If you need an entry point into an incredibly potent piece, Gibbons and company offer a take on Symphony of Sorrowful Songs that lingers.

The Road: Part II is doubling down at its finest. The sixth studio album from UNKLE is nothing short of a musical odyssey, and takes special care to bring back the prestige of the playlist. Split into two acts, Lavelle masterfully builds a beginning, middle and end to each section, moving "from light to dark, from brute force to tenderness" in a way that documents the highs and lows of being out on the road.

The album is somewhat lacking in range, but otherwise, Agora offers no evidence of compromise. If anything, Fennesz turned that bit of adversity into artistic license.

Side Effects is largely devoid of these big bombastic moments, save the seven-minute incision "NY Money" that centres the album. Nevertheless, White Denim hurtle through the record's nine songs (as brief as many of them are) at a pace that can't help but keep the listener engaged and excited for what comes next.

Fans of Animal Collective, Avey Tare and the psychedelic sound they are so strongly identified with will find much to enjoy here. On the other hand, Avey Tare cannot be said to be pushing boundaries or taking many risks here, other than on final track "HORS_," which shows hints of newer experiments into electronic music that could be developed further in the future.

Cohesive and eclectic, Ancestral Recall is a sonic expedition to remember.

With On the Line, she leans into the deeply personal, and gains a benchmark addition to her catalogue.

Although Apparat has expanded his sound with help from his friends, LP5 stands as a singular achievement.

Tracks like "Roses Are Falling" and "Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)" are solid entries to the classic country canon of Glen Campbell and Loretta Lynn, while his impressive vocal range helps keep the album varied. His breathy croon drives erotic lovers' ballad "Big Sky," while his formidable belted falsetto elevates "Winds Change" beyond mere Smiths pastiche.

Let's Try The After isn't a rehash, nor is it a rebirth. It's a move into the future by a group who know themselves. These songs are confident, seeking, and created of a love for communicating the essentiality of life--what better way to step into the unknown?

They're the kind of songs you pull out once a month as reassurance that the mundanity of normal life can be beautiful, and/or we are all in this together. That's true today and it will be true tomorrow.

From start to finish, GREY Area reveals a young rapper who has seen success in her career, but is still sorting herself out in her real life.

Blending themes of politics and modern science into his fashion of storytelling, My Finest Work Yet is a true tour de force.

Yes, most of us listeners won't understand the Nigerian Ibibio language lyrics that she assuredly bellows and purrs on grooving songs like "Nyak Mien," or "Kuka." But Williams' masterful delivery, not to mention the band's deft playing, more than get the point across throughout this fantastic album.

Juxtaposing the escape provided by club culture's immediacy with the harsh realities confronted in the lab, Significant Changes sets a reality check to something danceable, but its success is wholly reliant on Jayda G's balanced presentation and steadfast commitment to both missions, tonal shifts like "Orca's Reprise" providing chill-out wind-downs for the party while the club anthems provide some sorely needed release.

The steep conceptual angle imposes a significant hurdle on casual listening, but Treanor rewards engagement with hypnotic, off-centred rhythmic cycles, and elements like the Nauman sample only represent a small portion of the runtime (Lancaster's assertions fall off before the two-minute mark).

What emerges through this permeable landscape is an ecosystem all its own.

This album is an advancement rather than a return to form. Despite their previous effort struggling against the weight of the band's dormancy, this album is a moving experience that brings with it a sense of fading youth.

La Dispute are more or less doing what they've always done. They're just continuing the refining process, whatever that is, for better or worse.

Clean rock tracks that deliver an immediate high, while still growing and unfolding over repeat listens. Lyrically, It's Real relies on a brute force, if not a particular nuance.

Miss Universe is an intriguing and smoothly constructed record. Groove and melancholy exist simultaneously in Yanya's work, providing listeners with no single answer to the questions she poses.

What appeals to you about this Strand of Oaks effort will likely depend on which side of this spectrum you fall on--in the heartland or out in space. That's a divide that Eraserland creates, putting it somewhat out of sync with itself, but the title track brings those worlds together beautifully.

As temperamental as the band may be, for those willing to indulge the band's proclivities, High Anxiety is a highly enjoyable filth-encrusted bludgeoning and thrilling catharsis of angular grumping.

Un Autre Blanc leaves everything out there and sees him go out on top.

Punk is a huge step forward for CHAI, and easily one of the best albums of the year.

Lux Prima certainly isn't Karen O's most urgent or explosive work, but it all sounds exceptionally lovely.

On Plastic Anniversary, Matmos make a perfectly indestructible album from pure indestructible chaos.

Groove Denied isn't the game-changer fans hoped for, but it's also not the disaster Matador expected. It's just your average Stephen Malkmus album... now with more electronics!