Though there's not much variation in volume or tempo, listening carefully to the record's subtle weather shifts is deeply satisfying; it's a dream state, enveloped by Uchis' inimitable voice.

Ugly explores the rapper's newly formed duality, deepening his songcraft and letting the raging flame dim to a white-hot ember; it's his most reflective album to date.

Bless This Mess feels like a rebirth; a boundless, alien take on Remy's explosive art-pop, its conceptual wildness and sonic friskiness allowing her to flex her vision and sense of humour in brand new ways.

Cracker Island is the most focused and least eclectic instalment in the band's discography — and for that reason, it absolutely breezes by.

Adorned with earthy imagery across almost every track — and highlighted by the groovy "One Bird Calling" and the livestock sampling "A Barn Conversation" — The Vivian Line is a love letter to his rural homestead and the loved ones with whom he shares it.

Raven's unstructured, experimental feel may be unsettling for some, but the project's only other downside is that eventually, it ends.

Like their previous albums, Land of Sleeper transcends when taken in as a whole, with tracks that are perhaps individually a bit workmanlike but soar when plugged next to the surrounding pieces.

Desire, I Want to Turn Into You feels like the arrival of Caroline Polachek, a statement of intent that finally lassos her myriad musical ambitions into something singular.

All Fiction is the mark of a new era for Pile. It's one that might take some listeners time to get used to, but it's an altogether richer and more mature sound that opens new avenues of sound for the band going forward.

It's an album that further solidifies his position as a genre-leading storyteller, and it will have you humming along as much as it'll have you looking over your shoulder.

Pollen's deep cuts can't quite rise to the same heights as its singles, though they maintain a similar mood and prowess that gives the album life beyond just a couple music videos or haphazardly-ordered playlists. The main standout buried beneath the surface is the stunning "Gibraltar."

The result is a far livelier and live-sounding album than one would expect from a group this deep into their career.

The thematic focus on the therapeutic powers of the natural world, and the protective presence of familial and spiritual energies, make The Land, the Water, the Sky feel just as suited to playing from the peak of a mountain as from the crackling speaker of a bar or bookstore.

This Is Why is undoubtedly Paramore's strongest work. At only ten songs and a 36 minute runtime, they left little room for error and made not one mistake.

With the world coming apart at the seams, Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes have never sounded more together, more single-minded and strong-willed. They made an album that needed to be made. Quasi went all-in on Breaking the Balls of History, and it lives up to its absolutely killer title.

Sure, he did appear on a Tame Impala remix last year, but few could have expected such a vivid and exploratory psych album as Let's Start Here.

Heavy Heavy may be a little too sweet for long-time listeners, but its massive choruses, strong hooks and ecstatic sound too timely and too powerful to deny.

Overall, Gloria seesaws between being compelling and generic, with just enough highs to keep you interested throughout.

This indispensable and revelatory treatment is as loving and comprehensive as can be, giving us a sense of how Dylan and his various collaborators nailed down these spooky, funny, hard songs pondering loneliness, independence and the end of one's days.

What One Day achieves then, unshackled by this lingering desire for overarching grand narratives, is the purest distillation of that "lightning in a bottle" frenzy, capturing the collective's creative spark at its most urgent — that is: less bells, all whistles.

A compelling album that will more than reward your attention.

Finnerty returns from these loftier reaches unscathed, allowing Honey to swing big without flying off the handle. Spread this one on your toast immediately.

While the sonic textures remain in their typical buzzed out territory, the tracks where tempos ramp to harrowing speeds don't entirely work.

The best live albums are ones that clearly distinguish themselves from their studio counterparts (Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York, for example), and this isn't that. But as a way to cap off 2022 while refocusing attention on their live show, Live at Montreaux adds to (rather than detracts from) the impression that the Smile are successfully carrying the torch for Radiohead during this period of uncertainty.

It's certainly not going to produce the next "Viceroy" or "Chamber of Reflection," but it's an exceedingly pleasant listen — the kind of thing that's the perfect soundtrack for working and studying, or to make chores a little more tolerable.

Despite complex construction that in the wrong hands can drain music of potency and impact, Malone, Railton and O'Malley sculpt otherworldly soundscapes and craft microtonal realms worth return expeditions, where timbres and harmonics flicker, ripple, scrape and hum — always converging and diverging, Does Spring Hide Its Joy is a beacon of possibility.

It's mostly a cheery, upbeat listen — although Murdoch still sounds best in melancholy mode, something he proves with on the synth-anchored "We We Were Very Young." ... B&S only miss when they leave their comfort zone.

A seething but persevering energy flows intensely CACTI.