While new beginnings aren't without their flaws, Big Boi's lyrical prowess and effortless delivery provide the thread that link the old Big Boi universe to this, the Boomiverse.

Lorde is masterful at making music that digs within the deepest recesses of your heart and brings to the surface the feelings that you thought you'd forgotten about. Melodrama is the perfect outlet to hash (and dance) those emotions out to.

At 16 tracks and a whopping 110-minute runtime, there are some songs that blend into the other, but it's a testament to Goldie's creativity and flexibility as an artist that there's never a single moment on The Journey Man that sounds compromised.

"I'll Fight for Your Life" makes up for its unremarkable melodies with a percussive synth pulse, while the charming "Head of the Horse" is a curveball ballad from a project that has always been better known for upbeat pop tunes. Beyond that, however, this album is a 50-minute slog.

In its own way, City Music is just as ambitious as the more obviously musically ambitious Singing Saw was; have this on hand for certain literary yet off-kilter late night city moods.

For fans of synth-wave instrumentals or for those who want an oft-compelling, free-floating soundtrack to their workday, nobody throws a throwback party like Com Truise.

It makes in confident swagger what it lacks in memorable hooks, but at 19 tracks, it's too imbalanced and stuffed to be considered a classic.

By incorporating vintage influences with so much skill, Nau channels yesterday's greats without ever lazily copying them. Instead, he transports you to way back when, then makes it sound of the moment.

If any shoegazers are primed and ready to make the most of this second chance, it's Ride.

With Crack-Up's earnest explorations of the human condition and evocative, progressive composition, Fleet Foxes maintain their status as one of the best folk rock bands of the 21st century.

Although many songs on Chuck sound familiar, it's amazing that no two tracks sound alike. Berry covers a lot of musical ground on Chuck, and most importantly, reveals just how much fun he was still having at the end of his storied life.

Though he tackles politics ("White Man's World," "Hope the High Road"), mental health ("Anxiety" and "Chaos and Clothes") and other highly present concerns, the overall effect is slightly more timely than timeless. Perhaps it's unfair, though, to hold Isbell to his own lofty standards. Compared to those of his contemporaries, these songs are still miles ahead.

SZA is the full package in terms of artistry: killer singing and songwriting abilities with a distinct perspective on life, love and destiny. CTRL is craft in action, a uniquely excellent album from a uniquely excellent artist.

If there's one general criticism to be made here it could be that the album lingers a bit too much in a dark and dramatic mood (especially in the first four songs), but that's less an outright flaw and more a desire for more of the playfulness that appears in the second half of the record.

All ten of the album's songs overflow with sparkling synths, sighing pop hooks and made-for-summer beats. The lyrics are often difficult to parse, particularly since Mars frequently dips in and out of Italian and French, but the overall impression is one of sweet, big-hearted sincerity.

Witness owes its imperfect existence to garage-punk, psychedelic Afro-rock and the overarching and heartbreaking sentiment that ours is a system that we might not get out from under anytime soon.

While it's surprisingly early in Alt-J's careers to release what is essentially their version of an acoustic album, Relaxer provides a necessary change-up that keeps the band's iconic sound from becoming a caricature of itself.

Planetarium does the solar system justice with almost every conceivable sound--from metallic auto-tune to rippling organ, to angelic strings and forceful horns--from four powerful multi-instrumentalists at the top of their respective games.

While McVie's voice seems to have held up quite well, it's all but lost behind multiple layers of effects, combined with gratuitous use of shakers and other percussion. As for the songs themselves, most are simply fair-to-middling pop songs.

The Heliocentrics' most beguiling effort to date.

Capacity is both a logical successor to Masterpiece as well as a great leap forward for Big Thief. The chemistry that Lenker and her band have established on album number two is extraordinarily strong, but no matter how good they get, her songwriting seems as though it will forever be raw to the core.

Modern Pressure feels vibrant and impassioned, adding a freshness to the otherwise vintage sound.

TOPS like to keep listeners on their toes. Their music is undeniably beautiful and, for all its subtleties, often immediately rewarding.

Those who got on board with Strange Desire should have no problem connecting with the deep feels and big pop choruses that propel Gone Now.

My Love Divine Degree adds modern flair to soul and speaks to ChesnuTT's captivating songwriting skills.

Blais' playing suits very well the pristine and glossy production Silver employed for those recordings, injecting it with a real sense of purpose here.

They've always had an ear for melody, and here, the shimmering soundscapes put that gift on full display. The result is a compelling, immersive addition to the Beach Fossils catalogue, an effort that chronicles a band truly freeing themselves and expanding outward.

I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone skilfully expresses complex and murky emotions with clear and concise lyrics.

The final product is dynamic, with a warm, analog sound that brings out the best in Auerbach's writing.

