There’s enough going on across the 43-minute running time of WASTELAND that the listener shouldn’t go into it expecting to have grasped the whole thing on the first pass; perseverance is greatly rewarded. LICE’s debut album is nothing short of fascinating, and the best part is it offers little in the way of clues as to where they may be headed next.

Although Dreams Come True is prone to fading into the background at points, part of the beauty is the understated nature CANT upholds.

The music of Angel Tears in Sunlight is in no hurry, but stick around and it will take you to zones that breathe with ancient life.

It's that care and attention that leaves the older songs sounding fresh and like they belong, the newer stuff sounding great and the album as a whole sounding cohesive and pretty awesome.

Throughout this album, despite its structural flaws, Shah paints several affecting and profound images. Her words are almost always sung in her trademark jazzy, vibrato-heavy style, which adds some dramatic flair to even the more mundane moments, as do tiny instrumental touches.

Let's Wrestle are at their best on Nursing Home when the tension is visible: Whether this is the push and pull between their original sound and Albini's influence, or the clash of Gonzalez's casual vocals and Lightning's roaring bass, or the juxtaposition of adolescent male recklessness with anxieties of coming adulthood.

What’s impressive here is how Cunningham manages to borrow from the thumping liveliness of bass music, the hyperactive repetition of glitch, and the uneasy industrial murk of something from the Modern Love label without sacrificing any of these styles’ appeal.

Digital Roses Don’t Die is a subtle, occasionally lightweight, jaunt through the realms of K.R.I.T.’s affections and motivations.

The good news is that The Strokes have delivered a good album. The bad news is that for all its throwback production, it doesn't really sound much like The Strokes, and many of their longtime fans are probably going to be disappointed in an album that doesn't retreat to the sound of the band's glory days with its tail between its legs.

It covers the span of all elements that represents the music of Bon Iver, both as the showcase of the span of Vernon’s songwriting and the actual ability of him and his band to do it justice in a live setting.

There are stretches, most notable the middle third, where the impulse to experiment obscures the user-friendliness, but nitpicking like this detracts from what we really should be acknowledging.

There are a couple of lesser tracks on Nostalchic and it’s up for debate as to how well Howard sticks the landing on the LP format, but Lapalux is a singular talent and his debut is evidence of that even if the pieces don’t all quite click neatly into place.

Because of the fractured, whimsical makeup of the album, it can become a bit frustrating for the listeners hoping to detect Half Pearl‘s beating heart. But listen close enough, and resolve is there beneath the rubble in the chopped jazz pop of “Wild Animals”, in which Liv.e struts to her own self-belief, untethered from other people’s expectations of her.

Overall, I Don’t Know is a formidable leap forward for bdrmm and needs to be seen as one body of work that veers this way and that, but always with a purposeful forward motion.

Cousin carries just about the same level of uniqueness as any other Wilco release. Icy and poised, with support from Cate Le Bon on production, it’s their most emotional yet composed record in some time.

It improves on its predecessor, is chock full of quotable lyrics (“I’m three words away from absolutely fucking ruining your life”), and even where it stumbles, it still manages to pick up the pace soon after. Perhaps best of all is all the ups and downs Gartland captures.

With Hen’s Teeth, again, Sam Beam brings us more well-aged Iron & Wine.

Nothing on Sleepless Night necessarily surprises, but nothing disappoints either. For a band with 15 studio albums (and counting), we unsurprisingly don’t discover anything new about them here, but this isn’t the point. We’re just glad to be in their company once again; this, one feels, will never change.

Deep States does feel a bit all over the place, but what works for it (as it does for everything Liddiard has been involved with) is the overpowering confidence with which it is performed.

We got an album entirely thrown on the shoulders of the cub, and like a growing king, J. Cole actually pulled it off, but scope, cohesiveness, and focus couldn't help but become somewhat lost in the disarray.

On Sweet Sour, Band Of Skulls show themselves to be well equipped to keep the garage blues/rock flame alive.

As fleeting an experience as this is, it’s still emotionally moving and deeply affecting. Within its ambition, and for those who are open to its fainting beauty, it contains entire worlds.

Cruel Summer might be the worst thing in Kanye West's discography thus far, but it's a success as mainstream rap cabal compilation albums go.

