On his latest, El Turista, Rouse takes things a step further, diving headfirst into jazzy, lushly orchestrated, early-’60s-indebted Spanish-language tunes that play like a cross between Astrud Gilberto’s bossa-nova classics and Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This album is yet another testament to that seemingly insatiable desire for provoking, for poking and for pulling the wool over the eyes of his audience.

It's hard to believe Don't Blame the Stars has been floating around for more than three years. Hard to believe because, a) It's a terrific album that a label should have snatched up earlier, and b) It's eerily prescient.

An easy (if slightly front-loaded) listen that Khan performs effortlessly.

As painstakingly beautiful as her more inscrutable records have been, to witness Mega Bog in crystalline electronica is to witness an artist reclaim and represent her consciousness with unsettling clarity.

So Black is a heavy record, but there are bright moments sprinkled throughout.

The Waiting Room already feels like Tindersticks’ strongest and most adventurous release since the hiatus.

Sympathy for Life still skyrockets as a natural follow-up to the left turn of its tonally ambitious and technically masterful predecessor—but on this project, the band ramp up their polished sound with an assembly of synth-rock and soft palettes of speculative and, sometimes, refreshingly vulnerable lyricism.

With their excellent full-length debut, this savage young trio offers a stiff reminder of those bygone halcyon days when Chad Channing drummed for Nirvana instead of Dave Grohl.

Here’s a skilled guy treating one of his favorite records with the utmost respect, and the results are predictably lovely. They may not be necessary or essential, but they are lovely. And that’s what counts the most.

With a sprawling soundscape and off-the-wall lyrics, Dark Day/Light Years is a quite trip--often in more ways than one.

It’s bracing to hear one of the most original practicing voices in rock (musically, vocally, lyrically) speaking so plainly on every level. With some bands it would mean a capitulation or slackening. For Screaming Females, it is just another display of power.

Through it all, Nelson sounds as strong as ever.

His Prefuse 73 work continues to cultivate a distinct vocabulary, capable of drawing on classical, krautrock or Latin sounds.

The only thing that could make An Object better is a guarantee these determined minimalists won’t leave us with zero next time out.

[An] expansive and impressive sixth album.

Together, they’re a force, trading off on leads and joining together on backing vocals.

Though the album contains some of the most straightforward rock songs of Bowie’s career so far, their search for a savior still scales to grandiose heights.

Depending on where you fall on a scale from one to hardcore fan, this creates either a masterful, cohesive soundscape--or a monotonous departure from the frenzied, fuzzed-out energy of Dwyer’s most well-known songs.

Their collaboration achieves a sharp folk-rock sound that’s drunk on precision and layered minimalism.

In typical BH fashion, there are moments on “THE LIGHT,” “WHAT’S THE OCCASION?” and “DEAR LORD” that lean into vulnerability, tenderness and slight existential dread. It’s easy to pinpoint BROCKHAMPTON’s growth as evidenced by their latest project, but deeper parts of their creativity are tapped when outsiders—who happen to be insanely talented—are allowed to infiltrate their unit.

Ultimately, there aren’t really any bad songs on this record, just songs that sound like something you may have heard Wavves or another band like them do before.

GLOW ON puts TURNSTILE’s sheer amount of ambition on display, and they deliver on that ambition with a record that widens their scope. Throughout its 15 tracks, their newly expanded sound never falters, and it sees them toying with fresh effects and textures while still maintaining their forceful approach.

Every song on the album is warm and beautiful, marked at different points by laidback acoustic guitar, old-timey horn sections, driving percussion, cinematic string arrangements and morose piano.

These are all top-shelf tunes, and they serve as evidence that Rankin and O’Hanley are among the best pop-song writers working today.

There’s a whole lot of ambition on display here, especially in the second half of the tracklist, and all of these disparate pieces somehow come together thanks to Ross’ confidence as a songwriter and arranger. Simply put, if this isn’t the sound of a band leveling up, then I’m not sure what is.

If you were a fan of No Time For Dreaming you’re going to be a fan of Victim of Love, and you shouldn’t really need to know anything about it other than it’s an album full of Charles Bradley songs.

