Although Raekwon, Bun B and Birdman all turn in solid guest spots, Freeway remains in control and drops his most memorable lines since his 2003 debut, "Philadelphia Freeway."

Between the folds of intricate sound on Odd Blood float Yeasayer members Anand Wilder's and Chris Keating's expressive vocal harmonies, giving this seemingly disparate, indefinable music a clear identity.

Under the cover of midnight, Del Rey has been exploring big ideas about eroticism, drugs, myth, the empty promise of YOLO, what it means to be a woman, and the American soul.

Its fifth album is another successful step toward the mainstream.

In grappling with the sudden death of her husband in 2008, the U.K. singer/songwriter has crafted a remarkable set that includes influences from rock and jazz, rich instrumentation and lyrics that linger well beyond the first listen.

Two years and an overabundance of hype later, producer Ethan Kath and singer Alice Glass return with another self-titled set that corrects all of their debut's miscues and remains eye-popping from beginning to end.

The Weird One delivers the reprocessed goods, though it's his original tunes — done in the idiosyncratic styles of his favorite artists--that truly warrant repeat listening.

More than happy to engage the pop mainstream (once heard, the irresistible, day-glo chorus of "Superfast Jellyfish" is never forgotten), yet experimental enough to satisfy the hipsters, these cartoon characters just made the first 3-D album of the new decade.

Buoyed by a favorable divorce settlement, a baby boy and a newly released high-energy dance album, Flesh Tone, the recently single Kelis is ready to bring the boys back to the yard.

His Bob Dylan-esque voice combined with the hauntingly beautiful arrangement of the classical guitar throughout Admiral Fell Promises is hypnotic, trapping listeners in a melancholy spell of wonder.

Restrained, moody and subtle. It has its big footprint moments, of course, and there's an audible ambition that gives the album a crackling if slow-burning energy.

The missteps are few, but grave: on "Gimme a Chance," she transitions from bouncy rap to full-blown salsa, complete with Spanish singing, while the retro surf-pop of the Ariel Pink-produced "Nude Beach a Go-Go" confounds. And yet, both merely amplify how creatively combative Banks can be--especially when she focuses that energy into her music.

Luckily, Wale never spreads himself too thin on Attention Deficit and maintains the urgency of his mixtapes to ensure that the set contains little filler.

Given Kelly's absurdly effortless melodic flair, the result certainly satisfies. But Love Letter could use more of his effortless absurdity.

Deerhoof vs. Evil is more tentative than the group's best work, but its consistently dazzling musicianship carries the band as it explores different themes on a new label.

It’s the rare major-label debut that trusts the artist’s aesthetic enough to not tamper with it.

A dense yet buoyant mixture of hip-hop beats, reggae grooves, African-pop riffs and future-soul vocals, "Concrete Jungle" (which culls tracks from Nneka's previous European releases) does, in fact, echo "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

Everything but the Girl fans might miss the duo's dancey leanings, but Thorn proves that her voice is enough to transcend genre preferences.

A couple of tracks feature liberally processed vocals, but the singing acts less as a melodic agent than as one more source of instrumental texture.

Balancing these cheery influences with the melancholy prose is the name of the game. The lively accordion and clanky piano on the song "Shadow People" recall Bob Dylan's 1974 country-folk single "Forever Young," but the cheerfulness seems to contradict Dr. Dog guitarist/vocalist Scott McMicken's strained lyric: "It's the right time for the wrong company."

As always, though, Streisand sings the material like it was written expressly for her, elongating phrases at will and slowing most of the tempos to a luxurious Old Hollywood crawl. What matters most? Babs' bliss.

No matter the mood and tempo, though, the Florence & The Machine heard on How Big How Blue How Beautiful is a newly self-aware one. It shows a different kind of mastery by allowing for a different kind of vulnerability, an especially delicate balancing act for a young woman in pop music.

Annie steals listeners' hearts with her light-as-a-feather vocal delivery and infectious beats.

A tight, spirited follow-up to 2010’s bluesier, less essential Mojo.

Nestling welcomed experimentation among familiar tunes, Beam is hedging his bets with Kiss Each Other Clean.

The new album is a testament to Henry's singular sonic vision and a masterful mix of history and mystery by an industry veteran who sounds like he's just getting started.

Red is her most interesting full-length to date, but it probably won't be when all is said and done in her career.

Thanks to [Lorde's] vision, and her grip on the series' most important thematic elements, the 50 minutes of music behind Mockingjay Part 1 ably function as both a glance at 2014's finest purveyors of complex, downcast pop and a complement to the start of the series' chaotic, brutal conclusion.