The industrial and atmospheric elements of the album all convey a sense of searching and often of rushing away from one thing and toward another. Even the blurred cover image of Hatchie suggests a feeling of constantly being in motion. It is through this searching and continual movement that Hatchie etches her own lines to define her persona through her music, constantly propelling herself and her ideas in new directions and trusting that we’ll keep up.

Eight albums in, Gorillaz are still capable of producing a fresh, rich album that spans genres and moods, with so many different textures and sonic fabrics that they have cultivated a musical universe of their own.

When you turn on a Dinosaur Jr. record, the thinking goes, it should always sound like a Dinosaur Jr. record. I’m happy to report that Sweep It into Space does, in fact, check this box.

In a career predicated on being album artists showing the powerful link between repetition and expectation, Elbow appears to have hit a stride again.

Gentleman Jesse's positive energy is as infectious as the hooks in his songs, but it's the sonic uniformity of those songs that make Leaving Atlanta overbearing when consumed as a whole.

The good news is that her songwriting is stronger than ever. Along with co-executive producer A.G. Cook, Charli XCX has put together a delightful album of high-end pop confections. Charli packs in plenty of wow and proves to be more than worth the wait.

These brooding, darkly shaded arrangements run the risk of being kitsch. But when Timber Timbre drop the horror pretense and focus on the neurotic ticks and inadequacies that come with romantic obsession, the band are at their best.

Night Thoughts is a fine entry in their already strong discography.

On If I Can’t Have Love, there’s romance, there’s sadness, there’s plenty of trademark defiance, but some of the album’s best moments are the most intimate.

Despite its mixed offerings, Club Meds is a fascinating and unpredictable new direction from Mangan, surviving its own missteps. A few risks fail, but everything’s more interesting.

While solid, Still Life would need an extra push to reach an even higher tier.

The result, if you are willing to engage and get just as vulnerable, is unforgettable. For those who are feeling lost and needing to really listen, Salt will speak loud, and McMahon’s music will remain a steadfast and spectral companion for a very long time.

Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not isn’t perfect, but it’s yet another solid record from a band that has rarely sounded better.

O’Brien, or Villagers rather, succeeded in creating an album rife with adventure and tragedy, made even more addictive with each listen.

C’est La Vie has moments of real beauty and depth while reflecting on fatherhood and settling down. But Houck should keep pushing into the strange, uncomfortable places where his best music gets made; now’s not the time to shrug it off.

Megan is her own best advocate, and Traumazine is a testament to this principle. Elsewhere, Megan displays her penchant for bringing out the best in her collaborators, molding herself to bring out the most recognizable aspects of their style.

The producer being so secondary here is certainly a missed opportunity. The album still ends up being a thrill, due to the duo’s sheer talent, but its caution undermines its competence. .Paak has insisted that Yes Lawd! is not an Anderson .Paak album, but it sure sounds like one.

After 41 minutes, Leave Home doesn't linger like a flashback, it sticks like a demented structure that's mysteriously magnetic and, in the end, really fun. No wonder this stuff is addictive.

On Pale Horses, they seek a comfortable spot between weighty post-hardcore and artful indie rock introspection, but ultimately sound suppressed.

Okay, so how do they still fare? With The King of Limbs, reasonably well.

The album’s 13 tracks hit some serious highs and a few middling snags, but that’s to be expected from a band’s debut, even if that band features a modern day hero like Hanna.

Each voice is allowed to shine here, and through them, the voices of so many women who continually find themselves stifled in the country music format.

Twins works to include both the bombastic noise that made Lemons a cult hit, and redefine any notion of what Segall is capable of.

This is a really pleasing album. Just don't listen too hard to the words.

These compact morsels of art-folk grandeur set the scene perfectly for one another.

One Breath is a dynamic statement from a young woman who could very well be the next David Bowie or Nick Cave.

Each of its eight tracks--most of them gems from punk stalwarts such as Against Me! and Smoking Popes--use solo-Kinsella’s musical tricks to convert aggression into snow-sprinkled majesty, revealing a tenderness and surreal imagery that weren’t as apparent in the original versions.

As a new release, it’s got more than enough exploratory factors to keep the band from sounding stale, but it also stays true to the sounds that have turned us all into maggots in the first place.