This is the band's best yet.

No Joy sounds far more artful and ambitious than anyone would have expected from this band a few years ago.

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

Strange Ranger's music rambles along in sync with our inner thoughts — joyful and cheery, but at times full of doubt and overthinking. There are no definitive conclusions on Remembering the Rockets, but instead an analysis of friendships, relationships and everything in between, letting it all spill out in an extensive afterthought.

What makes C'est ça such a triumphant return for the band lies in just how damn listenable Fly Pan Am make it all come off, giving fans something much more adventurous and challenging than simple nostalgia would ever allow.

The result is remarkable consistency across 19 tracks. Indeed, Yes Lawd! is an album best appreciated with complete play-through.

Let's Cry and Do Pushups at the Same Time seems to be Wyatt's way of reconciling his vast repertoire of influences and his many interests into one concise package, and on that idea alone, the album is a success.

Mid Air champions feeling and shared connection. You'll remember it for a long while.

They're firing on all cylinders on Whiteout Conditions, working as one to deliver their most cohesive--and one of their best--albums to date.

That image of her — other people's perceptions — have always haunted her work, but near the end of Bloodless, on "Proof," Samia takes control of the narrative. As she confronts being loved "like a child's toy or cigarette" atop the descent of a warm yet aloof finger-plucked acoustic guitar line, she's at her most powerfully direct and poetically impact.

The Place I Left Behind is another wholly satisfying album that builds upon past successes and carries the band forward as one of the country's finest roots acts.

Pharmakon's devouring is whole and ugly, but it carries a rewarding narrative about the importance of suffering — we're eating ourselves alive, but we're also becoming stronger for it, each act of self-cannibalization and each listen to this album more like a single coil in an upward spiral of transcendence than a snake eating its own tail.

Castle is the lone musician on Monarch Season, playing guitar, piano and harmonica, and the songs thrive in this quiet.

On TYRON, slowthai sounds more together and present than ever.

It's a leap of faith, a self-assured reinvention, and a testament to Parks' chameleonic staying power.

It's obvious for his fans he's making the music he's set out to create and when he's taken strategic measures to please the mainstream. But luckily for his avid listeners, K.R.I.T. almost entirely does the former here, upholding the funky, southern-psychedelic rap that his fans turn to him for.

Fans will be deeply impressed with the improvement of their songwriting and the record's cohesion, while totally satisfied with the energy and muscle they employed to execute their vision.

A veritable three-course meal, Knight's refined palate and keen attention to detail make Each Other a well-paced, flavourful experience that ends too soon, but lingers long afterward.

Swear I'm Good at This is an assured debut with a unique voice, one that finds humour in catharsis and catharsis in humour.

Unpatterns straight-up works.

Baby Grand is a wide-screen, psych-pop gem that continues to realize his potential in rewarding ways.

On their return, they sound wiser and refreshed.

With Blackstar, Bowie has made a record that fits comfortably within that legacy while reasserting himself as an artist that continuously makes challenging and rewarding music.

Vampire Weekend have never taken themselves too seriously (they've had plenty of critics to do so instead), and now that they're mostly unburdened from the narratives of their past, Father of the Bride finds them at their most relaxed, jovial and inviting.

What makes Hundreds of Days such a engrossing listen lies in the way Mary Lattimore flawlessly combines both mood and mode.

Taking all of 99.9% into account, it's really no wonder that Kaytranada has become one of the most sought-after producers these days. This will surely mark yet another, even weightier, launchpad for Kaytranada to head skyward, out towards that much-fabled 100%.

On Strangers, Nadler seems to have her perfected her craft, adding even more confidence to keep her winning streak alive and well.

The result, while a bit surprising, is entirely satisfying.