These are powerful, thoughtful songs that stand up to hours of repeated listening, and always raise a smile in the process.

Yes, they are working with a previously-explored aesthetic, but they are molding it into a beautifully-original product, per a vision that refuses to forget music’s former greatness.

Hughes sells it (and everything else on Zipper Down) in spite of relevance or degree of truth because he knows what any fan of Eagles Of Death Metal knows: they're here to entertain you and that's pretty much it.

The Regrettes already seem pretty at home in their new soundscape, roaming between stripped-back guitars and fully-fledged pop.

There’s no doubt that the wait for O’Brien’s debut has been worth it. She’s an artist who has a vision, and has not only executed it but found a new way of kickstarting the heart of a genre that quickly became a dead horse to be flogged whilst commanding a new space of her own.

On Wonderful, Glorious, Mark Everett not only has the songs but also a band capable of delivering the sort of breadth and depth of response he needs to keep the Eels vehicle moving onwards and upwards.

He may be pretentious, narcissistic and borderline offensive, but you have to hand it to Chilly--what he is doing here is pretty damned clever.

A glimpse at the album cover for Seer, a severe black circle surrounded by a chaos of stars and glimmers, betrays the album’s chief theme: moments of symmetry floating in space.

Margo Price has broken free from the shackles of country music on That’s How Rumors Get Started, pivoting effortlessly and elegantly towards a classic rock sound. There’s a whole lot more space and freedom to express herself now, and it suits her real well.

Taken together, it’s a sprawling, surprising album that proves a heavier sound looks good on her.

Hoop has been producing thought-provoking, arresting folk music since Kismet was released nearly a decade ago, but this is her most cutting, cohesive, and critical record yet.

Strangers feels and sounds like a breakthrough album, a set of linked short stories set to music. Having built a head of steam with her previous six records, album number seven sounds like Nadler’s waiting game is at an end.

Broken Twin may eventually necessitate more gusto and variation in tempo and dynamics should Romme want to further forge her plow forward. However, she intended for May to be a return to basics; with it, she has produced a compelling and painstakingly beautiful triumph of understatement.

Take Her Up to Monto continues Murphy’s reemergence as one of the most interesting and chameleonic electro artists of the moment.

It shouldn’t all work together, but the record has a beautifully cohesive groove, the many disparate parts seamlessly fitting together in typical Rostam fashion.

Boxed In is an album that's hard to pin down, but it hits hard enough in places to get the party started and holds just enough back to make you want to return to it again and again.

Although Burch indulges herself in lovelorn lyrics for the entirety of the album, she manages to keep everything fresh and clean even when the tempo slows down.

The album’s only real mishap is the lack of sonic cohesion between energizing jams and moments of quiet clarity, but each song is able to hold its own as a solid pop offering.

Burhenn’s remarkable vocal dexterity that allowed her to jump tempos and genres so easily there is still alive and well on Lovers Know, yet embedded here in a dense synthpop milieu.

Petrichor lingers long after the final note. This is not just Shake’s best work – it’s a classic in the making.

Those who like their Bad Seeds really bad may be disappointed with the tracklisting, but what stands true with this release is that Cave can be at his most powerful when at his most soulful.

The more deeply you dig in, the more compelling depths Fleuves De l’Ame reveals.

The result of his efforts is a celebration of the strength of his character and like his personal journey, Southeastern is story full of meaning and it commands the listener’s full attention.

With Endless Summer, Sóley has delivered a reminder for us all to emotionally re-set.

An addicting 46-minute listen that grows with consecutive approaches.

With The End, So Far, Slipknot haven’t reinvented themselves, but returned to their roots with an older, wiser and more concise outlook, resulting in a record that chews its listeners up almost instantly, and spits them out an hour later feeling beaten, battered and ultimately, cleansed.

Their latest album Battle Lines is a potent reminder of the power of the combination of hard rhythm, electronic experimentation, and hard-hitting lyrics.

Working with producer Randall Dunn again at the famed Avast! Studio in Seattle (fortifying that West Coast pedigree), Black Mountain have become more capable than ever of transmuting their kaleidoscopic visions into a volcanic unison.