Thanks to the always sympathetic production, Cottrill's dedication, and the overall strength of the songs, it's a living, breathing sound that end sup as Clairo's most inviting and easy to love record yet.

Caws and Nada Surf hone in so eloquently on the essential, bittersweet ideas at the core of Moon Mirror that their honesty and sweetness can hit unexpectedly hard in the way the best rock albums often do.

If there's one thing that's evident while listening to the refreshing, back-to-basics craftsmanship of Oh Brother, it's that the Goldsmith brothers clearly know what they and Dawes are all about.

In Love Again is a buzzy indie pop delight, full of surprises that pay off handsomely.

Tucked into these strange, loose songs are bits of enduring architecture, interesting philosophies, and the transcendent melodies that have been his bailiwick since the '80s. Of Cope's latter-day records, Friar Tuck is a triumph.

Wasner's music has always felt reflective, but these songs take introspection to a new level and showcase her voice both as a writer and singer. Good art doesn't have to come from darkness, but songs like "Not Yet Free" and "River in My Arms" are proof that riches await on the other side of a crucible.

Long March Through the Jazz Age is a wonderful final statement for Bailey and the Saints: it's reminiscent of their best post-punk work and serves as a reminder for all who may have forgotten that Bailey's skills as a writer and singer were immense.

With its highly developed songwriting, excellent vocal performances, and rootsy production style that support and showcase both albums, Can't Take My Story Away is a career-defining album.

With When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, she demonstrates that she can do it all, hinting at a bright future that could truly go in any direction, as messy and hopeful as youth can get.

Utopia isn't quite as idyllic as its title implies, but its mix of idealism and realism makes it an even greater success as a manifesto for radically open love and as a document of thriving after loss.

It's hard to imagine any of these songs immediately becoming crowd favorites, but as a carefully considered mood piece, Cousin is a powerful, affecting work that once again shows how many great things Wilco can do -- and how well they respond to the right kind of creative direction.

Boasting a mere seven songs, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten's sophomore effort hardly lives up to the lofty promise of its name, but where Epic fails to deliver in size, it more than makes up for in sound.

Joyce Manor make 20 minutes feel way more epic than the running time might promise, and Never Hungover Again ends up as the kind of record that feels like an instant classic.

If Richard Dawson is Fairport Unconventional, Peasant is his Liege & Lief, a strange but fascinating journey through the frameworks of British folk music as seen by one truly unique set of eyes.

Dynamic is just what it is -- these songs show Weiss is again living up to her status as one of the best rock drummers on the planet. ... The songs are splendid, full of clever, catchy melodies, and Coomes' dramatic delivery is a great vehicle for his often topical and always quotable lyrics, taking on a variety of political and social maladies with a wit that's as charming as it is venomous.

First off, a warning: the best way to encounter Mastodon's Crack the Skye for the first time is with headphones. Reported to be a mystical -- if crunchy -- concept record about Tsarist Russia, this is actually the most involved set of tracks, both in terms of music and production, the band has ever recorded. "Ambitious" is a word that regularly greets Mastodon -- after all, they did an entire album based on Moby Dick -- but until now, that adjective may have been an understatement. There is so much going on in these seven tracks that it's difficult to get it all in a listen or two (one of the reasons that close encounters of the headphone kind are recommended). It may seem strange that the band worked with Bruce Springsteen producer Brendan O'Brien this time out, but it turns out to be a boon for both parties: for the band because O'Brien is obsessive about sounds, textures, and finding spaces in just the right places; for O'Brien because in his work with the Boss he's all but forgotten what the sounds of big roaring electric guitars and overdriven thudding drums can sound like. The guitar arrangements on tracks like "Divinations" and "The Czar," while wildly different from one another, are the most intricate, melodically complex things the band has ever recorded. There are also more subtle moments such as the menacing, brooding, and ultimately downer cuts such as "The Last Baron," where tempos are slowed and keyboards enter the fray and stretch the time, adding a much more multidimensional sense of atmosphere and texture. Still, Crack the Skye rocks, and hard! Its shifting tempos and key structures are far more meaty and forceful than most prog metal, and menace and cosmological speculation exist in equal measure, providing for a spot-on sense of balance. Some of the hardcore death metal conservatives may have trouble with this set, but the album wasn't recorded for them -- or anybody else. Crack the Skye is the sound of a band stretching itself to its limits and exploring the depth of its collective musical identity as a series of possibilities rather than as signatures. And yes, that is a good thing.

Ellis may have suggested this level of melodic songcraft on his previous albums, but he never hinted at this wit, and his dexterous combination of craft and humor makes Texas Piano Man a rich, resonant good time.

While lyrics stick better than hooks here, the album is not without a handful of low-key anthems (including the latter track's high-flying, Auto-Tuned "it's gonna be okay"), and the atmosphere manages to be consistently warm and inviting despite its mechanical veneer.

Fancy That is some of Pink's most carefree work, but it's still highly emotional, and its songs are as well-crafted, catchy, and creative as anything else she's done.

Stetson's transcendent and muscular ability to layer sound, breath, and rhythm in a meditative compositional style sticks with you long after Judges is over.

Gary Clark Jr.'s catalog shows he has the talent, intelligence, and vision to make a grand scale musical statement out of any style he chooses, and JPEG RAW only reinforces that notion; he's been creating some of the boldest and most interesting guitar-based music of his time, and this is as exciting and rewarding as anyone could hope.

It cannot be understated how bold it is to go against the grain in a genre where adherence to style can equal respect, but Stormzy's ambition exceeds potential judgment from purists. He's more concerned with expressing himself and adapting to survive, so that he can express further for years to come.

Equally as detailed and as entertaining as The ArchAndroid, The Electric Lady likewise is a product of overactive imaginations and detailed concept engineering, and it also plays out like a sci-fi opera-slash-variety program with style and era-hopping galore.

These are candy-coated rhythmic noise pop songs, and they're astounding.

Throughout, very human lyrics, wistful intervals, a mechanical palette, and components that are sometimes altered to confuse organic and inorganic make for an elegant synth art-pop. Like the world her lyrics inhabit, it is icy and intimate at once.

Resonant Body is an inspiring release that demonstrates the healing qualities of dance music.

Striking a balance between hypnotic pop and cloudy soul-searching, the album delivers all the ends of the spectrum Lennox has spent years perfecting, giving fully realized and refreshingly jubilant examples of a type of pop music so distinctive to its creator, he ends up in a class by himself.

If you're already a serious Mark Lanegan fan, Has God Seen My Shadow covers a lot of familiar ground, but the 12 unreleased tracks amount to an album's worth on unheard pleasures, and if you've never been introduced to Lanegan's music, this is beautiful, challenging stuff for those dark nights of the soul.