Raymond’s new album, Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark, continues the streak of her showcasing her mastery of the guitar. .... And sometimes the music can be very dense, an onslaught of playing that is much a display of jaw-dropping dexterity as it is a wall of sound that envelops you.

It requires an open mind to absorb so much in one single LP, but whether you're looking for sing-along choruses, meandering instrumentals or just a damn-good listen, all three boxes will surely be inked by big fat ticks by the time the disc stops spinning.

There's much beauty to be found here on the fifth Mountains LP, Centralia.

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 dire gloom of the early years is gone, and the garbled mutations of Some Rap Songs and Feet of Clay have grown in clarity without losing any of their labyrinthine and gothic dynamics. Without calling a masterpiece just yet: this is a very special moment, both for Thebe and his fans. I leave the rest to Two-Face and the flip of his coin.

Yeah, sometimes you can't even hear the lyrics, and when you do they don't make sense (although that's improving by album). But the music is endearing, and most of the time spectacular and that's a great feature to have in any rock band.

Their voice is more supple and sensual than we’ve heard before, even as they present themselves as anhedonic, numbed by “meaningless space”.

They're not reinventing the wheel, hell they're barely even reinventing themselves, but that's a good thing on this occasion, as they've created an album that will appeal to fans both new and old.

Even with guests and layers stripped away, she can still construct ambient moments that stick in your head.

Each track holds its own and proves that Wunderhorse is indeed a force to be reckoned with in the world of indie-rock. They exhibit considerable yet humble strength in all regards of vocals, lyricism, composition, and orchestration.

There’s no predicting what genre he’ll take on next or how far his frightening productivity can go, and by delivering albums this spirited and melodically rich, with no signs of watering himself down when he’s already 10 releases deep in one year, Romano earns the trust to follow him anywhere.

Regresa is a perfectly produced, fully realized debut from a promising, intriguing act. Its vibes couldn’t be more relevant in 2020, and beyond its vital plea for compassion, justice, and progress from a duo hailing from a cruelly maligned place, on a more simple level, its music is simply damn enjoyable.

The Universe Inside might not be insanely memorable as a whole, but will still make for recurrent vivid flashbacks in the days after you’ve listened to it.

Haram feels like the truest representation what they set out to do at the start of their journey as a duo. As a result, it finds them asking the questions everyone is avoiding.

Krivchenia stretches and molds the organic fervor of The Mirror like Play-Doh, often accomplishing a sense of something that is raw, new, and exciting. All the while Buck’s crooning slices through the production like a butter knife, shifting the sound into something that feels less like Big Thief and more towards something distinctly Meekian.

A record that far surpasses the necessity of any and all comparisons. With their highly-anticipated record, this ballistic band birthed from the Brixton Windmill have constructed their own world, where self-abnegation abounds and anxiety festers, yet experimental ingenuity shines a light through all its darkness.

Gone are the old voices of the city, the tales of the Wu-Tang and the sense that there is real struggle or strife. Instead it's a heterogeneous mix of international talent devoted less to teaching lessons or passing down wisdom as it is to making twenty-somethings dance.

The combination of the two brings here some intriguing music that those wanting their musical genres strictly defined will hate, and those with a more daring minds wanting to explore will love.

It sits comfortably in the middle of the vast catalogue of albums released by Radiohead and its members. It’s reassuring to hear that, 35 years after the start of their artistic journey, these musicians can still come up with compositions this elegant and exciting.

It’s a decent follow-up, but one that unfortunately comes off less Bartees Strange and more Bartees Safe.

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.

Seek Shelter isn’t the big, era-defining statement, but a transitional album for the quintet, opening up the possibility of rock’n’roll in their arsenal. While this stylistic choice doesn’t fit 2021’s overarching trends, it proves just how good Iceage are at transforming their sonic interests into full-blown epics.

All that need really be said is that it is sublime; both in terms of execution and aesthetics.

One of the year’s most daring records, he signals his intent – this is an artist not merely requesting his seat at the table, but demanding it.

Thematic and lyrical motifs find repetition throughout the album like a musical director slowly pulling the strings together.

Lianne La Havas is a grower of an album, perhaps more than her first two records. It’s slow, patient, and deliberate in its pacing – almost to a fault. ... Most of all, though, it is a staggering showcase of La Havas as a singer.

By reaching every-damn-where he could, ASAP Rocky both sidesteps this pitfall and becomes one of the year's most exciting voices.

Throughout the album Shabaka employs ample doses of inventiveness and intricacy that make Of The Earth one of true musical accomplishments so far this year.