeve on All The Bright Coins, and while that's an easy way for an artist to sound foolish, in this case he's created something brave and exciting in its embrace of the human spirit, and it's often strikingly beautiful.

Shenfeld's debut blurs lines between post-minimalism, drone, noise, progressive electronic, and ambient. Its nonconformity is a major part of why it's so captivating and refreshing, but even beyond that, it's simply a joyous listening experience.

A bit of a slow builder with an almost cinematic trajectory.

The band seems to play as a single multi-armed unit, and yet Wood's tortured voice is at the very center of their palette. Black Country made a strong impression on their debut, but things become much more interesting with Ants from Up There.

The dense and shrouded nature of this album means you sometimes have to wait for the clouds to clear before certain lines resonate or choruses grab you, but once they do, they don't let go.

The 7th Hand is a major work. It travels dazzlingly from tranquility and comfort to ambivalence, restlessness, and impatience before it engages re-entry, rebirth, and transcendence. This band understands that Wilkins' bold question may be unanswerable, but they play as if they know.

Once again, Spoon show there's still plenty of mystery left in classic sounds, and they're still experts at revealing it.

Their best since 2014's This Is All Yours, The Dream finds Alt-J in top form. Despite being so lyrically death-obsessed, the beauty and warmth coursing through the album make it full of life and absolutely human.

The powerful, sometimes writhing, and often transcendent sonic landscape the band creates here is their most inspired work to date, brimming with purpose and assertiveness that goes beyond mere entertainment and reaches for enlightenment.

Everything Was Forever not only shows they're still in strong form, it's as bold and inspired as their best work.

The choruses are delivered in joyously emphatic unison. If there is a complaint about Cold as Weiss, it's that at 40 minutes, it's a tad short, because no one wants this dance party to end. (If you do, please check your pulse, you may have expired.)

The bottom line is that this 14th proper album of hers combines nuanced performances and succinct writing like none other.

Their compositional creativity is at once complex and sophisticated while remaining inherently accessible. They match a ferocious appetite for muscular musicality with intricate attention to production details and rigorous energy.

Cathartic and confident, Prey//IV releases her pain with a diamond-like strength and clarity that is entirely her own.

Writing happy songs that aren't annoying is a tall order, but Mount and company pull it off with enough flair to make Small World a satisfying microcosm of Metronomy's music.

Mature and focused, The Kick is a welcome return from Allen, a refreshing and ebullient collection that balances emotional introspection with pure physical joy.

This set is a classic-sounding Tears for Fears record, one that makes the listener take emotional, spiritual, and mental inventory of their inner world even as the one outside roils with trouble, violence, and madness. Welcome back gents, we've missed you.