The only potential drawback to The Weather Station is that Lindeman’s mastery of rich melodies can sometimes overshadow her narrative lyrics. Her voice becomes another vital instrumental line in the pastiche, so it takes multiple alert listens (and ideally, a lyric sheet) to fully realize the album’s depth. Luckily, the album’s sweet, yet confident musicality encourages repeated spins

Logos is still a predominantly insular affair and all the better for it, with his aching melodies and ethereal arrangements pushing open the doors to a remarkably vivid inner world.

This album will please fans of the vintage stylings of Adele, Duffy and the late Amy Winehouse.

Their 10th album, I Bet on Sky, offers a shortcut through their solid, sonic history.

I will say In The Grace of Your Love makes the last five years without The Rapture seem a lot more empty, sometimes you don't know what you're missing until it returns.

Overall, Rico’s inaugural efforts are cathartic, ballsy and just plain fun. Nightmare Vacation solidifies the emcee as quite the furious force to be reckoned with.

The album is far from the work of a legend resting on his laurels; instead, its inventive and genuinely fun sound makes a compelling case for why, 20 years after his debut, we should still be paying attention to Big Boi.

Let’s call ART OFFICIAL AGE a beautiful renewal of vows.

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT has rewritten the year’s narrative by not overstaying its welcome. Who could have guessed that, nowadays, a 40-minute album runtime would be such a breath of fresh air? Finneas’ arrangements are so tight and complimentary to Eilish’s own macabre tendencies and unfiltered anecdotes that it’s impossible to not be charmed by the sheer lack of fuss this record expounds.

The Lion's Roar is a gorgeous record and a spectacular follow-up to their 2010 debut.

Swear I’m Good At This is the now-21-year-old’s coming-of-age story, and it’s an engaging one, full of awkward moments, breaking hearts, insecurity and a discovery of power.

Although the album could fall short of hardcore fans' expectations, it's a fairly accessible introduction to the band.

Despite the squalid fervor that juts out in contrast to “Catching the Rich Train,” the surprisingly sedate opener, the trio is still working to arrange its raft of influences in some way that makes sense to its members.

At the edges of the record’s most grey-cloud moments is the iridescent glimmer of vocal harmony, which may not be too far from human harmony.

ÁTTA is a welcome return to form and beyond for the band, ten years removed from their last studio release, and their partnership with a 41-piece orchestra is both logical and awe-striking.

And Those Who Were Seen Dancing certainly isn’t the first album to put a fresh spin on the psych aesthetic, but by shrugging off its constraints, Parks has left her own definitive mark on it.

Though devoid of wobbly notes and feedback echos, Thompson unleashes some of the most visceral guitar solos of his career, and Dream Attic stands beside the best efforts in his catalog.

Life Under the Gun is an absurdly strong debut, jumping between anchoring drum beats, jangly guitars and explosive choruses with ease. After playing straight hardcore, directing music videos and a plethora of other creative outlets, Shelton sounds firmly at home in Militarie Gun.

“Can’t Decide” and “Compensating” (featuring Young Thug) showcase Aminé’s impressive skill of making his vocals—which sway between syrupy cadences and hard-hitting verses—effortlessly melt into quirky melodies.

Smart young miscreants that have outgrown the Warped Tour but aren't ready for the Ted Leo back catalog could do worse, and acoustic rock fans that want more than somnolent campfire melodies couldn't do much better.

sentiment is the work of someone who understands that emotions are a full-body experience, and rousay’s work responds with a sensory palette beyond what a typical song can muster. Does it devastate? Sometimes. Above all else, this little archive of rousay’s emotions cancels the distractions outside and sinks you in a bath of feeling. The best response is to ease in.

Though cast from Niblett’s typical primary elements, It’s Up To Emma sounds richer and fuller than past records, the lyrical directness adding one more driving force in a mix balanced out by taut strings, bone-shake tambourine and railcar blasts of EBow.

