This album as a whole doesn't quite match the consistent glories of such earlier albums as Hello Starling and The Animal Years, but he remains an artist eminently worthy of attention.

On paper, the inclusion of saxophones, bass clarinet, flute and cello should make Ultimate Success Today expansive. In practice, the auxiliary musicians often add the sonic equivalent of extra seasoning to an already good dish; it's often unclear whether Protomartyr needs the addition.

Sound Ancestors is a mixed bag if ever there was one. It's funky, it's psychedelic, it's jazzy, dirty, clean, and mean. It's Madlib.

Aporia is foremost an exercise in collaboration — a meeting between two perpetually entangled personalities, an ode to their decades-long father-son relationship and a fitting conclusion to their musically enriched partnership.

Love & Devotion is a quality departure from solid musicians that should stand as a stark lesson to the armies of artists out there producing dreamy, '80s-inspired synth-pop of lesser quality.

Heavy on mood and light on melody, Stadium plays best as background music that you're instantly and repeatedly rewarded for tuning into, but it does little to demand the listener stay engaged, content to let you visit this strange and fascinating world at your leisure.

There is still strength, a tenacious hopefulness that coils around every song, even as Stay Awake revels in its delicacy.

First Demo is the closest thing to a new release that we're probably ever going to get. It's also the most interesting insight into the band since the Steve Albini demos for In On The Kill Taker leaked.

Sixteen Oceans is a sign of Hebden settling into his well-trodden niche. Occasionally, one can wish for the unbridled eclecticism of his earlier days, but that doesn't seem to be of any concern for an artist who is in complete contentment of his place in the musical world.

It's a super-charged R&B record, laced with throwback Motown/Philly grooves, that hits hard but fails to land a knockout blow. It seems to be a case of not being able to fully satisfy the hip-hop heads, the R&B fans and the amorphous genre-less Venn diagram in between.

Though not the punchy, great leap forward it could have been, Rose finally proves that she's far more than just a part of her former groups.

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

If Touch were the first album by a brand new band, it would likely be judged as an unequivocal triumph — but Tortoise suffer from the burden of their iconic back catalogue.

Dropping two or three songs would be enough to turn this very good record into a brilliant one.

The highs aren't quite as high as they might have been ten years ago, but Nada Surf are dependable purveyors of indie rock, and on YKWYA, they are as solid as ever.

Despite some bumps, Hold the Girl is full of passion and reflection, uninterested in holding back and unafraid to revel in the power of vulnerability and self-love.

Willner is clearly letting his time in Germany shape his sound, which isn't a bad thing and it's nice to see another, mellower side to his work.

Wild Pink's song structures, instrumentation, arrangements and sound design are their most inspired yet, and Ross's steady, calming presence is almost like a spiritual guide. Altogether, ILYSM is reliably enjoyable but just shy of transcendent.

Gibbs' genuine reflections on being broke, losing the girl or simply growing up help to break things up a bit and add a welcomed bit of realness where both humour and originality are somewhat absent.

Sadly, the album can't maintain that pace, and sags near the end.... Still, the redemptive rest of the album--especially the gorgeous closing title track--make The Voyager a welcome return for Lewis.

Black Marble has seen a massive development with Bigger Than Life. Whether the record has proven itself to acutally be "bigger than life" is up for debate. But for Stewart's third LP, it's a solid effort and pleasant change of pace.

From "Runner's High," the album can drag until the second half, which has many more acoustic ballads.

All That Glue is a great compilation, and one that should please fans and newcomers alike with enough unreleased or B-side material to fill a full-length and enough strong picks from the band's past to give new fans a perspective on what to check out next.

There's no doubt the songwriting is there--but the LP's best tracks ("All Our Wonder" and Old Haunts") share the lo-fi production that was a boon to the atmospheric beauty of their EP.

No Hard Feelings isn't quite ground-breaking, but it's an exciting step forward from Dreezy's previous project, Schizo.

The North isn't Stars burning their brightest, but they're a long ways away from flickering out.

While this third entry could be classified as largely more of the same, there's enough freshness here to warrant a closer look, especially if you're already a fan of the project.

Ultimately, while not pushing beyond well-worn genre expectations, Hollywood Park does present the Airborne Toxic Event at their most sincere and vulnerable.

Sondre Lerche's latest may not be worth picking apart lyrically, but it is a treat for the ears. The exquisite production combined with the pop sensibility on Patience makes it delectable.

She reveals a heretofore-unheard level of ambition as she expands her pop palette and worldview. In trying to put a wall between herself and her audience, she's opened a new, far more revealing side to her music and herself.

For an artist who's given his name such a despairing title, No Future shows Moiré at his most ambitious.

These are not new themes, but Segarra's songs are a complex thicket of emotions, made traversable by her ability to craft a maxim, a hook and a bridge to a chorus.

Long-time fans will be rewarded in spades, and newcomers to the Wacos could do a lot worse than starting their journey here.

The ten raw and carelessly endearing tracks feel oddly cathartic and refreshing, in an often pitilessly, anxious world more concerned with who tripped up the stairs at the Oscars.

