Overall this is a successful first solo effort. It is similar enough to his band to take Arbouretum fans on board, and it is different enough to justify the billing under his own name. Another Side of Dave Heumann, maybe.

Blanket Waves asks for your attention, and suggests you try soundtracking your own life with its echoes of joy and terror. It's not a cop-out to say that this is music which needs to be infused with human experience.

There's huge potential here but for every time the two of them click ('Cold Moon', 'Quiet Corner', 'No Thought Of Leaving') there's an opposite track when they feel out of sync and blunted ('Migration', 'Cold Moon', 'Roy').

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.

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.

Beach Music, which is a deceivingly simple title for an album of such depth, is the best collection yet from a young musician who has clearly honed on something truly worth noting.

Acoustic guitar-driven folk music blends fervently with spoken word-esque rap verses and passionate R&B-mingled choruses through fourteen emotional purpose-driven tracks brimming with woke material and a call to change for the millennial '90s baby generation like the passionate artist out of Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Every element that made Neon Indian such a joy through the first two albums has been polished and improved upon to make a record that truly must be heard.

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

The album is riddled with heart-rending affirmations of self-worth.

It just isn't a consistent !!! album. But if it's any consolation, As If is still brimming with the ecstasy and feeling of freedom that you'd expect to be promoted by the band at this stage in their near 20-year lifespan.

As with their previous releases, Arms Around A Vision suffers slightly from lacking a style and sound distinct from its easy to spot influences, but where it also differs is that it marks the turning point where Girls Names are starting to figure out exactly what kind of band they really sound like.

All in all, Highest Point In Cliff Town is a fun ride as a first album. But sometimes you have to sacrifice a little fun to really dig deep.

It can be a little exhausting having to process so many conflicting and volatile emotions welling to the surface at once, but, like The Sunday Gift, Darker Than Blue isn't without its beauty either. Those moments can feel hard won though, especially considering all of the turmoil surrounding them.

Even when the album isn't serving up infectious bass riffs and glistening guitar chords, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure offers beautifully constructed songs that, even in the darkest moments, offer a glimmer of hope.

Though the record as a whole is phenomenal, there's a particularly toothsome middle third, the highlight of which is 'Say It Once's thrilling shift into top gear.

It's oxymoronic. It's uncalled for and essential. It's ridiculous and severe. It's useless and powerful. It's everything Run The Jewels stands for.

White and Mosshart's collaboration feels like a tale of the proverbial nearly men--close, but no cigar.

The results are unmistakable. Over V's 31 minutes, a listener could theoretically skip to any track and find themselves carelessly dancing into the void with the joyous, raucous tracks that Wavves has meticulously created.

Blank Realm have offered up another album that refuses to reveal itself right away, and instead, it gradually lures you in and rewards you with previously overlooked gems with each listen.

This feels like a band overflowing with ideas in a productive way.

For the year's most contagious artist, Fetty Wap's debut formula reads as follows: 20 songs x 4 billboard singles - 90% filler ÷ 1 melody = 1738. And somehow, that doesn't add up.

It's fun, it's queer and your straight friends will like it too because, ultimately, it's about being less alone. Everyone can relate to that. And the world genuinely feels like a brighter place with PWR BTTM in it.

It's rare to come across an album that allows you only the faintest impression of its workings while simultaneously impacting you in a profound way.

It might not have the same explosive nature as Bones but what it does have are some pop juggernauts.

Through ten booming orchestral tracks, A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons is a much-needed self-defensive assault on the industry. On labels. On genre and gender norms. On materialism. On blinding ego. On expectation. On the box so many people have attempted to put her in. So don't refer to Little Simz as a female rapper. Just call her king.

As fun as it is, a great deal of The Curved Line feels too laid-back to be spectacular. Only occasionally does it seem like it might be ready to explode.

No one has told the tale of Kurt Vile except Kurt Vile, and there is a diversity of expression on b'lieve I'm goin down.