Magma might not be the album fans were expecting, but it’s really not about them. The Duplantiers had to make this album for themselves. We are the fortunate witnesses.

All of this is more fun than a politically charged hardcore album has any right to be.

James has primed the Aphex Twin for its next metamorphosis--one that has promised to be more combustible than the beats that ground SYRO.

Emotion rolls out banger after banger, all while sustaining a remarkable level of complexity and compassion for everyone in Jepsen’s solar system.

Their final record is fittingly cyclical, beginning in the death of love and ending in death alone, full of transportive moments and beauty along the way. And though there may never be another Dillinger Escape Plan record, this one is perfectly suited and deserving of massive replays to come.

Unbreakable ends perhaps a bit too tidily with “Well Traveled” and “Gon B’ Alright”, the latter a gospel-flavored anthem in the key of Sly and the Family Stone. But they barely dent her best effort since The Velvet Rope.

Compton’s 16 tracks ebb into each other cohesively.

The album winds up feeling like the first in Newsom’s catalog that won’t be considered a classic, but it’s proof that a sturdy, thought-provoking, and rewarding record doesn’t necessarily need to stand next to her past work to find its own greatness.

The resulting sound pieces are still intricately weird and weirdly intricate, and if Anchor sacrifices some of the hushed intimacy of a Books record (see: Zammuto’s self-consciously rock delivery on “IO” or the raw and lurching snare sound on the great “Sinker”), it retains the promise that anything, and any sound, is momentarily possible within these musical boundaries.

While some edits could have crafted a more concise record, this grand, indulgent piece finds Holter at the height of her ability. Even the quiet periods are always entrancing.

The Bangtan Boys accomplish exactly what they set out to do with this album: bring comfort to their listeners and remind people around the world that they are not alone in their experiences.

Sure, Hills End peaks fairly early, but the album plateaus in a way that’s inviting, comfortable, and better yet, quite addicting.

Drunk Tank Pink is a beautiful demonstration of how musical rebellion and fury need not be explicitly lyrically tied to the current moment to speak directly to those living through it.

The second half of the album--a more compelling collection of singles--clarifies its darker themes while remaining upbeat.

Their dulcet, vintage tones intoxicate and overwhelm the senses, while the cutting lyrics set the table for a thoroughly emotional listening experience.

Making pain sound pretty and poetic is a tough tightrope to walk, but Kozelek once again takes all the right steps.

No Geography is sprawling, terror inducing, and absolutely primed for the dancefloor.

Mutant unfurls like a singular body, and its nuanced empathy with the shame and horror and joy of corporeality makes it an enthralling piece to experience.

Dropkick Murphys continue to do what they do best on Turn Up That Dial, churning out an album full of upbeat Celtic riffs and sing-along choruses.

By peeling back the layers of his persona, Ghersi breaks himself down in an attempt to find rebirth, trying to reconcile with his past and present. The result is his most daring and enthralling record yet.

Goodness does more than remind of existence, it makes the promise of a new day, and even the everyday, feel more alluring.

Live in London delivers more than an hour and a half of seamless music and comedy that doesn’t require skipping around.

Reinterpreting and rearranging a series of older songs with new tones and styles — especially songs off of an album widely acclaimed for its tone and style — is a vision that not everybody could pull off, but Olsen does.

It’s this fusion of generations that partly makes Loud Bash such a fresh and exciting record. There’s plenty of Replacements hero worship going on with the loud, tumbling arrangements and sweeping vocal hooks, but that’s what being a teenager is all about.

His development extends beyond just his writing. Pusha picks a wide-ranging group of thumping beats from noted rap greats like Kanye West, Q-Tip, Metro Boomin, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and most effectively, Timbaland.

It’s a delicious amount of fun and presumably would’ve felt like a treat had it arrived any time of year — but for The Age of Pleasure to become available just as summer truly begins to heat up feels intentional.

What makes Cadillactica arguably his best full-length to date is that he’s never sounded more determined to chart every foot--or every layer of atmosphere--in between.

