This album certainly does mark a “departure” for Siobhan Wilson, but it sheds none of her allure.

Her weary disposition begs for songs that are stripped down and reduced to their component parts--songs that don't fuss around. That's the problem--the fussing, the instinct to add more. It sounds like she's reaching for something, but she doesn't know what it is or where to find it.

Pick things apart, and it’s a fine addition to the St. Louis band’s catalogue--there are several songs here that will catalyze their already electric live show.

Progression is a funny word; in some ways La Dispute are the antithesis of progression, they’re more a freeze-frame of the moments and memories we try to get away from. This ability to cherry-pick these moments and refine them to poems told in a desperate, choked-back, strained delivery is the genius of La Dispute, and the reason they are now one of the pivotal post-hardcore bands of the last decade.

Overall Hot Thoughts doubles down on what we already knew: that Spoon are a band always looking to push themselves, a fact that seems to be getting more acute with each passing album, and it should be celebrated.

PROTO is already one-of-a-kind, but there are times when Herndon could’ve stood to push the envelope just a bit more, instead of giving lovely but somewhat slight and redundant moments like ‘Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt’ or the ‘Live Training’ interludes. But she’s in a class of her own when it comes to this sort of electronic pioneering.

Historian is a complete album, cavernous in its emotional depths and regally sophisticated in its songwriting, yet palatably relatable at the point of contact. It’s a work of perfectly realised ambition in which anyone who’s ever waded the swamp of heartache can recognise themselves.

Schlagenheim may possess some semblance of the aforementioned genres, alongside others like kraut and yes, even jazz, but pining for some rigid label is futile, because Schlagenheim is one of the most unique rock records released this year and maybe of the past five years.

Mering wrings out so much emotion from her voice that these songs burst with human vitality--and that is the main thing to take away from here.

Midnight Sun is a very interesting record, and shows the duo expanding their horizons without forgetting about the importance of their melodic roots.

From the haunting '422', with its echoing chimes, to the dark electro-pop of 'Out of the Black' which features a great guest vocal from Robyn, there are too many stand out moments to take in in just one listen.

Rarely has an emcee arrived to the hip-hop scene in such a controlled and specific manner. Perico sounds better with each release, building off of his past flaws, topping whatever he had in mind only months prior.

This is a cosmopolitan voyage throughout markedly different places and eras, humbling touching a variety of more or less exotic influences without merely appropriating them--showcasing their uncanniest beauty with the highest respect instead.

This is Brockhampton at their funkiest and most playful, but it’s also Brockhampton at their finest.

He hasn’t crafted the second coming of Deltron 3030 but a contemplative and diverse delight. We can only hope Offset’s impending solo debut is just as good.

This is R&B and dense pop bent to its creators will, rather than anything the other way around. This is Beyoncé for a panic attack. This is, only more and more so with time spent in its valleys and peaks, essential listening.

Beware of the Dogs is a wonderful debut album from a luminous young talent.

The music is calmer, but his flare hasn't left with his anger, thus solidifying the album into the band's pristine legacy.

The Midnight Sun is more of an atmospheric experience, than an emotive one. That’s less of a problem than it would seem, because the atmosphere that C Duncan has crafted is mesmerising.

Stetson's bass sax is still an extraordinary thing to hear, and Neufeld's melody lines and textures add another colour to the palette.

After years of delivering on her promise, it comes as no surprise that Hiss Spun is as good as it is. The instrumental tracks dance around Wolfe’s soaring vocals and ultimately collide with them perfectly to create a collection of songs that are a joy to listen to.

It doesn't offer any real answers or solutions, nor should it have to. Instead, it offers something more valuable than other albums exploring heavily topical subjects occasionally lack: empathy. Which is something we could all use in these fraught times.

Total Strife Forever is a brutal electronic album, but one that still retains a very humanistic core--this juxtaposition is a thematic thread which runs throughout the album. Doyle then sculpts and defines the music in order to create tension between these two disparate elements, or else uses their differences in order to surprise and engage the listener.

Ultimately, Ivy Tripp is the best record in Crutchfield's discography, but her rise is undoubtedly continuing. Where she will plateau remains to be seen, but she is already making her mark as one of America's premier songwriters and she shows no signs of stopping.

If each of these eleven songs didn't deviate from their affective formula until now, there's not much reason to change it up. I do wish I could hear more lyrics and emotional sentiment.

The album takes a few central tenets of dance music of the last couple of decades, and sends it fearlessly spiralling into a shimmering vision of the future. It is possibly something that will bemuse some, but absolutely enthral those willing to use it to spur the imagination--and that is often the sign of a truly provocative and thoughtful artwork.

The arrangements of the album contrast between moments of minimal instrumentation, layered with her vulnerable vocal melodies that seem complementary of the overall theme. It could be felt at points that the musicality seems to move without increased colour, but it is only when you venture further into the album and the lyricism that it becomes clearer that this is likely to be understood as a reflection of the concept.

For anyone willing to stick around long enough to listen, they are richly and endlessly rewarding.

It’s an album that flatters to deceive in its use of string arrangements throughout, and may leave some long-time Hop Along fans shrugging a little on their first few times through. However, as with most densely made albums, the more time and effort you spend on it, the more you will get out of it.

