Carner and his band create a warm, comforting sound on hopefully !, reflecting on life's trials but ultimately remaining confident and ready for the future.

Upon deeper listening, however, it becomes clear that some of the album's most overpowering moments are those that first come on as slight and retiring but reveal their anger, disappointment, and frustration by way of a slow, steady boil.

With American Romance, Nelson tunes into feelings of expectancy, newness, and a nervous uncertainty that's endearing.

Desert Window is her first full-length, and it's a more fleshed-out expansion of her sound, incorporating more acoustic instrumentation as well as more complex choral harmonies.

Despite a few drastically darker moments, the majority of Luminal feels familiar and comforting.

Cyrus' restless creativity and expert craft is a formidable combination, and at its best, Something Beautiful has a fearlessness and sensuality that could be the beginning of something exciting for her music.

Essentially, it's not that far off from The Glowing Man, which means that it's familiar territory for anyone who has spent time with the band's albums or experienced their concerts, but it's still an incredibly powerful record.

It's much more daunting to continue making records that forge a new creative path or write songs that explore new territory. Strawberries does both of those things and proves that Robert Forster is no nostalgia act -- he's still creating records as intense, meaningful, and dangerous as anything he's done in the past.

The magic is sadly absent from this overly-upholstered, clumsily ornate, and intensely disappointing return trip into the realm of boogie rock.

About Ghosts offers more proof that Halvorson's Amaryllis are among the most inventive, articulate, and creatively forward-thinking ensembles playing jazz right now.

Together, they dig even deeper into the woozy funk rhythms and fuzz-tone electric guitar psychedelia of the band's '70s recordings. It's a vibe they bring to full fruition on "Queenless King," a kinetic, Afro-beat-infused anthem that sounds like it is pumping out of the speakers of a vintage 1970s van.

Talkin To The Trees is another album of Neil Young doing what he felt like doing in the moment, and if it's flawed, after sixty years of record making, no one with any sense would want him any other way.

Morrison's been rambling in strange territory for the last five years, but this is proof that the restless wandering spirit didn't forget his Muse, or who he is.

Echo delivers on the promise of Happy, surpassing that debut with improved production, more daring choices, and impossible-to-resist choruses.

I'm the Problem sees Morgan Wallen deliver another sprawling double-LP.

Lil Wayne exhibits glimpses of the brazen genius of his earlier self intermittently on Tha Carter VI, but the album feels like a battle between those moments of greatness and the rest of his weird swings and inadvisable choices.

It's another quiet gem from an artist in the full bloom of his talents.

The piece is essentially a longform space lullaby, and it's as soothing and tranquil as one could imagine.

While relentlessly hooky and cathartic in addition to noisy, the album is submerged in a lo-fi murk deemed imperative by the songs themselves. In other words, after hearing it, it’s hard to imagine or want this album any other way -- and that’s a sign of something special.

The only thing holding Happy Birthday back from being classic is its brevity and maybe lack of ambition; other than that, the quality of the songs, the impact of the vocals, the excellent production, and his ability to reference the past without aping it combine to make it a superb start for a promising solo career.

On Lotus, the exceptionally gifted rapper is more vulnerable than ever, yet this only pushes her to be at her most self-empowering.

More is classic Pulp, aged to near perfection.

Bookended by the rousing title track and radiant "Magic Man," it's a success from start to finish, offering a deft blend of surprise and satisfaction.

"While My Machines Gently Weep" brings to mind the trippy, shoegaze-influenced techno of Daniel Avery, while others are closer to the stark, dub-informed tracks by Surgeon and the Sandwell District collective. "Roseville" is percolating electro-techno with snapping beats, and "Hazel" is akin to a bullet-train head rush.

Ready for Heaven is easily her best record to date; it brings all her talents together in one shimmering, emotionally charged, and musically impressive package.

Black Hole Superette is yet another successful Aesop Rock record which artfully details and comments on the remarkable aspects of everyday life.

Let All That We Imagine Be the Light is another fantastic 2020s offering from this masterful quartet, further solidifying their place as alt-rock royalty.

It's definitely a milestone and a career highlight, as well as a release that anyone who likes real live, breathing and bleeding rock & roll should be glad exists.