Was anyone asking Lilly Hiatt to make a 1990s alternative album? No, and that's part of why Forever works so well -- here, she's just doing what feels right in the moment, and it sounds every bit as right to the listener.

This is special, timeless music that speaks equally to the heart and the brain and it positions Horsegirl as the keepers of the indie rock flame.

Those willing to meet End of the Middle on its own terms will find a powerfully moving work that turns kitchen-sink realism into something uniquely profound. There's no one who does what Richard Dawson does quite the way he does it, and we should all be glad he shares this gift with us.

As with FACS' previous incarnations, how their songs come together -- or fall apart -- is still enthralling, and Wish Defense only enhances their reputation for crafting some of the most exciting experimental rock of their time.

Apple Cores is a stellar tribute to Lewis' inspirations; his band pulls it off without seams or dead ends. This music is a signpost in jazz's evolution; it intersects past, present, and future.

Squid are still in the early part of their career, but with each record, they've shown a remarkable adaptability and willingness to change, without losing what makes them special.

Enter Now Brightness is not only a title but a philosophy on an elegant set of songs that find Reid adapting just fine, thanks, at least with the help of treasured loved ones and music itself.

With Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, the singer/songwriter fully embraces an icy, mechanical post-punk palette, one that still incorporates elements of guitar rock (and is part analog) but is distinguished by drum machines, eerie synths, and prevailing electronics. It's a sound that's well-suited to the album's anxious and alienated songs.

Her longest LP to date, it's also one of her most satisfying, engaging, and exciting. No matter which direction she chooses, Poppy has yet to disappoint.

His second full-length studio album, it's a more optimistic and energized experience than the first, cranking up the accessible pop sheen on his utterly soulful, powerhouse anthems.

It's a flawlessly executed document of pristine production and incremental bursts of verve and joy to keep the music from dissolving into its own atmosphere. The challenge here, however, is finding the right mood to appreciate the Weeknd's lengthy and elaborate funeral for himself.

The feel of Ebo Taylor Jazz Is Dead 022 is loose, free, and joyous, and highlights this generous spirit with excellent songs and virtuosic musicianship.

It results in a wildly mixed bag where the listener has to actively engage to keep up, and the constant unexpected gear shifting makes for one of the more fun and happily confounding GbV sets of their post-reunion output.

Tucked into these strange, loose songs are bits of enduring architecture, interesting philosophies, and the transcendent melodies that have been his bailiwick since the '80s. Of Cope's latter-day records, Friar Tuck is a triumph.

Honey from a Winter Stone is arguably the most forward-thinking, emotionally vulnerable, and moving album in Akinmusire's catalog. It offers an intimate musical language that transcends genres while being at home in them all.

The editing and sequencing on Downstate are more a part of the listening experience here than on the previous album, with quick transitions, trippy fades, and unexpected pitch changes all adding weirdness to an already warped set of jams.

Animal Collective completists will be able to zero in on what makes Geologist’s language of samples and deconstructed loops unique, but to the untrained ear, it might register mostly as broken music begging to be pieced back together.

[Producer Nick] Hakim has a thing for vintage-sounding mechanical rhythms, and the spare and effective way they're utilized helps lend sonic continuity between Chacon's 2020 and 2023 albums. The key throughline, of course, is the sound of Chacon's voice -- an instrument that pacifies no matter the states of uncertainty and distress the purposeful lyrics indicate.

They still manipulate vocals and apply effects the way they've been known to do, but it often sounds closer to the work of a full band rather than a pair of producers.

It's when the band is in full swing that Oldham sounds tuned-in and excited (even giddy) to be crafting the kind of classic country record that he's enjoyed so much himself. The depth of the production helps deliver this feeling, elevating the sound of The Purple Bird to a place where all of its carefully placed details and rusty joy can be clearly heard, and even more markedly felt.

“number one girl” and “drinks or coffee” address unrequited love and ‘talking stages,’ “3am,” “Gameboy,” and “toxic til the end” see ROSÉ weaving around red flags, and “too bad for us” and “dance all night” finish the cycle with post-breakup mourning and the search for closure.

Even all these big-name friends can't save WHAM from mediocrity, though. Lil Baby's flows, presentation, and beat selection are all laughably generic, to the point that any lyrical cleverness or hint of interesting perspectives he might have get washed away in the flood of less-than-memorable sounds.

The album's overriding ethos is expressed more clearly on tracks like "I Reach for You in My Sleep" and closer "The Rest of Our Lives," whose warm, layered harmonies, nimble fingerpicking, and gentle background shimmer evoke and encourage sweet dreams.

Matt Berry has been releasing albums for a long time -- some of them inevitably better than others. Heard Noises ranks right near the top, and if the sun hits it just right and one squints a little, it might be sitting merrily atop the very summit.

FKA twigs has guided listeners through a remarkably honest song cycle. The complexities are where her music thrives, and EUSEXUA abounds with them.

On the first few spins, the songs and ideas here don't seem to stray terribly far from the path worn by previous Rose City Band albums, but the heightened production and detours into previously untraveled styles all slowly contribute to this chapter being both a continuation and a gentle expansion of Johnson's warped, beautiful, and ongoing vision of space-age country music.

It might be a smaller-scale album than As the Love Continues, but The Bad Fire is the sound of a band that's still making vital music 30 years after they formed.

All Hell stands as one of their most consistent albums while simultaneously being bolder and more unrestrained than usual.