While the resulting album isn’t as loud as the original, that isn’t to say it is soft.

The vocal shifts and band restructuring may cause some turbulence, but when everything clicks, as it does on the album’s most decisive moments, the result is just as stirring as anything they’ve done before. Whether this marks a transitional phase or the beginning of a new era remains to be seen, but for now, Constellations shines brightly enough to guide them forward.

Lennox’s Sinister Grift proves that the artist is far from done evolving. Its loss of its refreshingly underproduced consistency is a testament to Lennox’s maturity and songwriting.

Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams is a massively deep and rich literary and musical album that reveals more colors and lyrical insights each time through. It may even encourage you to challenge your own memories, which change so much over time.

It is a hard-to-classify effort that shifts genres and influences often as War moves through different motifs.

Rarely Do I Dream blurs the mystique of an artist whose honest songwriting made listeners feel like insiders with the musician and introduces the world to the full potential of Youth Lagoon.

Arguably the band’s most ambitious and melodic record in their two decades of existence.

While the album dips into lows, the highs make it all worthwhile. Phonetics On and On is a daring second album with the band seemingly coming out as a new band, one obsessed with infectious melodies and fanciful harmonies dancing around glimmering acoustics and cinematic strings.

The stories hold interest at least the first time through, but Boone’s voice has us continually returning for more.

More than just a comeback, Hallucinating Love is a testament to the resilience of Maribou State. Their sound has evolved without losing its essence, channeling hardship into something immersive and profoundly affecting.

It is impossible not to hear Hewson’s father’s band, U2, everywhere on the record. “Still Young” feels directly out of Bono’s wistful memory as French horns, yearning/echoing vocals, and climatic choruses are dramatically drafted. While those high-profile connections can’t be ignored, neither can Inhaler’s strong sense of catchy pop-rock flowing throughout Open Wide.

He astutely balances tradition with the new, mixing his patented approach with some new twists, from the energetic to the delicate.

“Beye Bu Beye Ba,” may be the consummate track that combines brass, Taylor’s vocal, and his background singers, sounding authentically African as if one were transported to a ceremonial dance in a village. The final track is the other English titled tune, “Feeling,” with Taylor and his substantial accompaniment sailing off in blissful, horn and vocal punctuated glee.

The opening track, the explosive “American Dream” is a solid indication that, despite the inspiration for this particular album, it’s not going to be crammed with maudlin introspection. That infectious energy is carried through on the dance-punk vibe of “Like You Did Before” and the incredible album closer “Bad Guys Always Win.”

Chamber music yields to hip-hop which surrenders to jazz (Harris is terrific) and back and forth through several sections of tension and release that somehow slithers into the ether, leaving us wanting even more. There’s just nothing like this out there unless you retreat back six years to Origami Harvest. Akinmusire has again delivered a fascinating and oddly irresistible project.

Cowards is an album that takes multiple close listens to unearth the nuances of Squid’s third outing. While the songwriting steals the show, what the band is doing sonically is equally head-spinning.

This album is a bold statement that is sure to grow even more enticing as time passes. Each listen unearths another quaint element that completely changes the song’s atmosphere. A Shaw Deal is a challenging listen that yields otherworldly treasures, with Shaw’s guitar acting as the diamond in the rough yet soothing electronics of Weitz’s mystifying mind.

The made-for-the-dance floor opener “Chasing An Empty Dream” begins with a ridiculously funky bass line from Steve before percussion kicks in, and Simpson’s smooth vocals singing about focus on materialism and a loss of family values to the punchy, syncopated horns and vocal harmonies. .... The pulsating tempo recedes to orchestrated strings in the first of two ballads, “Road to Zion,” sung beautifully by Simpson and enhanced by the band’s other vocalist, sounding like late-night R&B blaring from boomboxes in the ‘70s.

Iggy Pop has released a few live albums with varying degrees of success, yet Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 proves (somewhat surprisingly) that the rock and roll legend is still firing on all cylinders while crafting sonically dense pastures to rant over.

The Purple Bird is a stunning effort from Oldham, a testament to his relentless artistry and how freely it allows him to roam.

The 9-song record is certainly Hiatt’s most ambitious body of work to date and one of her best albums yet. The music is strong, confident and personal without being too earnest. And while she expands her sound and influences quite a bit on this one, it is still every bit a Lilly Hiatt album.

A daring concept album is no easy task to take on, let alone execute, and while these ten songs can sometimes feel disconnected, Sol Y Sombra is far from an album to overlook.

LOWER is a profoundly personal outing that gathers Booker’s influences and life experiences together and filters them through a psychedelic lens to emerge with chaotic arrangements that act as the perfect canvas for Booker’s open conversation about feelings most would try to hide.

The sisters pour out their emotions fearlessly in this effort, making it their strongest album yet as their trajectory continues to steepen.

The album has an unsettling undercurrent of synths buzzing and swirling with chaotic sounds that never truly recede as Linderman tries to capture the detachment we feel in everyday life. Even the short instrumentals (“Descent”, “Passage”, “Fleuve” and “Aurora”) act as off-putting placeholders, and while some tracks take that disjointedness to extremes, it is a crucial part of Linderman’s message on Humanhood, cutting through the static for true meaning. The artsy-folk stylings would not pack as much of a punch if it weren’t for the fantastic drumming/percussion of Adams and Melanson, who ground/drive the songs forward.

Whether you’re a fan of the desert blues sound or new to it, Songhoy Blues has delivered an infectious, comprehensive take on the music infused with tradition.

Generally, it is flowing, highly sophisticated, and graceful, but with several intense moments. In the historical context; it lies somewhere between the Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner spectrum to the even more adventurous Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, and Grachan Moncur III. .... This is contemporary jazz of the highest order.

This is a fresh, meticulously arranged but still casual-sounding big band outing.