There's joy in every moment.

Purge is heavier on breaks and electronics than Pure, and it feels more sudden and immediate, forgoing the older album's dark ambient experimentation and extended track lengths.

With each subsequent album, Horan just gets better and better. The Show is his most immediate and engaging set to date, endlessly listenable and full of heart and charm.

After three or four of these hard-to-follow stylistic roadmaps, however, the excitement quickly becomes exhaustion, and Sleep Token's overly-polished sound starts to feel more overwrought than enjoyable.

Archangel Hill documents a singular artist with a tremendous command of her gifts – no small accomplishment for someone who was 87 years of age when this was released.

Baxter Dury deserves to be considered fully free of his father's shadow. Maybe after releasing this subtly brilliant and pleasingly scathing album, he'll finally believe it too.

They may or may not ever release anything as genre defining as ...And Out Come the Wolves or as hell-bent on destruction as that afore-mentioned 2000 album, but as far as punk in 2023 goes there aren't many bands making music as convincing or powerful as Rancid do here.

Formal Growth in the Desert plays like another State of the Union essay from this band of intelligent malcontents, and what they have to say is strikingly effective as editorial commentary and as music.

There might not be an album big enough to contain all the facets of Shears' talent, but Last Man Dancing's abundance of style and imagination should keep fans guessing -- and of course, dancing.

While this mix of vulnerability, anxiety, and resentment can feel uneven, Folds' melodies are engaging as ever, and he finds balance again on highlights like "Moments" (featuring Tall Heights) and the pandemic-isolation-themed "Winslow Gardens."

Fans who have developed a taste for the sweet sadness of the Cowboy Junkies' best work may find Such Ferocious Beauty a bit strong and confrontational for their taste, but that's very much the point of this music; this isn't rooted in solace, but in exorcising the demons that come from losing loved ones, and it's a difficult but eloquent act of public mourning.

While the album does delve into unusually -- for Wainwright -- rustic traditional fare, selections keep listeners on their toes by not only broadly defining folk, but with a slew of diverse guest singers and arrangements that, at least occasionally, stray into lush orchestral territory.

The way these splashes of color and invention intertwine with the carefully sculpted ballads result in a testament to Gallagher's enduring craft that's unusually satisfying.

But Here We Are keeps its focus on human connection, a distinction that separates it from other Foo Fighters albums.

Most of the album carries a definite rhythmic punch, a weight that's evident even in softer numbers like "The Ocean and the Butterfly" and "Monsters." A similar sense of gravel has carried over to Matthews' voice, an evolution that softens and deepens his phrasing eccentricities, another element of earthiness that gives Walk Around the Moon a sense of weight and immediacy that's rare in the Dave Matthews Band catalog.

Parts Daniel Johnston and avant-cabaret show, it demands attention from the opening clatter of a cassette recorder and ensuing dinked-out piano and spoke-sung rhymes of the one-minute "recognized."

The moderate pacing and more personally derived songwriting make the album one that demands closer attention to fully understand and enjoy, but it rewards that attention with some of the band's most nuanced and subtly detailed pop constructions to date, ultimately revealing new depths both musical and emotive.

Who knows where they might go next, but right here and right now in the year 2023, one would be hard-pressed to find a better rock & roll album on the shelves.

While Of Tomorrow might not seem too wildly removed from the rest of the band's body of work on first listen, the space it carves out for subtle details and bleary emotional expressions makes it an album that requires closer inspection to grasp its full scope.

Trouble on Big Beat Street sometimes meanders, and not all of its detours are rewarding. Nevertheless, this is some of Pere Ubu's most rawly experimental music in some time; for fans who want to feel like they're listening in on the band working out these songs instead of being presented a perfected product, there's a lot to love.

Ultimately, Animals is a compelling conversation between the creator and his psyche, his musicians, and listeners.

The performances are universally lively, often with dramatic shifts inside each piece.

After several years' worth of darker and more obviously thematic work like Playground in a Lake, Kiri Variations, and Daniel Isn't Real, it makes sense that he'd want to make something more eclectic and exploratory, and Sus Dog's exhilarating creativity is a testament to trusting the process.

Only Ron and Russell Mael could have made this album, and while they've always done what they needed and wanted to do as artists, it's extra satisfying that this peak in their popularity coincides with music this vibrantly engaging.

