While there are plenty of fantastic moments to be found and the album is certainly recommendable, its sluggishly repetitive second half reminds the listener too often of exactly what the strengths and weaknesses of this band are.

There’s no denying the trio put on a dedicated show on Providence, but it’s easy to argue that producer Dave McCracken puts too heavy a coat of gloss over the whole thing, leaving a gaudy, saturated aftertaste on the album.

Feel the Sound is not a classic, it's not a masterpiece, and despite its pristine delivery, it's not perfect. But it is an honest and genuine sampling of a band who continues to subvert expectations.

While I don't understand a lot of the decisions made on this record, it is still undeniably an exhibition of some of the best sonic control and sound shaping around.

The end result is an unfortunate fact that while Death Cab For Cutie seems as capable as ever at expressing themselves, they are running out of things to say. Or, at least, things worth hearing.

If nothing else, Attention Please proves Boris can do this softer pop-informed rock, but ultimately it holds more untapped potential than success.

In the increasingly crowded corrido field, Peso Pluma’s calling card is his raspy vocal and he uses Éxodo almost like a shop window to showcase its possibilities (or limits).

There's much to cherish here, but this isn't a complete effort.

The music on This Is Another Life isn’t the kind that boasts colour, or even deep and dark hues, but rather is full of big strokes of dull greys.

From A Birds Eye View ups the stakes in every imaginable way from his rookie outing, The Lost Boy. Still, it lacks a true it-factor, suffering from questionable songs and moments. Luckily, the emcee’s ever-growing ambitions as an artist are put on full display here—even if they haven’t been fully realized quite yet.

That two of the five songs are covers isn't a bad thing, but it does give the impression that this record's a bit of a throwaway: there are some interesting directions pointed out by the denser arrangements, but we'll have to wait to see how they'll realise them more fully.

The finished product sounds like a work in progress, which is cool, but here's to hoping that Blunt and Copeland will improve the production quality and fully realize their genrebending sketches next time around.

It doesn’t always work as well as an album, but folks will still look back and remember the time Cummings spent everything, went all in, and became Ramona.

Coming up with interesting sounds isn't an issue for these guys, it's putting them together that is.

Overall, Frontera retains the qualities that fans of Fly Pan Am always appreciated about the collective, but this time around they feel disconnected. That is not to say the album is bad, it simply appears that it cannot be properly appreciated without the aid of the dance performance by Animals Of Distinction.

What Cardi delivers here is not a flawless masterpiece, nor is it meant to be. Instead, it is messy, ambitious, sprawling, an album that mirrors the contradictions of its maker.

It manages to feel both too specific and not quite specific enough; while it sounds like her own personal sound world and collection of memories, the album lacks that relatable hook to draw the listener in.

A big collection of tracks that is sure to please some undemanding fans, but just misses the mark as a great release.

While there are moments where he undeniably soars, the overall demise feels down to a simple trajectory problem. The calculations are off, and as a consequence Ishibashi has found himself tangled in his own creation, being swept up by the wind, and dropping the grace he once emanated aplenty.

Goons Be Gone is nothing particularly new for them, but when No Age balance their flavors of weirdness with the wildness, it still hits the right marks.

The majority of Hands of Glory is devoted to covers, though, and while Bird already has plenty of fine covers in his catalogue ("Don't Be Scared", "Trimmed + Burning", "The Giant of Illinois"), his efforts here are something near enough lacklustre and uninspiring.

Little Oblivions doesn’t so much feel like a step to a higher point as so much as a stumble that Baker has made to look as graceful as she can.

That’s what How Many Times is: another record about lost love. Yet, what saves Rose’s version from sinking into tired banality is the earnestness of it all: she displays the full gamut of her emotions in the songs, from longing to anger, yearning to acceptance.

Aerial East is a talented songwriter with a signature voice, and Try Harder certainly includes its stellar moments. However, the project as a whole would have benefited from more melodic, tonal, and atmospheric variation, issues which could in part have been addressed via a greater use of recording options and a more hands-on production approach.

Blouse are a promising, if yet to be fully realized, project.

Where each song on Melodrama felt like rushing into the next room at a wild house party to discover a new scandal or hookup, each successive song on Solar Power feels like returning to the same yoga class day after day; there might be the odd new mantra or position, but there’s nothing truly revelatory.

Gloria is a frequently satisfying yet uneven statement of self-love and confidence that heralds a new era, both musically and personally, for Sam who proves that it is just as equally an act of vulnerability to show your happiness, as it is your sadness.

At the end of the day, The Coldest Profession is a charming, low-stakes little jamboree.