It’s both grand introduction and complacent victory lap; both urgent and laid back, all at once, constantly.

While the mixes on Manning Fireworks are studiously crafted, Lenderman’s presence largely enrolling, and his guitar acumen undeniable, the set’s overall gestalt is naggingly emulative. Lenderman, as compelling as he can be, rarely transcends the influence of his forebears.

The album still comprises some truly enchanting touches that could only have come from him, and often they appear when working around a vocalist. These pop turns envision a world where radio hits have a bit more depth and experimentation, and if Lopatin’s output can continue to minutely steer mainstream music that way, then so much the better.

The fact that this doesn't sound like a solo project at all is a testament to the success of its expansive vision.

It’s all put together under one roof in a neat, unassuming way, made refreshing and palatable by his persona.

The album, with all of its imperfections and warmly textured moments, feels well-worn and comfortable-despite its often acerbic lyrical habits.

The album is an alluring, heady mix of skewed folktronica, avant garde noise and opulent orchestral tones which combine to cement Eartheater’s place in every discerning music fan’s end of year lists.

While shame is less ecstatic than its predecessor, it certainly doesn’t find the duo of Megan Markwick and Lily Somerville holding back – there are a multitude more complex and tangled feelings to be unknotted here.

Without striving to be as overtly melodramatic as some of her contemporaries, Murray harnesses that desperation which Portishead's Beth Gibbons manages to pull off so well but by containing and internalising it, manages to offer a refreshingly navel-gazing approach to the pysche of the modern lover.

It’s fun, it’s furious, and just about anyone should be able to appreciate that.

Ultimately, Skullcrusher gives you a small yet satisfying taste of Ballentine’s blossoming internal world—it will be exciting to see where she takes us next.

Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 3, is not only uniform in its musical and recording concept, but in exceedingly strong and varied songwriting that establishes Cullum not only as a sought-after session man, but also as an exceptional solo artist.

Instead of wry irony or wallowing in hopeless abandon, Pale Horse Rider achieves something more like a fellow soul joining in on watching a fire in the distance.

With Transcendental Youth, the Mountain Goats have proven that they're more than capable of engaging us with even without the unimpeachable witticisms of their frontman.

The diversity is so vast and so well done that it’s almost commendable. Mainly though, it’s just a bit much for one sitting, and instead feels more like you’re listening to The 1975 radio on Spotify.

A solidly realized full-length record, Radio Red is a welcome addition to an already outstanding catalog.

It’s big, heavy, and worthy to soundtrack plenty of dancefloors. The only thing Ghost System Rave is arguably missing is the real personality from its creators.

Clocking in under 30 minutes with only nine tracks, Cool Dry Place is a lovely breeze of a listen, and truthfully, a nearly flawless record. Except for a couple of moments of autotune and lo-fi weirdness, Kirby generally plays it safe, musically, which leaves one wanting a tiny bit more from a talent like herself.

Together with longtime bandmates Jason Narducy (bass) and Jon Wurster (drums), Mould has created his strongest album since 2012’s Silver Age. Their chemistry soars on the wild tracks “When You Left” and “Racing to the End” as much as on the somber closer “The Ocean”.

And so here's what it all means: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is a solid Beastie Boys record that will have something for any fan.

Despite the varying shifts of the album, nothing feels bloated or outstays its welcome and that in itself is quite an achievement on a record like this. Direct when it needs to be, ethereal and gorgeously distant at other times, May You Be Held is not for the casual listener seeking instant gratification.

While there are some issues with the feeling of déjà vu, Unknown Rooms doesn't really do anything noticeably off the mark.

In the end Black Girl Magic accomplishes two very important goals of any record: reminding you Honey Dijon is an artist to watch, and being quite a fun listen.

While it has quite a few tracks that stand out, besides the glamorous opener, due to their use of pathos-laden synthesizer hooks (“Ben Franklin”, “Headlock”) and moody refrains (“Glory”, “Automate”), the gentle ballads and groovy mid-tempo tracks that make up the album’s second act don’t seem as stylized or aggressively emotional musically as their lyrics demand.

This is a generous, compulsively enjoyable statement, unburdened of commercial pressure in a way that’s all too rare in this numbers game.

