Along with her pop hooks, what makes Straus' music so indelible on Cheap Queen is her strong sense of self. As King Princess, Straus is both the chilled-out R&B loverman and genderqueer lesbian songwriter, a tangible combination that's anything but cheap, and always real.

Not everything on Hot Pink is a knockout, but the experimentation results in some amazing standouts and other songs that are still fun or intriguing, even if they're not as memorable.

Arguably heavy-handed but regrettably timely, even if allegorical, After You marks an ambitious return for the long-absent musician, one that ultimately rewards with musicality.

Williams may like to act like a bad boy but at his heart he's a sentimental cornball and, ultimately, he winds up making mawkishness seem merry on The Christmas Present.

Cut during the same sessions as Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery, it's not a collection of outtakes or even a sequel, but a holistic mirror image that comes from the same sphere of aesthetic investigation and font of inspiration.

Shlon is the album where Souleyman reveals his comfort with his new band, who have, after all, traveled tens of thousands of miles together. He also returns to the incendiary approach of his early albums, worrying not so much about hip textures and beats as delivering these songs as soulfully and energetically as possible.

Maybe it's not perfect, but it's more than enough to be an unexpected gift from Harry, one that he deserves as much as his devoted fans.

Like the online living some of the rappers rail against, the album can be fatiguing with extended periods of exposure, and there's an excess of information to process.

There are quite a few moments where they come close to a meaningful hybrid of their past and present, some that are truly wonderful. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of these, and it's just as easy to remember Girl's misfires, questionable choices and half-baked lyrics as its successes.

Thanks for the Dance might not seem to be a major statement at first glance, but it's a missive that carries startling power, and it's clearly not built from scraps and leftovers, but assembled with a love that's equal to the knowledge Cohen put into it. This adds more documentation to the wholly unexpected and satisfying final act of a truly great songwriter, and it deserves your attention.

The Order of Nature is a good showcase for the individual talents of Jim James and Teddy Abrams, but somehow the two halves don't always make an ideal fit, though all parties concerned certainly deserve a tip of the hat for ambition and audacity.

Released to coincide with the albums' 40th anniversary and lovingly encased in a gnarly black biker jacket box, the vinyl-only collection includes half-speed mastered 180-gram vinyl reissues of Bomber and Overkill, a pair of double-live LPs featuring previously unreleased material from the era, a collection of B-sides and outtakes, a 40-page magazine, an Overkill sheet music book, a "No Class" 7" single, a Bomber tour program, and a 1979 badge set.

The 19 tracks here are all over the place, true to form for Russell and his ever-expanding inspirations. ... For all the fans who discovered Russell after his passing, collections like Iowa Dream are bittersweet time capsules, holding new evidence of his one-of-a-kind talents that still occupy a space all their own, even when unearthed decades later.

Goldblum sounds good, and his fans probably wouldn't mind hearing more of him and less of his friends.

Despite some stylistic diversity, Little Common Twist still feels largely consistent. The songs here offer a deeper view into both Rumback and Walker's individual talents as players and their profound chemistry as a unit.

Springsteen's earthy phrasing helps ground these songs and makes for an intriguing, occasionally moving complement to the main album.

Beck never lingers upon either his melancholy or his celestial flights of fantasy: they exist simultaneously, resulting in a tremulous and pretty soundtrack for moments of fleeting introspection.

Coldplay manages to grow even bigger with Everyday Life, absorbing flavors from across the globe with their most indulgent and, perhaps, poignant album yet.

It manages to enrapture thanks to solid layering and intricate patterns -- even if those patterns never really go anywhere -- yet wholly relies on listening to dance music for relaxation. With that requirement fulfilled, Bedroom Tapes shows that Woolford can embrace his softer side with effective results.

If you're looking for music that will suit a quiet night with intelligence and style, you should certainly give HARMONY a listen.

While the majority of all-cover releases feel like a holding action while the band comes up with new ideas, Play the Hits sounds like their music through and through, even if someone else wrote the material.

Favoring authenticity and catharsis, Champion is simple and straightforward, forgoing fancy concepts and cluttered production in favor of a classic set of emotive, broken-hearted breakup anthems.

Subdued and graceful, Clarke never succumbs to sad-sack tropes on In All Weather. The songs are introspective and pained with no hints of self-pity, leaving plenty of space to drift away on any of their many airy melodies.

Only the folksy "Yani's Song" harkens back to the group's more homespun genesis, but the likable A Blemish in the Great Night, despite housing some significant lyrical undercurrents of discord, retains enough residual heat to keep your feet warm, like a thin wool blanket designed for mild evenings.

The mood here is much bleaker than the previous album, and there's more of a feeling a desperation in Jason Molina's vocals.

There's really no one else who does exactly what Tindersticks can, and No Treasure But Hope confirms they can not only create music of striking and forbidding beauty, they can do it in a hurry if need be.

Though it's a smaller-scale work than either A Crow Looked at Me or Now Only, Lost Wisdom pt. 2 is filled with just as much insight and compassion.

Everybody's Everything is sometimes inconsistent, but it offers a complete picture of how quickly Lil Peep's short career ramped up from making tracks with friends to worldwide fame and influence.