Lacking the thudding beats of previous TALsounds releases such as Lifter + Lighter and Love Sick, Acquiesce feels even more somnambulant, but it's still driven along by an unexplainable force.

Ultimately, Las Que No Iban a Salir is more a mixtape than a proper third album; and as such, it works. It offers snippets and full-scale portraits of Bad Bunny in process, all the while showcasing his curatorial skills and providing thoroughly enjoyable performances.

What's different about On Sunset is that expansive hybrid of electronic and R&B, a fusion colored by just enough experimentation and craft to make the album feel fresh and distinctly belonging to Weller.

While a little unfocused stylistically, the recordings have a consistently dreamy, submerged sound quality that evokes a past life or at least an obscure record-store find. While the songs' narratives present Drab City as a disappointing destination full of broken hearts and gentrification, its immersive musical allure makes it worth the price of passage.

While not quite as immediate or diverse as their full-length debut, Annual slots in nicely among their rapidly expanding body of work.

Underneath all the cool gloss are pleas of empathy and togetherness, along with some elliptical protest tunes, and while those songs do lend Invisible People some topical gravity, the album is fleet on its feet, a sleek and breezy pancultural party.

Wicked City explores the extreme limits of how far a pretty song can be mangled until it crumbles completely. When the experiments are at their most successful, they can be truly transcendent.

Like so many 21st century psych-inspired bands, Bananagun lean awfully heavily into their love of a very specific era, but they've nonetheless made an exceedingly fun record with plenty of craft behind it.

Throbbing and covered in sweat, Translation is unapologetic in its intent and a surprisingly welcome reminder of the Peas' power to lift spirits not through socially conscious bars, but internationally appealing, borderless people-pleasing that unites through dance.

Warbled, atmospheric electronics eventually expand the sound design, as do subsequent tracks, like the bright, harmonic full-band pop of second track "Unready" and the lush, shimmery "Limits," whose arrangement includes scuttling electronic drums. The sparer tracks are where Gordi really excels, though.

Tracing the emotional arc of the album, a couple of calmer interludes lead into the crashing splendor of "If...." and the brooding shoegaze turbulence of "Is That What You Wanted to Hear?" The glacial drift of "Forget the Credits" feels like all of the previous songs' stress has been released as a balloon, and it feels fine to just lay back and free one's self of all burdens, now that it's all over.

While not quite on par with his best work, it is nonetheless a welcome and surprisingly fun return by one of Britain's great voices who has lost none of his wit and panache.

They're still mockingbirds, but what once felt derivative is now inching closer to vital.

Given that these musicians have been working together for the better part of 25 years, it should come as no surprise that XOXO still feels like a Jayhawks album, but while conventional wisdom in rock history tells us a band is running short on ideas when they start letting the drummer write more songs, in this case it means they're coming up with new ideas that are working well, and that's welcome news.

Despite its intermediary status, its material comes across as deeply considered and hints at creative growth, with the singer/rapper even more persuasive with heartfelt sentiments despite being as understated as ever.

Some of the most interesting tracks on 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues come from less predictable pairings.

The Waterfall II offers no clues as to where My Morning Jacket might be headed, but as a document of what they were capable of in the studio, it's consistent, well-structured, and satisfying in a way the original was not.

The different shades of blue are nuanced but notable and help make Blues With Friends another strong latter-day collection from Dion.

One of Laraaji's earthiest records, Sun Piano is a pure expression of his talents, as he projects spirited melodies straight from his soul.

Much of what precedes and follows it is up to the same fine standard, predominantly mellow if hot-blooded with Tribe label titans Phil Ranelin and Wendell Harrison adding some intensity with spirited blowing.

Flipping the unevenness and sonic confusion of their three 2010s albums on their heads, Bush take this opportunity to prove that they've still got enough in them beyond '90s nostalgia.

Like other Bing & Ruth albums, Species was thoroughly conceived before the musicians began recording it, yet it has such a river-like flow that it can seem as if it spontaneously poured out of Moore and his cohorts.

A set that honors and acknowledges more than wallows.

Although A Hero's Death does suffer from repetition and a lack of literacy, it remains a fun enough; the mistakes it makes won't deter existing fans of the band, although it doesn't display anything new or exciting enough to propel Fontaines D.C. to any new heights.

Life on Earth increases the anticipation for the artist's second album without diluting what has preceded it.

While covers records are common, the taste, energy, and imagination Inter Arma apply to Garbers Days Revisited is anything but. As a whole, it stands head and shoulders with any recording in their catalog.

Minor issues aside, Made of Rain is a fine and sometimes inspired comeback. It may not be Talk Talk Talk, Pt. 2 or Forever Now again, but it proves the Furs still have plenty of life left in them, and it's always nice to hear Richard Butler's voice no matter what the setting.

If there's no happy ending for the heroine, the album still satisfies with its artful balance of meditation and catharsis.