On Is 4 Lovers, the pair have settled in and settled down, both in their lives and to their own sound.

Walker is an exceptional blues artist at a time when there are few left, but on Hellfire, despite its volume, he comes off as frustratingly average.

Sure, they sound more focused and professional on Do Not Engage, but they have done that on every album they've released.

More tempered and melancholy than on most of his Fruit Bats output, Johnson's writing owes some comparisons to fellow rockers turned film scorers like Jon Brion and Nathan Larson.

If Snoop could just cut his track lists in half and focus on well-crafted party songs, the Doggfather might just find himself back on top.

Massey Fucking Hall captures Japandroids in this unique (for them at least) setting at the peak of their powers.

Rogers rises to the occasion, making herself and her mixture of emotions the anchor of songs whose music moves at an unending pace.

Production and keys aside, Turkey isn't much of a departure for Krol, but it may finally get him the recognition he deserves on the higher-profile Merge Records.

Weak spots include "Superfresh" and "Hot Property," staid disco-pop ditties offering outdated synth and vocoder machinations. But overall, Automaton is inspired, experimental and timeworn.

The songs are engaging and incredibly catchy, but lack emotion ― that intangible quality that will take this feel-good record and give it staying power.

Although new listeners may find this brand of new wave revival frivolous in such an oversaturated pool of sound-alikes, longtime fans, or those who listen close enough, will hear a band who has a little more weight beneath the surface than their contemporaries. Songwriting that isn't always complementary, but bold nonetheless.

The band's albums with outgoing guitarist Josh Klinghoffer weren't bad, exactly — The Getaway in particular holds up quite nicely — but, when listening to Unlimited Love, there's a strong sense of everything falling into place and order being restored.

As an album, >> is twice as great as its predecessor.

Generations feature a magnitude of emotions, both raw and sincere.

There's a comfortable vibe that the project ease into, content to deliver serviceable lyrics over straightforward beats and nothing more.

Black Radio 2 will leave fans hungry for Black Radio 3.

Fans of King Gizzard's earlier material may have trouble stomaching the bubbly nature of Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, but just as fellow Aussie psych band Tame Impala did with Currents, sometimes you simply need to take a chance and put out something unexpected--that the flutes on nearly every track end up working is just icing on this sweet cake.

His latest is an unhurried flow of ambient piano pieces that, despite the implications of the title, are only momentarily dark and far from risqué, perhaps at times more suited for those soft intimate moments made for two, or most certainly personal reflections made for one.

It's unfortunate, really, since without any of that baggage [professional separation], The Civil Wars stands as a powerful and haunting collection that exemplifies Nashville's current fixation with slickly updating traditional themes.

Asmara, Gaika, Bon, Baby Caramelle and Nunu all make contributions to the disc, as do rappers K-$ and K-Rizz. Too often, they're at cross-purposes. The album is so lacking in continuity that it fails to sustain either a groove or the listener's attention.

Romance still relies on a structure that is becoming increasingly irrelevant, which ultimately overshadows many of the album's redeemable moments.

Throughout the record, Romano truly embraces mysticism in his lyrics, and throws the idea of form and structure out to sea. It can be overwrought at times, as Romano stretches the seams of certain songs with oft impenetrable lyrics and perhaps a surplus of instrumentation.

It's a tighter and more motorik album than 2018's Modern Meta Physic, and the band sound as though they've locked more fully into the shape they're meant to take — hooky, harmonic rock that seems to glow softly from within all the noise. It's an enveloping, oddly comforting soundtrack to troubled times.

Cudi sparkles in the first two acts. ... While satisfying, the most endearing and powerful standout moments appear in the third and fourth acts.

While he seems outshone by his flashier co-stars on much of Ronin at first, repeat listens find his well stoked lines smouldering for far longer than you'd think.

Not just for Dave Matthews Band fans, Ryley Walker's The Lillywhite Sessions is a reminder that taste is subjective, timing is everything, and you don't always choose the ones you love.

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 balance between abstract, synthetic noise and soothing, organic timbres is remarkable; it literally feels good to hear, like a conscious meditation.