Much of this material would be hard pressed to directly sweep anything off The Waterfall in its wake, but the The Waterfall II is enjoyable closure to those who will soon turn to anticipate the next new album My Morning Jacket have on deck.

There is a sprawling synthesis in the groove-tinted, riff-centric jams that will have you waiting to see these guys live.

Dig deeper into Heroes and you might find a newfound respect for the aging outlaw.

The album is certainly dreamy, but its lack of urgency may also cause some listeners to snooze.

Clean rock tracks that deliver an immediate high, while still growing and unfolding over repeat listens. Lyrically, It's Real relies on a brute force, if not a particular nuance.

A Go! Team album that works by evoking their past yet looking optimistic towards the future.

As Cyclops Reap shows, Presley still finds time to put a great deal of thought and effort into his solo project, producing tripped-out, acidic '60s jams.

[A] perceived lack of personality can't change the fact that Dalliance is one of the catchiest and most energetic guitar records of the year.

DS4EVER is certainly a good mainstream rap record, and fans of Gunna and the community of high-profile Atlanta artists he's aligned with will find plenty to enjoy across the album's 19 tracks. Still, the question of where he goes from here is left for listeners to wonder.

Though their unwavering embrace of pop on this record might seem antagonistic in and of itself, they still manage to sound convincingly earnest and (for the first time) fun.

They're sure to become mainstays on many a summer playlist. Although it feels like the group still have more to explore, this album is a remarkable effort by Little Dragon as they begin to finally reach their full potential.

It's not a complete return to form, but it's a reminder that even later in the journeys, all-time greats' talent and dedication to their craft can still yield impressive results.

The instrumentals on ye capture the essence of its marquee artist--the contradictions, the abrasive sudden shifts in tone, the blistering flaws and the bounty of positive potential. If West had better delved into his emotional and psychological turmoil in ye's lyrics, instead of getting bogged down with click-baity asides, then this LP would've been a classic.

History admittedly feels a bit forced in spots, working too hard to set the mood, instead of letting things happen organically.

While this album isn't likely to draw in a lot of new listeners, it's a well-crafted record that provides a fresh soundtrack of ultra heavy, doom-based brutality.

It's a heartening LP, both because of the top-notch, life-affirming beats throughout, along with the renewed vigour in the voice of a man who clearly takes nothing for granted now that he's on the mend.

The once nitty-gritty production that better helped listeners live in Sheer Mag's retro world has been tidied up. Having polished up so much that the line between self-awareness and cliché is stretched thin, it's hard to tell whether a concept has been burrowed or held hostage all together. In many ways, the charm is gone. Thankfully, a song like "Hardly to Blame," finds ways to make the best of less-than-ideal situations.

At times the music meanders a little, especially as the album comes to a close with the title track, but hats off to the band for pushing themselves on Visions of a Life.

It's a bold start to another chapter in TesseracT's existence, who will only benefit from having all the pieces back in their rightful place.

Overall, Uncovered stands up as much as you could want a cover album to; Colvin puts her own folk spin on things and keeps that sound strong throughout.

Calling Gigaton a return to form is a matter of expectations: diehards will claim they never faltered, while fans who checked out 20 years ago, when things got weird, will find lots to like but little to love. Perhaps the most notable group likely to be inspired are Pearl Jam themselves; too long in the rock hinterlands, the band finally seem reacquainted with their creative powers.

The rest of Soft Connections floats along very pleasantly with some pretty songs, all featuring shimmering guitar and nice melodies, but ultimately not a ton of hooks.

What this album does extremely well, though, is convey the emotional reality of the protagonist using these moody electronics and tempo changes.

Sure, some of the performances aren't perfect, at times sounding downright ragged and sloppy, but that's the glory of a loud, fast and sweaty live punk rock show, here captured in all its glory as the band plough through songs from all eras of their history, finding the common thread between the old basement-punk anthems and the slick arena-punk rockers of later years in a shockingly profound manner.

There is certainly plenty here to explore and enjoy on Carry Fire, but a sparser and more melodic approach next time out would be welcome.

A Written Testimony is a solid effort that makes good on promises set by Electronica's earlier work: thumping, vintage beats; dense rhymes that shimmer with vivid imagery; clever references to the Nation of Islam.

There are definitely kinks: certain moments on this EP are disjointed and muddled, as the band throw loose riffs out into the ether and hope they'll stick, but the hooks and verve that made the band successful in the first place are still potent.

Paracosm floats by like a wonderful dream, from which only the most jaded music fan would wish to awaken.

Though it still flirts with the blues, soul and R&B that he's built his name on, the record has a country-fried warmth, coloured by slide guitar and Southern rhythms. That those Southern rhythms are played mostly by chintzy drum machine, that they're undermined by hip-hop-biting guitar samples or artificial horns, is the record's vaguely outlandish appeal.

There are moments here where she falls into a nice pocket that the listener might wish she'd remain in for a little while longer.

Though without some of the magic of his debut, Hakim's sophomore full-length shows that he is still full of genre-bending potential.

Shadow of the Sun is an intriguing journey; hopefully, given more time, Moon Duo will embark on some new adventures with even wilder results.

