Plastic Bouquet is a uniquely satisfying mix of both William’s country leanings and Kacy and Clayton’s more folk-based sound. Whether this merging of talents was a one-off experiment or a Fleetwood Mac in the making (minus the drama), we’re still left with a powerful record.

Willie Nelson willfully imbues First Rose Of Spring with his own brand of bitter honesty, giving the album the sort of emotional resonance that the majority of his contemporary peers forgo in exchange for switchboard instrumentation and hollow lyricism.

Things Take Time, Take Time is charming, finding the perfect note for the mood it’s trying to evoke, and even at its smallest and most benign, it’s captivating, the kind of album destined to become a favorite of a very specific subset of Courtney fans. It feels well-worn too, a well-deserved breather after three near-concurrent classics.

This record, their most adventurous so far, pairs the band with a new producer, James Ford, who has worked with everyone from Blur and Depeche Mode to Arctic Monkeys and the Pet Shop Boys. The new pairing seemingly pushed the band to expand their sound a bit, making for a strongly compelling evolution.

Ellis proves to be a grand pop master. This, albeit somewhat surprising, is his most cohesive album to date.

Overall Benson has crafted an enjoyable, thoughtful slice of pop-rock on Dear Life, embracing his classic rock love while not limiting the scope of his sound and voice.

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.

The laid-back neo-soul remains consistent throughout the album, as the foundational inspirations of 1970s soul are evident everywhere. Durand Jones & The Indications let the love and vocals shine on the blissful Flowers.

The 12-song sophomore effort allows the listener to view punk music through their lens, and these aren’t rose-tinted glasses, showing a band content with one sound forever. Snooper is looking to leave their mark on punk, and Worldwide slowly begins to dig its claws into that goal, even if it comes with subtle growing pains.

Sonic textures, melodies, and interesting arrangements are used to prop up the storytelling, rather than the stories taking a backseat to musicianship. Beneath the Eyrie is not as instantly catchy as the band’s early work, but it rewards repeated listens with an emphasis on lyrics and musical layers.

Except for a few tracks, London Brew, imaginative as it is, doesn’t evoke the level of energy that Miles’ original did. For all we know, though, that could be purposeful as this cast clearly put their own stamp on this project.

The result is the 10-song In The Blossom Of Their Shade, a curious, but strong record rooted in old time jazz and country music that sounds like found audio from another generation.

Though not as upbeat as Getting into Knives, Dark in Here is still a solid release from The Mountain Goats that loyal fans will appreciate.

To say this album is highly anticipated, is an understatement. Yet, like most supergroup projects, (Trio, Pistol Annies, etc.) has its strong moments and it does carry a strong mission. Yet, its ambitious and inclusive scope creates an enormity that somewhat weighs it down.

At this point in their over thirty-year career, Teenage Fanclub is confident in their mixture of light touches around an indie rock foundation and Nothing Lasts Forever continues them on their journey.

Sound Wheel is an experimental chronicling of the vagabond road trip lifestyle of an artist who is constantly observing the open highways and the American culture driving them. Mosshart keeps her eyes sharp, her voice fluid and her thoughts rolling as she follows her muse.

New Age Norms 1 is a bit formulaic compared to the band’s off-kilter early work, relying too much of the blueprint of piano chords coupled with bouncing bass and danceable beats, but it is a solid blues-inflected indie album as a whole.

While the album boasts numerous contemporary jazz and innovative artists, it’s a mashup of many Black music styles. This writer gives the edge to R&B and African-tinged tunes but there’s so much to digest here that we may hear it a bit differently each time it plays.

To these ears, he’s right about the warmth and intimacy. It would have helped to have an inset with lyrics as in many cases they could be more audible. Nonetheless, it deserves several listens because this is as uncluttered as Ribot as ever sounded.

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.

Devoted fans who found pleasure in recent records like Keep Me Singing should discover this one will hit home as well, whereas more objective music lovers may probably miss the natural spontaneity and unusual good cheer that arose from The Belfast Cowboy’s 2018 collaborations with jazz keyboardist/bandleader Joey DeFrancesco, You’re Driving Me Crazy and (to an only slightly lesser extent) The Prophet Speaks.

The original songs, written by either Gilmore or Alvin, including one co-write, are generally quite strong yet there are only six of those among these eleven. The duo made some astute cover selections but would have been better served with more original fare.

There is a comforting steadiness and calmness to Moen’s vocals that draw in the listener regardless of what he’s singing about; the songs have a tendency to be both haunting and melancholy at times yet also reassuring – not an easy feat to pull off.

If one were to go to previous Stones ‘Best of’ sets, like 40 Licks, you’ll find most, if not all of these tracks from 1971 through the early ‘80s. It’s the later stuff combined with the earlier material that makes this set perhaps a bit more interesting, although most would argue those later years don’t represent the best of the Stones.

The album opens with the tone-shifting, unsettling, pessimistic “Obscenery” which sees modern love as unsentimental and everything doomed around grunge-laden guitars, random classical violin breaks and crashing drums; interesting ideas which never fully lock-in. Better is the driving, straight-ahead rock of “Paper Machete” complete with an excellent distorted solo, the angular “Emotion Sickness” that deploys a catchy FM radio-friendly hook, and “Negative Space” which juxtaposes sexy grooving bass during the verses and big clanging noise breaks for the choruses.

The distinctly raw sound is a cross between his usual folk-rock sound, and mountain music with generous hints of bluegrass, an area he explored earlier in his career.

Thirstier is too melodic and hooky for a good heavy album and too heavy for a good pop album. But viewed as a hybrid album devoid of any specific genre, it’s a solid alchemy of Scott’s influences.

Devoted fans of as well as casual listeners may ultimately find much of what follows too informal for its own good. ... Strictly on musical terms, though, this celebration of personal and creative bonds is just one more effort by this inveterate iconoclast that, like 2014’s Storytone, is slow to reveal its subtle rewards.