While the album could be described as moody, and there certainly are dramatic shifts in mood throughout, there is also always the feeling of sunny skies above. The music conjures up the grit of the beach, the flow of the ocean, and the hot concrete below the unrelenting sun of the Pacific coast.

At times jovial and elsewhere solemn, Quickies is an anthology of flash fictions, thematically clashing against one another like "I've Got a Date With Jesus" and "You've Got a Friend in Beelzebub," yet otherwise twinning mischievously like "The Best Cup of Coffee In Tennessee" and "The Biggest Tits in History."

All Visible Objects is a welcome addition and one that offers a little bit of everything to everyone.

Though it lacks the alien opalescence of Charli's best record, how i'm feeling now contains a different sort of thrilling delirium. It's fun and sometimes silly, made on the fly and under a tight deadline. But it's desperate too — a frenzied call for release, an ode to the love that keeps us going, and further proof that no other pop artist today can make the digital sound so disarmingly human.

Paradise Gardens digresses ever so slightly from this aesthetic, at least initially, resulting in a slight identity crisis resolved by the strength of her newfound pop leanings.

With Reunions, Isbell unites the disparate aspects of his craft — soothing acoustic and fiercely electric; Hemingway's word economy dashed with Oscar Wilde-worthy asides, relatable details and otherworldly allusions. ... For listeners immersed in similar bittersweet nuances on a daily basis, there's no better musical accompaniment than Isbell's latest.

Lacks the clever subtlety of innuendos on songs like "Can I" (featuring Tory Lanez) and "F&MU." "Bad News," "Everybody Business" and "Open (Passionate)" are the album's standouts, showcasing elements of Kehlani's strongest contributions to music thus far, and highlighting her ability to make vulnerability a strength.

Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is an enormous, cavernous record – the kind that invites you to sit inside and let your fears and triumphs echo against its glittering walls. It's been a small marvel to witness the transformation of Mike Hadreas, and his latest offering is only more proof that he's an artist unlike any other working today, capable of opening doors to the unknown and illuminating new pathways.

Because of the tightly cohesive kick-off in the first couple songs, the remaining album feels slightly haphazard in comparison. ... PITH is an album that old and new listeners alike can sink their teeth into and ride out a season of summer days holed up in their bedrooms.

Two-dozen albums in, Sparks provide pleasing surprises. Unquestionably, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip is one of their most dynamic — and strongest — efforts.

It's not perfect – there's a spoken-word bit tacked on to the end that is less than satisfactory, but the lyrics aren't really the point here. This is a record that fills up a room and begs to be turned up loud.

Honus's lyrics are as fever dream as ever — "The Prettiest Song In the World" has a clergyman find Satan 69ing in a motel room — but the widened instrumental prowess across Dream Hunting gives a fresh edge to his words.

The album is perfectly suited for restless observation. It's like watching a sped-up time lapse of the tides, or nature evolving rapidly before our very eyes.

Petals for Armor is a musically strong, emotionally vulnerable album that finds her standing confidently as an artist in her own right.

The Mountain Goats really haven't gotten the attention they deserve over the past several years, so if you want to introduce someone to them, Songs for Pierre Chuvin is a fitting choice. It's a great example of the heart of the band.

Damien Jurado provides yet another quietly magnificent album. What's New, Tomboy? feels like a traveler finding new footing after a storm at sea.

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.

As an appetizer to hold over fans until his album drops this summer, Dark Lane Demo Tapes serves its purpose. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but that doesn't matter. This album is a hit, whether you like it or not.

For all its focus on breakups, love very much appears on the record. "How Did You Know?" uses light and layered synths to create air on the album and explore the feeling of hope found in a new love."

GLUE will appeal to fans of '90s alternative rock who are looking for more, but will continue to alienate Boston Manor's longtime pop-punk-loving fans.

It's a disorienting, manic, ambitious psychedelic statement filled with constant twists and turns, and this is both its biggest strength and most notable weakness.

One of the best records of their 30-year career. Neither prog nor doom, Katatonia sound like no one else.

Honest, clever and lively, Diet Cig's second record is a great juxtaposition: working through embarrassment and shame all while bouncing off the walls to the sound of sugary, cheery indie-punk. Do You Wonder About Me? turns worry and uncertainty into a celebration of being human.

Making a Door Less Open feels smaller than Car Seat Headrest's best work — not only in its sonic scope but in its lyrical content, now less insular and biting. Still, Toledo's talent for stirring melodies and intelligent song writing remain firmly intact, and he makes intriguing use of this new palette.

It's a sound we've come to know DaBaby handle on his own, but he invites industry peers like Quavo ("Pick Up"), Future ("Lightskin Shit"), YoungBoy Never Broke Again ("Jump") for the ride.

Oneiric Formulary may lack overall thematic consistency, and could benefit from Bishop letting loose a little more, but it's satisfying to hear a master of his craft putting his own stamp on some timeless sounds.

It's a tighter and more motorik album than 2018's Modern Meta Physic, and the band sound as though they've locked more fully into the shape they're meant to take — hooky, harmonic rock that seems to glow softly from within all the noise. It's an enveloping, oddly comforting soundtrack to troubled times.

Through For Their Love, Tabish and Other Lives as a whole re-engage with the outside world and analyze their sense of self worth. The inevitable vulnerability is morphed into a sense of strength and confidence, which adds another purposeful layer to the band's repertoire.