It's not an altogether bad record and it ends on a bright note with two of its best cuts -- "Bad Advice" and "Deliver It" -- but for all of its amiable intentions, it comes across as short on personality.

Total Freedom is aptly named, as these songs are the work of a songwriter who demands no more and no less; now more than ever, Kathleen Edwards is living and making music in a way that honors her own spirit, and it reminds us why you don't take the work of someone this talented for granted.

The key to Bradfield's album is how it respectfully salutes Jara while conveying the emotions and ideas stirred within the singer/songwriter -- a rare trick that is quite compelling on this urgent yet nuanced song cycle.

Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? crackles with energy, wit, and passion, attributes that are worthwhile effective compensation for Fantastic Negrito's relatively streamlined attack here.

Gift of Sacrifice, in comparison, is noticeably more accomplished and better thought out, and Dunn's presence as a collaborator certainly helps Osborne make this into something memorable, though if he's smart he won't get rid of his amplifiers just yet.

Ganser's lyrics stick close to themes of dread, tension, and uneasiness, and every song finds a slightly different musical avenue to get to the heart of those heavy feelings. In this way, Just Look at That Sky manages to be engaging without losing cohesion, anchoring its various chaotic instrumental approaches to a dismal emotional core.

The album hits like the work of a solitary creator, however, its suffocating songs often warped by trippy arrangements, unpredictable turns, and out-of-tune components (including persistent double-tracking) all sound like the product of a singular, eccentric perspective.

A major step up for J Hus, and the first notable British rap album of the 2020s, Big Conspiracy was a well-deserved success, debuting at number one on the U.K. album chart and spawning several Top 40 hits.

Liza Anne isn't merely bloodletting here, she's writing with barbed wit and raw feeling, a combination that gives Bad Vacation an impact that lasts long beyond its initial pop dazzle.

As strange as the album's combination of whimsy and wistfulness might seem, it makes for one of Fevre's most varied, oddly introspective works, ending his career on a good note.

Glass Animals' most cohesive and satisfying album to date, Dreamland is a well-deserved triumph that's as rewarding for fans to hear as it was for the band to make.

Like its predecessor, Sex, Death, & the Infinite Void treats naval-gazing like a spectator sport, with each death-obsessed narrative resolving into a gang-vocal crescendo ("God can't save us, so let's live like sinners") of stale cigarette smoke and beer-can-crushing outsider solidarity.

The band are nothing if not exceptional at creating a mythos; by promoting inclusiveness and affirmation to aspirational degrees, they demonstrate that by working together, they can create beauty from chaos.

Brain Candy is still rock indie pop first, with a garage rock sidecar. Most of this is an up-tempo blast, and Stephenson's vocals are excellent while the guitar work and drumming is expert and fully engaged. Brain Candy isn't kid's stuff, but rather the word of two guys determined to make adulthood work for them without spoiling everything, and Hockey Dad hit that target with flying colors.

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

G3 is heavy on bangers, with all tracks whizzing by in two or three minutes, and the album constantly stays sharp and exciting.

At just 30 years old and with seven albums to her credit, Marling's songwriting has been honed to a level of literate maturity that few artists achieve in their careers.

A fluid continuation of 2018's appropriately titled No Sounds Are Out of Bounds.

La Vita Nuova is a fine complement to the Chris era.

Even more audacious than No Trail and Other Unholy Paths, Prisyn proves Jaye Jayle's music can thrive as Patterson lets tradition go by the wayside.

He's in a league of his own when it comes to making the most of music's time-traveling, spell-casting powers, and like Drift Code before it, Clockdust proves that Rustin Man's music has only grown richer and more rewarding over the years.

Live at Goose Lake, August 8, 1970 isn't the gloriously transformative historical document some might have dreamed it would be, but it is a recording of a genuinely great rock band playing a pretty good show with genuine enthusiasm, and you can never have too many of those on hand.

Time has only made Elverum's music more transcendent, and anyone who loves the Microphones or Mount Eerie will find the album's fresh yet timeless perspective on it a fascinating and moving listen.

It's just a short but compelling set of songs from a singular artist, and however it made its way to a public hearing, listeners can only be grateful it has emerged at last.

Whoosh! is musically superior to its immediate, Ezrin-produced predecessors, but it's more, too: If it's the last album Deep Purple release, it should be remembered as among their best.

After releasing a couple albums that showed the Washed Out sound could be altered in interesting ways, coming back with something that's textbook chillwave can't help but be a letdown, no matter how pretty and soothing it can be.

The lack of musical and emotional evolution doesn't necessarily hamper Born Here Live Here Die Here -- it was designed as slick entertainment and that's exactly what it is -- but it does suggest Bryan may be playing with some borrowed time.

Articulation displays West's skills at letting human emotions guide his technical explorations, matching intuition with precision to produce gripping, resonant music.