From the lonesome synth pop of 2016's Pool and 2018's The House to 2020's hyper-Auto-Tuned Ricky Music to the freewheeling indie rock of All Day Gentle Hold ! — Shirt is an intoxicating feat.

The record is just playing true to form for the veterans, proving that the beast is back with teeth bared and a few more tricks up its hairy sleeves.

It's this constant dynamic of push-pull throughout that makes Ancient Future a compelling listen.

A kaleidoscope of wonder, moments tucked inside other moments like Russian nesting dolls.

While the songs on If I Am Only My Thoughts feel gradual and soft, the album nevertheless contains a form of passionate songwriting, catering to feelings of hopefulness and longing.

High Noon showcases Arkells' lofty ambitions, and while it might not be their defining record it's another intriguing step in their evolution.

The cumulative result of these exploratory tracks is a meditative collection that stays true to Submotion Orchestra's house background despite exploring new auditory combinations.

Nihilistic chugging riffs permeate the album from beginning to end, thundering away and drilling a particular tempo into your head. But this repetition isn't served by the sort of groove that previously was a keystone to Electric Wizard's sound.

The project is packed with enough ammunition to hit that mark.

There's a lot to like about Songs My Friends Wrote, especially the way it celebrates lesser-known tunes — but unfortunately, not a lot of the charm and wit that Corb Lund fans have come to love.

FIDLAR have expanded their sonic palette on a record that seems destined to be appreciated more with time.

The album's ten dirty bass, hydraulically placed rhythms come off like a more focused, implicit version of the Minnesota-born laptopper's previous work.

There are a few shining spots, some merely okay ones and an overall sense that K'Naan is savvy enough to play things on the safer side for now.

To The Recently Found Innocent explores welcome new directions; rather than messing with a good formula, Presley has opened up to new ways of approaching it.

The strongest moments on IX, like on any of the band's albums, are those that manage to create a vast rock sound by building elements up to impressive climaxes before bringing them crashing down.

Regardless of your level of faith or denomination, the 19-track album is accessible enough from a craft and sanctified standpoint. Whether it's for interpolations of Kanye tracks like "Fade," with "Follow Me – Faith" — itself a gospelized riff off the classic house track by Aly-Us — or for a new take on "Ultralight Beam," off 2016's The Life of Pablo, there's a lot here to vibe off of.

It’s contagious; every song sounds like a party

Hypnophobia is a beautiful, and sometimes tragic, look into the mind of a talented and tortured artist.

Summer 08 may not have been designed to build on the success of Love Letters and The English Riviera, but it still very well may; it's every bit as resourceful, offbeat and pleasing as anything Mount has done to date.

Given how commanding Powerhouse comes off thematically, there are unfortunately moments that simply don't work musically. ... But for its few flaws, Powerhouse is nonetheless rewarding, as Rostron has never sounded so raw and inventive, leaving listeners with the imperfect must-hear album of 2018.

More polished than 2012's Zeros, Deeper is fuller, fatter and puts more emphasis on its futuristic electronic elements than its nostalgic ones.

The production values mean that, even though Powers' reverent anthems aren't a huge departure from what he's done in the past, the results have added gravitas.

Oyamada's work as Cornelius over the past 20 years has defied genre, logic and time; on Mellow Waves, it sounds like he's on cruise control.

Coco Hames is a skilful debut that explores the softer angles that the Ettes' last effort hinted at, trading in the spark-plug energy of Hames' former band for a more reflective flavour of songwriting. Luckily, her talent and enthusiasm for her craft are as strong as ever.

GØGGS is great, but if this band plans on growing and not just putting out another "let's bring back '80s punk, shall we?" record (not that there's anything wrong with that), they'll have to get a little weirder and wilder on their next release.

It's clear that Jonathan Wilson's naked ambition has reached a zenith, for better and for worse, with Rare Birds.

While Buckner's songs can be awe-inspiring (just ask Bon Iver's Justin Vernon), Surrounded, like its most recent predecessors, requires closer attention in order to fully appreciate.

On As If, !!! show that they've still got ideas, leaving listeners with one of the most enjoyable, if schizophrenic, dance albums of the year.

Tividad's sun-kissed vocals, on top of the slow, dreamy instrumentals all over What Chaos Is Imaginary, makes the record feel cinematic. The drone-like voice complementing the vibration of heavy buzzing bass will make you slip in and out of reality.

Los Campesinos!' brief hiatus has resulted in one of their strongest releases to date; Sick Scenes is an eloquent testament to the triumphs and trials of adulthood.

A well-rounded and buoyant album, Down in Heaven is Twin Peaks' most mature work to date and a satisfying listen, even if it lacks some of the urgency that made their past work so thrilling.

Despite its heavy subject matter, Rispah remains an eminently listenable release; it's proof of that somewhat clichéd adage that pain fuels great art.