It's pleasing to discover that, even when taking his time, Ty Segall is still able to deliver the magic of spontaneity and urgency that was scorched across his previous albums.

This album is earnest and contemplative.

It’s an album crammed full of massive singles; the musical equivalent of a table full of gaudy, delicious cupcakes. You know too much of it is probably bad for you, but you can’t help but diving in and sampling each and every one with relish.

Green Twins is impeccably tailored and has some gorgeous ideas. What it lacks is the confidence to stretch its colour palette into areas the listener might not immediately associate with other, trailblazing artists.

Dime Trap is very much alive, and having entered his elder statesmen phase with, frankly, astounding grace, T.I. looks to remain present for quite a while.

Morning Phase is a terrific mood piece and a worthy follow-up, even if in spirit only, to Sea Change; it lacks the gripping unease of that album, but replaces it capably with genuine warmth and a sunnier outlook.

Overall Capacity is an album brimming over with emotion and love, giving us a sharp and unforgettable insight into this person’s acute view of the human condition.

The Talkies is rough around the edges, is of a debased, primal nature, yet is incredibly on-point with the unsettling atmosphere it communicates. Girl Band is officially the crown jewel of Irish punk, if a beautifully horrific crown jewel.

On his frequently divine debut album, Hayden Thorpe may well be a new man, untethered from his band, adrift in space and time, yet safe in the hermetic seal of an intricately designed vessel, but the desire for human connection will seemingly always bring him out of his shell and back down to solid ground.

They can sneak serious explorations of mental health, of the rise of ISIS, of the political machinations that erode the human connections between us, past their listeners because they have wrapped these high-minded concerns up in a package of eminently re-listenable, deliriously creative pop tunes.

Holiday Destination is musically rich, but its greatest triumph is its concord of convenience and intellect.

Our natural world may not need artistic representation, but there’s few better to reflect upon it than Tim Hecker.

Less an album than an uninhibited exploration of the primal power of metal.

The majority of Fear Inoculum’s songs are more or less interchangeable, achieving the same overall effect in slightly different ways. ... Toolheads will find much to enjoy here, I am sure of it.

Salutations is good, but it is apparent it could have been better. Rather than swing for the fences, Conor and crew settled for a base hit that didn’t move any runners on base.

With Careful, they are no longer the best-kept secret among the dingier crowds, but their music, passion and on-going commitment have placed them close to a league of their own, hopefully lasting throughout the years to come.

Platform is a record that reveals itself slowly. An intelligent, intoxicating electronica record that draws the listener in and revealing new truths as it goes.

Vessel's ambition has exceeded his abilities. By trading in his synth for sheet metal he has lost out on what caused people to stand up and take notice.

His debut album experiments with intense sincerity and captivating subtleties in the lyrics and melodies respectively.

At eighteen tracks, it never really drags at any point, and a lot can be said for Butler's captivating songwriting.

A supremely assured, instantly addicting debut, it walks the precarious balance beam between earworm and confessional.

To the gustatory synesthete, listening to Kaytranada's music is probably the equivalent of sucking on a pack of Starburst where all the flavours are orange: refreshing at first, if not a bit sickly in the end.

It’s emotionally rich, and intelligent, and purposeful, and firmly cohesive.

Overall, it’s a massive improvement on the disappointing Issa Album, with 21 Savage showing maturity whilst keeping his dark humour and persona.

Sprinter is a vital album.

Things Will Matter is fine as it is but it feels tantalising, as if there's something more to come from Lonely The Brave.

LUMP is a creation that both composers stressed passed through them and they look upon parentally and this is evident as an articulation of the artistic detail of the contemporary, through Lindsay’s colourful soundscapes.

It is undoubtedly made to be heard in one sitting. It may not always be a comfortable listen over the course of its hour, it will unflinchingly show you its grotesque beauty, and each listener's reactions and visions produced in the face of such peculiarities will be unique.

Floating Points lives up to expectations with this mix. Both intimate and dreamy, Sam takes us on a journey that's very much welcomed.

Room Inside the World is a trove of art-rock and post-punk. Always leaving the listener quite unsure of its potential, it cements Ought’s reputation as an exciting band perfectly capable of evolution and reinvention.

Guidance is not only Russian Circles' best album yet, but a standard-bearer for heavy, guitar-based instrumental music.

I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside is an exceptionally realised and meaningful work from an artist looking well beyond turn up culture in the pursuit of something deeper and longer lasting.

It’s hard to work out whether this is an album, an EP or a playlist, and at 22 minutes long it’s difficult to feel fully satisfied and does leave you wanting more.

Three albums in, and several world tours under his belt, Bombino's music remains as powerful and vital as the day he first picked up a guitar.

It’s coherent, exciting, and strong, and it gives you an in-depth idea of how you can articulate experimental soundscapes with rough portions of sound that cause commotion.

There is a pleasing directness of intention to the metronomic drumming and the arpeggiated keyboards that would be sufficient to keep a crowd dancing but look beyond the surface level and there is unfortunately plenty to make you cringe, too.

