Inventive, lush, and propelled by taut rhythms and strings that gust like competing winds, Ignorance matches the subtle drama and sparkling intelligence of Lindeman's writing, exploding her music into opalescent shards.

Lorde is masterful at making music that digs within the deepest recesses of your heart and brings to the surface the feelings that you thought you'd forgotten about. Melodrama is the perfect outlet to hash (and dance) those emotions out to.

What Photay achieves on Onism is the contrast between full auditory saturation and expanding silence, brought to life by brilliant production.

Is the best rap/rap-adjacent album of the year? It's definitely a contender. Is it the most important album of the year? Probably. Should you be listening to it right now? Without question.

Overall, Ashes And Dust is undeniable proof of Warren Haynes' growth as a songwriter and an affirmation of his continuing successful eclecticism.

Although Another Life may be borne from the unnerving question of whether the world will be saved or destroyed by technology, the music contained within is still hard-hitting, at times danceable, and infinitely entertaining.

Anthropocosmic Nest is full of loud blasts from the Messthetics, but it's also dynamic, revealing a patient, thoughtful approach to songwriting, which, beyond exhibiting the band's musical proficiency, is a real signifier of genuine friendship and trust.

Jeff Tweedy clearly spent more time than usual talking to himself of late, and the expressive results are strong. His memory went jogging and kicked up enough dust that he had to put it down on paper and on tape, and it all feels like the most direct pathway into his complex psyche that he's ever offered.

Ortega's musical composition revels in an outlaw spirit, echoed vocal acoustics and a Spanish waltz. She masters the equilibrium and stability amid light and dark, which is regularly touched on in her earlier works.

This is Lone's best work to date, and one that shows it's possible to keep evolving while holding onto a strong sense of identity.

Hecker's clever ability to shift and adapt is clearly on display with Konoyo. A dreamlike song cycle, the album is more than an extension of the grandeur of Love Streams. It's a refined, focused exploration of traditions both adhered to and transcended.

With Autobiography, Jlin shows she might be incapable of creating anything less than brilliant.

The added bonus is the way this release is inclusive of the familiar textures of more poplar electronics. It's wide open and intelligent, and comes highly recommended.

This is pop music designed to give you all the feels, and even with a disruptive pseudo-reggae track thrown into the mix ("Candles"), Future Islands prove that they can do it better than anyone else right now.

It admittedly spends a lot of time in a downer mode--a more light-amidst-the-dark feel would feel nice--but this sophomore effort remains affecting and affirming in its own quiet way

Thoughtful, relentless, arty and uncompromisingly queer, Fist City are a rough gem in the unforgiving expanse of the Rockies.

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.

Even though Post Self isn't exactly what was expected, it's a masterful release from two musicians who seem to be incapable of creating anything short of exquisite.

At 34, the New Orleans multi-instrumentalist is too young to have his work described in terms of a career peak, but these albums are so nearly flawless that it's difficult to imagine how he can get any better.

In the solid Late Night Feelings, sadness is more than an abstraction here: it's multifaceted, multilayered and mellifluous melancholy.

Sitting at a painfully short seven songs, the project is every bit as good as it should be; this is genuinely the reintroduction to both artists the world deserves.

Everything Everything continue to push their creativity and abilities as a group on A Fever Dream, shifting and adapting their sound while retaining their knack for melody, challenging rhythms and standout lyricism.

All American Made is provocative, charismatic and endearing, proving what many of country's all-time greats already seem to know: Margo Price is a legend in the making.

To say Black Origami is an album that grows on you with each listen is correct, but undermines the energy you feel upon the album's first listen. It's earthy and futuristic, complex and linear, dance-y and a total mind-fuck.

Like all of her best work, Akoma is heavy, mysterious and boundless. This is Jlin's world; we're just lucky enough to listen in.

IDLES turn trauma and anger into affirming lessons on Joy As an Act of Resistance, crafting a cathartic masterpiece that wears its heart--broken, but still beating--on its sleeve.

Paired with the dream-like, celestial quality of U.F.O.F., Two Hands shows Big Thief's loving view of the world can be immeasurably intimate and intangible, but also be bare-boned and brutally honest.

With thoughtful lyrics, infectious grooves and catchy riffs, Frozen Letter is sure to bring out the air guitarist (or drummer) in anyone.

Most vividly, Loud City Song evokes the easy, tingling drift of early Robert Wyatt.

Washington delivers an LP's worth of ideas, vision and passion into only six tracks and 33 minutes of music.

By far their most dynamic offering, Daughters have pulled off one of the great comeback albums and further cemented themselves as a band with such singular creativity that they're nearly peerless. It may not sound like the album you thought you wanted, but the open-minded listener might find it's precisely what was needed.

Life Metal retains all the traits that make Sunn O))) who they are, yet intertwined with a spark of unmistakable vibrance that lifts the spirit, even in the midst of such abyssal depths.

