Once adjusted to the band's change in dynamics, you're left with the distinct feeling that this is perhaps their most engrossing effort since the Young Team's debut.

Though a bit of a slog at points, what could have easily been a 16-track collection of Griffin's ambition becoming his downfall, is a worthwhile look at the multifaceted nature of his musical brain. It's worth sticking around for.

By taking his time and falling in and out of love he ended up with I Know What Love Isn't, an album worth waiting another five years for.

The record smartly connects sound with weight and movement without ever having to coerce the listener with heavy guitars or mountains of feedback.

It's obvious he has a consummate ear for quality and potential. Listeners who share these sensibilities should be all over this release.

The end result is proof that traditional instruments can work incredibly well with electronics, although it might take two legends to pull it off.

From the prog-rock storm cloud of "Back to Rock," to the metallic disco stomp of "Worst Comes to Worst" and "C'est parce que j'm'en fous" or the slate grey dissonance of "Lead Sister," the record is a delirious reconfiguring of '70s and '80s pop textures.

Ghetto Gods was created through a plague and a racial reckoning. So, it's understandable that the fun factor and the tempo have been dialled down. Heavy is the pen. Still, when those heroic ghosts and EarthGang pop in synchronicity, the music is downright out of this world.

The first half of the album is presented with the clean and stripped down grain of early Karate songs, but the feel is less their trademark over-caffeinated tension and more suburban dad that used to be in punk bands jamming to Thin Lizzy songs with his buddies in the car port. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's not very remarkable either.

Lyrically and sonically, Ruins helps First Aid Kit gives listeners a mature, realized and often heartbreaking version of this young band's oeuvre.

There's something inexplicable about Purity Ring's marriage of Montrealer Corin Roddick's haunted, bass-heavy hip-hop-tronic production to Haligonian Megan James's prim alto croon, something that transcends what is traditionally accepted as "good" music.

IDLES are at their best when they know their limits and play to their strengths.

Fiddle, accordion and plenty of steel guitar frame her pure voice, while the fact that this was recorded over just two days helps account for the freshness of the sound.

Stunt Rhythms is by far an auditory treat.

for fans that have been waiting for a new chapter in the sound of the Flatliners, look no further than Dead Language; it speaks much louder than anything they've done previously.

The first two-thirds of this album are nearly flawless.... There are a couple of stumbles down the backstretch, though.

There is eloquence to this anguish, and it is an awful and lovely thing.

These re-workings reaffirm her as a tour-de-force and an example of a truly one-of-a-kind musician whose music stands at the crossroads of high art and popular music.

The resemblance between J.D. Wilkes and the Legendary Shack Shakers is presumed, but Wilkes fixes his mistakes in After You've Gone with Fire Dream.

A committed listen to O'Rourke's latest iteration reveals the piece to be understatedly eloquent, its movements and progressions restrained yet effective.

Returning to their signature twinkling arpeggiated synths on the bulk of the record's nine chunky tracks, the band hearken back to a pre-Merriweather AnCo era, serving up some of the most accessible and least jarring tunes from the full ensemble since 2009 (save for 2020's Bridge to Quiet EP).

With no shortage of hooks and crescendos, Wonderland continues to revel in the spirit of TTA, demonstrating more greatness by this industry anomaly.

Taken on its own, in an era where most artists make albums a third of its length, the EP feels like a daunting endurance test. But the deeper you dig into Perverts and Ethel Cain's world, the more rewarding the experience.

The result is an adventurous but inconsistent affair that suggests Clams Casino has plenty of ideas — and perhaps his masterpiece--still in him.

Mechanically, the hooks that adorned Shadow of a Doubt are largely absent, though Gibbs' increased attention to melody that was displayed on the aforementioned 2015 LP remains.

The album's ability to blend genres results in an unique and alluring archive of sound — a strong coming-out party for the Baltimore native.

There's a lot to unpack here, and as a result, SweetSexySavage feels a bit overstuffed at times; numbers like "Thank You" and "Hold Me By the Heart" are expressive in nature but aren't lasting. But by getting intensely personal, Kehlani adds a human side to the recordings that's multilayered and unapologetically self-determined.

Arctic Thunder is an honest, heavy and crushing effort.