Some of Water from Your Eyes' most consistently gripping music, the cohesion of Everyone's Crushed lends a new vantage point on their music -- and it's an exciting one.

With guest spots from Margo Price, Billy Strings, Old Crow Medicine Show, Sierra Hull, Dan Tyminski, and Gillian Welch, Crooked Tree can feel a little busy, but the playing is reliably top-notch, and the songs, which approach trad-bluegrass themes from a female perspective, are both potent and timely.

Cave World is a world away from the band that recorded "Research Chemicals" or "Sports," and they've added some brain power without losing their strength.

Brandy Clark benefits from her songs being heard without the pleasing Nashville accouterments that decorated Big Day in a Small Town and Your Life Is a Record: in these spare settings, the emotional pull of her songs is undeniable.

My Soft Machine hits differently than Collapsed in Sunbeams, but it's still a powerful effort that packs more emotional weight while expanding the singer/songwriter's stylistic range.

With Villagers he's [Tim Rutili's] shown he's not out of interesting ideas and intriguing places to take them, even when he's letting the surfaces seem more engaging.

It's a concise debut album that, with the exception of a few tracks aided by either Biako or Andrew Lappin, McFerrin produced herself, and it also exhibits her range as a singer and lyricist.

The resulting work is at once loose and deeply complex, effortless in its incisiveness yet still dazzling at its peaks. The three bullions on the album’s cover say it best: this duo keep on producing gold.

Like so much of Cooper's work, these songs present raw depictions of hope at odds with sadness, only this time underscored with a palpable concern about how quickly the future is arriving and how little control human beings might have over it.

So much about Jackman. feels incomplete or partially thought out, however, that the album relegates itself to mere background music with occasional flashes that suggest serious emotion or profound contemplation without ever fully delivering.

Though not as hardcore as D-2 or youthfully raucous as Agust D, D-Day is the most emotionally mature offering from Suga's alter ego to date, carrying him another step forward in his evolution.

Maps is one of woods' most accessible and relatable efforts, containing some of his clearest, most vivid narratives.

At once intricate and tossed-off, passionate and aloof, Tracey Denim's seeming contradictions and haunting mood elevate bar italia amongst their post-punk reviving peers. It's an album that's complex enough for fans of the band's previous work, and just welcoming enough for a wider audience.

Jadagu's songs are memorable, creative, and highly relatable, and Aperture is an impressive first album.

Gag Order discards these pop niceties because it's designed as a purge, one that delivers catharsis for the artist without much consideration for the audience.

He is a gifted songwriter and musician who delivers his art as public therapy. At some point, though, it would be refreshing to hear Christinzio sing about something other than his own turmoil.

Mandy, Indiana clearly make music with the intention to disrupt, confront, and force the listener to question society's ethics, and their first album succeeds at all of these points.

In its still-life reflections, Seven Psalms doesn't play like a summation as much as an epilogue to a major artist's career, music that doesn't deepens appreciation for his lasting achievements, of which this mini-suite is certainly one.

Most of The Album sounds as if it was made with relaxation in mind; it's all shimmering soft rock and tempered disco, soundtracks for Montana skies and celebrations. The exceptions to the rule are "Little Bird" and the Bellion duet "Walls," a pair of slower, introspective numbers that end The Album on a curiously dour note.

Romantiq's compositions manage to be soothing and reflective even as they restlessly pursue unknown sounds and feelings.

Legacy, Vol. 2 rounds up key tracks that weren't included on Boo's previous albums, along with plenty of gleeful surprises.

For every familiar move, there's an unexpected turn.

Throughout the set, Tyler and his band marry their earthbound traditional styles with more intergalactic psychedelia, hitting jam band heights without ever straying too far from the red dirt of their home planet.

Seductive, poetic, and uplifting, Desire Marea's music is powerful in so many ways.

Her respect for the power of the groove results in one of her most cohesive projects, and one that makes the dance floor that much classier with its presence.

Seemingly posed as a promise and threat, Wait Til I Get Over is a striking and poignant deviation..

More of an experience than a set of songs, Shook's stunning, often harrowing journey of surviving and resisting is well worth taking.

Though the down-to-earth crispness of Shadow Offering is sometimes missed, there's a lot of beauty here.

