Fans of the fuzzy, decadent and over-driven version of the Raveonettes can be happy that they have their band back; nastier, prettier and better than ever.

Washington Square Serenade ultimately sounds a bit less focused than its immediate predecessors.

This is music made with no audience in mind: it is strikingly personal, to the extent that it suggests that Carlton needs to get this soul-searching out of her system in order to move forward.

Without a weak song on board, Bosnian Rainbows is a daring, excellent debut that is as compelling as it is ambitious.

It's taken awhile for that to happen, but on Picture You, the Amazing have completely come into their own.

Tricky seems to be doing some soul-searching--but the running time is long, and at least three quarters of the album is top-shelf.

By the time closing track "Hachiko" comes in with its softly ambient strains, Empty Estate has wandered through various modes, ultimately coming off like a thoroughly pleasant but unexpected long walk on a summer evening, with Tatum stopping for a moment to say hello to all his various different inclinations for a moment before moving on.

The details of bandmember identities and backgrounds quickly become extraneous in light of the wealth of intriguing sounds presented on this incredibly well-constructed debut.

Most of Lily Perdida is charming--it's like these songs were always within Mitchell's reach, but were buried underneath processing and slower tempos in his earlier work, and they're bursting out here.

The Gate presents Elling at the top of his game; it is a song cycle that is mesmerizing and mysterious as it is provocative and compelling.

The album is a blissful, laser-toned experience where Poxleitner's sweet voice is expertly wrapped in stylish, multicolored hues of fluorescent keyboard squelch and bass guitar shimmer.

Jimmy's Show is yet more proof that Noir is a pop music magician.

Even though Vek doesn't find or offer any easy answers on Luck, its highlights capture the most challenging and engaging parts of his work.

The sounds are by turns troubled, angry, isolated, and wonder-struck in ways that only Hawtin can sound, and Ex adds another mysterious chapter to the Plastikman story.

What gives KIN its weight is Tunstall's craft. Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon proved that she could turn inward and be gripping but by turning that aesthetic inside out—this is an album about embracing the outside world--she's every bit as compelling.

Despite its more collaborative origins, Thanks for Listening plays like a singer/songwriter album from Thile, one with moments of humor, poignancy, dread, and playfulness. Particularly "for anyone trying to hear through the din of a boorish year," it captures the Zeitgeist of the first half of 2017 with a very human touch.

One for the Ghost shows that Astor's creative rebirth wasn't a fluke, and it's good that he's making albums on a regular basis once again.

The rapper's sound moves subtly between modes throughout the album, with touches of fantastical synths on the trap-pop tune "Call Back," R&B undercurrents on the infectious "Tiramisu," and a hybrid of Y2K-inspired pop melodies and simmering old-school radio rap production on "ATM."

Scissor Sisters are record fans from way back, so they structure nearly every element of Night Work to relive the heady days of AOR (aka album-oriented rock).

This is sometimes an aural journey through a labyrinth, but it never sounds like the participants are lost.

It's not so much a return to form as it is a simple return, Morrissey picking up where he left off with Maladjusted, improving on that likeable album with a stronger set of songs and more muscular music.

Funny thing is, most of the best moments on MM LP2 are just as angry, and just as irresponsible, but like "Closet," this is the tortured soul and self-reliance ninja known as Eminem at his very best.

Every Now & Then is the best kind of second album, one that improves on the first one without throwing away any of the elements that made it good.

Dusty is another winning set of pointed observations from Sandman, who effortlessly unloads his thoughts without seeming like a burden on the listener.

Stepping up significantly from the sometimes personality-light commercial sounds of her earlier work, Latto cultivates an atmosphere of palpable Deep South humidity and salacious fun on these songs.

Their performances sound more confident than ever.

In spots, it sags, and a couple tracks seem more like sketches than neatly bundled songs, yet it's one of the year's more entertaining and easily enjoyable R&B releases, fronted by someone who does not take herself all that seriously.

It would still make for a fine, welcome, warming (and occasionally, slightly, chilling) soundtrack to never-ending nights, or any other eternity you might have handy.