The fascinating continuous dialogue between her interests and own music is further demonstrated to ecstatic effect here.

While technically a companion work to 2020's A Celebration of Endings, Biffy Clyro's ninth studio album, the emotionally sanguine The Myth of Happily Ever After, stands on its own.

The energy throughout the album is so steady and positive that, even at a low volume, it can have a pacifying effect on the soul.

Observatory is a satisfying listen and deserves to be heard on its own merits. On whether or not it will appease longtime Wrens fans as a vestige of a long-promised return, the jury remains out.

Buckley's arrangements of Weller's canny self-curation help give An Orchestrated Songbook a subtle but palpable emotional resonance that separates it from other orchestral pop reworkings, not to mention the heavy number of Weller live albums.

Happily, the loose performances more than suit these ragged compositions, turning Barn into a snapshot of this moment in time: a bunch of old friends in isolation, finding solace and comfort in the noise they can still make.

Highway Butterfly is remarkable because there isn't a weak song or performance included.

Like nearly all of Calix's music, absent origin is complex and challenging, but it reflects an unmistakably unique perspective on the world.

This is still a smart, powerful rock band with sharp wit and an abundance of well-deserved confidence -- but the added details and textures make a difference, and this music points to a more interesting future for them than one might have imagined after Femejism.

"All These Days" is an atmospheric skyscraper that recalls '80s indie even if it has a shimmering modern sheen, and "Ariel" offers a slight sense of sweetness to close out an EP that functions as a good teaser for the full album while also working well as its own mini-LP.

Projector is an impressive debut and all-around solid effort from a band at the start of a promising career.

It's an exciting album that comes on with such subtlety it's easy to miss how immaculately constructed it is the first several times through.

As grim as the album seems, something constantly pulls it back from sinking into utter despair, and the majestic closer "Stonefruit" feels nothing less than triumphant.

If the first volume of the Joni Mitchell Archives tracked the development of an artist finding her voice, Volume 2 illuminates the creative process from a time when that voice was reaching its zenith.

As lovingly recorded and meditative as it is, Island of Noise doesn't break much new ground for Modern Nature. ... That said, there is much to enjoy within this latest chapter.

It's a bittersweet and ultimately satisfying end to a hugely ambitious project that always remains true to the emotions driving it -- but Arca fans would expect nothing less.

Though combining contrasting elements in her music is usually one of her greatest strengths, hearing Arca concentrate on kick iiii's hyperreal sensuality and vulnerability makes it a crucial part of the Kick anthology.

On its own, KicK iii may have the smallest range of any of the project's volumes, but its relentlessness is a key part of the anthology that provides lots of fascinating moments for those who love Arca at her most outlandish.

Even though Arca narrows her focus on Kick ii, it's still the product of an artist who can't help but break boundaries as she creates the space she needs to innovate.

While much of the album is taken up by experimental mood pieces like these, there's also a significant number of sprawling, progressive tracks.

The remix collection is considerably more fragmented than the cohesive original, but it's no less forward-thinking, and is well worth the time of anyone who was bowled over by the proper album.

Unity feels richly varied instead of disjointed, and it's a testament to Wood and Day's creativity that they're still finding fresh ways to express themselves this far into their career.

It often feels like they're delighted that they're making an album that lives up to their debut, and it's hard not to share their thrill.

It might take some time for Flying Dream 1 to fully grab you, but when it does, the album's measured, artful introspection is hard to shake.

As a snapshot of this crucial turning point in the Radiohead discography, Kid A Mnesia presents a band taking its first steps into a thrilling new phase, one that would alter their trajectory and push them further into the unknown.

TRU may have announced to the indie rock world at large that Ovlov had arrived; Buds lets everyone know they are here to stay.

The term "triumphant return" might be thrown around too casually, but it certainly applies to I Thought of You.

Toy features Bowie revisiting a bunch of songs he wrote in the '60s, most written and recorded prior to "Space Oddity." Hearing Bowie apply Hours aesthetics to swinging, mod-ish material is odd but mildly appealing; it's a slight record but it's nice to have it as part of the official discography. The rest of the box follows a familiar and comforting pattern, confirming that the '90s were a bit of a creative resurgence for Bowie.