Wistful R&B vocal samples and elements of woozy hip-hop became more present in later releases like 2022's Cash Romantic, and Good Lies continues in this sort of melancholic pop-influenced direction, while also including several surefire floor-fillers.

With straightforward readings from the Bordeaux Aquitaine National Orchestra under Romain Dumas, this is highly listenable stuff and one of the stronger entries in the pop-to-classical crossover canon.

Sheeran is naturally a laid-back performer, the pair fit almost a little bit too neatly: where certain hooks and melodic refrains would've been pushed into the spotlight on previous Sheeran albums, they're lying in the background here. That tender touch when combined with a preponderance of ballads turns - (subtract) into a curiously recessive album: its emotions are raw, yet its execution is reserved.

By expressing humanity's unstoppable need to create and connect on What Will You Grow Now?, Modern Cosmology exemplify how beautiful and inspiring the results of that can be.

Lombardo has complete control over the entire musical picture. This control, combined with ambitious stylistic explorations, keeps an album that's primarily comprised of solo drum performances engaging and dynamic as it travels through its various pockets of intensity and calm.

Johnson's metered songwriting and warm, textural playing keep the project's earthy spirit intact as it continues evolving with every new set of tunes.

Cloth's previous releases may have been almost too subtle for their own good, but Secret Measure is an impressive, moving leap forward that fully reveals their music's power and potential.

Thankfully, there's a pleasing flow and emotional arc to the collection that draws you deeper in the further you go, in much the same way that Smashing Pumpkins' most beloved albums were such all-encompassing experiences.

Happily, Nelson sounds sprier here than he has on other records of contemporaneous vintage, which gives a light, lively quality that's quite welcome.

This album moves further afield musically and sonically than Mettavolution. The duo embrace complex Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythms and sophisticated harmonic ideas from jazz and classical music while integrating the additional resources with imagination, taste, and powerful articulation.

An Inbuilt Fault's subtlety will reward patient listeners, as repeat listens reveal more of its emotions and sonic detail.

The album overspills with retro nods -- waves of surf guitars, swinging rhythms, garage grime, and greasy organs -- all cobbled together from thrift stores and old records, yet the execution is fresh and clever.

The Chicago Sessions is a splendid example of of Rodney Crowell doing what he does best, with some help from a guy who knows how to get him to play to his strengths; it's Crowell as his smart and soulful best.

The hooks arrive one after another and the key change at the end pushes the song's catchiness over the top. The softer songs on the album see the Twigs return to some of the Baroque pop influences they built their earliest albums on, but clear away some of the extraneous sounds that could clutter that material.

Crystal Vision is a spirited set of tracks that gleefully switch between genres and evoke the producer's varied inspirations.

The "unplugged version" has become a common trope in rock music; more often than not, it appears as a listless bid to extend a parent album's commercial lifespan for another year or two. Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón, while quite possibly achieving that aim, feels like something more fully realized and artful, and carries more weight than a mere catalog curiosity.

More consistent than 2021's Somnia and 2019's All Aboard the Skylark, The Future Never Waits is, at once, more exciting and musically adventurous -- even with the (minor) missteps. This is a significant late-career highlight from Hawkwind.

Ultimately, Prism ends up faring much like the previous two Orb albums -- another eclectic mixed bag that has some amusing ideas but doesn't feel as focused as the group's best work.

Their commitment to the people they write about and their instincts about crafting music to match make this a stunningly powerful work that may well turn out to be a masterpiece.

Despite its arcane references and philosophical nature, Blómi remains approachable and is often quite moving. That Sundfør continues to make such consistently challenging music and be justly rewarded for it is its own small miracle, and with Blómi she reaches yet another career high.

Vocally, Ware has somehow found another gear, turning in her most commanding performances while having what sounds like a ball with her background singers.

Savoy embodies the abundant joy of its predecessor, Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, but the album offers added nuance, color, dynamics, and musical sophistication. It seemingly accomplishes the impossible by taking these (overly) familiar standards and breathing new life into them while simultaneously honoring their legacies as well as that of the historic Harlem ballroom.

There's no filler to be found on another accomplished and quietly haunted release from a group celebrating a decade together as a unit.

Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities is perhaps the furthest-out release in a discography full of inventive, inspired music, and it's some of Holden's most exciting and impressive work.

