On LP.8, Owens draws from different, seemingly contradictory mystical energies, creating music that challenges and shocks as much as it soothes.

This is fun, thoughtful, expressive music from a man whose inspiration has yet to run dry.

Written on a toy Casiotone, with fleshed-out productions later recorded in London with her co-producer and partner, James Howard, the album reflects those struggles more in lyrics than in its graceful, subtly underworldly, and frequently Baroque sound.

While not as immediately accessible as the all-star run of their first three albums, WE will at least be a course-corrector for fans still alienated by Everything Now and the underrated Reflektor, a satisfying journey that realigns the band's heart and soul.

Less obsessive fans might not see the necessity in seeking out more than one live recording from a window of time when a lot of Young's shows were fairly similar. Young completists will of course need to hear the clarity of this recording, and will appreciate the subtle nuances in every joke, slight variation in delivery, and minor shift in presentation that separate this show from any other.

Only completists will need to collect every volume of the series. Despite their similarities, each volume is an excellent document of any given night on-stage with Neil Young, and Royce Hall 1971 finds him in just as fine form as the best of his solo performances from this time.

While frequently poignant, If I Never Know You Like This Again feels like a post-catharsis moment of hanging out, talking into the late hours, and making music with friends.

Unmistakably influenced by the late SOPHIE, who appeared on Hi This Is Flume, the production has a stretched-out, rubbery-yet-metallic quality, and the songs balance sugary vocal hooks with truly intense beat formations.

Phillips' commentary on the state of the world is quite artful, but a look at the lyrics and a careful listen to the vocals allows the activist side of the songs to step forward, and when they take shape it's effective in the way it whispers rather than shouts in our ear.

More D4ta is Moderat's most introverted album, artfully expressing the tension of lockdown and facing an uncertain future.

Gallagher retains a slight edge to his voice that enlivens even staid settings, but this gift isn't necessarily necessary as his urgent delivery does give the album a driving force. He's working in a tonier setting, relying heavily on studio wizardry and polish, yet Liam Gallagher remains a rock & roll star, the kind who turns generic material into something worth a listen.

Once again, the Drive-By Truckers have made a strong album well worth your time and attention, but Welcome 2 Club XIII suggests they're having a problem embracing uncomplicated joy in 2022 -- but then again, so do most people.

Inside Problems deals with weighty themes in a modest, manageable way, and that's one of its greatest virtues; here, Andrew Bird is a mildly quirky regular guy with some thoughts to share and a fiddle to help carry them across, and self-analysis is rarely as fun and rewarding as this.

Even as Quelle Chris' music grows more challenging, it's still highly compelling, and his lyrics are filled with sharp, powerful observations about life, death, success, and failure.

Songs My Friends Wrote delivers what a good covers record should: it works on its own terms and piques interest in the original versions.

A welcome new entry in PT's catalog, it reveals in fits and starts that the band have plenty left to say -- just what that is remains elusive and unclear on this wide-ranging return.

There's a warmth to Up and Away that does suggest analog, with help from plenty of dreamy reverb and additional acoustic textures like Arabic stringed instrument the kanun, which serves to amplify the album's cosmopolitan flair.

It's an engaging delight that will grow on old fans and likely win Flasher plenty of new ones.

The live performance here by the Ensemble Intercontemporain (a group that once upon a time would have had little to do with Reich) is sharp, and the Salle Boulez at the Philharmonie de Paris serves the work well acoustically.

By turns frustrating and engaging, The Other Side of Make-Believe is decidedly uneven, especially coming after the frequently great Marauder. Nevertheless, it offers plenty of mood and a little bit of innovation from a band still revealing nuances to their sound 20 years after their debut.

In between "Confession" and "Float" is the sharply contrasting "The Hour," whose haunted, fingerpicked folk and mournful vocal draw on troubadour tradition. Everything else falls somewhere in between, and somehow, from its pastoral opening title track to its glistening rock closer ("Willow's Song"), Sound of the Morning makes sense, through acknowledging struggle and uplifting with a gumption and determination that's reflected in its design.

2021's Cavalcade found the group exploring a lushly orchestrated avant-prog sound, switching between spiky, angular workouts and softer, more patient compositions. Hellfire moves further in this direction, but with a greater sense of showmanship.

Whether you prefer the slightly more organic vibe of Toast or the cleaned-up Are You Passionate? will depend on your personal relationship with Young's massive catalog. For fans of his early moody rock or the rough-edged brilliance he always locked into with Crazy Horse, Toast will be a clear favorite more than just an interesting companion piece.

Down Tools shows Mush can smooth down their surfaces a bit and still sound challenging and subversively witty, and as long as they do, they'll be worth hearing.

Working Men's Club dig even deeper into their black disco ball aesthetic, crafting an album full of acidic electronica that straddles the line between atonally robotic industrial music and dancefloor-friendly post-punk.

Mallinder's vocal style on this album is far removed from the unhinged paranoia of early CV, sounding much more reserved and shadowy but not vulnerable. This suits the music perfectly, as the rhythms energetically unfold without reaching any sort of climax but are too busy and engaging to recede into the background.

While a trimmed-down version of the album might have been more consistent, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead are going for dream-spinning pageantry, and XI: Bleed Here Now is more proof they'll always be true believers in rock's power of spectacle.

Highlights include the Carly Rae Jepsen-esque, synth-washed jam "No Problem" (with Felix of Stray Kids) and the frantic sing-along anthem "POP!" Front-loaded with the immediate, pulse-pounding fare, IM NAYEON closes with a trio of sensual and smoothed-out tracks that would make early '90s R&B girl groups proud.