Over its 11 tracks, Splid consistently churns out raging banger after banger, allowing for the record to roar with metal bliss. The creativity expressed in Splid is matched by its intensity, as Kvelertak embrace the metal spirit throughout the album.

Faith in Strangers is more than an album that comes to life. It details life from the inside out, focusing on each movement’s innards rather than its outer coat.

Another strong record worthy of their consistent discography. Longtime fans will find plenty to enjoy on Tonic Immobility. The supergroup’s musical personality remains intact.

Good News showcases Megan the Stallion’s creative depth, her euphonious inventiveness, and libidinous wordplay.

Semper Femina does not reach the soaring intensity and edged elation of Once I Was an Eagle, nor does it carry almost any of the freaked-out electricity that propelled Short Movie and allowed it to stand as a worthy successor to Eagle. But it is a strong, elegant, and self-assured album that, in its creative arrangements and lyrical world building, contains remarkable complexity and depth in terms of both skill and concept.

The Wild is a worthy addition to Raekwon’s extensive discography and should comfortably take a position near the top of most fans’ lists.

This Lost Themes run is the best legacy sequel in this exhaustive era of legacy sequels, and if we’re lucky, the credits will never roll.

In under 30 minutes, Next Thing proves that honesty can go a long way, and vulnerability, contrary to its temporariness, goes even longer.

Lahey stands out for her versatility. With buoyant wit, she rolls with the changes and delivers a lucid, omnivorous perspective that’s all her own.

Chemtrails over the Country Club is a gorgeous listen: charming, clever, and vulnerable. Del Rey is as effective as ever in painting American fantasies, evoking nostalgia for realities always out of reach.

3.15.20 truly showcases Glover’s talents as a musician, producer, and songwriter. It’s a balanced body of work, not through its similarities, but rather its extreme contrasts.

His wordplay, comparable to his friend Ab-Soul’s, remains integral to his approach, but here he’s more personal and purposeful than he was on his mixtapes, rapping about rapping but also lamenting the realities of being young and black in America.

Altogether this album feels like its own artifact in the making, ready to haunt listeners and filter its Morse code and snapshot stories through their speakers for years to come.

Sparkle Hard is at once his most sonically adventurous and structurally tight set of music in over a decade and easily stands among his most rewarding work with the Jicks.

It’s full of the kind of warm G-funk that never fails to transport you to the part of the country it belongs to.

DS2 is his strongest campaign yet, and it’s the first time a new Future album has met all expectations.

The Detroit rock veterans’ most refined release yet, Relatives in Descent is a sermon on truth, anxiety, and our lack of understanding of the world around us. As ever, Casey is our trusty narrator, leading us through the darkness with his signature brand of wit, wisdom, and bitterness; like a winning combination of Drunk Uncle and Mark E. Smith, he is both commanding and pitiful in his delivery.

Jeremih’s vision is astounding, and the places in which he gets to indulge in adventurous risk-taking more than make up for the safe plays that surround them.

Unassuming and minimal in its execution with a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts, Sleep Cycle establishes itself as a captivating journey inwards towards a destination that’s as comforting as it is reaffirming--and likely what a lot of us need for a good night’s sleep.

From start to finish, the album does a great job of capturing the nostalgia and wisdom of age without losing sight of the youthful tenacity and outspokenness that’s always made him unique. Backed and guided by some other truly talented folks, Costello’s latest is another pleasingly characteristic and weighty addition to his already illustrious legacy.

The strength of this album, and the 14 that precede it, is the immense healing and soothing found in the sheer beauty of Amos’ vocal delivery.

It’s a brutal and lovely album that refines Reservation’s far-flung impulses into a targeted stream of consciousness.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) states boldly, simply and perhaps, generously, that this is a story still worth telling – and a fight worth fighting.

From start to finish, this album ceases to stray from its main concept, and Nas doesn’t have to sacrifice the quality of his music to do so. Primarily produced by Hit-Boy, King’s Disease delivers a feel appropriate for the times and hits the mark as being one of the better rap albums of the year.