Where Darlings shows growth and change is in Drew's fine-tuning of his illustrious sound.

Eva Moolchan reaches new heights in her career on Happy Birthday, but not without encountering a few bumps in the road. Even at its questionable points, though, there is something beautifully refreshing about a new Sneaks album — Moolchan is having fun, and she doesn't care what you think about it.

Merchant has offered us a challenging, often starkly beautiful, collection.

While Bell boasted that The Industrialist is "Demanufacture-plus," it's not quite. However, at certain times, it does come pretty close.

While Good Woman is not the most notable stop on the Staves' journey, it retains all of their most delectable elements — heart-hitting harmonies, lovely melodies, and moments of lyrical spark — that have come to define their work.

While some results sound a little too much like a Speak and Spell, the compositions largely survive their robotic mutations, some even gaining new generations of melancholy and grayness via their detachment from the world of simple human emotion.

At its best moments ("Long Road," "Funeral in my Heart," "Fennario") Landry comes into his own, and the record feels deep, substantial. Too bad he lets himself slip from time to time into a mimicry that feels beneath him.

At this stage, both brothers realize they work better together, though SR3MM's unique format allows for a distinct look at the two very different parts of what make Rae Sremmurd tick.

The project hits a bit of a rut with "Rachel's Song" — an anachronistic cover of a Vangelis composition for Blade Runner — and the subsequent "Stardust," whose droning synth line and latent drum pattern ironically also give the impression of the film score for a sci-fi thriller, albeit an underbaked one. Fortunately, Tragic Magic rediscovers its rhythm on closing track "Melted Moon," a song written in response to the tragic wildfires that consumed much of Los Angeles last January.

The record starts to lose a little momentum near the end, and some parts of the record float by without registering much of an impression, but the highlights usually make up for this. Sometimes she gets too laidback for her own good, but St. Louis has enough charm to make the record work.

Kannon is Sunn O)))'s most sparse offering in years, but the experiment in meditative metal minimalism is more than capable of shooting listeners towards a higher plane of consciousness.

Unfortunately, while amo has moments of absolute brilliance, highlighted by "Nihilist Blues," "Ouch" and "Fresh Bruises," it feels like BMTH weren't ready to fully commit to either sound and, as a result, we're left with a mixed bag of tracks that offers a little something for everyone but never quite enough.

Although inconsistent at times, Special contains enough effusive catchiness and unapologetic positivity to make it an enjoyable summer listen.

Though it may seem as though she's yet to fully embrace her uniqueness in mainstream spaces, there are plenty of moments on Sucker Punch that suggest Sigrid is on her way.

It sounds like the kind of album Ryan Adams would enjoy. Whether or not you find that notion attractive will define how you feel about this record.

There are a few clunkers here. ... But these are minor complaints, and there's a masterpiece of a divorce album hidden in here.

The artist's seemingly unlimited reservoir of imagination and talent have allowed them to fuse years of musical tradition into a wholly singular sensibility encapsulated in these 18 finely hewn tracks.

They've returned with a refocused sound closer to '70s singer-songwriter fare from Carole King and Fleetwood Mac, a sound that supports Moore's thoughtful lyrics.

There's rarely a moment on Jonny that feels regressive — for the first time since the Drums' debut 13 years ago, Pierce has mastered a way to bare both his chops and his emotions.

Welcome To Mikrosector-50 is an album designed for front-to-back listening and, as such, is entertaining in a similar fashion to a movie or TV show, given its detailed plot and narrative style.

Choose Your Weapon is a solid groove.

Spitting Fire does an admirable job capturing some of the sodden, smoky tones and wild, wretched energy the band wield in a live setting.

The self-proclaimed "Genius, idiot" succeeds for the most part in moving out of his sonic comfort zone while toeing the lyrical line between enlightenment and ignorance.

The three distinct movements on display lead into each other, as if in a singular narrative.

I Bet on Sky isn't the immediate winner that Farm was, but it's emphasis on tunefulness versus smack-you-in-the-face noise makes for a surprising winner and a pleasant late career left turn that gets better with each listen.

Belle and Sebastian aren't making a grand statement here; rather, more than seven years on from their last proper LP (2015's Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance), B&S are honing in on some of their signature styles and making an album that sounds quintessentially like themselves.

While this is an album with no shortage of ambition, and one that will certainly make demands on its listeners, their patience will certainly be rewarded by the multitudes that Quelle brings forth on Guns.

While not nearly as exploratory of space as his stunning work with Supersilent and Christian Wallumrod, this release is near-perfect winter night listening.

A modest five-song EP, from its pared-down arrangements to its monochromatic album cover, Silent Hour/Golden Mile is a surprisingly cohesive release that begs for repeat spins.

The melodies can blur into one another and some tracks don't stand out, but Rock and Roll Night Club is so ephemeral and addictive that you'll want to be making love in this club regularly.

Powers is a surprisingly sturdy comeback album that sounds exactly how you remember the Futureheads, and that, at least for nostalgia's sake at least, isn't a bad thing at all.

Tweedy has become a master of subtlety in the studio and the blending of instruments and voices is seamless. Above it all is Staples' unassailable conviction.