Atomos is a very powerful work and one which could well bring modern classical music to the attention of people with only a passing interest in it, in much the same way as Philip Glass and Steve Reich have done.

Smith curated these tracks to showcase her insecurities to fans that will relate to the transparency of her work. Lost & Found is a strong foundation for the up-and-coming Smith and her R&B fused experiences. The gushing warmth of her emotion resonates into a digestible, easy listening album.

The 45 minutes of his new record are a textural deep-dive into the patterns and pleasures of the psyche, and it is both fascinating and fascinated in its results.

Six albums in, Hot Chip are still making stunning pop records filled with a barrage of dancefloor wonders that are packed with heart and soul. That's enough to show why we still need Hot Chip in our lives.

Though it’s DIIV’s most consistent record so far, a step in the right direction and a more radical a gear shift than either of those releases, the tracks on Deceiver offer only wide differences in quality and little variation in style.

It’s difficult to escape the fact that there is little to commend Ode to Joy for beyond its exceptionally competent loveliness. That is, however, no reason to completely disregard it.

She has a way of expressing herself with such brutal honesty and conviction, it can be a little alarming at times, but qualities like those only serve to make everything she touches on all the more palpable, and they are also part of what makes Sore such an impressive and refreshing debut.

The record is a lot of things and also unquestionably not, for the most part embodying an impregnable and extraordinary soundscape that fortifies itself against deconstruction, but its one truly distinctive quality is that it’s the precise opposite of boring.

[The stories] are universal and they are forgiving, and only a songwriter as soft and deft as Kevin Morby could have pulled it off so charmingly.

What has changed is that this time around is that she swapped out the usual 8-track recorder she usually used to lay down her vocal parts and instead recorded them with producer Arthur Rizk in an actual studio. Far from distilling any of the fury from her pipes (which sometimes sound on the verge of shredding themselves) the added clarity does a lot to boost the emotional wallop of her words especially on the more vulnerable moments.

If you need a good dose of enthusiastic summer sunshine then Louis Cole has crafted a superb hideaway.

It's this widening of scope, combined with such a strong sense of identity, which makes Reality Testing tick over beautifully.

Fin is a mature, if slightly restrained debut.

Impressions is a special record, coloured by climbing compositions as cavernous spaces of reflective quiet. It’s deeply feeling, and deeply felt.

The back half of tracks plays out like a rehashing of the first half more than an expansion on them, and Ribbons suffers from it. ... Still, the inviting nature of this record is well worth the time.

Despite the mechanized nature, the depth of texture on show here is astounding, and HIDE definitely know how to play with space as well as sound.

The second Drugdealer album isn’t quite the knockout it could have been, but it easily delivers on the promise of Collins’ debut. If his idea is to let this latest incarnation stick around for a while, we’re in for a real treat.

These 16 minutes from Thundercat will likely prove to be one of the year's thought provoking and most rewarding listens of the year.

Somersault is an exciting display of growth without feeling like a compromise. They might not yet be great, but this album indicates a band on the verge of a breakthrough.

The album’s strengths aren’t limited to its bookends. ‘Rainfall’ would go down as the instrumental track of the year if not for the vocal contributions of Katharina Caecilia Fennesz, which blend so gracefully in the mix that you might not even realize they’re a human instrument.

Greenwood gets the concoction right: all of the above culminate in a strong, memorable debut that leaves the listener aching for more.

Fleet Foxes return with a grand, theatrical approach to music as a whole, and although they reminisce on their grand, prog-folk glory days, Crack-Up as a musical statement is genre-less.

He has further upgraded, re-geared and honed the sound The War On Drugs have been working towards, taking the style and vision of 80s rock titans and updating it to something that sounds truly modern, but with that nostalgic haze.

ALASKALASKA are refreshing, listening to just one album sounds like listening to ten. The Dots is a long record and at times their weirdness washes over you, but over time, like the ocean over stones, something subtly changes.

The talented likes of Lisa Hannigan and Sharon Van Etten attempt to breathe life into affairs, but there’s no resuscitating a creature that never breathed to begin with. No less, they for some reason decided to draw this death rattle out across their longest album to date, blindly moping through an inexplicably sixty-three minute run time.

Rhythm is a collection of great ideas, improperly organised and occasionally poorly executed.

Tthe record is a continuation of Pile as voice for a bizarre following that it simultaneously evokes and has, apparently, tangibly brought together.

The album is definitely progress, but maybe not as much progress as those of us eagerly awaiting new music were hoping for.

On Devotion, she cordons off her own corner of modern Rn’B with a statement destined to become a genre staple.

The success of Emotion and its predecessor, Kiss, was a product of balance. ... Side B does not find that balance, and is most instructive in the ways it illuminates her process. It lets us peek in on the misfits that are the product of every pop album, and hints at the unsexy labor of music-making.

It is the album's ability to create such an immersive experience with relatively few constituent parts that makes this Ryan Lee West's finest release to date.

If All I Was Was Black is often times both troubling and soothing.

Happily, the quirky musical moments that characterised the London band's 2014 debut Breakfast are sprinkled over Brilliant Sanity, resulting in 11 pleasingly playful songs.