With songcraft and performances on point here, Something's Changing is Rose's most exquisite album to date and her most moving ("It's just a song, but without it, would I have told you this?").

While the record may fall slightly short of Bashed Out's high benchmark and its plethora of exceptional melodies, Moonshine Freeze remains a fine addition to This Is the Kit's already excellent back catalog.

There's a very good Melvins album leading off A Walk with Love & Death, but the rest of it is only going to agree with a tiny numbers of fans, though it could make an effective musical backdrop for your next Halloween spook house.

Even more so than on The Race for Space, PSB seem less like a gimmicky novelty group and more like a new breed of intelligent, socially conscious pop music.

Despite the flares of inventive arranging and limber songwriting that flash from time to time, Boo Boo is the first Toro y Moi album that doesn't work overall, the first to feel like product instead of artistic expression.

Hug of Thunder is buoyant with inclusiveness and cautious hope.

Wintres Woma envelops you like a warm wool blanket on a dark, snowbound evening. Elkington has a woody, naturalistic voice that fits well with his introspective style. However, it's his adept fingerpicking, lithe fretboard skills, and inventive harmonic structures that impress the most here.

4:44 nonetheless is an unglamorous set well suited for solitary and reflective late-night listening. There are no radio play bids. Jay-Z has been in this mode at various points, but never in such concentrated, enlightened form, whether the subject is his mistakes as a husband, the struggles of his long-closeted lesbian mother, the effects of enduring systemic racism, or the assertion of his supremacy.

Fans that feasted on the band's seven previous outings and enjoyed the minerally aftertaste will likely rate Gravebloom a success, as it descends as deep or deeper into the abyss, but those with more curious palates should probably bring some snacks.

red. As Light Return might not be the most inventive or exciting record the Telescopes have made over their long career of defying expectations, but it is the purest expression of their dark and twisted, noise-battered souls, and for that reason alone it is worth hearing at least once.

Funk Wav Bounces impresses not just with the marquee names, but with how effortless, communal, and fun Harris makes it all feel.

Supported by the Hi Rhythm Section he sounds livelier and grittier than he has in years, and that passion serves as a nice counterpoint to the smooth grooves on Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm.

On the whole, despite its anxious state, Man of the World's danceable, sparkling textures and idiosyncratic melodies make for a satisfying summery treat.

Lifetime of Love is more about aesthetics and movement than message or structure, but it's got a little of all of those things keeping it anchored in the familiar.

Overall, the album is still an agreeable first effort, although it doesn't really produce anything demanding immediate attention.

Short for "good night," GN is hardly bedside reading material, full of tales of life trials, some personal, some harrowing, some both. Its musical warmth and unassuming tone, though, may be just the thing for those seeking a melodious, soft-focus diversion.

Ruinism is a bold reinvention of Lapalux's sound, and is undoubtedly his best work to date.

Recorded live in the studio with Jay Ruston (Steel Panther, Anthrax, the Donnas), the sprawling 15-track set, which clocks in at just over an hour, can feel a little unruly, but there's more than enough meat here to make a proper sandwich.

Minimal, yet brimming over with emotions both bright and dulled by pain and loss, the 15-track set is a marvel of restraint and refinement, with Rachel and Becky Unthank's otherworldly voices accompanied only by piano and violin.

On the surface, Tiller still gives off that wallflower baller vibe; the brashness of the debut largely remains. The lack of connection made on the one stylistic shake-up--the lightly jutting "Run Me Dry," a cousin of Rihanna's "Work" and Drake's "One Dance"--suggests that Tiller will likely be better off continuing to refine the sound for which he's known.

At best, I Can Spin a Rainbow feels like the work of two talented artists savoring a long weekend of boundless creativity together, but from an outsider's perspective, the results are a bit too impenetrable to contextualize without having been in the room to witness its genesis.

"Abysmal Thoughts"' breezy music and direct words are an arresting mix, and as Pierce stakes his claim as a 21st century master of melodrama, he delivers the purest version of his music yet.

If Richard Dawson is Fairport Unconventional, Peasant is his Liege & Lief, a strange but fascinating journey through the frameworks of British folk music as seen by one truly unique set of eyes.

Throughout its shifting emotions and sounds, The Age of Anxiety is a consistently thoughtful, playful reflection of hyper-stimulating times.

Fifth State generally feels easygoing yet energetic, and informed of the state of the world while trying to achieve inner peace and enjoy life to the fullest.

Dust is very disorienting and not always easy to grasp hold of, but it never comes close to sounding like anything else, and its best moments are highly compelling.

The beats are fully outfitted, and several are suitably immense, but they blur into one another as they serve as a spirited if mostly unremarkable summertime backdrop.

Covering more than a decade's worth of songs, the collection underscores that while Beach House's music sounds fragile, it's also surprisingly resilient.