As a stepping stone forward and backward, No Elephants preserves her musical legacy while subtly altering her own approach to these sounds.

the rest can be defined by its most insecure and self-deprecating moments. “Black Hole” opens the EP with what is probably the lightest of the four tracks, but rest assured, the other three deliver the depth and emotional resonance that boygenius fans have come to expect.

Minks' devotion to mood and texture may seem redolent of My Bloody Valentine's foggy experiments, but By The Hedge isn't nearly as sonically challenging or heady as Kevin Shields's work. No, Minks have more modest goals as it turns out, their greatest inspiration comes not from the music of others but rather from within.

The guest list occasionally weighs the project down. “Sweet Nuthins”, featuring Leon Thomas, suffers from a cluttered mix that distracts from a vocal performance that deserved more space. But whenever the album threatens to capsize under its own ambition, Kehlani rights the ship by isolating their voice.

Voyageur is a very fine record and only a couple of songs short of a great one, with Edwards' vocals and songs plus the warm-yet-crisp production being the main attractions.

It avoids sounding too similar to their debut, but retains the likeable elements of that record with added gusto.

While there are some tracks that could have been expended, that just wouldn’t be Rina’s style. She’s here to express her excessive, melodramatic, fun-loving, pain-harbouring persona in every single different way she can, without holding anything back – and SAWAYAMA should be celebrated for that.

Life, and Another expands her palette tenfold with different hues and tones that would typically go unnoticed on an experimental record. The result is her most engaging work yet.

It’s a rewarding and fun listen – but it also magnifies the inescapable fact that Pulp, just like their audience, have matured.

Haiti lacks a clear narrative. Still, this hardly harms the project. It simply constrains it to being particularly strong rather than transcendent.

New Epoch, Goth-Trad has adopted a patience, openness and attention to detail that feels indebted to the more intricacy-focused realms of bass music and techno, but retains the sweaty, oxidized exhalations of muscled jungle rhythms.

Keys to the Kuffs is nothing groundbreaking, but it certainly warrants a few thorough listens.

Even if the highs aren't as high, like the rest of the reunited lineup's work, there really aren't any noticeable lows.

We can chalk these relatively minor missteps up to inexperience or over-excitement at finally releasing an album, and when you consider the heights that Sorry reach at points on 925 then it’s entirely forgivable. Overall, it would be hard to call 925 anything other than a great success, and one that should see Sorry’s star rise even higher – that’s if the public can get on board with their slightly unhinged view of things.

The lack of "slower" numbers doesn't really feel like a valid criticism, though, especially when the band really are at their best when they're riding a burst energy.

While making this album worth the wait was a tall task, Between The Times & The Tides comes about as close as we could have hoped to accomplishing just that.

The record touches on new tonal and structural territories, however incremental, while maneuvering within the same basic framework laid out in Ital's debut.

Clocking in at a hair over half an hour in length, Driver is similarly brief in nature as the albums which preceded it, but it stands apart from Adult Mom’s first two records in that it’s a more polished, bigger and brighter collection of songs, in spite of how its lyrical content may seem.

Sun’s Signature is a wonderful record whose core themes of hope, splendour and faith in nature are something we could all do with right about now.

These songs show that Rodrigo isn’t done after GUTS.

Though Mr. Impossible is their most accessible work to date, it's still unmistakably Black Dice.

People Who Aren’t There Anymore was not written as a reflection but a documentary of the emotional processes the band members were going through at the time. The meaning of the songs will continue to change for the band over time, just as they will for listeners.

Superbloom proves another ace in Jessie Ware’s hand, albeit one that for the most part stays within the dance-disco territory of her 2020s output.

Six songs on Have Some Faith in Magic are more than five minutes long, but not once does it feel like it, because the album gets so much done.

Multitudes is a lovely listen from front to back, and her most sonically and thematically consistent album ever. However, it may be a little too deceptively simple for its own good. The fact that so many of the treasures of this record come in the smaller details and choices is fine, but it does mean the album takes more time to sink in as a result.

The Russian Wilds is hardly going to shock you to the core, but it's a more than able record by one of the most consistently strong groups in its genre.

Songs like “Smile” and “Let You Back In” might offer encouragement to her original fans, but as the softer edges of softCORE they very clearly represent the past. In the four years since The Voice, Fousheé has a new one and her breakout is complete.

