Whether the band chose to do so to demonstrate their virtuosity, or merely their indecisiveness, has yet to be shown. Regardless, Collector is inspiring in its scale and complexity.

This project is the high energy expected by a mare balancing sugar and spice just in time for the hotties — Megan's fan club — to warm up to for the summer.

Silver Landings shows Moore unburdened and the joy she finds in being honest is both heartening and inspiring.

If Clark maintains the marquee star promise she shows throughout Your Life Is a Record, swaths of the next generation's songwriters will long for her to cover their tunes, and daydream about following in her footsteps.

Starmaker is a world unbound by time and gravity, a fantasy borne of solar winds. If this is where country music is headed, we should all be so lucky to be invited along for the journey.

Though it still flirts with the blues, soul and R&B that he's built his name on, the record has a country-fried warmth, coloured by slide guitar and Southern rhythms. That those Southern rhythms are played mostly by chintzy drum machine, that they're undermined by hip-hop-biting guitar samples or artificial horns, is the record's vaguely outlandish appeal.

There's some really great songwriting on the album and a handful of tracks worth adding to your daily rotation, but it viciously grabs your attention without being able to hold onto it for very long.

Lauv has definitely established his own niche. Maybe it's only a matter of time before he becomes one of pop's biggest acts, but for now, ~how i'm feeling~ confirms that he's doing fine looking in from the out

This record is an artefact of the finest quality released to keep our ears cool and hearts throbbing, whether our future brings endless summer or nuclear winter.

Part one of Sumney's smart double feature proves that art is everywhere — even in the drab hues that exist between extremes.

The artist's seemingly unlimited reservoir of imagination and talent have allowed them to fuse years of musical tradition into a wholly singular sensibility encapsulated in these 18 finely hewn tracks.

Rose shines a disco light on shame, lets panic leap into a bouncing gait that's faked-till-it's-made. And though she masterfully wields the absurdity of hubris, she also doesn't ridicule what she finds. She asks the misfits of the human psyche what they want and what scares them, and gives them a whole floor to do their dance. They laugh together, let loose and sweat off their blush.

Expectations is a nearly flawless record; Katie Pruitt will have to work hard to top what she has achieved here.

Heavy Light, the remarkable new record from Meg Remy's U.S. Girls project, is a scavenger hunt for these elusive pasts — music devoted to reflection and retrospection. ... Never before have her narratives felt so personal and resonant.

This is an inspired album and potential goldmine of samples for future generations.

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.

Unrefined and uninhibited, Fungus II is a visceral journey through layers of chaos that refuse to be subdued. Wasted Shirt's first record makes it clear that the two have teamed up to indulge their impulses and then blow them up.

With their songs, Ratboys document an ongoing search for stability amid a feeling of unstoppable motion and upheaval — whether that means finding a shoulder to lean on, a memory to relive, or a place that really feels like yours. But if being Ratboys is as much fun as "Alien With a Sleep Mask On" sounds, that's some good company to have along for the ride.

Despite the lesser tracks on the record, Forward Motion Godyssey is a strong sophomore attempt from Post Animal. The band still have yet to truly define their unique identity, but as they are now, they are one of the stronger genre-bending psychedelic rock groups around.

This is perhaps Krauter's best work yet, as their artistic project comes into sharper focus.

The trio showcase their curiosity and inventiveness to create dark, deranged atmospheres that are simultaneously appalling and beautiful. Even with its lack of live drums or guitar riffs, Grave of a Dog is bound to keep listeners up at night.

The Main Thing is a warm, inviting record that slots nicely into the band's catalogue, and should reward fans of the Real Estate's understated yet powerful songwriting.

For more than 20 years, Snaith has displayed a rare versatility and ability to keep things fresh. Suddenly is no different.

A darker and more complex record, it displays a newfound maturity in Allison's arrangements and a decidedly higher set of stakes.

The group made a conscious decision to experiment and give more of themselves rather than a rinse and repeat of what's worked before. 7 smartly makes the decision to focus on exactly what makes BTS special: its members.

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.

That's right: sonically, thematically, lyrically — on every level, Royce gives The Allegory his all. And the result is the best LP yet in his 20-year-strong career.

Cape God does such justice to the patented Allie X sound, refining and mastering it to the extent that it makes all that came before it feel like a proof-of-concept for this project. Pulsing keyboards clashing against string instruments and met with intoxicating vocals, Cape God sees Allie X reach her final form.