Last Missouri Exit is a thoroughly entertaining debut from a band that knows how to make the most of that most uncommon of musical virtues, modesty.

This sounds like it could be her best album to date, and a strong candidate for "Best of 2025" lists.

With Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, Williams has crafted an album about letting go and finding a way to move forward honestly, and perhaps most importantly on her own terms.

Everest never strays far from the hard rock and heavy metal foundation that has propelled Halestorm to the upper echelons of the modern rock scene. Instead, it expands their sonic palette, proving that evolution doesn't have to mean compromise.

A remarkable album with more gateways than a knowing mixtape, Essex Honey shows that Hynes is as ingenious as a would-be DJ, A&R, and talent connector as he is as a songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer.

When Rodney Crowell feels like rocking a bit, Airline Highway gives him all the swagger he needs, and even when he doesn't, he confirms he's nobody's fool and remains one of the best songwriters in the Americana community.

While this album isn't quite as adventurous as The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, it's among the Hives' most consistent. Like its title suggests, The Hives Forever Forever the Hives is a potent reflection of their blunt force, sharp wit, and refusal to sit still.

Despite its frequently overcast tone, Straight Line Was a Lie is, in typical Beths fashion, dependably catchy and sweetly harmonic.

Choppy alternation between spoken and sung parts continues through much of the program's second half, as Taylor and her guests wrangle with the power dynamics of prospective new love and (with an especially apt Jill Scott appearance) delight in magnetic physical attraction. The erotic slow jams, led by the finely wrought "Bed of Roses," tend to fade out sooner than necessary as well.

This set reveals their mature, fully developed musical language expanded by sonic and harmonic invention.

He has certainly harnessed the zeitgeist.

As a major development from Duffy's early, solitary bedroom recordings, it might be reasonable to expect a bit less of that meticulous complexity here, but they manage to retain that sensibility and arguably bring it to new levels by including the participation of instrumentalists like Blake Mills; Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, FKA twigs); Tim Carr (Perfume Genius); and Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, and Anna Butterss from the improvisatory supergroup SML.

Given the multitudes within It's a Beautiful Place, it's not surprising that it can take a while for all of its pieces to click together. Nor is it a surprise that this album is more of a grower than Everyone's Crushed -- Water from Your Eyes aren't interested in smoothing out their edges or repeating themselves. They're compelled to imagine it different

Like most of Yorkston's best work, Songs for Nina and Johanna succeeds not only because of his talents as a songwriter, but by his choices as a collaborator. He knows when to step back and let others shine.

The Collapse of Everything is a powerful, sometimes harrowing work that lives up to Sherwood's lofty standards.

A triumph of ambition and heart, each of its songs feels like an epiphany.

Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years (John's Version) is a potent reminder of how many great songs Fogerty wrote in his salad days with CCR, and shows he still has the energy and spark to give them life, but he might have done a better job of demonstrating the latter if he'd come up with a good batch of new tunes.

Going two for two in the 2020s so far, Deftones maintain their position as one of the greatest bands of their generation. Throw on a pair of headphones and get lost with Private Music.

Songs in the Key of Yikes is proof that Superchunk hasn't lost a step and remains a one-of-a-kind band.

It's not a fun listen by most metrics, but investing some time in its lonely chill eventually reveals a deeper side of DeMarco's musical vision, one of slow rumination that's just as valuable as the combustible spark of his earlier days.

Love Is Like is a return to the core soul and R&B influences that marked the band's early albums, a change that finds singer Adam Levine and bassist Sam Farrar largely taking the productions reins, along with contributions by JKash, Federico Vindver, Elof Loelv, Bobby Love, and Rio Root. The group also wrote a handful of the songs together for the first time in many album cycles. All of this lends the record a unified vibe.

Together, the ten pieces combine to create a surprisingly cohesive whole.

It’s good to see Tyler having some real fun with it, but for a 28-minute project that should be all killer no filler, DON'T TAP THE GLASS warrants more bite.

For all his weariness, Gibbs remains compelling and cogent. This time, JID, Larry June, and Anderson .Paak are the guests, and the track with Paak is (no surprise) both the hookiest and most in tune with Gibbs' heavy ambivalence.

Wishbone is a complete arc, capturing both the elated, tidal-wave euphoria of falling in love and the bittersweet comedown off that wave. And it's not just the feelings of love, but the tastes, the smells, and the thrilling sweaty intimacy of being close to another person in every sense that Gray embodies.

Atmospheric Hammond organ and country-styled guitar help set a sunny stage for songs such as the sultry "Rope You In"; the lusher "Contact High," with its acoustic and 12-string electric guitar, Ace Tone organ, and rim clicks; and the breezy and lilting "Hot Headed," an affectionate tune that regrets giving in to anxiety sometimes.

Molly Tuttle has always had smarts and talent to spare, and on So Long Little Miss Sunshine, she's using her gifts in ways that are new to her, and the risks pay off handsomely; this may not make her into the next Taylor Swift, but by all rights it should win her the larger audience she certainly deserves.

The album may not offer the radical reinventions of Goldfrapp's duo work, but it doesn't need to -- Alison Goldfrapp pioneered these sounds, and on Flux, she's still doing them with effortless elegance.