Raw, rowdy, and devoid of any sort of studio chicanery, Skeletons feels less like a proper Danzig album and more like a home recording of a boozy late-night house show. Surprisingly, its slapdash, lo-fi demeanor mostly works in its favor.

If you want a Christmas album from Smoke Fairies, then you're the target market for Wild Winter, though the previous caveat still applies--you're sure to enjoy it, but the guests at your Christmas party might be puzzled.

2015's Find What You Love and Let It Kill You, is a return to the group's anthemic classic rock and '60s psych rock-influenced sound.

Returning to more song-based material, the seven-track collection was made in Newcombe's adopted home of Berlin and features plenty of sleekly crafted psych-pop that nods to the band's San Francisco roots while continuing to nurture their European influences.

Songs from the Black Hole sure ain't a clampdown. This power trio is just too agitated and interesting for anything such.

Return to Forever follows suit very much, with the 12 new songs here embodying the same over the top celebration and hedonistic revelry of a much younger Scorpions. At times the throwbacks are a little transparent.

While much of the material here falls pretty squarely in each vocalist's wheelhouse, there are a few surprises.

Think of it as the Khaled collection with the most R&B (thanks to Brown), the most Future, or maybe the most Khaled as the DJ not only does his usual talking over tracks, but features his Finga Licking fried chicken restaurant right on the album cover.

Raw, organic, but ambitious.

808s & Dark Grapes III isn't quite the Zeitgeist-capturing statement that II was, but it's still an enjoyable, highly focused effort.

The movie and score are fun and entertaining, but at the same time, the ugly bits of hate speech are jarring and take away from the sheer pleasure of it all. Listen (and watch) at your own discretion.

As on Personal Record, New View's warm, reassuring atmosphere is a perfect fit for Friedberger's affably rambling songwriting; the album is even bookended by songs about long walks, and at its best, it sounds like a conversation sweetened by music.

Emotional Mugger is a stiff shot of raw, cocky joy that hits its target beautifully.

Quietly fascinating, reaffirming that Halo doesn't have to make a grand statement to deliver another intriguing addition to her body of work.

Lyrically LeBlanc is still mired in the faux-verisimilitude and myopic ruminating that are the bane of all twentysomethings, but with Cautionary Tale, his finest outing to date, he's stepped far enough out of his shell that the world around him is starting to come into focus.

While The Waiting Room is a mixed bag, it's far more relaxed and sure of itself than Across Six More Leap Years was.

Altogether elegant, moving, and often beautiful, Not to Disappear leaves Daughter, without question, on the heavier side of the emotional spectrum, but, like the Cure's "Dark Trilogy" 35 years prior, is sure to connect deeply with some listeners and stand out not only among pop contemporaries but among other emotive, textured indie pop.

Infinite Summer's sci-fi pop blossoms under headphones, but it doesn't always live up to the promise of NZCA Lines or its concept.

In these songs Maal continues to celebrate his people, his culture, and the Fulani language, even as he presents the listener with challenges to their preservation from inside and outside Senegal.

O'Hagan proves here once and for all that he's up to the job.

The result is an attention-grabbing album that reaches inward and artfully delivers vulnerable thoughts through sharply honed production skills.

Given that Furler didn't originally plan to make these songs her own, it's impressive that This Is Acting works as well as it does--only the wannabe banger "Move Your Body" and "Sweet Design"'s flashy, hard-hitting R&B are truly unconvincing. For the most part, however, This Is Acting's meta-pop is another example of how cleverly Sia brings her her experiments into the mainstream.

Catchy and upbeat, these are the poppiest offerings on an album that otherwise is content with patience, comfort, and peace.

On record, they do retain some of that magnetism, but much of their songwriting seems to simply serve their musical style without making that much of an impact. There are exceptions, of course, especially with album closer "Egypt Berry," which is easily this album's strongest track.

On their debut, Coasts produce a competent collection of catchy arena-ready tunes that could eventually carry them there.

If Turin Brakes' world-view has changed little over the years, their embrace of the craft of record-making has only improved, and Lost Property is an impressive document of their skills in the recording studio.

Wabi Sabi definitely feels like an album that could only have been conceived in an arid desert rather than a bustling city, and the remoteness of the couple's surroundings has certainly made them pay more attention to details and take notice of small, unique things such as the scorpions that adorn the album's cover.

As an album, Gumption meanders quite a bit, occasionally to the point of feeling detached, but its glimmers of gold make for an ultimately compelling listen.