Though it’s Built to Spill’s first album since 2009’s There Is No Enemy and it features a new lineup, Untethered Moon sits right at the band’s musical sweet spot: tight webs of guitar, knotty at places and dangling in the breeze elsewhere. But that reduction to the physical belies the melancholic streak in Martsch’s evocative phrases.

The result, if you are willing to engage and get just as vulnerable, is unforgettable. For those who are feeling lost and needing to really listen, Salt will speak loud, and McMahon’s music will remain a steadfast and spectral companion for a very long time.

Her Loss isn’t always a deep album, but that doesn’t make it any less profound. Sometimes excellent rapping over very dope beats mixed with a tinge of introspection goes a long way. Her Loss is our gain.

From the chaotic opening to the cathartic ending, Krlic’s score works wonders, while engrossing enough to stand on its own outside of the film as well.

The Ooz is not always a fun listen, both because of Marshall’s effectiveness in communicating his pain and his tendency to avoid editing as much as he probably should. Even with three or four excess tracks, the album is still an essential listen.

Guppy lures you in with fine-crafted honey, before blindsiding you with a sudden downpour of vinegar (or piss, take your pick). This is why they call it “power pop.”

Throughout Whitechapel’s career, they’ve built constantly upon their sound; it’s with The Valley that Whitechapel not only provide their best work in years but take the next step up in their artistry.

Adore Life is many things, but the thing it feels most like is a celebration. On one level, it’s a celebration of the fact that guitar-driven rock music is probably here to stay. But it’s also a celebration of life at its strangest, messiest, and most vital.

Deep in the Iris feels like Braids’ turn toward the accessible, but it doesn’t jettison the genre tricks they used to indulge.

A debut album can often feel like an announcement or an artist statement: something that says, This is me, and this is my music. Anjimile unites that self-consciousness with an exploratory intention.

This album is not like anything they have ever done, and gives music fans reason to be thankful.

The Capitol Studio Sessions could have very easily been a one-off vanity project, but with I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This, Goldblum once again proves that the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra is one more way he can charm us all.

This is great pop music with an edge, a record full of good vibes and bad attitude that somehow manages to work everything out splendidly.

It does work as a bulwark against the cherry-picking, playlist-happy listening habits of the modern music fan. It works best as a complete dose of bitter medicine; a groove-happy message of fear, love, and measured hope.

Whether working in strands of hip-hop, house, funk, or whatever next might come to mind, there’s something inherently glowing about his beats. All those genres are jammed together into a single album, just like they are within Celestin; he finds joy and fun in them all.

Listening to Swans is an exhausting process to be sure, but it’s rewarding in its self-analysis; you might not leave entirely sure of yourself, but you’re sure as hell more in touch with the inner workings of the mind.

Overall, Do It Again feels like an exploration for all involved, and even manages to address gender politics in discreet but intriguing ways.

Future’s sophomore LP is a raw interpretation of his heartfelt musings filtered through an audio processor and laid bare at the intersection of trap rap and synth R&B. It’s a fascinating foray into alternative trap that ambitiously pushes the limits of self-expression and transmission.

If You’re Reading concentrates the anger pocketed within NWTS’ moodiness. The result is more thrilling.

Fantasy Empire will reward longtime listeners and draw in new fans simultaneously, a heady accomplishment for a couple of dudes bashing away at their instruments.

Faced with the unexpected, Prass evolved, trading inward-facing confessionalism for outward-facing perseverance and releasing one of 2018’s minor masterpieces in the process. Plus, you can most certainly dance to it.

From King to a GOD is arguably one of the best Griselda projects thus far and a viable contender for year-end lists. Conway’s versatility is on full display throughout the album, exhibiting his growth as an artist who is coming into his own in his late thirties.

Teens of Denial takes its power from its absence of blind spots, its lack of Freudian suppression. Toledo looks long at himself and us, a sort of nauseous survivor of modernity. Sometimes just the looking itself is enough.

Listening to Shiver, it’s easy to imagine up-tempo tracks getting remixed as sophisticated, otherworldly club bangers. When we are eventually allowed back onto teeming dancefloors, Jónsi’s swings of melancholic euphoria and piercing wordlessness may hit just right.

