It's an album that leaves you feeling quietly joyful and, as in the spare, poignant closer "Writer," in which Nutini ruminates on the interplay between art and life, might just make you cry.

The whole album is pulsing with both those elements [energy and emotion] and comes across like the group's most important album, only without the kind of pretension that kind of thing often entails. It's more that Formentera captures the warring emotions, steady fears, and crushing uncertainty of the era it was made in and delivers it all wrapped up in triumphant and true songs that one will want to spin again and again.

A special work, Loggerhead is among the most necessary albums of its time.

Entering Heaven Alive feels of a piece with White's previous work, yet the ideas are synthesized and executed in fresh, inventive ways, suggesting that the ungainly Boarding House Reach was indeed a transitionary album to allow him to do music that's as relaxed and vibrant as this.

The Sadies created something very special here, and Dallas Good was rightly proud of this work.

With 2022's Misadventures of Doomscroller, Dawes have crafted one their shortest and tightest albums to date that also happens to be one of their most enjoyably experimental.

The LP is top-to-bottom danceable and sequenced with each track setting up the next, through the ecstatic finale, where Beyoncé most potently mixes sensuality and aggression, claiming her man with nods to Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Patrick Cowley, and Larry Heard.

All of it sounds supremely organic and works as a further interpolation of the soulful pop she embraced on Heard It in a Past Life. Surrender is the sound of Rogers coming into her complete self as an artist and choosing to be the positive force for good that she wants to see in both the pop and real worlds.

With Take It Like A Man, she's made a striking, deeply satisfying album that follows no rules other than what her muse has chosen, and it's inarguably her finest work to date.

Greer's vision of barbed future pop isn't easy to immediately understand, but Barbarism is as thrilling as it is challenging, and a rare example of art truly existing on its own terms despite how difficult it might be for an audience to digest.

It's never really obvious who is playing what here, but it doesn't seem to matter on an album so moving, immersive and mysterious, organic and otherworldly. Sprague and her bandmates hanging out on a porch upstate managed to make a record that delivers simple songs, artful sound exploration, deep emotions, and comfort all at once.

Even when other albums by Panda Bear or Sonic Boom have suggested positivity and low-stakes fun, none have quite delivered that feeling like Reset does.

Some stellar outside contributions notwithstanding, Cheat Codes stimulates most when Mouse and Thought are sequestered, allowing the latter to leave space only for the occasional instrumental break or rare prominent sampled vocal.

Whether it's a genuine transformation or just a brief exercise for the pop chameleon, the triumphant Holy Fvck is a refreshing change of pace and an utter thrill to experience for those willing to look past the headlines into the heart of an artist who continues to grow in the public eye.

Viva Las Vengeance is Urie's amorous declaration to everything sumptuously mythic, exultant, tragic, and yes, even silly about loving and aspiring to be a part of the rock'n'roll world. That Urie is completely self-aware about his place in that world makes Viva Las Vengeance all the more delicious.

It's hard to call any of the unheard material a surprise, yet these demos, abandoned ideas, and working mixes help to add a dimension and perspective to Blondie's basic canon. Those original albums and, especially, the big hits are so familiar that they can seem set in stone, but when they're paired with these raw, unheard recordings, the group's nervy, arty spirit is resurrected, so it's possible to once again understand what made Blondie such a striking, special band at their peak.

While Will of the People is not as essential as their 2000s classics, it's a quick, satisfying burst of Muse essentials that cleverly forgoes the hits-compilation graveyard in favor of fresh material that honors both their evolution and dedicated fan base.

Though a handful of tracks fall into the category of fun but not essential, Pulse of the Early Brain feels more necessary than some of the previous Switched On volumes. As it covers a wide swath of the band's career, it provides a few surprises for even the most avid fans -- and whether listeners are hearing these songs for the first time or the first time in a long time, they sound equally great.

I Love You Jennifer B is pop at its most baffling, but its considered arrangement keeps the album not just listenable, but thrilling, even as it dives off of various sonic cliffs into the unknown.

Curtain Call 2 is generous to a fault, playing like an endless streaming playlist instead of a curated compilation, yet it does feature many highlights from Eminem's mid-career records.

Martsch has evolved into a survivor; while others may have flashed early and burned out, he's kept plugging away and with When the Wind Forgets Your Name he and Built to Spill have delivered a late career stunner that easily equals their best work.

As a vocalist, Parks shows even greater versatility, matching modes ranging from breathy siren to tough MC with productions that dish out flickering electronics, atmospheric breaks, blown-out trap, and knocking hip-hop soul. Resilience, joy, and power emanate from all of it.

Kicking off their third decade post-Barsuk, Death Cab continue their evolution in fascinating and rewarding ways, somehow managing to surprise with fresh directions and sounds yet unheard from this ever-reliable crew.

Besting the already star-making Sawayama, the triumphant Hold The Girl is the sound of an artist taking their rightful place on the pop throne. Sawayama was born for this.

The last time Suede sounded this muscular and urgent they were still in the process of discovering themselves. Here, the quintet know how to deploy not just their strengths but their distinctive blend of nervy post-punk, overheated glam, and yearning poetry to make an album that sounds full, complete, and utterly alive.

Always a unique band, with these 13 experiments, No Age has created something puzzling, beautiful, and truly one-of-a-kind.

In These Times accumulated an arresting abundance of ideas, sounds, textures, and styles. The album is its own jazz labyrinth, and as such is destined for repeated listening and startling discovery.

Joe Strummer 002 is worth its weight simply for containing remastered versions of all three Mescaleros albums, but the copious liner notes, ephemera, and bonus disc of demos and rarities make it essential.