Whether it's highly relatable or a bit paint-by-numbers is up to the listener, although the blueprint here is an auspiciously well-tested one.

Vol. 2 sounds like the album one might slap on after the Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1 party ends and everyone is ready to crash.

Sitting through the entirety of The Last Slimeto is bound to be an exhausting experience to anyone but YoungBoy's many devout fans, but even if it seems to function more as a playlist than an album, it's definitely not monotonous, and the rapper's dedication to the game is unquestioned.

If Jude lacks in immediacy, such melodic tunes as "Not One Night" suggests this is intentional: Lennon has traded direct pop for an elliptical route that suits his skin.

How Do You Burn? suggests he needs a fiercer and more energetic team of underlings if he's going to remain a force to be reckoned with.

Someday Is Today is unfocused in more ways than one, but its mood locks into the late-summer twilight.

demon time unfortunately turns out to be underwhelming.

If overlong, MOSS is lovely on average and improves over the debut by committing to a design that suits Hawke's vocal qualities.

NAV reveals feelings of vulnerability and loneliness on some tracks, while concentrating on jewelry, money, and fame on the more club-ready songs.

Too many of these melodies are similar enough that they're indistinguishable from one another. On balance, jams such as "Outer Heaven," "Impermanence," and "Vendetta X" solidly reveal that this band still has plenty of creative dazzle left in the tank.

Although Sparke thrives in quieter surroundings, her voice is capable of commanding this more confrontational material, if made slightly less distinctive in the process.

Like its sibling Unlimited Love, Return of the Dream Canteen benefits from the positive energy of these four friends just having fun in the studio, and is designed for listeners to plug in and bliss out without any expectations of mainstream-ready fare.

"The Other Ones" is out of place for its melodramatic decluttering of baggage, but the trio of "Pieces," "I Don't Love You Like I Used To," and "Home" come across as wholly heartfelt, respectively striking a rare balance of numbness and hope, expressing total devotion, and turning on the (ocular) waterworks. Legend is at his best when entertainment isn't his objective.

Ultimately It's Only Me sticks to the formula that's taken Lil Baby to the top, but somehow fails to communicate the personality and creative fire that was hard to miss on earlier albums.

What's here sounds fine, but it's nothing revelatory, and there aren't any sections that tap into some sort of divine inspiration. This may as well just be a bootleg recording of a dress rehearsal, certainly of interest to fans, but not one of Can's essential releases.

Her Loss is scattered, flowing more like a mixtape than a well-designed album, but there are plenty of highlights to balance out the less fully formed inclusions.

Fields sings everything with the expected high level of conviction, covering nearly the gamut of blue-collar soul subjects with devotion and heartache at the fore. His performances elevate the material when it's merely functional.

It's enjoyable enough that it takes a minute to realize that Springsteen and Aniello aren't exactly re-interpreting these 15 songs: they're merely playing them for a lark. That's enough for a good time but once Only the Strong Survive fades out with the last notes of "Someday We'll Be Together," there's not much that lingers behind in the memory.

It certainly slots in a level below their more considered releases, but if one is fully onboard with the King Gizzard experience, Laminated Denim is certainly worth adding to an ever expanding collection of works.

Stylistically uneven, unsettled set, though one never loses the sense that Warren is presenting a central, ill-fated-relationship narrative.

The release seems like a major personal achievement and he deserves to be proud of it, but there isn't anything here that matches the best tracks on his first two albums.

The set sees the band channeling their anger about world events into a blistering mix of metal and alternative hard rock.

This release is probably more for Mac DeMarco super fans than casual listeners, as there's nothing resembling the happy-go-lucky hooks of his best-loved songs, just the incidental sounds collected on a slow, aimless wander.

It's largely unobtrusive and serviceable, distinguished mostly by Smith's elastic voice and increased specificity and complexity to the reflective and romantic songs.

The resulting album is perhaps surprisingly uplifting and affectionate in tone. Based in a reflective, if dance-minded, bedroom-R&B zone for the most part.

Whether autobiographical or a thought exercise, Honey is evocative and often relatable, if in turn inevitably alienating and mercurial.

It's a lot of samey-sounding material to wade through just to find a slightly different version of "Mississippi." While the remix is instructive, offering insight into Dylan's intentions and making Time Out of Mind seem less like an outlier in his discography, this set is ultimately for the hardcore heads, who don't mind hearing minute variations on familiar themes.

In some ways, Compositions feels more like a film score than other Deathprod albums, not quite resembling variations on a theme, but aurally illustrating a specific scene with each track. Unfortunately, nothing here really expands past being interesting sounds or settings, and these pieces don't elevate to the haunting, mesmerizing level of Deathprod's best work.