My Make-Believe is a refined continuation of Santi's dubby, militarized, post-punk experimentation.

It’s a formula to be sure, but Feast’s main delights are its textures and songwriting.

His mumbling drawl is introverted, whether it’s whispering or shouting, but never feels forced. It works well alongside his guitar.

Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, is an astounding electric guitarist, yet on her absorbing third album she never puts her mastery of the instrument ahead of a great song.

Listen to House Of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes Of Silence in one go and you'll find that the music remains impressive. If there's one quibble, it's that as Trilogy enters its second hour, Tesfaye's lyrical ambivalence begins to sound a bit one-note.

While acoustically generated and devoid of any heavy electronic processing, the results are much darker and stranger than anything on Syro, with ominous detuned metallic percussion and mangled piano noises taking the place of bright, bubbling, acid synth lines.

It's the kind of album that resists being parsed out into singles. Aside from radio-ready lead track Love As A Weapon, the rest work together as a cohesive whole even while bouncing around lyrically.

These guys are passionate about what they're doing.

Better than anything they've done to date.

The rest of Autumn Of The Seraphs sounds a bit more meticulous, though it's self-assured in its footing.

Fortress stands out as gratifyingly heavy and heady.

The album's not quite as heavy as its predecessor, but there are enough down-tuned riffs and effects-laden solos to satisfy old fans.

Still on offer are his immaculately crafted lyrics and preoccupation with place.

Carey’s back to adding her sparkly touch to summer-ready pop tunes.

It contains some of her poppiest and funniest material to date, taking her minimal techno and Italo-esque electro rhythms into unabashedly melodic territory on the joyous So Right while swinging in the opposite direction with warehouse-friendly industrial sci-fi instrumentals Burn Me and Workaholic Paranoid Bitch.

An exciting and often unexpected listen.

A Folk Set Apart isn't where you'd go to contextualize McCombs, but it exhibits his dynamism.

Each song has bite, but every sound on Soul Power is kept fairly mellow.

String sections, brushed drums and, on High Hawk Season, backing vocals that recall the Jordanaires give the album a dynamic, varied sound and make it the Mountain Goats' most surprising creation.

Earlier generations of psych fans had the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd to worship and pursue on tour. Now, three albums in, TOY could become this generation’s long-haired psychedelic heroes to follow around in VW campers.

Their method is simple and their personnel limited, yet they still throw in plenty of headphone-friendly psychedelia and jittery vocals.

Of course, hilariously outlandish quasi-mystical song titles like 'Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperze­phyerians' probably won’t help their cause, but the progressively regressive arrangements, more skillful riffing and their relentless, groove-conscious attack will go a long way toward endearing them to serious metalheads who’ll appreciate the Sword’s obvious Sabbath, Maiden and Budgie inspiration.

Mood-wise, there’s less of the unhinged joy of their last outing, "Love Is Simple." However, those moments of ecstasy have more power in smaller doses, and making that choice has allowed them to expand their palette while retaining their identity.

This entirely live album is warmer and more consistent [than 2010's Harlem River Blues], with a lot of heart.

The 17 tracks emphasize the latter half of his career, but he’s toned down his more avant-garde tendencies somewhat and injected a bit of R&B swing and jazz vibes.

It turns out that while he’s been working on these absurdly long stoner dance tracks, he’s also been holed up in the studio with vocalist Christabelle working on this amazing album of more concise material.

Fans of AnCo’s more upbeat and animated works probably won’t love this album, but it is successful in its experimentation and as an affirmation that they have and always will have something unique to bring to the table.

While the songs sound effortlessly crafted, there's a complexity to the melodies and structures that surprises on repeat listens.