While it would be easy to lose oneself behind a wall of genre tropes in a project like this, Smith's easy breezy, man-out-of-time persona stays front and centre on each of these 15 tracks.

The connection between Hatfield and Caws makes Get There a great pop album that will appeal to more than just fans of both participants.

As tracks like the bombastic slow jam "Ascension" and the Drive soundtrack cast-off "Disclosure" add a bit of auditory depth to the album, much of Chiaroscuro runs at a dreary autopilot pace.

The problem is that Earle's melancholy has taken primacy over his songwriting, which is uncharacteristically generic here, making this subdued and plodding release a career low.

An album that leads the listener through a grim landscape punctuated with urgency and violence.

As a debut, it perfectly captures the band's personality and sound: captivating, incomparable and deliciously unique.

Conscious is merely competent--never truly exciting.

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.

With the cohesive and captivating Morning After, dvsn have used soothing vocals and layered beats to paint a sonic portrait of modern R&B.

Not an album you'd crank up at a summer patio party, but a quietly compelling work.

Fujita is a rare talent and Book of Life should announce him to a much wider audience as a vital composer with a unique voice, one I hope and expect we'll hear grow and evolve for many years to come.

Merton shows great confidence in her abilities as an artist across her debut record, without losing her sense of fun.

Lee Ranaldo/Jim Jarmusch/ Marc Urselli/ Balázs Pándi is an egoless collection of ideas from four musicians who sound like they've been working together for an eternity.

Both his darkest and cheerful record to date.

No Age's latest is not ground-breaking, but it doesn't need to be. It's an enjoyable rock record from a pair of sonic auteurs whose instincts for DIY noise-punk are as strong as ever.

Fancy Some More? is a lot of fun. It leans further into the '90s/noughties than its predecessor, intensifying its jungle and D&B undercurrent while also adding some Madchesterian flavour with SEVENTEEN's mix of "Illegal."

We All Want the Same Things won't quench the casual fan's thirst for new drunken bar rock anthems, but for those willing to listen a bit more closely (and quietly), Finn's solo work still provides some stories worth hearing.

They would have been wiser to trim more of the fat from the 12-track, two disc affair. In comparison to Death Magnetic's thrash-first approach, Hardwired features more mid-tempo material reminiscent of the band's divisive Load/Reload years, which bogs down the record's second disc in particular.

The results are sporadic and schizophrenic, in the sense that it's hard to pinpoint a solid foundation within the album, and easy to get lost in its infectious melodies.

Sure, he did appear on a Tame Impala remix last year, but few could have expected such a vivid and exploratory psych album as Let's Start Here.

Låpsley has expressed a fondness for writing sad songs, and while there's a pervasive melancholy to Long Way Home, it remains both accessible and sonically explorative throughout.

There are few surprises in Roosevelt's brand of dance music, but that seems decidedly the point; the synapses it triggers feel like the most welcomingly comfortable sort of sparks, firing on familiar-but-welcome cylinders.

Deer Tick are so wonderfully straightforward and stripped of all self-importance that Deer Tick Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 manage to make up for lost time without compromising any of the acute writing or boisterous energy the band are known for. The records aren't epic returns to form that beg to be lauded; rather, they feel like four guys remembering how much fun it is to make good music.

The Stoned Immaculate is just Curren$y at a higher grade, if you will.

Mileage on the more pastoral, slow tunes may vary, but bar italia are now a band in flux: they've mastered the chaos, and here is their first, true attempt to merge the hypnagogic impulses of their early efforts with the choleric punk of their present.

Guv I [was] an all-around more solid record, making Guv II feel a bit more like leftover parts than an essential second act — but Cook's knack for songwriting is nonetheless clear. At the very least, this sequel is an extra show of musical prolificacy and a good portfolio-stuffer with which to chase more work as a hired gun.

ANTI is perhaps her most complete and confident record to date.

It's a gritty, soulful sound that holds The Solution together, seemingly aspiring to be nothing more than "Boot Camp meets Little Brother": familiar and stress-free for an audience seeking a vintage feel in their hip-hop.

Paradise is a record with a big personality that demonstrates how much your integrity as an artist informs your music and why that slippery qualification separates someone like Hood from the legions of lesser producers out there.

This Too Shall Light is Amy Helm's second album outside of her group Ollabelle, proving further that risks pay off when you put your soul into it, and even within the unfamiliar, there is always light.

Where Black Is the Color was a debut of haunting folk-noir, Deluxe Hotel Room is a collection of emotive ballads that reveal an artist on the go who isn't afraid to make space for herself.

Where it stumbles as a concept record, it only sometimes succeeds as an art-rock record. As it turns out, an important idea does not an important album make.

"Let's Rock" is stripped-down, straightforward and ultimately, a blast. Not a single track meanders past the four-minute mark, bringing the band's best to the forefront: Fun jams chock full of Big Riff Energy.