It never stands still and stops to rest – for better and for worse. It’s somewhat of a transitionary moment. Even if it remains to be seen what destination it leads to, there’s still enough interesting material here to fulfill its destiny.

Consistently being an upbeat adult isn't exactly an easy thing to do and at least here the band show that they can mature without having to completely forget who they once were.

Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman and MJ Lenderman are featured on several tracks, as is indie rocker Ella O’Connor Williams (a.k.a Squirrel Flower). Yet their presence only enhances and never overshadows the trio’s music.

The Marriage of True Minds is something of a record built for everyone, a fusion of sounds and ideas built from the thoughts and minds of lots of different people; there will be different moments that deter and attract different people, but there are more than enough of the better ones to keep you hooked for the album’s runtime.

It can be taken as a given that any longstanding fans will immediately enjoy Algiers, but for newcomers, this is also a perfect access point to what is one of the most consistent bands of the 2000s.

Their punk spirit is still there, but has been buried a little under the weight of heartfelt emotion, bolstered instrumentation and sugary harmonies – all of which work beautifully for these songs. Camp Cope have made an album for themselves, to bring some unity through honesty and self-expression. They can certainly be proud of that.

Dirt Femme is a pop record and the compositions can be a little too close to something you’ve heard before. ... When she finds the right direction though, Tove Lo earns her place in the canon of the great Swedish pop song craftsmen.

As the music fades in and out on the eight-minute closing title track, one can only imagine that boat in the water, the burning hot summer sun melting you down, and those slow but powerful waves washing you away. This is what it feels like to listen to Cass McCombs, especially nowadays.

Each of the 12 tracks here are packed with layers of intricate musical details that sometimes don’t even sound appropriate, but fit the other parts like a silk glove.

Despite the troublesome personal events during his band’s four year absence, Figure is a strong return.

Headsoup demonstrates the band’s stylistic versatility and penchant for spontaneity and structure. It is every bit as representative of Goat’s aesthetic as their ‘official’ albums.

Old Ideas is not the man's latter-day masterpiece but its title is as bluntly honest as any you'll see this year, in more ways than one.

Though it may lack a song with the immediacy of something like "Girls FM," the tracks on King Tuff represent some of the best work of the career of a man who's hopefully just getting started.

Club Shy Room 2 is possibly Shygirl’s least cohesive project, but only because it shows so many facets of the artist’s skillset in its brief 15 minutes. She is sexy, she is bossy, she is fun, she is alternative, she is pop, she is the life of the party.

Not only has her singing been pushed more to the front, revealing a clear and pleasing voice that had been tucked away all along, but her songwriting trades in clever metaphors in favor of blunt confessions that purposely work in contrast with the otherwise uplifting music.

Even in his lost moments, like “A Random Act of Kindness” where he repeats “Out of time, out of money”, he searches out the hope while faced with setbacks and sorrow. It’s in these moments that Morby shines as that everyman – a role he has been crafted into through those various influences he holds up so high.

In a world that coerces you to doomspell yourself to bed-ridden misery, I’d like to manifest some positive thinking here: Who Let The Dogs Out has all the ingredients to break that aforementioned loop and move the needle further – with each track managing an infectious balancing act between cheeky humor and righteous rage.

With “Get Up! Come Walk with Me/Composition 7” – as with Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection in its entirety – White, Holley, and a cast of energized musicians question the post-human age while celebrating the creative process.

Slap as many abstract adjectives and kitschy references you want on it, you’re not going to pin The Turning Wheel down. Its ineffability can be its greatest strength.

Where Superwolf imagined Sweeney and Oldham as blood-splattered riders or jealousy-crazed sailors turning into godless cannibals and sodomites, Superwolves has them sitting on the porch and watching the sun set as their children play in the high grass. ... That makes for a less gripping experience; the predecessor’s bitter, sexual tone made it unique and unforgettable, working off of the subconscious urges of the post 9/11 George Bush Jr. era, but the sequel’s gentle acceptance of the world and all therein allows something thought impossible on that first album: forgiveness.

In an era that occasionally feels oversaturated with hyper-pop, demon time is never too frenetic for its own good. It’s short, but these songs groove.

