Starfire certainly isn't as game-changing as LPs like Agharta and Pangaea, the mood and spirit is that of Miles in the '70s, but with the mechanically precise rhythms one would expect from a group born in the era of acid jazz.

Sonically, Explains is breezy, effortless, and warm as a Pacific Ocean sunset, and its laid-back vibe helps tame some of Field's more manic, pop culture-laden diatribes like "Light Brang" and "Where."

What they lack in adolescent kick they more than compensate with savvy, smarts, and muscle, sounding like passionate survivors who are happy to fight for what they love in an era that takes such spirit for granted.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have never been known for being concise or streamlined, but they show on Quarters that blowing out (more than usual) their sounds and elongating their songs to extremes works really well for them.

This absurdly overstuffed synthesis is unmistakably Muse's own, so thunderous it drowns out any good intentions the band may have had.

No one's looking to Derulo for advanced stylistic hybrids or deep thoughts. When Everything Is 4 avoids those creative impulses, as it tends to do, it's easily Derulo's most pleasing work.

Often, country memories can get maudlin, but Willie and Merle are filled with good humor here and the pair often strike a delicate balance of fun and sweet melancholy which gives Django and Jimmie a soulful lift.

If it often gets over on mood rather than message, Gibson turns out to be an impressively good mood guy, and the production (by Gibson and Randall Dunn) gets the details right, making Carnation sound like a middle-of-the-night album for a man whose sense of style is matched only by his knack for poor choices.

As a whole, The High Country is satisfying fare that anyone who found SSLYBY's previous works a little too light in texture will certainly want to give a spin.

Currency of Man is a further step away from the lithe, winsome pop-jazz that garnered her notice initially, and it's a welcome one.

Many of the songs are sturdy, constructed to support these grand ambitions, but these individual pieces are not as consequential as the big, big picture

7 (Or 8) is the messy but precise sound of true believers in search of the Crunch that Transcends All, and there are moments where they come impressively close to actually finding it.

Fernandez's engaging, exploratory songcraft and the plush result of all the component sounds should appeal to post-rock-minded folks as well as those who favor artful, low-key intensity to bombast.

Faulty Superheroes sounds like Pollard and his cohorts were aiming to make a solid rock & roll record rather than killing a few days in the studio, and that certainly makes the difference, especially if you're a fan of the man's endless well of melodic invention.

Even though Vieux Loup is markedly different from its predecessors in the Acorn's catalog, it feels like a natural, graceful evolution, and is an elegantly understated, resonant listening experience.

At times, the overall veneer is a shade too clean, suggesting nothing so much as cocktail hour at a classy conference, but the fact that Hucknall and Simply Red choose to celebrate the softer, soulful sounds of the '70s by doubling down on the smoothness does separate them from the legions of neo-soul divas in the new millennium.

Even if My Love Is Cool sacrifices some of Wolf Alice's earlier fury, the album is all the stronger for it.

A record as relaxed as the average James Taylor album but one that's also riskier and richer, the right album for him to make at this date.

The album is all about comfort and steady, forward motion.

This is a distinctive, ambitious record that takes advantage of her natural talents in surprising ways.

She keeps up her end of the bargain, writing a batch of heartfelt songs and delivering them with her always lovely style.

A relatively disjointed assembly of tracks seemingly drawn from working folders labeled like "athletic anthems," "theatrical intros and interludes," "almost pop," "space ballads," and "misc."

It is ultimately successful in how it deals with negativity and frustration, and shows KEN mode displaying grace and maturity with their newly expanded sound.

If the individual message may wind up fading like yesterday's newspapers, the music will keep The Monsanto Years burning bright.

Olympic Mess is a gripping sound odyssey which bewilders and occasionally perturbs.

Weaver and crew focus on the grand gestures, escalating the emotions and tension, spending as much time on the surge as the hook, and even if this tactic means the slower songs on the back half of the record drift, it also means that when the music is meant to be sweeping it often is.

Grand Romantic is a fittingly grandiose, occasionally silly, passionately effusive, and ultimately very catchy album.

Year of the Hare is best recommended to fans who already have a grasp of Fucked Up's more esoteric moments--beginners should try 2011's David Comes to Life or 2014's Glass Boys--but this is still smart, lively, and thoroughly individual music from one of the most free-thinking bands to emerge from the punk rock underground.