It resonates with emotion, tenderness, and a sense that she has found comfort in life and her songwriting that may have been missing before.

They have enough clatter and commotion to keep Mission Control moving at a brisk pace, but they could use some extra oomph.

Camu Tao's thoughts and structures are more fully fleshed out, more songs than just ideas and sketches, and here, what he was and what he could do, and could have done, seem so much more fully whole.

A genuinely moving -- and beautifully performed -- record from start to finish.

Despite these interesting diversions, Exits & All the Rest is just a bit too straightforward to gain the plaudits of the more experimental Warpaint, but it's still a vibrant record that cleverly recaptures the spirit of their influences while remaining quintessentially Girl in a Coma.

I Will Set You Free is the sound of Adamson's liberation as a songwriter, producer, and arranger.

Though there are a couple of missteps here, Another Country is a welcome new phase for Wilson.

Ultimately, Bounty was made to create mystique and interest, and it still does that even after Iamamiwhoami's secret wasn't one anymore.

Rhubarb Rhubarb, sounds like a condensed version of their first.

Whether or not Hyperview resonates with Title Fight's existing fan base, it was the right album for them to make.

Though it feels disjointed at times, at its best Kin captures the emotional impact of changes and their aftermath.

Confessions turns out to be as charming as it sounds on paper; at times it's even profound.

The Selecter may still be best remembered for their part in the U.K. ska explosion of the early '80s, but Daylight shows they don't have to rest on past glories; they're creating a new body of work that's smart, energetic, and powerful.

John Mellencamp embodies the stubborn independence of an artist who unquestioningly follows his heart and his muse, and Strictly a One-Eyed Jack is the work of a man accepting the passage of time rather than fighting against it. As a songwriter and a performer, it's a gambit that works in his favor.

While some listeners are bound to mourn the loss of Mattiel's most retro-minded garage qualities, these latter songs attain a stylistic sweet spot between their most accessible and rebellious material, while still -- refreshingly -- completely defying contemporary pop.

Quite frankly, this is the record that NIN should have released if Reznor had wanted to capitalize on the success of The Downward Spiral.

Fun sonic flourishes abound, like the heady call-and-response of "Incognito" or the winding melody that gives "Explorer" a phantom of the discotheque vibe, but ultimately, Hyperdrama is neither catchy enough to play to the duo's pop strengths nor bold enough to highlight Justice's experimental skills.

Circular Sounds is altogether smoother than the musician's previous work, but it's far from slick, packed with enough grit (note the slightly off-key horns in 'Everything Begins') and solid songcraft to set itself apart from the retro-rock catalog.

Like a garish version of his label boss Akon, he's a singer/songwriter/producer who doesn't evolve much over this avalanche of releases and guest shots, but Thr33 Ringz proves he's much more aware of his limitations.

Blood of Man sounds like that album's [2004's "Use Your Voice"] companion piece, merging the same traces of folk, roots rock, and small-town storytelling with a simple increase in volume.

While this is a loving tribute to Frank Navetta (who died in 2008), if you were hoping for more of the subtle but genuine forward growth the band has shown on later-day albums like Cool to Be You and Hypercaffium Spazzinate, what you get instead is a journey into the past, with all the good and bad that phrase implies.

Ganser's lyrics stick close to themes of dread, tension, and uneasiness, and every song finds a slightly different musical avenue to get to the heart of those heavy feelings. In this way, Just Look at That Sky manages to be engaging without losing cohesion, anchoring its various chaotic instrumental approaches to a dismal emotional core.

Teenager can stand as the group's crowning glory to date.

While it's never clear how much Snoop actually wrote, the ghostwriters he's admitted to hiring have the thug script down and rarely disappoint. What is disappointing is the woefully long track list, the redundant numbers, and the trimming required to keep from drifting off before the majestic closer, 'Can't Say Goodbye' with the Gap Band's Charlie Wilson, rolls around.

Dig beneath the surface, the lyrics make plain Healy's claim of the album being a personal record but the trick that Travis pulls off with L.A. Times is that it is engaging on the surface thanks to colorful melodies and shifting arrangements--the very things that beg for subsequent listens, the ones where themes reveal themselves.

Their songwriting and vocals are actually better than Air, closer to Scissor Sisters again in their ability to write great pop songs and deliver them with flair.

If many of Pollard's post-GBV albums have suggested a man tossing out whatever tunes he came up with this week, Let It Beard is an ambitious, clearly focused attempt to create something out of the ordinary, and it succeeds well enough to feel like a game changer for Pollard and his partners.

It's hard to call an album this spirited and alive irrelevant.