Despite its minor detours, Crash is one of Charli’s better albums even if it will likely garner a polarizing reaction. She’s fully dedicated though, and it’s a testament to her commitment to crafting the big ‘sellout’ pop album, which she mostly nails.

The surreal and whimsical electric guitar licks that slice through the track’s acoustic backbone achieve a sense of flippantness that foreshadows the thesis of I’ll Be Waving.

Reznor and Ross have managed to balance creating fitting soundscapes without overshadowing the poignant dialogue.

The record is at its best when it combines its pop sensibilities with its ambient leanings.

Could Glutton For Punishment have been more strategically curated? Perhaps, but this is an ambitious act. And sometimes you need to be commended for what you attempt as much as for what you achieve.

UGLY is surely his most intense, unvarnished, unrelenting personal excavation

New fans get a wonderful introduction to a fascinating discography, and existing fans get a project that will leave them both pleased and eagerly awaiting the next move of a star that can seemingly do it all.

3D Country is a fun album, and it gives the band a more definable personality – even if it’s bonkers.

The surrounding material is all solid, if not to be ranked as some of her best stuff.

His choruses don’t jump out at you so much as slink by, which is not always a bad thing, but maybe not what you want from pop music. ... Every song on Changephobia sounds like it has an inch-thick layer of dust on it, but if you take a finger and smear that off, there’s a beautiful ice-cream paint-job below.

Like its title, Loud Bloom is undeniably a blossoming. It’s a flourish of individual style and a record of following your gut for what feels right; some of the tracks might not work for everyone, but they work for Dreijer.

There’s a lot to love about it. It’s a tad too long, and some of the talent is under-utilized, but Dessner and Vernon have created a worthwhile follow-up to their humble debut.

It’s been three years since The Forever Story, and JID’s returned with something more precise, more obsessive, and possibly more brilliant than anything he’s touched before.

Guaranteed both to amuse and to confuse, Ten$ion is a masterpiece of kitsch: an intently provocative, tongue-in-cheek rave-rap record, by a cryptic performance art group.

Shame is another great record from Uniform. Slightly more mature, perhaps even more confident, than some of the visceral slabs of pure adrenaline that marked their earlier releases, it’s a record that plays with extremes but with a command over the noise created. The overarching thematic intent of the record gets lost, truth be told, as the rush of sounds overwhelm the lyrics but this just gives you more reason to go back to it to pick those narrative elements apart.

While it may prove inconsistent to some, the experimentation and exploration ensures the album remains exciting, as you never know what’s arriving next. If the intention of this album was to show a rebirth, it succeeds, as Banks seems reinvigorated and ready to fearlessly conquer the demons that dare cross her path.

The creative choices to splice, juxtapose and mess with the song structures that don’t work are conscious ones driven by the same tenacity that shapes the best songs of Join Hands, so the band is not misguided in trying them – overexcited would be more accurate.

Taken as a political, activistic, and aesthetic hybridization, Reed and Nehill’s work is fiercely confrontive, a treatise on humankind’s penchant for cruelty, its evolutionary missteps, but also its opportunities for redemption.

While North is a far cry from Darkstar's previous releases, it's a nice addition to the world of electronica. This album sets the duo apart from their label mates, but retains the dark atmosphere that Hyperdub artists are known for.

Pretty, moody, and even transcendently beautiful in places, Breakers' small-scale take on dream pop is a tempestuous and emotionally unhinged listen.

Friends That Break Your Heart is Blake at his most pared-back and unflinching lyrically and could also be considered his most accessible album yet. For some, this dismal balladry might feel a bit too far removed from the experimentally-textured electronics of his first two albums, yet Blake has found a brilliant way to still be unconventional and accessible at the same time.

The pure power and energy that’s imbued in each of these songs is perfect for a live environment and there’s a sincere hope that Dehd get the opportunity to tour this album. The band’s crisp, no-nonsense approach filters into every aspect of Flower of Devotion and it makes for a heady, light-hearted escape from the complications of the world today.

They fire back in 2023 with their most direct record for some time, a collection of hard rock staples mixed with their punk roots that the band uses to pay homage to the legends of their city’s glorious music scene, and do so perfectly.

