There are moments when the sweeping melodies verge on the grandiose, but they successfully walk that difficult line between obnoxiously extroverted and too restrained.

It’s a beautifully crafted album that heralds the arrival of what’s sure to be one of the most subtly affecting voices in pop.

Pop hooks aside, Images Du Futur is not a feel-good record. But if you can deal with some dark, creepy, bummer vibes, it reveals new layers with each listen.

Some might say it lacks bite, but it works nicely with Liam Corcoran’s good-guy vocals, the hum-along choruses and the band’s stunning pop chops.

There’s no mistaking the album for anyone but Yorke’s, but despite his rep as a singular genius, he does play well with others.

This much material is exhausting to make your way through, the stretches between moments of genius way too long.

Sonic Youth fans should find plenty to love, but we’re more intrigued by the instances where Moore leaves his established comfort zone.

Daniel Romano’s third solo album is steeped in the storytelling traditions of old-school country musicians like Hank Snow and Stompin’ Tom, featuring beautifully arranged travelling songs about lost mothers, lost lovers and lost hope.

Embracing a wide palette of sounds helps, but beyond the occasional crunchy guitar or unexpected synth, it’s the arrangements that make this album work.

Even when duetting with harp sprite Joanna Newson, she avoids the trappings of twee.

The album has its super-twee moments but is never insufferable.

It’s distancing stuff, though also hookier than earlier LPs. But it’s the humanity and levity of the lyrics that’ll really get you on board.

The overall effect is pleasantly daydreamy, though the album quickly settles into one gear.

Yes, the angsty lyrics are occasionally comprehensible and the songs, which sometimes push past the three-minute mark, have slightly more breathing room, but the chilly, irritated scrape is just as potent.

Led by Patton’s smarmy vocals and the band’s intricately heavy instrumentation, Oddfellows cuts a swath between infectious bangers (Stone Letter, South Paw) and quirky atmospherics.

Their name may reference a 52-year-old Elvis Presley musical, but Blue Hawaii are poised to have a lot of people talking about them right now.

Originality isn’t always the most important criterion in music like this. Familiar, nostalgic sounds can please just as much, as they do here.

It’s when the pace slows that the record drags slightly, though Klein’s lyrics elevate even the mid-tempo songs.

This newest electronic funk vision feels like the album we’ve been waiting for.

Wacky pseudoscience aside, the results here are relatively accessible, at least by Matmos standards.

Sky’s post-post-punk mellowing proves a welcome development, revealing maturity instead of postured snarling.

Her strong voice (think Kim Deal or Liz Phair) remains the focal point, though wild guitars and thunderous drumming give it the foundation it needs to soar.

He still sounds like Hayden, but he’s stripped down the production to better approximate the sound of a band in a room. That bare-bones intimacy works perfectly with his delicate voice and melancholic songs.

A record that finely straddles his gruff past and glitzier present. DJ Toomp buoys T.I. on Trap Back Jumpin. An incandescent collaboration with André 3000 balances out an unfortunate Pink cameo.

The 16 tracks sound similar after repeat listens, but if you think time has mellowed the band, guess again.

Henry Wagons’s debut solo album is a slim but interesting collection of duets that are--like his work with his band Wagons--rootsy, genre-jumping and occasionally psychedelic and hard-rocking.

While there’s nothing quite as disorienting and alien as Loveless’s dramatic opening song, Only Shallow, there’s notable evolution in both the songwriting and sound, and the overall flow of the album actually seems tighter.

Not a single note feels unplanned, yet every lick also comes across as completely natural.