Angeleno, the triumphant debut from Los Angeles-based Sam Outlaw, is perhaps the best example of this old sound we've had in 40 years.

This is a record bursting with indecision and excess, but that excess is revealing; we're shown more of Shania's emotion than ever here. It's enough to make Now one of the best pop albums of the year.

He and his band are making truly tremendous guitar rock in a manner that is peerless in this era, and from anywhere on the globe.

Although political in nature, the feel of the record is unabashedly joyful and if Jama ko doesn't form part of your summer listening, you are missing out on something very special.

This is easily Austra's most exciting and fully formed piece of work yet.

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.

With i don't know who needs to hear this... , Tomberlin goes beyond avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump. She examines the posture of what it means to make an excellent album through her meditative reflections and the mutating organism of the soundscape she sets them against.

Though incomplete (those final Cale sessions are an important hole) presenting them as a whole paints a fuller picture of one of the most important bands of the rock era, and forces listeners to at least briefly reimagine one of their favourite records as a wholly different beast.

Pushin' Against The Stone is a rare case when a young artist's natural instincts are spot-on. As both a singer and songwriter, June is a major talent with unlimited potential.

Unlike most of his peers, Thompson is defying the march of time, continuing to write and perform at an exceptional level. Electric easily deserves a place alongside his best solo releases.

It's rare to find an album this coherent and firm in quality. But best of all, a good half of the record will give you plenty of inspiration to channel Herring's sweet dance moves.

The album is a gem. Preemo lovingly wraps brand new Guru verses (new even to him) with his trademark production, earmarked with his iconic scratch choruses, without missing a beat.

The 18-song offering is a cohesive masterpiece.

Astroworld shows the evolution of Travis Scott as an artist and is his most refined, imaginative, and rage-worthy project yet.

There's a Riot Going On is an exceptional addition to Yo La Tengo's legacy, a timeless classic.

Purists will always pine for Sonic Youth and their glory days, but with a band and album this good, who cares about the past?

These songs don't sound forced or half-baked, they often beg for the repeat button to be tapped. Melodically, he's never been more engaging or accomplished, because he opts for experimentation from the musicians around him, which include Irglová, rather than revert to the habit of strumming his acoustic guitar into oblivion when the energy fizzles.

The record is strikingly patient and meditative, even to the point of being hypnotic.

While the band challenge themselves, occasionally blindsiding fans too ("Caterpillar" is a demo that only features Edkins), there's also a reassuring aspect to the calm confidence of METZ here, though they find themselves in a lost world.

Auditory annihilation never sounded so good.

Weather pushes the boundaries of Tycho's traditional sound, and in so doing, proves there is something serious to be said about stepping outside the comfort zone.

DiCaprio 2 exemplifies what the ideal student of the game sounds like--someone who's conscious of how a hook presents itself, how to control their delivery and how to diversify their lyrical bonds.

Wide Awake! is a letter-perfect musical contemplation of modern times, where social uprisings are actually affecting positive change. It's urgent and potent music that's thought-provoking and danceable, and whose rage is measured by a pointed optimism.

Whitehorse could easily have played it safe here, but they didn't; as a result, Panther in the Dollhouse is one of the best albums of the summer, if not the year.

Remind Me Tomorrow is not only a reminder of the power of love but also features some of Van Etten's finest work to date.

The sense on this wondrous and haunting album is that he's a man and a songwriter that lives to command life and forge new ways forward, disproving the merits of convention by simply reflecting upon how falling in line is not for him and, damn it, it won't have to be for his family neither.

This is Ghersi in her truest form — which is to say that it is many forms at once. The record zigzags between styles and moods at a breakneck pace, collapsing genre in its wake and crafting new pop forms – never has an Arca album held so many moments of pure songcraft.

Out Among the Stars is, at least contextually, a reminder that sometimes things got in Johnny Cash's way, but there are very few forces on Earth that could stifle his voice and conviction when he set his mind to getting a song across.

The material on Innocence & Decadence is everything you'd expect from a Graveyard album plus a little bit more.

Instrumentally, there's a flare and excitement that was lacking on previous work. Each song is unique, rarely applying the same formula twice. Fortunately, she's ensured every musical choice, structural or instrumental, serves a purpose. ... Stella never beats around the bush, and because of that, there is a magnetism to this album.

Acts like the Cinematic Orchestra are sometimes dismissed as background music. To Believe refutes that completely. Its gentle warmth makes the work accessible. But once you've pressed play, there is no ignoring it.

Maybe Cuz I Love You isn't what Aretha Franklin would sound like, had she made a rap album, but Lizzo created a beautiful sonic journey through different eras of music, and for that, it deserves a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

A spectacular followup to 2017's critically acclaimed Drunk. ... It Is What It Is manifests as a beautiful ebb and flow of emotional states, philosophical musings and plain old comedy. It doesn't drown itself in existential dread or proffer any clear-cut solutions, but just exists on its own plane.