Free Humans rewards the time investment, even if it does take a few unnecessary detours. It possesses so much pop ingenuity and sonic diversity that it has the potential to appeal to all sorts of people previously unfamiliar with the band.

Ho99o9 vividly express the anarchic impulse, conjuring the despair and volatility inherent to our postlapsarian age.

TYLA is an excellently made debut album. With its brief 38 minutes, the album presents Tyla as versatile yet having a recognizable style, as suitable for both R&B and amapiano, and as soft and powerful. The end product is a solid record with no real skips whose main aftertaste is that of the potential in display.

This is very, very good – better than the rest. Analysis seems to make no sense when the art is so enormously enjoyable.

While the album doesn’t colour outside the lines as much as previous efforts (though the chuggy, restrained grunge wash on “Cheers” is a welcome outwards venture), that’s no bad moment here.

RocketNumberNine should be commended for the killer tracks that they’ve managed to pack into MeYouWeYou.

While the album may err one too many times on the side of caution and doesn't venture much beyond its superficial pop veneer–"Foolish Person" notwithstanding–it still shows a band attempting to, and generally succeeding at, conveying the warmth and exuberance of summer.

It not so much a record that juxtaposes itself, but rather one that sways between the two sides of whatever spectrum you put it in.

This is a record of soul searching, remembering stolen moments and quiet dreaming, chasing down stark past digressions and embryonic futures. A soothing palette cleanser in which all the personal lamentations buried deep within years of chasing the next adventure unravel and manifest naturally.

It's unlikely that the album will be a big hit, but the best songs will grow to have a life outside of Feel It Break, on dancefloors and party playlists, which I'm sure is something Stelmanis would approve of.

ENERGY most certainly has more highlights than it does disappointing moments, and it marks a change in sound that the couple are moving towards – albeit slowly. We can still hear elements of Settle, but increasingly less so.

It’s less playful and more focused than her last full-length, 2015’s The Expanding Flower Planet, and the concept record suits her well. Any indie artist should start taking notes on how to construct such a complete statement. The rest of us now have a guidebook for an effective personal journey right when we need it most.

No matter who else we see in his work, this record stands on its own in terms of how it plays for the listener.

While Fantasy is not a perfect return by any means, it’s a return that makes you remember M83’s power to combat the static void at the core of many of us. In place of that void, listeners are filled with the feeling that they’re part of something bigger and freed — free to fall in love with dreaming again.

When taken as a whole, and as an effervescent thumbing of the nose at the noise establishment, Total Folklore goes by like a breeze, even if the last 11 tracks (three of those ambient interludes) feel a bit overshadowed in the wake of “Ulysses”‘s monolithic, alien bliss.

By the end of Tearless, Amnesia Scanner’s singular vision, for all its moments that both stun and disgust, has seeped its way in. There’s no looking back.

The End of Silence is a serious statement that can bring the harshness of war to your ears and occasionally make you rethink how casually you consume the news. It’s by no means an easy album to wander through, but I doubt it was ever Herbert’s intention to make this “easy listening” in any conventional sense of the term.

Get Sunk is not a flawless affair – it sometimes still feels a little torn between emotional poignancy and comfortable adult defeatism, and some moments almost demand a more aggressive, forlorn brevity. But Berninger’s second solo effort is a rich and satisfying listen, evading the generic bland arrogance of The National’s low points.

An Usher album that is good, but not great.

Aside from a few inconsistencies, the change in sound is quite revitalizing and proves that there is more to Royal Bangs than a serious case of musical ADD.

The band’s deepest, and strongest, album to-date.

Sometimes you can't ask for groundbreaking. Holograms is far more than good enough without such a label.

All in all, Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now is a good record, but it's not success it could have been as the songs are not as strong as one would have hoped.

The brighter production MO works well as a contrast to the melancholy-slacker themes. Overall, the project is notably cohesive, wearing its influences like a onesie undergarment rather than on its sleeve.

Deerhoof vs. Evil is predictably unpredictable and a fun little experiment from a band seemingly incapable of recording a bad album, but it's hard to imagine returning to this years from now as often as their better work.

