Thankfully, there's a pleasing flow and emotional arc to the collection that draws you deeper in the further you go, in much the same way that Smashing Pumpkins' most beloved albums were such all-encompassing experiences.

Happily, Nelson sounds sprier here than he has on other records of contemporaneous vintage, which gives a light, lively quality that's quite welcome.

This album moves further afield musically and sonically than Mettavolution. The duo embrace complex Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythms and sophisticated harmonic ideas from jazz and classical music while integrating the additional resources with imagination, taste, and powerful articulation.

An Inbuilt Fault's subtlety will reward patient listeners, as repeat listens reveal more of its emotions and sonic detail.

The album overspills with retro nods -- waves of surf guitars, swinging rhythms, garage grime, and greasy organs -- all cobbled together from thrift stores and old records, yet the execution is fresh and clever.

The Chicago Sessions is a splendid example of of Rodney Crowell doing what he does best, with some help from a guy who knows how to get him to play to his strengths; it's Crowell as his smart and soulful best.

The hooks arrive one after another and the key change at the end pushes the song's catchiness over the top. The softer songs on the album see the Twigs return to some of the Baroque pop influences they built their earliest albums on, but clear away some of the extraneous sounds that could clutter that material.

Crystal Vision is a spirited set of tracks that gleefully switch between genres and evoke the producer's varied inspirations.

The "unplugged version" has become a common trope in rock music; more often than not, it appears as a listless bid to extend a parent album's commercial lifespan for another year or two. Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón, while quite possibly achieving that aim, feels like something more fully realized and artful, and carries more weight than a mere catalog curiosity.

More consistent than 2021's Somnia and 2019's All Aboard the Skylark, The Future Never Waits is, at once, more exciting and musically adventurous -- even with the (minor) missteps. This is a significant late-career highlight from Hawkwind.

Ultimately, Prism ends up faring much like the previous two Orb albums -- another eclectic mixed bag that has some amusing ideas but doesn't feel as focused as the group's best work.

Their commitment to the people they write about and their instincts about crafting music to match make this a stunningly powerful work that may well turn out to be a masterpiece.

Despite its arcane references and philosophical nature, Blómi remains approachable and is often quite moving. That Sundfør continues to make such consistently challenging music and be justly rewarded for it is its own small miracle, and with Blómi she reaches yet another career high.

Vocally, Ware has somehow found another gear, turning in her most commanding performances while having what sounds like a ball with her background singers.

Savoy embodies the abundant joy of its predecessor, Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, but the album offers added nuance, color, dynamics, and musical sophistication. It seemingly accomplishes the impossible by taking these (overly) familiar standards and breathing new life into them while simultaneously honoring their legacies as well as that of the historic Harlem ballroom.

There's no filler to be found on another accomplished and quietly haunted release from a group celebrating a decade together as a unit.

Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities is perhaps the furthest-out release in a discography full of inventive, inspired music, and it's some of Holden's most exciting and impressive work.

Nothing here sounds precisely new -- this is the aesthetic that gelled around the time of High Violet, yet the skill in the craft is married to a brightness in outlook that lets First Two Pages of Frankenstein operate on two parallel paths: it can serve as moody atmosphere or reward close listening.

Enigmatic Society is neither as powerful nor as weighty as the debut, and certainly doesn't seem intended to match it in those regards. It's altogether a calmer, more romantic work.

While his music generally fits under the category of ambient, it's never been the type of safe, soothing ambient solely meant to function as background music. ... No Highs especially focuses on dealing with depression, anxiety, and isolation, and its pieces often feel nervous and unbalanced.

She continues to say her piece on alt-rockers like "You Can Be Mean," "Wasting Your Time," and the shrieking "Always," but takes a decidedly philosophical, even accepting turn on the more reflective "Losing" ("There is nothing I can do when the winds of change blow through") and a wistful title track that speaks of forgiveness. Along the way, De Souza delivers some surprises.

It readily embraces, borrows from, and intersects with other musics too. Often his cornucopia of other sounds has (deliberately) overshadowed jazz. That's not true here.

At times, the first two Amber Arcades albums felt like they were made by someone feeling her way toward something better; Barefoot on Diamond Road is where de Graaf arrives.

The brilliant Dreamer encompasses every style Iqbal has previously explored in her music while containing her most introspective, poignant songwriting.

As a vocalist, 6LACK still often sounds enervated (if always lucid) in a way that rewards only close listening from those who value crooners over belters.

Where her peers have scaled down their ambitions, she's reaching for grand ideas and emotions on Keep Your Courage, turning her personal journey into something universal.

Some songs come across as organic as anything from Michels' past. Whatever the method employed, all the productions are worthy of the hard-boiled South Philly griot. Glorious Game does not dilute the Black Thought catalog, either. Thought switches subjects and vantage points with typical ease and is almost as piercing throughout as he was on Cheat Codes.

More than anything else, In Pieces is a strong showcase for Chlöe as a vocal dynamo, as much of the material is hollow, lacking distinction.