This is Nguyen's strongest work yet, with the aforementioned songwriting taking a leap forward, while gradually perfecting her melting pot sound of country, folk and pop.

Its Alvvays least penetrable, most challenging album yet — but one that still preserves the band's best qualities, sounding chaotic and painstaking at the same time.

A consistent, flawless catalogue that spans nearly three decades.

If there's one thing that Aa demonstrates in spades, it's growth. The record not only shows a wide array of styles, but lays a solid foundation for Baauer to build on in the future.

The end result is likely the most dynamic and entertaining Jicks record thus far. You can hear Malkmus's love of classic and kraut rock in these crafty arrangements, which each get to a place where they truly shine. Hard.

It's these frenzied, sharp-turn transitions are what make this band feel so vital, so alive and so different.

Pratt's succinct lines can spill out so naturally and conversationally it's hard to believe someone wrote them, except that she messes with the syntax a little, too.

Juxtaposing the escape provided by club culture's immediacy with the harsh realities confronted in the lab, Significant Changes sets a reality check to something danceable, but its success is wholly reliant on Jayda G's balanced presentation and steadfast commitment to both missions, tonal shifts like "Orca's Reprise" providing chill-out wind-downs for the party while the club anthems provide some sorely needed release.

On their new full-length, much-anticipated Epitaph debut On The Impossible Past, they exceed expectations once again.

There isn't a bad track here, and from the sound of Ibibio Sound Machine, it appears that Soundway is intent on delivering new music every bit as distinguished as its esteemed reissues.

She experiments with more melodic sounds, but has kept her roots too, such as her heavy flows and funky productions that are perfect for the club.

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.

Vital, vibrant, and necessary, Luciferian Towers is a stunning addition to Godspeed's storied catalogue.

The quality of musicianship, lyrical content and melodies on What You See Is What You Get marks one of the top calibre country albums of the decade.

If "bloody," "urgent," "enraged" and "heartening" were enough description to sum up El-P and Killer Mike's latest Run the Jewels album, this review could end here. But they aren't; this late 2016 LP, along with the duo's various collaborative tracks with several DJs and rappers all year, have officially placed RTJ high on the shelf of the "hard to describe" category.

Her smooth, rich voice dances gracefully over the rougher guitar riffs and drums found all over No Burden, her extremely confident first full-length.

The former enfant terribles seem to have arrived at their final destination and sound more assured than ever before with Seek Shelter — a stunning achievement that will restore even the most lapsed practitioner's faith in rock music.

In Another Life is a glorious return for Perri, an album that sits just outside of pop music. Any minor idiosyncrasies are downplayed by just how gorgeous and listenable these songs truly are.

Bilal describes creating A Love Surreal as a surrealistic exploration of love and, indeed, he delivers on this end.

Nothing is off limits, and their chemistry on wax continues to be just as powerful as it is in real life. It's not only a top-to-bottom banger, but it's also relationship goals.

Yes, most of us listeners won't understand the Nigerian Ibibio language lyrics that she assuredly bellows and purrs on grooving songs like "Nyak Mien," or "Kuka." But Williams' masterful delivery, not to mention the band's deft playing, more than get the point across throughout this fantastic album.

It's not that Sneaks' music doesn't take itself seriously, but each song is so well-crafted that it lacks the self-consciousness that could weigh a project like Highway Hypnosis down.

These tracks and more prove the octogenarian has as much grit and vigour as country stars a fraction of his age. Indeed, Nelson performs so deftly on Ride Me Back Home that you'll feel the urge to ask this aged outlaw to hop back in the saddle for yet another spryly exciting ride.

Throughout, D'Agostino's words are intricate and so tangled in detail that the stories are obscured; it's more like flipping through a photo album without footnotes — you're not told the story, but you feel the impression it leaves on you.

The unlisted, sludge metal instrumental with crashing, crushing, demo-quality production only adds to the overall awesomeness and crazed attitude behind it all.

It's a rare record that serves as an entry point for newcomers while rewarding old fans who've stuck by them since the beginning.

By not only fearlessly facing grief, but also honouring Justin's sly humor, raw vulnerability and nimble songwriting, Steve Earle fittingly sees his young Cowboy off into the sunset.

Over the course of 11 impeccable tracks, Amos delivers eerily infectious singer-songwriter fare on par with the intelligent and emotionally raw efforts of Nina Nastasia and Sun Kil Moon, but that's polished with studio savvy worthy of Califone or even mid-period Modest Mouse.

Everything works here, in its own unique way.

The EP's mix of the myriad styles presented (drone-influenced electronica, dancehall, progressive synths) come together in a way that makes the experience feel unique.

Not a single cut on Oh My God feels out of place. Each song is effulgent in its composition and intention.

Moody moves away the deep soulful grooves that made his name and instead focuses on creating a new sound that, while retaining the breaks and drum machines that are his trademark, is now coloured with live instrumentation and Kenny's delightfully sleazy croon.

What's impressive is how well integrated these Agee-inspired tunes are with their more modern cousins.