With Autobiography, Jlin shows she might be incapable of creating anything less than brilliant.

After being out of the spotlight for years, Marshall hasn't lost her style. Producing Wanderer entirely on her own, you get the sense that she has ventured into new territory. Artists like Cat Power have all been wanderers at some point, but she is the one in control here.

For all these hits, there are more than a few tracks that slide by without making an impression. While Lauber's work often transcends the sum of its competent if unremarkable parts, things can sound a bit rote and unimaginative when they don't.

Digital Garbage is as blunt as it is thoughtful and the songs here truly rip at a time when some seem keen to let civility and common sense rest in peace.

Parasol Peak is a remarkable project and an auditory feat; you're unlikely to hear a more ambitious album this year.

These 10 dark soundtracks fail to chart new territory. They're not bad; they're just not challenging or frankly all that interesting.

If Obey contains a fatal flaw, it's that it can't quite balance these old hallmarks with its new flourishes in a way that feels totally coherent. But like any work of capable termite art, it still manages to set a particular mood that digs its way deep under the skin.

Although Another Life may be borne from the unnerving question of whether the world will be saved or destroyed by technology, the music contained within is still hard-hitting, at times danceable, and infinitely entertaining.

Quiet River of Dust Vol. 1 is a mind-blowing and extremely powerful record filled with strong songwriting and production touches that show Parry at the top of his game. A truly effortless collection of songs worth revisiting for years to come.

Hecker's clever ability to shift and adapt is clearly on display with Konoyo. A dreamlike song cycle, the album is more than an extension of the grandeur of Love Streams. It's a refined, focused exploration of traditions both adhered to and transcended.

"Dream Dream Big in the Sky," with its pat chord structure and surprisingly mundane lyrics, is the album's only true misfire. On the whole, however, For My Crimes is another intricate, emotionally complex folk record. It's what we've come to expect from Nadler after all these years.

True to Elverum's artistic instincts, the record captures a moment in time that neither he nor the audience will ever be able to recreate, which is ultimately a blessing for everyone involved.

Metric have created from a point of questioning who they are as a band and what they have to give. Their new album is an exercise in dispelling that doubt.

This Too Shall Light is Amy Helm's second album outside of her group Ollabelle, proving further that risks pay off when you put your soul into it, and even within the unfamiliar, there is always light.

If Noname has one glaring weakness, it's a tendency to ramble without ever seeing the need to switch up her rat-tat-tat triplet flow. She does, though, have the rumpled, mellower-than-thou swagger to pull it off, and why complain when Room 25 is the prettiest rap record to come along in months?

In Another Life is a glorious return for Perri, an album that sits just outside of pop music. Any minor idiosyncrasies are downplayed by just how gorgeous and listenable these songs truly are.

On Infinite Moment, the Field proves that he's such a master of his craft that he can generate the same excitement from briefly moving outside the box as he can revelling back inside it.

Time will tell if A Million Dollars to Kill Me can match its predecessor--it hasn't quite for me--but its certainly another singular release in a career that's defined by them.

Sonically and thematically, the 48-minute downtempo project is impeccably cohesive, executive producers Singawd and Yakob tying a black bow on a deep list of contributing producers with brooding, layered synths and space to think. Auto-Tune appears heavily, and the guest list is firmly in the now.

Mountain Man cling to the ordinary, but are able to make it extraordinary.

Gave In Rest isn't just Sarah Davachi's celebration of ritual, it's a temple to her entire practice.

Some tracks, like "Doesn't Matter," are splendid on their own, without getting into a showy pop realm: what that song lacks in hooks, it makes up for with micro walls of sound and a choral climax, courtesy of some sublime layering. But others are better at a distance. ... Despite that, Letessier's evidently heightened confidence goes a long, long way on Chris, and its emotions and attitude pop with astonishing strength, even if the sound could afford to do so a little more.

The inevitable has caught up with O'Brien, who finds himself struggling to stay afloat on The Art of Pretending to Swim. The self-produced record dives into murky waters in an ambitious attempt to incorporate an electronic flair to an already complete set of folk tunes.

While Marked For Death felt more cathartic and Some Heavy Ocean felt more plaintive, there's no denying the emotional heft of On Dark Horses. This is another confident step forward by an artist who continues to dazzle us with new sides of herself.

By continuing to pare down their approach, Guerrilla Toss have crafted one of the year's most playful and beguiling pop records, an album that can claim a place with GT Ultra at the top of their catalogue.

That Richard Thompson has conjured these fascinatingly enigmatic yet clearly deeply personal words and melodies to match such refined, uncompromising music is a testament to his indisputable power as his generation's sturdiest warhorse.

The album is frustrating, with no middle ground, and the strengths don't quite make up for the weaknesses.

On Generation RX, Good Charlotte regain their connection with the Youth they claimed to be an Authority on by speaking to them, not at them. Funnily enough, focusing on darkness and dealing with it has provided them with a light to chase and pushed the gleam at the end of their tunnel farther into the distance.