Glitch Princess is consistently inventive, disturbing, and timely.

They do doom and gloom very well, and more importantly, offer their own unique slant on the sound rather than sound like Joy Division clones.

In an industry where many artists are content to follow the algorithmic trends, Zayn Malik has done something much more difficult: he has stayed still, looked inward, and built a musical world that finally sounds like home.

In The Cool Of The Day sounds like an intimate affair, like Moore has called up his friends and invited them over to the studio upon finding the Steinway piano.

It seems that with General Dome, Buke and Gase have managed to do just fine, and they’ve created a record that looks forward, as well as backward, to what indie rock has been and what it has the potential to be.

Their insistence for organic compositions stands out thoughtfully on Open Door Policy, and it reminds us precisely why we fell in love with The Hold Steady in the first place. Despite them being slightly aged rockers, they haven’t forgotten what it means to rock out and to give in to the desire shout at the top of your lungs when you are struggling.

By accepting the chaotic elements coexisting alongside our stark self-made structures – be it tangible, psychological or virtual – Karma & Desire might be the most honest form of pop music one can make at this moment.

Even if Confess is a decidedly less personal affair than its predecessor, it's no less enjoyable. Twin Shadow has released another album of unpretentious, catchy synthpop, this time around with a bit of a hard rock edge thrown into the mix.

Thankfully, the pairing [with Adam Granduciel] is largely successful and allows Fender to shrewdly side-step expectations for his Seventeen follow-up; resulting in a mature take of arena rock and the most sonically cohesive Fender album thus far.

This is certainly the poppiest the band has ever sounded, and the album has a handful of trite or overly-cheesy moments, but these are easy to overlook when it all sounds this good, and when so many of Maines’ lyrics are this precise and honest.

The Collective is thoroughly, classic Kim, but many of the odder choices – such as a truly annoying autotune appearance – seem to stem from deep collaborative dialogue.

Through the steady flowing of Allison's vocals and the constant strumming of the chords as well as the steady drum beats, the band proves that they are more than just robots and distortion; the Kills are indeed talented musicians.

Lament is not the harsh noise monster that might be expected from this team up. In fact, it’s turned out to be the band’s most accessible album yet.

Mandy, Indiana never lose sight of their aesthetic and existential north star, despite how convincingly they navigate despair.

For a genre replete with posturing, it’s beyond refreshing to receive an album that so readily wears its heart on its sleeve, especially from a band so esteemed: with so much to potentially lose. Modest Mouse have made gains simply by being themselves. This is comfort food for the well-worn soul.

This is life At the Down-turned Jagged Rim of the Sky, which isn't a devastatingly beautiful one, but it's still engaging in its own deep, personal way.

Tarot Classics isn't remarkable, but it reminds you just how good Surfer Blood are when it comes to songwriting, just how much fun it is to listen to this band, even if they're getting a tad gloomier.

Nothing here sounds random or haphazard at all, but rather an almost perfectly concocted pop/rock with some gorgeous harmonies to boot – whether it is the opening title track, mid-album highlight “Fire And Gold” or closing “Your True Enemy.”

For such a prolific, genre-blurring artist, we are lucky as listeners that all the pieces Ryley Walker’s set up over the past decade could coalesce in such a fine, tight 40 minutes.

After numerous lineup changes, this album feels like Ackerman’s hitting of reset button has finally worked, and the project is continuing down the intriguing path started last year resulting in a hell of a comeback album.

Come Around is a brief but strong showing of how Carla dal Forno has honed her craft: by sticking to the DIY spirit and following her muse, wherever it may take her.

She hasn’t fully ascertained how to recast her aesthetic without diluting her presence, but with Dust she inches toward reinvention. Mutinta’s a magician who’s expanding her repertoire, forging new alchemical practices. Dust is ultimately a “between” project; we’ll see where it leads.

Shut Down the Streets successfully infuses what could fly as an intimate acoustic set with contagious pop hooks.

Mining archetypal yet still fertile paradoxes, Irreversible Entanglements have much to teach us about inspiration, self-awareness, and truth-telling.

For any fans of the group's 90s material, Class Clown is a highly recommended listen, especially for those put off by Factory.