Producer Nigel Godrich, no stranger to helping soundtrack world-weary malaise, keeps Waters in comfortable territory with pianos, string arrangements and acoustic guitars, along with a few unmistakably Floyd-ian arrangements.

The record is strikingly patient and meditative, even to the point of being hypnotic.

At over an hour in length, Teenage Emotions is more quantity than quality.

For Play What They Want, Colpitts and Brooklyn-based ensemble TIGUE Percussion partner with some legendary guests, and the result is an expansive, writhing body of busy, ego-less playing delivered with a beating, beaming heart.

While some of this album's material might seem pretentious or esoteric, Amidon's strengths--his musicianship, rustic voice and taste for innovative arrangements--still shine through.

Thankfully, he quickly debunks any clichés about artists needing to be tortured on Kids, which marks the grown-up Earle's glorious return to form.

Evans tries to preserve authenticity by enlisting producers like Chucky Thompson, Stevie J and DJ Premier (who all worked with Biggie in life). It's an understandable move, but the album's production is simply too dated to resonate.

You don't have to be a churchgoer to recognize the positive, life-affirming role music this powerful can play. Given the state of things in the American South (not to mention various hotspots around the world), music this soulful is clearly timeless.

It's the second half of the album where Reinhart takes over the vocals to sing a string delightfully warped groove pop songs with math punk flourishes that the band feel the most cohesive.

Jukka's production style and Boucher's lyrics and singing are strong on their own, but together, their chemistry has led to one of the year's strongest debuts.

To say Black Origami is an album that grows on you with each listen is correct, but undermines the energy you feel upon the album's first listen. It's earthy and futuristic, complex and linear, dance-y and a total mind-fuck.

The songs are short and punchy, and nod to the anything-goes attitude that pervaded the jams sessions from which they were born.

Here they are with the emotionally eloquent Spin, rejuvenated and sounding just as good as a duo as they ever did as a quintet.

They have a warmth and earnestness that permeates their complex emotional movements. Their soundscapes seamlessly blend the organic and rustic infrastructures of urban life.

Rocket is a true tour de force that cements (Sandy) Alex G snugly in the company of indie rock's great auteurs.

Besides one failed experiment of a song, You're Welcome's 11 other tracks are not only some of the best songs Williams has ever penned, but some of the freshest, most inventive tunes the genre has heard in years.

The LP is both amusing and poignant, full of strange imagery and punch lines that are characteristic of Mountain Goats.

With Life After Youth, Powell has gifted us a beautiful treatise on how to think about life, relationships and what's important.

Grant's versatility makes Paradise an alluring locale that listeners will eagerly, and frequently, revisit.

There's a handful of above-average tunes here, and an earnestness that suggests Harry Styles will have a fruitful solo career.

All the Beauty in This Whole Life is a welcome work by an artist who's put it all on the table over the past six albums; his seventh was well worth the wait.

The genre is wide, but Stapleton's Room is so narrow and old-fashioned that, despite its quality songwriting, it feels stifling at times.

It's singular, creative work with pure intent; that makes Girlpool an important band, and it makes Powerplant an authentic, beautiful, effective record.

The 45 songs, presented chronologically, exhibit a somewhat expected musical maturing--from the raw piano attack of 1984's "From Her to Eternity" through to 2013's contemplative mantra "Push the Sky Away." ... It's the DVD, which jumps around in time, and includes both professionally shot official concert footage and fuzzy bootleg gems, that's the prize here.

These songs don't contain the spine-tingling embrace of death that fuelled Leonard Cohen and David Bowie's final albums, but Nelson faces his realities head on here, with grit and a grin.

Beats are enjoyable, ranging from murky piano and trap drums on "Fish n Grits"--despite Travis Scott's painfully sung hook in stark contrast to his killer bars --to absolute winner "Fashion Week," with infectious, sexy vocals laced into the drum line.

I Go Missing in My Sleep really shines when Wilsen are at their most intricate.

The fact that it's essentially more of the same might make it uninteresting to some, but to fans of the band or any of its widely known predecessors like Jimmy Eat World or Taking Back Sunday, that sameness will bring a welcome sense of comfort.

Although Versus is certainly not a place for casual Craig fans to start, nor is it designed for the dance floor crowd, it's an achievement that appropriately showcases one of Detroit's finest exports.

Dulli and company manage to elatedly deliver everything long-standing fans crave in an Afghan Whigs album--and they do so in spades.

While Barnes is definitely well-versed in musical melancholy, there's also a thoughtful, sensitive part to balance all this pathos.

While there are tracks on No Shape that bow in that direction. But these nips and tucks to the Perfume Genius sound serve a common goal: showcasing Hadreas, who shines bright like a diamond throughout.