Shortly After Takeoff is a powerful collection made by someone who’s had to endure more than his fair share of turbulence.

The album as a whole isn't flawless, yet by sounding utterly enchanting during its climax it leaves a listener feeling genuinely touched. From a such legendary band, you could ask for nothing more.

Metronomy’s Small World shows us exactly what it’s like to take it easy but still deliver have a rewarding experience.

Instrumentally, Liturgy of Death returns (mostly) to Mayhem’s 80s and early 90s sound and structure, which should please most post-millennial Mayhem haters. But on tracks like “Propitious Death” and “The Sentence of Absolution” I do hear some of their previous progressive influences creeping under the surface. .... Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Liturgy of Death is its philosophical musings.

The worst thing I can say about an EP is that it's too damn short, it's certainly a success.

There is a striking balance in the 12 songs here between respecting the pop formulas that strike the right chord among a wide-ranging audience and trying to introduce elements from other genres or sub-genres that might be unfamiliar to any specific individual listener.

After listening to Legacy it seems difficult to imagine anyone else achieving what they have whilst working with Disney studios.

The Whole Love is a solid return for Wilco, and hopefully them pushing their sound in more new directions as they have done here, particularly on the first and last tracks.

This album embraces you like your favorite seat, preserving your outline intimately in its fabric.

While Clarke remains tethered to his sources, he still manages to flap his way toward the sun. In this version of the myth, his wings hold up, his father congratulates him, and the gods give him a brief yet sincere ovation.

Like its predecessor, Romantic Piano is soft and cosy, a small and dreamy soundworld to escape into for half an hour.

Is 4 Lovers is the band’s most playful album to date too, oscillating between The Beatles, Lenny Kravitz, Big Black, early (aka: good) Muse and The Rapture.

With The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania, Jurado has released another moving and memorable album, gaining further traction in what might be considered the third phase of his career.

The first TMBG first album still ranks among the best of their 20+ studio albums to date, but this latest one is up there somewhere too.

Death Dreams' loops of feedback, ghostly monologues and multipronged guitar attacks lash out, often in tandem, making the music feel big.

It certainly has a more present percussive beat than Eucalyptus, however its compositions are allowed to stretch out, with five out of seven tracks here passing the five-minute mark (only two of Cows’ 10 tracks did such). This approach lends 7s‘ centerpiece “Hey Bog” an epic effect, building slowly in tempo.

Benny’s production work at times does a disservice to the material but, for the most part, Voyage is a welcome addition to the ABBA canon.

At first glance, Smalhans feels exceedingly necessary as reconciliation for Six Cups of Rebel, but it's quite a reliable document on its own.

In Standard Definition is possibly going to be far too weird an album for some, but those that are curious about what d’Ecco has to offer should definitely go on this zany musical experience.

What’s Your Pleasure? is Ware’s welcome return to her roots. At her best, she executes the album’s electrifying, lavish take on dance-pop better than many of her modern peers, but she isn’t able to maintain uniform excellence across all 12 tracks. Still, Ware displays her affection for disco, funk, and dance music with the utmost reverence.

While opinions will certainly be divided on Let’s Start Here., it’s undeniable that a rapper hasn’t committed so impressively and effortlessly to a rock genre since Kid Cudi’s Nirvana-inspired Speeding Bullet to Heaven.

Despite Laurel Hell‘s unevenness, Mitski’s persistent vulnerability makes her music inherently beautiful and honest, reminding us all of how primal and painful the experience of being human is.

The first half of the album is a mixed-bag. ... After “Toni”, we enter the final five-track stretch of the album, and this is where the truly special stuff lies. Put simply, this is the most beautiful music 2 Chainz has made in his career.

Many live records these days get a bad rap because of the stigma they carry (many reek of contractual obligation), but this is a respectable and enlightening release.

While Strange Dance is a rather nocturnal album, those broad and distant lyrics, aided by the atmospheric yet intricate instrumentation, mean there are many more moods and times that it can fit.

It's not that this material is any less challenging than anything that The Books did, it's just infinitely more memorable on a first listen.

Maybe Constant Future is the record to finally thrust this deserving outfit over the edge. Even if it isn't, it's still another damn good addition to a wickedly unheralded, but highly effective, library.