Farm to Table, in some ways, is Bartees’ sunrise. It’s proof of his undeniable spark. As Farm to Table demonstrates, Bartees Strange is only getting started.

On Harmony of Difference, Washington’s work remains as substantial and compelling as ever, and with any luck this EP is setting the scene for another, longer release from him soon.

Adiós I’m a Ghost manages to retain its humanity and emotional center even in the most blistering of numbers.

While the 12 songs on Hello Exile don’t sonically deviate too much from the rest of The Menzingers’ previous six albums from the past decade or so, it offers a level of introspection relatively unheard in their genre. It’s an honest portrayal of where they are at this point in their life: not ready to settle down and give up the 4 A.M. nights at the dive bar down the street, but also realizing that those around them are in the process of doing so.

It’s one of the most challenging and rewarding releases Perfume Genius has ever attempted. ... Ugly Season continues a hell of a winning streak for Perfume Genius, a group that has ascended beyond expectation.

Whereas previous YYYs albums are built on thrills and speed, Cool It Down drives us with its almost manic instrumentation at every corner, subdued and despondent pleas in its lyricism, and an intoxicating, frenetic energy.

Though devoid of obvious lyrical or sonic cartwheels, Blue Raspberry’s calm, steady sense of purpose carries through, creating a gorgeous, ruminative contemplation on queer desire that will leave longtime fans and new listeners alike bobbing their heads—and reaching for their thesauruses.

The album as a whole, though uneasy listening, is big, powerful, and often overwhelming.

No Time For Dreaming not only prevails as a defining culmination of Bradley's lifelong musicianship to date, but also furthers the argument that Daptone Records can do no wrong.

i don’t know who needs to hear this… is grander than anything she’s done before, but rarely does it feel like a departure.

The Men cover a lot of ground on New Moon, with consistently solid returns.

These are disjointed diary entries that also happen to kick ass.

Cole’s experiences in rehab became the inspiration for the group’s latest record, Deceiver, and while the album displays the group’s darkest sound yet, it also ends up being their most earnest.

Disturbing. Hilarious. Vapid. Thought-provoking. Misogynistic. Empathetic. Odd Future is all of this at once.

On acts of rebellion, she maintains her punk, community-oriented ethos whether she strikes strongly, replaces guitars with synths or creates more introspective works.

For all its careful historical detail and empathetic characterizations, Canary is decidedly topical: This historical setting becomes a means for a band of bookish young men to understand their own place and time.

There are more than a few bands hell-bent on exhuming and reinventing the past. Few are as adept as the Allah-Las.

Closer To Grey feels more polished and shimmering, and with only 12 tracks and a compact 45 minutes, it’s considerably shorter than the expansive, sometimes daunting records it followeds (Kill For Love clocked in at 16 songs over an hour, 17 minutes). As an entryway into the Italians Do It Better universe, it feels enticing, welcoming even.

Town Burned Down is a record made possible by youthful anger, but it’s not too hot-headed for its own good. Had this album been released in 1990 following its original recording, I reckon it would have a place among the decade’s best country-adjacent albums.

Less of a departure and more of a confirmation and deepening of everything she’s been exploring over the last 10 years, Case has never sounded quite so compelling as a storyteller, unleashing the full range of her humor, defiance, and despair.

TOY make a strong case for Happy in the Hollow as their most cohesive and compelling record. The record’s intense, shadowy first half and airy, graceful second half culminates in an mercurial odyssey that unabashedly celebrates TOY’s eccentricities.

On Pompeii, Le Bon is direct and poignant, honing in on a polished sound while using classical, tragic influences to help her make sense of the urgent, unfurling present.

With puffs of backing vocals and a shiny bursting guitar solo, all escaping emotions are artfully contained. Lissie sounds most comfortable in this mode, chugging meticulously forward.

Chris Porterfield has found the sweet spot between masterful attention to details and broad understanding of the breadth of a record.

Yard reveals the band’s versatility—confirming that the band has extensive new sonic avenues to explore in depth moving forward. The album is already a delicious feast but, after this achievement, one can’t help but wonder what the band will try next.