Nothing here sounds precisely new -- this is the aesthetic that gelled around the time of High Violet, yet the skill in the craft is married to a brightness in outlook that lets First Two Pages of Frankenstein operate on two parallel paths: it can serve as moody atmosphere or reward close listening.

Enigmatic Society is neither as powerful nor as weighty as the debut, and certainly doesn't seem intended to match it in those regards. It's altogether a calmer, more romantic work.

While his music generally fits under the category of ambient, it's never been the type of safe, soothing ambient solely meant to function as background music. ... No Highs especially focuses on dealing with depression, anxiety, and isolation, and its pieces often feel nervous and unbalanced.

She continues to say her piece on alt-rockers like "You Can Be Mean," "Wasting Your Time," and the shrieking "Always," but takes a decidedly philosophical, even accepting turn on the more reflective "Losing" ("There is nothing I can do when the winds of change blow through") and a wistful title track that speaks of forgiveness. Along the way, De Souza delivers some surprises.

It readily embraces, borrows from, and intersects with other musics too. Often his cornucopia of other sounds has (deliberately) overshadowed jazz. That's not true here.

At times, the first two Amber Arcades albums felt like they were made by someone feeling her way toward something better; Barefoot on Diamond Road is where de Graaf arrives.

The brilliant Dreamer encompasses every style Iqbal has previously explored in her music while containing her most introspective, poignant songwriting.

As a vocalist, 6LACK still often sounds enervated (if always lucid) in a way that rewards only close listening from those who value crooners over belters.

Where her peers have scaled down their ambitions, she's reaching for grand ideas and emotions on Keep Your Courage, turning her personal journey into something universal.

Some songs come across as organic as anything from Michels' past. Whatever the method employed, all the productions are worthy of the hard-boiled South Philly griot. Glorious Game does not dilute the Black Thought catalog, either. Thought switches subjects and vantage points with typical ease and is almost as piercing throughout as he was on Cheat Codes.

More than anything else, In Pieces is a strong showcase for Chlöe as a vocal dynamo, as much of the material is hollow, lacking distinction.

The arrangements and musicianship are consistently top-notch throughout, and the mood maintains a balance between reflection and optimism, making for one of Alfa Mist's most accomplished and enjoyable works to date.

Star Eaters Delight is less of a uniform statement than Acquainted with Night was, but this collection of versatile songs acts as a tour of different neighborhoods in the beautifully smeary nocturnal dream world Neale began building on her last album.

Their most tender, intimate album yet.

Fuse is nowhere near as club-friendly or single-driven as the stacked-with-hits Walking Wounded and Temperamental, but it contains the most adventurous production EBTG have ever attempted, showing that the duo haven't lost their touch for pairing up-to-date music with relevant, affecting subject matter.

These final four compositions on The Forest in Me invite listeners to eavesdrop on a creative process, in the process of emerging, from musicians undaunted by physical separation. They always find a compelling way of establishing a collective voice.

Somewhere Under the Rainbow manages to feel intimate and hushed even when it's rocking hard and spilling out messily. All of the Official Bootleg Series releases are valuable documents of various phases of Neil's career, but this one has a personality that sets it apart.

It's a shame the Ducks didn't have the chance to mature and cut a studio album, because they clearly had talent and potential to spare, but there's no shame in being a truly great bar band, and High Flyin' shows the Ducks were something special for just three bucks.

Mess is part of the appeal of Crazy Horse, whether they're heard with Young or on their own, so it feels right that All Roads Lead Home occasionally feels as if the sum is less than the individual parts; these are old friends not so much joining forces as they are grooving on the same wavelength.

Kid Koala's music remains as inventive and conceptual as ever, but Creatures of the Late Afternoon is the most stylistically varied, adventurous, and straight-up fun release he's made in ages.

Lightning Dreamers is among the more interior statements Mazurek has crafted with ESO. The alternating of beat-conscious, vamp-driven electric jazz, experimental electronic abstraction, and improvisation is focused, subtle, and creatively resonant. This band's creativity is inexhaustible.

Henry St. seems no less sincere or heartfelt than anything Matsson has recorded in the past, yet here he embraces an unforced joy that connects in a way his more dour work did not, and it makes this one of the Tallest Man on Earth's most purely pleasurable releases to date.