Dekker has always seemed to me more metaphysical than mystical, but on this outing some of the lyrics are starting to edge closer to the easy contentedness of finding salvation through natural beauty instead of finding existential insignificance in the similarities of all matter. That said, there’s a good mix of elements here, and the increased focus on the diversity of the musical side of things takes the spotlight off the lyrics to a certain extent.

The Else is lined up with catchy, solid songs that I can’t help but sing along to. So though it’s not the best Giants album - it’s good, and it’s kept me entertained.

Beet, Maize & Corn is a pleasant album of calm, beautiful pop with a touch of class that’s rare.

Cansei de Ser Sexy is just so acutely gaudy and trashy that, despite an abundance of spunk and sneer, it comes off as disaffected and impossibly irritating.

If The Citizens' intended destination is a place of their own craft that lies beyond the boring boundaries of traditional pop, they can stop driving.

Car Alarm is essentially Everybody II; an album that subtly stretches the group’s formulaic parameters with rawer production and looser instrumentation but without cementing any concrete boundary-changes.

As two musicians who may have gotten slighted, their self-titled album is an accomplished and impressive debut.

Even at just six songs, they’re each powerfully presented and Perkins is better for it, in astonishingly marvelous fashion.

Orcas, stays in the same zone [gauzy ambient folk], but edges closer to the sublime and harrowing atmospheres more associated with Irisarri.

Poliça may have more to offer, especially if they can branch out from a blueprint that they rightly feel very comfortable with, but for the time being Shulasmith is a finely executed and thematically and emotionally rich record.

While individual songs work on their own, the album seldom succeeds as a whole.

Those whose expected Pollard to bow out in a blaze of lo-fi glory will be sorely disappointed, but true fans will recognize just how well the mid-fi approach suits Pollard.

Furies might not be as diverse as Birds Make Good Neighbors but it’s the strongest set of songs they’ve produced so far.

The group continues their fantastic, totally unique song structures, lyrics and instrumentation, resulting in the next evolution of a Decemberists album, and it does not disappoint.

For all its sonic roaming and mulching, Inside The Ships holds together surprisingly well as a combined entity.

The menace, exhilaration, and sheer catchiness of the band’s earlier songs, however, have been diminished, leaving pop and rock tunes that rely heavily on Adele’s vocals and a chronically agitated tempo to carry them through to the finish line.

Noir... writes some really genuine, cheery, memorable songs, but it’s just too much to digest on one record.

West ties in all of the band's strengths for an excellent outlook on what the destiny towards west might feel like and with it, an album of stellar psychedelic rock.

Everything about Staring At The X is tightly controlled and composed, from its guitar chords through its electronic bass lines right up to the mixing board pyrotechnics that propel the songs forward.

Twisted, mangled, and deeply submerged under the layers of bewitching muck are brilliant melodies with sonorous strings hidden between double-tracked guitars and gigantic, mesmerizing choruses.

On Magic Chairs, Efterklang manages to excise its most affected gestures, keep its penchant for wide-ranging adventurousness, and bring new found confidence to the more personal, micro-aspects of their sound. The result is a triumphant orchestral pop record which radiates with intelligence and touch.

Starting right where Ambivalence Avenue left off, Wilkinson’s strides on his inspired high with The Apple and the Tooth are again, an exceptional thing to witness.

As a whole, The Weight is a Gift wins because the band knows how to write a catchy song and make it both sad and exuberant at the same time, with an unerring pop sensibility.

In lyrics and music, The Long Blondes have managed to put out a sophomore album just as addictive and catchy as their debut "Someone To Drive You Home."

An album that finds them further exploring the depths of their palettes with another worthy album of expressive highs.

Whilst the nostalgia-soaked Sky Blue Sky will cause consternation amongst those who backed Wilco’s brave efforts to bend the staidness of plaid-shirted alt. rock, it’s still arguably one of the most charmingly-effortless records Jeff Tweedy has ever spearheaded.

Feels like an honest treat for longtime fans.

Aptly an entire side-project, rather than a one-off on the electronic producer’s next album, the idea is fully fleshed into a discovery of solid notes.