Across 11 tracks, the band keeps listeners engaged thanks to a spread of bluesy rock. Electric rhythms intertwine with warm vocals and glowing melodies throughout Feral Roots, making for an experience where listeners will find something different to enjoy in each track.

A solid album throughout, Vicious is slickly produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Mastodon, Alice in Chains), who helped give the disc the big sound that these songs deserve.

Alvvays has legitimately great songs, boasting sharp lyrics, comforting arrangements, and tics that give their music personality that can’t happen too deliberately.

The carefully composed rock here reminds us that our journeys are our own, regardless of whatever else we tack onto them. No matter how full Donnelly’s hands get with the interpersonal frustrations of day-to-day life and the wounds of the past, the world is still hers for the taking, and she makes it feel like it’s all of ours, too.

This record further establishes her identity as a modern poet, and the allusions to writers of old are tucked throughout. ... Mid-record songs like “cowboy like me” and “long story short” might not rise to the top either, but to say that any of these songs are weaker in comparison to others is like complaining about smudges in a crystal wine glass set — everything here is still beautiful and much better than collections you might find elsewhere.

The record’s impromptu release was surprising; that Star Wars delivered on all of the excitement surrounding it is anything but.

To Tyler’s credit, he didn’t rest on his laurels. Instead, he crafted a concise piece of work about a very confident adult realizing his own ego is both his best asset and indeed his worst enemy.

It’s one of Big Sean’s strongest efforts and one that should make the Motor City proud.

These songs aren’t for everyone, but they stand as some of the most fearlessly created music of the year--even if Brown sometimes sounds petrified for his life.

Have We Met, though perhaps less ambitious than Destroyer’s best work, is nevertheless their freshest and most enjoyable record in years.

Former Kanye mentor No I.D., DJ Dahi, and Clams Casino handle production on the album, but they work together with Staples so that the seams between the different dreams, hallucinations, memories, and nightmares don’t show.

The lyrical reference points are no less poignant for their obvious subjects; occasionally the poetry drops out altogether, most notably when Elverum reverts to his now-traditional laments about the Internet, commercial media, and technology at large.

Together [Björk and Arca], assisted at points by a 12-piece Icelandic flute ensemble and the Hamrahlid Choir (in which Björk herself sang as a teenager), they grow a thriving sound world rich in nuance and detail.

The entire album feels hard and driving, like electric rain or the tension between two thunderclouds. The fact that Silver Tongue is so thoroughly electric and buzzing is part of what makes it such a convincing rendering of a relationship between two people, galvanized and ultimately realized.

The record surges without slowing down, expanding without adding burden. Moreover, it proves that, out of the old class, Kreator are among the strongest, crushed not by ego or commercial temptations.

When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired elevates its words with sharp, aware, and plush instrumentation.

First Taste is scatterbrained and self-indulgent, no doubt. But that’s also what makes it such heady fun. Segall once again makes the various ideas and sounds floating about in his head something worth listening to.

Part of the fun of listening to How Do You Love? is following the narrative that unfolds throughout, as so much of the album’s smartness lies within the precise evolution that occurs from one track to the other. Unfortunately, though, it is impossible to alert the world that the album is perhaps best listened to in order the first time around.

What makes Dodge and Burn such a terrific and complete listen is how much ground it effectively covers and how furiously it does so.

While the writing on Weathervanes is carefully crafted and wildly impressive, what sets the record apart in a discography full of tattoo-worthy couplets is the contributions of The 400 Unit. They’ve undoubtedly been an integral part of Isbell’s past few efforts, but the band has never sounded so locked into an album’s singular vision.

Wall of Eyes is the sound of a more confident, collaborative The Smile, a version of the band willing to let their ideas ferment, even at the expense of immediacy.

What makes The xx and I See You so enthralling, then, may not be a particular combination of lyrics and melodies, but the notion that there’s a secret life playing out here--one we may not be entirely privy to, but one that still rings with the sound of truth in all of its complexities.

Overall, everything is brighter here versus the original S&M. It’s a celebration of Metallica, their fans, and their music. Let this version of S&M2 be the one that’s remembered.