Joni Mitchell at Newport is her victory lap.

Natural Disaster builds on the laidback, Californian sound that defined much of Best Coast's catalogue, and is a reflective time capsule of a moment between distinct chapters in Cosentino's life.

Pure Music is Strange Ranger's most alluring and most impressive effort yet. Fans of the band's beginnings will probably remain averse to this affirmed sonic shift, but it's hard not to respect an outfit brazenly evolving by throwing everything familiar out the window and going buck wild with their vision.

Rajan successfully bridges vintage influences into the best of modern psychedelia, resulting in the most precise and mature Night Beats album to date. Perhaps the secret ingredient is just a little hot ghee.

They're sure to become mainstays on many a summer playlist. Although it feels like the group still have more to explore, this album is a remarkable effort by Little Dragon as they begin to finally reach their full potential.

On their sophomore effort, Good Living Is Coming for You, Mondal and Schnug are again looking ahead, but this time around, the scenery feels more sinister and the ambient sense of dread is sharper. Thankfully though, the result is no less dynamic than its predecessor.

With Chaos for the Fly, Grian Chatten has proven that he's not only worth his salt for leading one of the biggest UK bands in the world right now, but that he has the erudition to create fantastic music without his Fontaine D.C. mates.

Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart is brash, loud, triumphant, and quintessentially Williams — her perseverance in the face of adversity is truly inspiring, and these stories are tales to live by.

New listeners will surely be inclined to throw them into their rotation with open arms, and those already in the know will be glad to hear Militarie Gun continue to exceed expectations.

Duffy relinquished control and precision — and perhaps loneliness — in favour of something more immediate, striking, and impulsive. The resulting six-song record has a looseness to it that celebrates the uninhibited power of spontaneity and invention.

Condensing her struggles into meditative lyrics and singing from the perspective of fictional characters, this is a jazz project in its purest and most unadulterated form, and a very solid start to Ndegeocello's tenure at Blue Note.

As with all successful concept albums, its individual songs work as well independently as they do as a whole. It's depth shrouded in mischief, and it's proof that King Gizzard have mastered creating music that's as heavy conceptually as it is sonically.

The record is an achievement of pop-house production, and Jayda's performance throughout is earnest and enthralling — It's a strong effort and vital evolution in her ever-shifting career.

This might not be the most urgent Sigur Rós album, but it'll surely be remembered as one of their most gorgeous. For a band so well known for all things beautiful, beauty for its own sake is hardly a problem.

Queens of the Stone Age dial back their intensity and step up their groove to develop a new sound for the end of the world on In Times New Roman…. For better or worse, it's clear that the band are not the same alt-rock anthem-makers they were in the Y2K era.

Time Ain't Accidental is filled with minimalist modern country ballads that gently dissolve like a sugar cube on your tongue.

Heaven Is A Junkyard will make you feel its spiritual tone and tenor, a superpower that has laid dormant with Youth Lagoon, now awakened by Powers finally finding his voice."

It's far more experimental than her last effort, but in a thoughtful way that makes for a refreshing listen.

Throughout Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?, Dixon continues to show off his acrobatic way with words and parades his affecting precision of imagery.

Intensely frantic and intimately vulnerable, Girl with Fish proves that sometimes letting things run off the rails pays off, so long as you have hands to grasp onto.

On Purge, it feels like the band has finally found a sense of catharsis. In the end, this record does exactly what it says it will; it offers listeners a chance to dwell and stew on the darkness in their lives before inviting them to release those feelings; while the relief might be temporary, sometimes that's all you need.

Rays of light shine through on the glitzy, sparkling "So Clear," where she realizes after "ten thousand days" — as in, the late-twenties — fucking up is necessary to incite change. At this point, Folick looks back at the first half of the album with a fresh, wisened perspective. In doing so, it feels euphoric to see the extent of her growth.

The group's musical evolution is clear, but they clearly can (and should) push even further into this heavier direction.

The result is a catchy, cathartic experience that feels fun, even while wading through themes of loss, shame and eventually acceptance.

As an album, Shadow Kingdom is an alternate universe that reflects another side of Bob Dylan's craft and creative muses. It's not a funhouse mirror reflection per se, but it's definitely really fun the more you look at it.

Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? is an album of great substance, one that both rewards and demands close listening.

The Murlocs have shown their skill at evolving naturally with little effort, and Calm Ya Farm sees the band putting it all together, upping the honky-tonk and honing their unique-yet-timeless sound more than ever.

Despite a few moments spent in the doldrums, Park's heartfelt lyricism and serene instrumentals navigate the complexities of love and healing, reminding listeners of the ongoing process of finding wholeness.