It might not be groundbreaking, but it's the kind of album that easily stays in the car's CD player all summer long.

With Radiance and Submission, the Montreal musician attempts a serene matrimony of the two musical sides that struggles to strike a balance between stimulating and stale when it comes to the record's overarching sound.

You won't hear a more open hearted, impassioned and lyrically rich roots album this year.

Production-wise, the record includes what are easily some of the least memorable instrumentals that the trio has ever worked with in comparison to their catalogue of freeleases, though the continued emphasis on minimalism gives the rhymes room to breathe.

Whatever Scott has gone through on an emotional level, Woman finds her at a life stage where she seemingly maintains a balance between optimism and pragmatism, a worldly perspective that informs one of her strongest full-length efforts in a minute.

At ten tracks, Blood is a more focused and refined effort than 2012's Mercury Prize-nominated Is Your Love Big Enough?, building on what we've come to expect from Lianne La Havas and surprising us with new directions.

It may have taken a few years, a couple of misfires and a different stylistic approach, but Joss Stone has re-asserted herself with this fine effort.

Ducktails have an expert ability to create a dreamlike sound; hopefully, the next record will be bolstered by a few more memorable songs to make it a dream worth remembering.

Thomas Arsenault manages to convincingly combine his penchant for heart-on-your-sleeve lyricism and dance floor oriented-beats to craft an almost-perfect collection of nostalgia-tinged pop songs.

Where Donovan really soars is the quieter moments on the record.

VII: Sturm und Drang is the album that almost wasn't, but it's worth celebrating for the album that it is: another solid addition to the Lamb of God catalogue.

Seven Davis Jr's debut attempts to stay afloat on the strength of a few strong tracks, but ends up sounding stretched a little too thin.

As the ninth addition to the Wilco canon, Star Wars is a vessel for a few impressive tunes, another respectable--if just a little uninspired--step for a band that continues to unapologetically evolve

Great art isn't great art because it's easy, and this 90-plus-minute, five-act rock opera inspired by Stickles' experience with manic depression is absolutely worth spending the time with.

Infinite Dissolution is full of haunted love songs between a fallen city and the ghosts that inhabit it; it fills a void that I never knew existed until this unsettling, aching sound poured in.

Their Northwest hardcore sound may be derivative, but it represents the tendencies of its origins with convincing force, as their unrefined grunge tones and twangs almost make Subjective Concepts feel like an overlooked album from back in the day.

This seven-track effort switches things up ever so slightly; subtle twists of pace, cadence and lyrical content reveal a more introspective endeavour.

The majority of these beats hit to hurt, and though the emotional Future that listeners have come to know through past cuts "Throw Away" and "My Savages" has been dialled back, the honesty and vulnerability come through when it counts.

1973-1980 is a fitting, touching and extensive tribute to one of Africa's greatest musicians.

On LP, Container shows his ability to create a complete barnburner of an album in the least flashy and showy manner possible.

If nothing else, White Reaper Does it Again offers up a heady, enjoyable dose of nostalgia.

Among the paint-by-numbers tracks, Born In The Echoes has still got a couple of artful numbers peppered throughout.

Currents is melodic, pretty, but there's a pervasive sense of melancholy here; each uplifting track feels as though it's masking sorrow with shimmering synth, a teaspoon of sugar to help the medicine down.

This melodic emphasis, combined with a clearer compositional vision, is a welcome return to the style that made their earlier work so captivating.

Still walking the high wire, with Something More Than Free, Jason Isbell continues his streak of genre-defining masterworks.

It makes for a record with some distinct highs and lows; when it works, it is a lovely shimmering thing that amply demonstrates just how precious Flying Saucer Attack were and still are.

As a whole, the 16-track project is reverent, and pays respect to the musical icon. Whether this is an essential album is up for debate, but it's worth checking out for the heavy hitters that are on board.

Lucky 7 is at its best when Statik Selektah delves deep into his jazzier side as a producer, as tracks like "Beautiful Life" and "All I Need" affirm.