In•ter A•li•a feels like a band trying to recapture the sound of their youth.

Each of the five songs are fantastically paced, building up to massive payoff every time; it's something that's never been out of Terror's range of ability, but a collection of songs consistently of this calibre has been a long time coming.

Though it might seem strange that Oldham recorded the first major tribute to Haggard, the careful and well-thought-out working through of the master's themes makes deliberate sense.

The Last Rider is a gorgeous record, hazy and honeyed, which sounds and feels like a remastered '70s folk-pop classic.

Even after seven albums, the fun and excitement is still there, albeit in a new and changing way.

It certainly was a long wait, but finally Slowdive have given us the album that we have been dreaming about for the last 22 years.

The Portland pair embrace vitality and exploration, but their polarized approach to psychedelia overcompensates at times.

With a fresh approach and a renewed outlook on life, DeMarco reaches a whole other level of cool, lush calm as well as an unprecedented degree of maturity and introspection.

A few minor missteps don't derail the album. What's most impressive is that, 20 years deep, New Found Glory are still putting out compelling music and growing tastefully with each release.

The fact that Stetson can draw such varied sonic references together in one cohesive display of virtuosity makes him a national treasure. ... Genius.

A few duds like the repetitive "Glow Up" and the sappy duet with Prince Charlez "Smile" aside, Strength Of A Woman is Blige's finest offering in over a decade.

Wiesenfeld's hazy side project is nice, but it would fare better if he punched it up slightly-- for active listening

Visuals is drenched in grandiosity, but many of its songs are devoid of proper exploration; instead of pushing the limits, they often feel idle.

async is the work of an authentically great artist that may well be entering a rich new phase of his 42-year career.

What Now is accessible in every sense of the word, but after several spins, it'll pull you much deeper than one might initially think.

Pleasure presents a unique, uncompromising vision of intimacy and enjoyment.

Although it lacks the kind of Apple-friendly jingles that have made them such a smash, it makes up for it with palatably overarching political themes and sequencing that gives it the wildly entertaining feel of a circus show.

The band will probably never make a singularly categorizable record, but their unique balance of accessibility and creativity is a definite strength--and it shines here.

Guppy is a hyper, loveable, endearing, gritty, catchy romp through early 20s confusion, love, lust, travel and therapy.

Be Myself is hardly a classic, but it's another solid, light-hearted sounding collection with some clear standouts on it.

After an extended break, Teengirl Fantasy return wiser and sounding somehow more like themselves.

Not only is Gas' Narkopop a top candidate for best microhouse album of 2017, it may also be the best drone album and the best classical album--and possibly just the best album you'll hear this year, period.

Davies somehow hasn't lost a step along the way. Between his inimitable acerbic wit (the withering "Poetry" is peak Davies) and his generous attention to quirky detail (his ode to the road trip "The Great Highway" is a highlight), longtime fans will find much to celebrate here.

On Electric Lines, Joe Goddard shoots for something eclectic and exciting, but settles for something sporadically enjoyable at best.

DAMN. is the first time in Lamar's career that he hasn't broken new ground, explored old themes in new ways or exhibited sonic growth.

Wrangled lacks ambition.

Royal Thunder borrow elements from many different sounds, but they've found a way to emphasize the parts that make them unique. In an industry full of cookie-cutter sentiment, it's refreshing to find a band with the courage to wear their heart on their sleeve as boldly as they do on Wick.

Wear Your Wounds' debut is a masterpiece of emotion and tension.

The accumulation of these sugary notes over the course of 45 minutes can feel somewhat sticky. This a good album, and everyone loves a bit of syrup--but you have to know when to draw the line.

Musically, it takes listeners through a dystopian dance-floor dream universe, with the shiny but comforting hand from its cover as our guide.

It's authentic enough for natives to appreciate, but universal enough to maintain broader appeal.

More Scared of You is a booming, jumbled and explosive work that's the best kind of mess.

Though less dark than his defining album or his latest soundtrack, Clark's latest balances whimsy and savagery just enough to know it's his.

Sincerely, Future Pollution is Timber Timbre's most confident record. The lyrics remain obtuse, but even if it's not clear that Kirk knows what he wants to say, he surely knows how he wants it to sound.

Triplicate proves that his ability to interpret the Great American Songbook is equally worthy of recognition.

It's true that Fujiya & Miyagi have a particular formula, and they seem to follow it on their self-titled LP, but they've managed to figure out when to use this formula to satiate listeners and when to tweak it to make listeners salivate.

August By Cake gets interesting when tracks like "Warm Up to Religion" and "What Begins on New Year's Day" tap into the melancholy that's occasionally haunted Pollard's melodies. Aside from those tracks, though, he shows little interest in the tinkering that made his earlier work so interesting.