He might have the Midas touch when it comes to genre, but when it comes to his last word, Terje is wise enough to say it in his first language.

He really can write a song, and the fact that it never wears out its welcome makes his music damn enjoyable.

With their debut full-length, WEVAL have proven that they're willing to approach their music with their ears wide open and their possibilities endless.

From the diamonds on the chains he hedonistically spits about while prospering to the shameless confessions he unveils at the nadir of despair, the way Lanez embraces his flaws makes his music stand out.

The album is an ode to all that Khruangbin have achieved and a look forward to everything that is to come.

Every track on Texas Moon is a moment of catharsis, delivered with as much swagger as spirituality.

If you can get past the haughty lyrics on "Fickle Sun (ii)," for instance, then its minimalist piano notes will surely impress. And yet, even that song's musicianship sounds downright conventional compared to preceding tracks "Fickle Sun (i)" and opening track "The Ship," a 21-minute composition that begins with solemn synth moans like a distant vessel's horn.

These songs don't contain the spine-tingling embrace of death that fuelled Leonard Cohen and David Bowie's final albums, but Nelson faces his realities head on here, with grit and a grin.

Near to the Wild Heart of Life isn't the record fans waited five years for. But backed into a corner, Japandroids have penned a truly great record filled with all the guitar hooks, shout-along choruses about nights spent drinking, sweating and longing to be somewhere else that we've come to expect.

The Heliocentrics' most beguiling effort to date.

The tracks on Apocalypse, girl flow into one another like smooth, glassy water, and the collaborations, with improv cellist Okkyung Lee, harpist Rhodri Davis and Swans' Thor Harris, add texture.

Dulli and company manage to elatedly deliver everything long-standing fans crave in an Afghan Whigs album--and they do so in spades.

On Brill Bruisers, the band's glory days have returned.

Didn't He Ramble shimmers, saunters and charms; Hansard has never sounded so good.

Lux Prima certainly isn't Karen O's most urgent or explosive work, but it all sounds exceptionally lovely.

Otherworldly and full of enchantment, Deerhoof's 13th studio album, The Magic, finds the wholly original and ever-engaging band at their most cohesive and versatile.

For more than a decade, Lady Gaga has encouraged us to 'just dance' regardless of the pain hidden deep within ourselves. While she may have veered off from her own advice over the past few years, Chromatica proves that Gaga is back and better than ever.

Sol Invictus isn't perfect, and it's not their best work, but Faith No More creaking with a little rust and blinking cobwebs is still a glorious thing.

Bigger, bolder, and even more exploratory than his 2020 debut Your Hero Is Not Dead, An Inbuilt Fault.

A neon sugar rush that occasionally fizzles out with filler tracks, Nothing's Real ultimately leaves a lasting impression.

It looks like there may be some wind left in this crew's sails after all.

Brood Ma's vision of the future may be dark, but on the challenging, rewarding DAZE, his future as a purveyor of its soundtrack is all but secured.

It's all good, but none of it is great. Still, if this is merely the first taste of an eventual vault series of releases from Townes Van Zandt's musical archive, it's more than enough to make us hunger for more.

Karaoke Angel is a beautiful surprise from Sarlé, whose career as a solo artist has only just begun.

This is tough-talking, hard-living stuff, but it's been infused with a welcome dose of 21st century sexual politics.

Where Donovan really soars is the quieter moments on the record.

Putting the tiger back in a 15-year old cage works well for the band, for the most part. You can feel Stump chafing against the creative box he's put himself back in, and the tension it creates in the music gives many of these songs a sense of immediacy.

Like much of Willie's work these days, Band of Brothers might not bring many new fans into the fold, but it's sure to please those already there.