The album is all the more impressive because her words and music are meticulously calculated, expertly arranged and still filled with feeling.

As her own boss, she doesn't need to request "let me do one more" to anyone but herself — and across these 12 tracks, she quite literally owns every aspect of her sound.

This record is just as unique and innovative as each album before it. It's truly and honestly a breath of fresh air, it's just once again under the helm of the producer who fleshed out their unmistakable and haunting sound in the first place.

On Electricity, Ibibio Sound Machine manage to come across as enormously focused and imaginative while staying true to their wildly diverse, free-flowing modus operandi.

This is the album on which Daft Punk are truly and convincingly "human after all." And on this toweringly grand achievement, they've never sounded better.

Overall, soil is a courageous effort where serpentwithfeet's bravery pays off.

It is too early to call this the band's best work, as there is so much more to come from this band going forward. For a heavy album full of unexpected surprises, We Are Always Alone is an ideal second full-length from an up-and-coming band.

Shall We Go on Sinning So That Grace May Increase? is an journey of an album for The Soft Pink Truth, as emotional as it is adventurous.

Throughout, D'Agostino's words are intricate and so tangled in detail that the stories are obscured; it's more like flipping through a photo album without footnotes — you're not told the story, but you feel the impression it leaves on you.

Groovy and scintillating, but with depth and meaning to spare, In a Poem Unlimited is U.S. Girls--and pop music--at its very best.

On Is Survived By, they've outdone themselves.

Innocence is Kinky is by turns surreal and hyper-real, a Lynch-ian underworld of avant-pop, alt-lit poetry and potent sexuality.

With Forever, Code Orange have put together a record that few others in the genre would have the nerve to attempt making, and have found a number of ways to stay engaging across the set without losing any of their previous weight or momentum.

This is a fluid expression of both jarring and accessible concepts that hit you square in the jaw. And like the two previous albums, these Scots still sound like nothing else out there.

Despite a three-year hiatus, Claro Intelecto continues to generate quality, masterful releases.

This is the 11th album from the now 50-year-old, and may just be his best.

The album's only real shortcoming is that the Chris Motionless-featuring "Slaughterhouse 2," a sequel to the Garris-featuring original on Motionless in White's latest studio effort, feels slightly underwhelming in the shadow of its predecessor. It's a small misstep in an otherwise robust collection of songs.

Shore finds them exploring vaster range than before. No longer do they sound burdened by the need to commit to a particular mood; Pecknold sounds freer than ever to be himself.

The Damned Things explore a more alt side of rock'n'roll on High Crimes. One thing you can be certain of, however, is that the music is as intriguing as its unorthodox lineup would suggest.

A dozen listens to Train on the Island, the New Zealand songwriter's mesmerizing fifth record, will yield a dozen interpretations, a century's worth of pondering and re-pondering condensed into 40 minutes.

McMahon's most deeply personal work to date.

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.

The album is dripping with gritty, assertive synth work so gravelly and heady it plants itself deep inside you.

Accentuated by the pair's newly honed synchronicity and Carlile's expert production, the Secret Sisters' lofty ambitions for this record ring out clear and true.

Isolation works because Uchis displays impeccable command over her voice and her style. She bends genres to her will rather than allowing them to absorb her identity, making for an impressive effort that will only improve as it ages.

It's an emphatic step forward, a gorgeous album that, rather than running from it, reflects our fractured world back at us.

It's a new band, a new sound, but the same old, marvellous songwriting. It's a killer combination.

For both Bedhead fans and casual record collectors, Bedhead 1992-1998 is a fascinating (and comprehensive) look into one of indie rock's great forgotten acts.