While the mood is subdued and even brooding, this is a powerful album where you feel the story in each song.

It’s weird, ambitious and at times straight-up absurd; even as it settles for a vaguely more accessible and hook-heavy sound than previous efforts. It’s also, curiously, a bit of a slow starter, the songs getting well and truly better as it goes on.

He continues to fuse elements of hip-hop, R&B, funk, soul, and rock ‘n roll into his signature style. ... He’s won both of his Grammy for “Best Contemporary Blues Album” but his music is so different from most other entrants that he’s in a sense carving out his own genre.

Silver Tongue is an excellent collection of Scott’s strengths as a producer, performer and songwriter as her sounds run the gamut from modern pulsing anxious odes to open confessional natural pleas, each delivered with grace and ease.

The ten songs are all solid, however, the restrained feeling of the record, especially early on, results in an album more one-note than it should be. EX Hex still rock but urgency is primarily absent, keeping It’s Real from truly ripping.

[“Spinning My Wheels”], and the album as a whole, fit these odd times and the excellent song kicks off an album which slots in well with the band’s varied past offerings as Waterfalls II drifts into and out of psych, folk, late-night disco and jam band spiked arena rock.

Real Estate seamlessly ties in the esoteric with the relatable, landing on a short but powerful LP that simply asks you to question everything without demanding an immediate answer.

Their consistently unpredictable high standards keep the rest of us interested as well, and have turned them into something pretty special.

As you’ve come to expect, the duo writes their usual honest, literate and narrative lyrics, this time perhaps with more intense personal themes. ... Meanwhile, the backing music, often cinematic in scope, can range for gritty and thrashing to ethereal and provocative.

Emotional Eternal is about as restrained as you can imagine Prochet. Sure, the arrangements are still huge and encompassing, like on the swelling “Where the Water Clears the Illusion”, but these efforts are scattershot and often muted by Prochet’s own reluctance towards inhabiting any kind of persona. ... Prochet to her credit, has been able to wiggle into that narrow restriction, a surprising amount of diversity.

Over the course of more than a dozen records, the Old 97’s have experimented a bit and tempered their sound from time to time, but American Primitive is a return to their Clash meets Cash roots.

A bare quaver and a patch of rough grit here and there are the only signs you’re listening to an octogenarian. The grit actually gives Starr’s voice some character, especially alongside Tuttle on the heartbreaker “She’s Gone” or the sublime duet “You and I (Wave of Love).”

Though darker than most Garbage releases, No Gods No Masters is no less catchy than the albums that produced numerous hits in the 90s.

Packed within these ten tracks is a solid and eclectic mix of genres, fresh sounds and vintage flair. Hate for Sale is the band’s strongest in a long while and should give any listener enough to gnaw on and then some.

With a dream pop aesthetic and a mood that shifts from depressed to confident, the third album is Medford’s most varied and confident, making up for toning down the noise by dialing up the melody and soul.

Blonde On The Tracks doesn’t contain any must-hear renditions, but there is a comfort to be found in the contemplative singing of Swift and the clear production/playing of her Nashville backing band.

Culled from a perfectly-balanced selection of road-tested fan-favorites mixed with newer material, Everything Must Go stands out as the group’s most comprehensive and gratifying studio release to date.

White Stuff may not be as experimental as some of their past efforts, but it is an incredibly enjoyable dip into the dumpster of dirty grooving rock and roll whose sound is surprisingly appropriate thirty years after their formation.

Two Saviors works as a proper introduction to a musician who has been toiling away behind the scenes of a truly great band, but also as a completely independent opening statement from a talented artist in his own right. It’s likely that Meek’s solo material will never be evaluated separately from his work with Big Thief, but on Two Saviors Meek, at the very least, proves that it should.

Like much of what we’ve come to expect from Calexico there are plenty of textures and colorful layers in these pieces, with the bonus of Beam’s image-rich lyrics and gentle affecting vocals. It’s special.

Working with producer and percussionist Matt Pence, regular collaborator and multi-instrumentalist John Calvin Abney, and incorporating the angelic vocal harmonies of Bonnie Whitmore, Moreland has unearthed a sweet spot for himself, sonically. LP5 is textured, soft and gentle, and then rugged and dirty exactly where it needs to be

Appropriately enough, fun and adventurous are two pretty apt descriptions of Hole In My Head, a stylistically elastic record that covers folk, pop and rock all filtered through the experiences of a lifelong punk rocker.

Year of the Spider continues Shannon & The Clams run of catchy, quirky offerings while dealing with the pain and loss that is everywhere.

Production from Jim Eno (founding member and drummer of Spoon) is top notch as Night Moves have crafted a smooth, lightly rippling soundtrack to the summer with Can You Really Find Me.

Diabate and Fleck, though, are considered the prime masters of their respective instruments so their set is especially impressive.

Along with K.G.’s quality and the return to a more classic King Gizzard sound, help K.G. stand out as more than just another entry into a dense discography.

Murdoch and company have done a great job in creating a live album that includes a little bit of something for everyone. What to Look for in Summer does a fairly good job of capturing the magnetic energy of a Belle and Sebastian show and since we have been starved for live music this year, this is a welcome release to help tide us over.

For Hynde the music of Bob Dylan lifted her out of her pandemic morose last spring, this collection is a testament to its power, which is a fount for inspiration as well as boundlessly open for interpretation.