At once challenging and inviting, Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) is another dazzling work from a creative whirlwind. Tumor may never find the answers they're seeking, but hearing their search is exhilarating and inspiring in its own right.

Cyrus will probably never settle on just one or two sounds to express herself, but her voice and vision are strong enough on Endless Summer Vacation to suggest she'll never need to.

Fantasy isn't for the skeptical; Gonzalez demands you dive in with him, and a lot of fans will be happy to take the plunge.

Racing the Storm is a potent return with quality songwriting that nods to her past, but introduces a new element that suits her quite well.

Gracie Abrams focuses in and doubles down on the wispier ruminations of prior EPs, this time in full-on collaboration with This Is What It Feels Like contributor Aaron Dessner, who co-wrote and produced the entire album.

It's just as easy of an album to drift off in thought to as it is to obsess over its patchwork of details and strange coloration, reaching a deeper, more thoughtful expression of the kind of bizarre beauty the band excels at.

Some of the album's most gripping moments directly draw from Holley's storied past. ... The album ends on a puzzling note with "Future Children," in which Holley's gruff intonations are processed into a stark, robotic tone over jittery, post-minimalist recorder sequences.

A maverick saxophonist and sonic experimentalist, Sam Gendel applies his distinctive approach to contemporary R&B hits on his inventive 2023 covers album, COOKUP.

It's perfectly fine that they chose to head backwards to a sound they were familiar with. Aşk is proof that there is plenty of mileage left before the sound, or the band, runs out of gas.

Gumbo isn't worlds removed from any of Young Nudy's previous projects, but it attempts a variety of styles he hasn't focused on before, further expanding an already vast range and continuing a streak of releases that refuse to limit themselves to any one lane.

It both makes the listener feel warmly good and tearfully bad at the same time. That's a satisfying dichotomy and one that's hard to pull off. With Le Bon and his band's help, Evans has done it and in the process made the best H. Hawkline record to date.

Sleaford Mods' range keeps growing along with their success. It's a slightly more disjointed experience than Spare Ribs, but Fearn and Williamson are making music for themselves first and fighting back against evil and stupidity the only way they can.

Dreijer often seems more relaxed and more forthcoming on Radical Romantics than on Fever Ray's previous albums. Fans may have anticipated another epic like Plunge, but the more approachable, more personal choices Dreijer makes here are often just as risky and just as rewarding.

All this radio-ready variety suggested that Wallen wanted to appeal to every audience everywhere, but in the wake of his scandal, this multi-purpose crowd-pleasing suggests an artist who wants to provide the perpetual jukebox within a walled garden.

The Soft Struggles is a delightful addition to the Field Music-adjacent family with plenty of its own personality to set it apart.

It's a lovely album to get lost in, offering sounds which might go unnoticed on the first few spins, but will rise up as repeat listens make Manzanita's insular and mysterious dreamworld a more familiar place.

The lush synths and bubbling beats carry the same wild dreaminess she achieved on songs where she was covering D.I.Y. rock songs in sheets of reverb, and it's more Rose's exacting and specific songwriting design than the instrumentation that makes Love as Projection feel so wonderfully strange, secret-keeping, and exciting.

A copy of Soul'd Out should be in every public library. Stax fanatics will find that it superbly complements the four Complete Stax/Volt Singles boxed sets.

It's a loud, celebratory album that perfectly boils down Birch's 40-plus-year journey as a tireless, boundless, and most of all fearless, creator.

Much like contemporaries Sleeping with Sirens and Bring Me the Horizon, they've changed with the times -- for better or worse, depending on the fan -- and the results are no less immediate and impactful.

The tracks on Quest for Fire go for instant dancefloor gratification, but they're far more refined and nuanced than the brostep ragers that made Skrillex a household name in the early 2010s.

It’s vital and authentic, confident yet emotive, refined in its simplicity; Karol has produced her best work yet.

Few bands of their day, and especially those of the post-punk '80s, are as consistent as the Church at writing songs that sound like more sophisticated and mature versions of their classic material.

Strange Dance is gentle enough to constitute adventurous background listening but complex enough to reward a closer inspection, a curious combination that is not without appeal.

More often than not, he delivers on High Drama, particularly on the insistent glitter march of "Holding Out for a Hero" and a smoldering electro makeover of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me."

Afterpoem is surprisingly thrilling and wholly original.

This collection wasn't intended to be a memorial, yet this deep dive into one of his last major collaborations pays worthy homage to his skill and dedication to craft, and every moment testifies to Costello's towering respect for the great man.

Through it all, Mason's distinctive voice -- a hushed croon belying a hidden depth of thunder -- give his narratives gravitas and the album's production, a joint effort with London's Tev'n, builds an exciting world to match it. It's another solid effort from one of Scotland's finest.