[The] few missteps evince the fact that Wale is finding himself again, treading through the high waters to realize his ambitions. And to that end, The Album About Nothing does more than enough.

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

The Lemon Twigs almost always use the kitchen sink approach on Do Hollywood, and it's pretty effective, too--there's nary a dull moment.

The only real drawback is that the album lacks the intrigue surrounding something as adventurous as their previous album. Daemon still has a lot to sink your teeth into, and fans of black metal and Mayhem should not miss out on it.

Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine achieves artistic exploration while maintaining the unmistakable hip-hop aesthetic without it feeling pretentious or forced.

Buoys requires repeat listens to appreciate fully, but those willing to dive deep enough will surely be rewarded.

Although it lacks the kind of Apple-friendly jingles that have made them such a smash, it makes up for it with palatably overarching political themes and sequencing that gives it the wildly entertaining feel of a circus show.

Pattern of Excel shows the latest brilliant incarnation of an artist who's sure to have many in the years to come.

Designed for finding communion with others while staying true to oneself, I Hear You touches the timeless with an ethos of openness, striking a vibrant and dynamic balance between familiarity and freshness.

Alvvays' debut feels like a warm and fuzzy memory, forging a deeper sense of nostalgia with each repeat visit.

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

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

That precarious balance between surrealism and sweetness, adept contributions and singular vision, and much more make I Made a Place feel like a must-visit destination — it's one of the best alt-folk albums to come out in years.

This will probably be labeled a folk-rock record, but at its core Elastic Days rocks.

With this fearlessly vulnerable, triumphantly anthemic album, Little Simz asserts herself among the queens of her genre--Janelle Monáe, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott and Erykah Badu. Stillness in Wonderland is a wonder to behold.

Standout tracks about abandonment/haunting ("Ghosting"), or the opposite ("Feel You More Than the World Right Now"), carry an elemental charge that dials right into a frequency of feeling that only the best crafted pop can discover.

Aside from a few less-than-strong features, Rap or Go to the League allows 2 Chainz, a veteran rapper, to use his powers to acknowledge a picture much larger than him--it's one that's rooted in his past, but is planting the seeds for the feature.

Despite its slightness, Broken Hearts and Beauty Sleep nonetheless shows Mykki Blanco as an artist with big ideas to go along with their big personality.

Despite the changes, many things remain the same, and fans can look forward to a solid third instalment.

Hamilton + Rostam synthesizes two distinct musicians for a sound that's ultimately greater than the sum of its parts.

This is energetic and essential listening.

Orchestra Baobab have truly mellowed with age--those expecting a rawer and urgent take on West African rhythms may come away disappointed--but Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng is a triumphant spin on their classic style.

It's a potent celebration of their past work and a capable endnote to the band's career, whether it truly is the their final release or not.

Through songs now considered longtime favourites, and ones that will now find wider audiences, Homegrown is now free to stand as a more organic, lovelorn harvest of the personal turmoil that influenced Young's revered mid-'70s output.

Compared to White's solo albums, Help Us Stranger feels like a low-stakes romp. And for a collaborative side-project, this is the best case scenario. White and Benson aren't trying to reinvent rock'n'roll, they're just bashing out some catchy tunes, and it's a blast to listen in on these old friends reconnecting.

Where Longstreth once isolated each of his artistic tendencies, he now seems more willing to let them occupy the same space, rubbing up against one another to create something altogether unique and truly joyous.

Real, Loveless's confident and poppy fourth album, builds on what Loveless and her band were doing on 2014's grittier Somewhere Else.

Metric have created from a point of questioning who they are as a band and what they have to give. Their new album is an exercise in dispelling that doubt.