In context, Ritual is the wrong title -- very little here feels repetitive or procedural. The album is a flight of fancy most listeners will want to take again and again.

While it might be an uncomfortable state of mind for the musician, it makes for some compelling tunes here.

Hypnotic and immersive, Modern Mirror pulls the listener deep into its lore while keeping it fresh and contemporary. While the record is not necessarily groundbreaking, it doesn’t need to be. It’s everything we want from Drab Majesty.

Ryley Walker’s talents are enormous. The praise for his second full-length ought to be the same.

After the peaks and valleys reached with the past two records, however, Circuital serves as a reminder that My Morning Jacket is back at the top of its game with an album residing just a tiny notch below its definitive records.

To her immense credit, Apple never flinches at such uneasy insights and insoluble contradictions, which makes The Idler Wheel a tough but rewarding listen.

From the majestic opening notes of the title track to the last electronic flourish of closer “Modern Love Stories,” Once Twice Melody is the culmination of everything Beach House do best.

It’s tempting to think of Carried to Dust as a companion piece to "Feast of Wire."...And, like that distinguished predecessor, this one is a beauty from start to finish.

The album surprises continually, offering humor, crises and redemption within the sound of something as lovely and enticing as it is aggressive and challenging.

Ultimately, Sound & Color is a ballsy sophomore LP that shocks, surprises and usually satiates.

She's closely attentive to the particulars of her folk songs, which allows them to reveal deeper and darker secrets with each listen and to resonate long after the record has stopped spinning.

Homo Anxietatem is a stroke of brilliance not for how many different landscapes Shamir wanders across, but for how generous and relentless in the pursuit of transformation they become as the album unfolds.

The album bursts with breezy and tight arrangements, meditative melodies, and beautifully poignant lyricism, making it a simultaneously boyish and mature exploration of love, longing and everything in-between.

Lyrical precision is what makes the record shine, the fact that Hartzman can recall the exact video game, in this case, Mortal Kombat, that someone was playing when her nose started bleeding at a New Year’s Eve party she didn’t even want to be at.

Underlining their strengths and achieving the purest zenith of their eccentric stylings. Everyone’s Crushed shines an incandescent limelight on Water From Your Eyes at the absolute height of their powers; it’s their best work yet.

On Let There Be Music, Bonny Doon articulate what joys fall upon us once we’ve seen through the aches of transition. That is the crowning achievement of this record, as it’s much tougher to write into happiness than it is to write out of sorrow. But, what a gift it is to know that Bonny Doon have found a niche in the heart of joyous, blissful faith.

Organ Music not Vibraphone like I'd Hoped's chaotic nature shouldn't be reduced to just a skewed version of the artist's other projects, because while the record is commanding and at times difficult to stomach, it is perhaps as clear a glimpse into Krug's psyche as we've ever seen.

While Hadreas’ lyrics made the most powerful moments of Perfume Genius’s 2010 debut Learning and 2012’s Put Your Back N 2 It, Too Bright folds its words into startling, varied instrumental textures.

Lahai is a transformative album that explores themes like afrofuturism and magical realism across 14 tracks that span a multitude of genres, including soul, rap, jazz, dance, jungle and West African music. And it’s a record that’s as intimate as it is imaginative.

From the sustained discomfort captured in a ringing bassline on “Talking to the Whisper” to soft waves of ambient synth soundscapes on instrumental track “Ocean,” every choice on Something in the Room She Moves feels effortless.

Each song is filled with extremely personal yet intensely relatable lyrics as band leader Joe Michelini's rough voice sings about alcoholism or wanting what he can't have, creating a palpable emotional tie with the music.

Swelling at 16 songs and an hour-plus runtime, it's Arcade Fire's most ambitious and concept-driven effort to date.

Jacklin displays a newly developed maturity in PRE PLEASURE’s 10 near-perfect songs, while maintaining her talent for crafting hooky indie rock that often catches you off guard with its emotional weight.

Not only does Vince Gill’s production keep her decidedly on the country side of instrumentation, he understands keeping the mountains in her voice and the Parton-esque shimmer in her airy soprano.