Her debut is in fact very well crafted despite wearing a lot of influences on its shining sleeves. It succeeds though in combining those influences into a very enjoyable album that mixes retro and contemporary genres.

The sum of its parts adds up to Bon Iver’s most challenging work to date; 22, A Million is an album that rejects comfort and expectations in favor of provoking listeners to make new discoveries. If this challenge is taken, it is a rewarding experience that only grows in beauty with each listen.

OIL’s resonance and bravery--underlined by its acutely mapped volatile and enrapturing production--is inspiring, and the conception and execution of its testimony remarkable.

Remind Me Tomorrow, then, isn’t only a return to her calling, but a grand surprise. Sharon Van Etten has finally, truly, embraced just how appealing her unique voice can be.

Are We There is one of those rare albums when you stop listening to the music as simply a combination of chords, melodies and carefully constructed instrumentation, but as essential, emotional communication from one person to another.

To say New Energy is a consolidation rather than a progression may seem damning with faint praise, but its palate is so substantial and nourishing that such slight ambition is peripheral. If you’re served a basic carbonara by a Michelin-star pasta chef it’s still a damn fine carbonara.

The imperfections and the what-ifs are exactly what make it so intriguing as a glimpse of where Holley could take things. It’s an album which poses more questions than it answers. It gets under your skin like a tick. It leads you to the river but never forces to drink. It leaves you wondering what Black Foxxes are trying to say, but never gives you the answers. The scab of the question itches, and you’re left wanting nothing but to scratch it.

He wants to continue to be happy the way he is and that contentment is helping him to produce some of his finest work. For a musician, that's truly unique.

Toledo's riffs could pass for classic rock on speed and make for a heady mix when paired up with such razor-sharp wordplay. The references here are as oblique as they are intelligent.

Midsommar may offer limited mileage when it comes to daily listening. Still, it accomplishes its goals with deadly conviction, and for those with a penchant for unnerving listening sessions, you may just discover a dependable companion here. It's a nightmare to linger within.

This is not an album for a breakthrough, nor is it a bastion in the storm. It's something grander.

House of Sugar is not only special because it is the most consistent, detailed, adventurous Alex G record so far, but because it also clarifies what Giannascoli has been working towards all along and positions itself as an opus of one of this decade’s most defining indie artists.

50 Song Memoir is as much the story of Stephin Merritt’s life as it is a love letter to song. It is a certifiable masterpiece and one that music lovers ‘round the world will not soon forget.

For the most part, the album sears with sharp-witted tales of urban life set to a tense and restrained musical background but there is a waning of the insistent energy towards the album’s end.

With Double Negative, Low maintain all fronts of their fanbase. All the elements of the bands chilling atmospheres are there.

If you've got the patience, then this is a remarkably rewarding listen.

You don't have to be a strict devotee of the R&B underground genre to realise that this is a great album. The sound is her own, and she's capable of making an album work as an album rather than just a collection of songs.

When all is said and done, Soul of a Woman cements itself as a fitting send-off for a woman who flat-out owned the stage and spearheaded a scene, transcending the notions of “neo” and “revival” to make music that was impassioned and pure. Sharon Jones lives on every time you press play.

On their past albums Wild Beasts have shown us their savage and raw sides, which have been gloriously charming and exciting, but by opening up on Present Tense and revealing their true hearts, their music has ascended to new heights.

It goes without saying that this is a must have collection that will educate, entertain, and most importantly, remind us of Cabaret Voltaire's lasting influence and cement it in an approachable collection for further generations to delve into.

It’s evident that Pusha T is at his most confident on DAYTONA; his rhymes carry confidence and clarity paired with a high head and a release that was well worth the three-year waiting period.

Though Some Rap Songs may come across as a collection of underdeveloped vignettes of previously covered subject matter, further and deeper listening showcases an economical poet at his most striking self.

Each song compulsively and unabashedly recalls fragments from their oeuvre but when unified these fragments are cleaner, more assured, and more essential, than possibly anything they’ve thrown at us before. From head to toe, front to back, it bangs; but more importantly, it actually has something new to say.

Unafraid to delve into their every whim, from the accomplished to the adventurous to the absurd, CHAI are just about as now as you can get without stumbling into the unrealized.

The musical event drips in unprecedented additions that welcome alternative vocals from Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae and Jesse Boykins III to the track list, along with fervent features from King Louie, Big Sean, J Cole and Quavo, that lure the rap artists out of their comfort zones and onto intricate live compositions.

By the end, Lost In The Dream is similarly as sprawling and textured as its predecessor, harnessing the affirming, heartfelt sentiments without becoming corny or meek (mostly).

From the patient, rising tension and ecstatic release of the Black Sabbath-esque opening of ‘Glasshouse,’ right through to the heady-guitar-noodling-meets-full-throttle-pop-punk of closer, ‘Step Outside,’ Screaming Females manage to keep things, not just interesting, but wall-to-wall, grin-inducingly entertaining.

He continues to hold our attention as he makes sense of his own findings on God and race and legacy and perfection.