Bonny Light Horseman resembles a somewhat above-average indie folk effort, not at all bad but not of lasting impact. Maybe they should have messed with this stuff a bit more.

Through it all, Tennant and Lowe feel as confident and progressive as ever, honoring their signature sound while continuing to push it into the future.

Like each of their previous releases, Making a New World is an ambitious, original, and exquisitely crafted work, full of rich details and compelling songs that translate the past into modern new shapes.

It's fair to say that Been Around out-performs her excellent debut, both in terms of composition and execution, making it a release well worth the wait.

Taken together, infectious rhythms, smart lyrics, and effervescent chorus hooks that deliver throughout Ur Fun make it more than a mere amusement.

For a band that is beloved on home soil but often gets lost in the crop of late-2000s U.K. exports, this catalog highlight is ample evidence of artistic greatness and proves that, even after the darkest of days, beauty and light are on the horizon.

Excellent songwriting and a surplus of surprising melodic ideas and lyrical wit can't be outshined by the band's deceptively loose approach.

Countless Branches, perhaps due to its profound yet intimate vision as well as its craft, just may be Fay's masterpiece.

A quarter century after they formed, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories is triumphant proof that they're as passionate as ever.

If Miller hadn't passed, Circles would be an insightful, focused addition to his strong late-era catalog, shining a necessary light on emotional and mental health struggles and sobriety through his deeply reflective lyrics and the wonderfully enjoyable and warm production work by Brion. Instead, it's yet another reminder of lost potential and a life cut tragically short.

Manic showcases Halsey at her nerviest and at her best.

While much of the emotion at the center of Everything Else Has Gone Wrong feels borne out of a period of dark introspection, there's a low-key ebullience and overall strength to the music that speaks to Bombay Bicycle Club's renewed sense of purpose. With each song, you can hear them coming further back to life.

Land of No Junction is a beautifully arranged set with a strange sonic allure, but more than anything, it's Frances' excellent songwriting that holds up this very strong debut.

R.Y.C. is scattered and uneasy, but considering its subject matter and the emotions it expresses, it seems like it couldn't have turned out any other way, so it sounds undeniably genuine.

More than its tunes or even its sound design, Boman's wispy voice and heavy-hearted pensiveness are likely to stick with listeners after the album ends.

Tipping closer to dance-pop than noise-rock, Deleter is one of Holy Fuck's most finely tuned albums, yet the band sound as spontaneous as ever.

These tight, explosive songs combine a refined poetic lyric approach in songwriting and arranging that's every bit as urgent as the album's two predecessors, yet it's so emotionally charged, it leaves the listener breathless and exhausted, as well as compelled and excited.

Marigold offers no major surprises or alterations in the band's sound, just quality songwriting and a rather remarkable consistency.

Rare proves that when she has strong songs and the producers get a little weird, she's just enough outside the mainstream to sound fresh. Add in some deeply felt and real emotion like she does here, and it verges on being something special, maybe her best record yet. If it isn't that, it's at least her most interesting one yet and that's something fans of the homogenized pop scene of the era should celebrate.

Choruses, riffs and harmonies sound familiar because they're cribbed straight from some of the Replacements' best-known songs. The genuine sweetness and naivete that made this bald-faced theft more forgivable on earlier albums is harder to find here, leaving songs that are catchy enough but ultimately feel like hollow impersonations of someone else's work.

Like the first Georgia album, Seeking Thrills is a sophisticated, emotionally complex pop effort that seems to encapsulate the London native's life experiences to date.

As both a symbolic avatar for her life changes and a strong empowerment statement, I Disagree celebrates Poppy's rebirth as a pop-metal alchemist and unabashed rule-breaker.

For the most part, this approach works about as well as it did on their early releases, resulting in a warm but weary amalgam of the Everly Brothers' innate musicality and the Avett Brothers' homespun approachability with a touch of Elliott Smith's downcast ruminations tossed in for good measure.

Truly a natural-sounding collaboration, Saariselka's debut is rich, evocative, and sublime.

The precision may mean 50 Year Trip: Live at Red Rocks lacks spontaneity, but the album does showcase Fogerty at the height of his showmanship. He performed at Red Rocks to entertain the crowd by playing the hits, and what worked in concert works on record, too.

At times, Please Excuse Me for Being AntiSocial feels like it's trying to offer something for everyone, and it becomes difficult to locate Ricch's personality among the different window dressings. Regardless, it's a strong collection and highlights how Ricch can mold himself into different styles and keep things exciting in almost any stylistic configuration.

It takes skills to make a record this smooth and soft without it ever being boring or sounding trite. Noir has those skills and AM Jazz is another example of his abilities as a songwriter, performer, and above all, maker of fine recordings.

Michaela Anne's apparent disinterest in the slick, hollow approach of most contemporary country would have identified Desert Dove as something different regardless of the production, but Outlaw and Winrich helped make this into a striking, satisfying collection of songs that confirms Anne's status as one of country's freshest and most interesting new talents.