A Folk Set Apart demonstrates not just his punk rock side, but all of the many facets McCombs has shown over the years. It would be an odd place to start your voyage of discovery, but then odd is kind of McCombs' middle name--so wander in.

While it can be a pretty heavy and involved listening experience at times, Undying Color should more than satisfy long-time fans and impress connoisseurs of avant-garde/ambient music.

It's a solid, long overdue return of one of America's great rock'n'roll bands.

As an album, YU feels like a body of work sewn together with interludes, hooks and a growing maturity. Lowe has made a statement by developing inward musings into grooves that reach toward new audiences, the heart at the centre of her work audibly beating.

Nothing here quite scratches the itch of both emotional catharsis and rapturous splendour the way Arcade Fire's best songs do, but after a few initial attempts at capturing our collective panic and frustration, they have finally managed to pull it off by seeing themselves as part of the problem, by putting themselves in the line of fire, and by sharing the coping strategies and counterarguments that get them through and putting them into song.

On Vapor City, Machinedrum steers clear of dramatic style makeovers, opting to focus on sharpening his craft while leaving the listener with a collection of songs that operates on pure magnetism and unbridled confidence.

Though it's no surprise that Cole's consciousness leads the album, his unabashed statements regarding the direction of rap music and its current megastars are gutsy.

Technically flawless, but focused to a fault, Albert Einstein is further proof that Alchemist could benefit from a mistake.

If you don't love Kweli, Gravitas won't change your mind, but lifelong fans will definitely find a lot to appreciate on this slight but enjoyable album.

While it doesn't offer up any game changers, it does provide a snapshot of Kompakt's eclectic and, ultimately, satisfying vision of electronic music in 2015.

Superorganism easily meets and exceeds the hype surrounding this talented group.

While Filthy might not be soundtracking any pool parties this year, it is one of the most vital releases of the summer.

To Live Alone in that Long Summer is an elegant, contemplative album that thankfully bears little trace of its long gestation.

This year's Club Nites is more approachable than last year's Seeing Green, but that doesn't make it any less loose and unfettered.

Sad Hunk captures the band's lively chemistry, proving that five albums in, Jurvanen and company are still finding ways to make "something new for all of you with some old refrain."

Fishing for Fishies is the freest the band have sounded in a while, and the record is all the better for it.

While the noticeable shift away from death metal may discourage some, Coma Ecliptic succeeds in pushing Between the Buried and Me's creativity in a new direction, avoiding a simple rehash of their winning formula.

Ducktails have an expert ability to create a dreamlike sound; hopefully, the next record will be bolstered by a few more memorable songs to make it a dream worth remembering.

Dead Start Program as another dependable collection of quality techno that will satisfy his fan base, even if it fails to bring in new ears.

Everything's Beautiful, indeed.

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

Yes, Pianoworks does have its beautiful moments of levity; Cooper is great at that. But the experience of listening to it feels very passive. It's happening, but you, the listener, are not so much involved as you are just in the vicinity. It doesn't wrap you up and envelop you the way Eluvium works often do.

Much of what set WU LYF apart from other UK pop-rockers has been dulled to match their ambitions and ages. It's maximalist minimalism (or is that minimalist maximalism?) at its most heartfelt and bland, similar to other heartsick stadium "rockers" like Coldplay and Imagine Dragons.

Although Apparat has expanded his sound with help from his friends, LP5 stands as a singular achievement.

There's so much going on throughout each of these nine songs that it's hard to take it in all at once, yet whether it's because of time shared or friendship and family connections, the performances are in perfect sync.

No mere addendum, it lives up to the high bar set by Hynes, while giving us a small, but significant, glimpse into his process.

Snaith's work is meaningful, and it pushes music forward in a way that's genuinely exciting.

An easy 12-track listen with smart, if not epic, storytelling and a variety of sounds.

Between her typically deft hooks, the thematic cohesion and the efficiency of it all (five songs, 20 minutes), Love is Free marks another gem in Robyn's recent, diamond-studded catalogue.

With Where Does This Door Go, Hawthorne's falsetto-inflected voice has become more commanding, his production more intriguing and his indie-soul aspirations have morphed into mainstream ambitions.

For Now I Am Winter is a record of intimate beauty and Arnór Dan's R&B-inspired vocals, which bear at least a passing resemblance to Ango or How To Dress Well, work surprisingly well in these sparse yet complex and layered compositions.

This final track ["Aura Aura"] manages to rein in all the restless energy found throughout The Wink and transform it into a beautiful, warm sound that sends you on your way, all the better for experiencing it.

The atmosphere of Lo Moon, which melds gloom with instrumental experimentation and a welcome pop sensibility, has gifted listeners with a record that stands apart. It's got a glow all its own.