For those looking for a more focused and less restrained approach by the band and Stephens Hall himself, 11:11 makes for a timely delivery.

Silverbacks cram a lot of music into their songs, making each one a densely packed mix of angular guitar riffs and jittery alt-rock, often played with chops, alternating boy/girl vocals, and a need for shouted, repeating phrases. It is an acquired taste that often perks up the ears and brings pleasure but just as often fails to carry a melody and disappoints.

A reflection of its creator’s state of mind, Fragments is the perfect soundtrack to re-entry into normalcy after an extended stressful period.

At its heart, The Overload is a hugely impressive debut bubbling with sardonic wit, wisdom, anger, and compassion.

Though it’s certainly too early to discuss The Gods We Can Touch within 2022’s broader musical canon, it is undoubtedly a complete and flavorful work that contains all the glorious highs and careful lows that Aksnes has always been capable of producing, but has never fully nailed until now.

All in all, this is yet another strong album in a career full of them and while he doesn’t reinvent the wheel or break much new ground here, any chance to hear the master play the style he’s so good at is not to be missed.

While it doesn’t feature her own lyrics, the record still ambles through archetypal Cat Power moods—insouciance, worry, bliss—steering clear of the pulsating synths à la “Manhattan” and sticking with the stripped-back worry-pop of Wanderer.

With The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts, Springsteen and the E Street Band offer perhaps the best evidence that their “legendary” mantle was well earned back in the late ’70s.

Dawn FM is no Thriller by any means (sorry Timbaland) but it’s a solid chapter in the story of an artist who continues to unabashedly defy expectations. And ultimately, we’re lucky to be along for the ride.

Beneath the numerous ideas and purposes on The Light Saw Me, the group’s sense of humor is ever-present, reminding the listener that things are never as they seem and, when they happen to be, not to take them too seriously. This air of humility, along with such solid musicianship, is exactly what makes the premise of an ontological science fiction Texas Country album as believable as it is.

This group recording in-person—a first for Gahan & Soulsavers, who recorded their two previous albums remotely—has brought out an even more intimate feel to songs that feel almost excruciatingly intense already.

Their debut is first and foremost a smartly crafted record, full of irresistible melodic hooks and detailed production. The results are all-enveloping and mesmerizing, crafting a glittery pop landscape with plenty of layers to uncover and unexpected new territory to explore with each listen.

It invites the listener on an atmospheric adventure into an alternate history, in which the hopes and dreams of modern industry remain intact within the tape decks of sleek automobiles racing down crowded highways by night. Here, the heart of a crystal city remains aglow with the possibilities of eternal youth still alive and well inside the vaults of Nippon Columbia.

While there is not much on Fever Dreams Pt. 1 that is daring or new in terms of musical explorations, if you cast aside expectations and judge the music on its own merits, you’ll find a lot to like.

“Buried in the Sun” is another track built on a gorgeous rhythm section groove, whilst “Still Life” has a chorus redolent with beautiful, dissonant power, but to pick highlights from a record of this majesty is to diminish the power of the whole.

Cooper’s Modern Nature hits its career to date peak on the masterful Island of Noise.

Spanning key years for Mitchell as a recording artist, Archives Vol. 2 richly fleshes out the period, providing a worthy companion to her early albums and a fascinating window into her development as an artist.

On the evidence of her hugely impressive output, so far Humberstone is undoubtedly a star in the making.

The differing self-states explored across the KICK anthology are manifested in the overall sonic palettes of each record, whether it be the bombastic reggaeton of KICK ii or the orchestral minimalism of kiCK iiiii, which sees Arca at her most subtle and understated. ... They all work together to support the vision of Arca, whose voice cracks, malfunctions, and explores the flux of its existence in tandem with the music.

The differing self-states explored across the KICK anthology are manifested in the overall sonic palettes of each record, whether it be the bombastic reggaeton of KICK ii or the orchestral minimalism of kiCK iiiii, which sees Arca at her most subtle and understated. ... They all work together to support the vision of Arca, whose voice cracks, malfunctions, and explores the flux of its existence in tandem with the music.

The differing self-states explored across the KICK anthology are manifested in the overall sonic palettes of each record, whether it be the bombastic reggaeton of KICK ii or the orchestral minimalism of kiCK iiiii, which sees Arca at her most subtle and understated. ... They all work together to support the vision of Arca, whose voice cracks, malfunctions, and explores the flux of its existence in tandem with the music.

The differing self-states explored across the KICK anthology are manifested in the overall sonic palettes of each record, whether it be the bombastic reggaeton of KICK ii or the orchestral minimalism of kiCK iiiii. ... They all work together to support the vision of Arca, whose voice cracks, malfunctions, and explores the flux of its existence in tandem with the music.

Truth is that this is now the definitive version of Red. It may also ensure that the good old boys who casually sold her music, seemingly out of a mixture of greed and spite, won’t get one red cent from Red, and it proves you can take a masterpiece and make it sound even better.

While it may not take over the world, it is a perfect record for this moment in time as an expression of collective weariness in the midst of an almost two-year and counting pandemic worldwide, the spectre of Brexit in the UK, and amidst the struggles of the civil rights movement in the U.S. to stop police brutality and mass incarceration.

A genuinely enchanting release, At My Piano finds the musical giant comfortably at rest, while still dreaming as vividly as he always has.

American Dream, an eight-disc vinyl set, spans Nyro’s output from her 1967 debut album, More Than a New Discovery, through 1978’s Nested, along with an LP of rarities and live recordings and a booklet that provides a solid overview.

In Virus Times isn’t going to be anyone’s release of the year, but it’s unfair to judge it by that criterion. The recording is a time capsule, cathartic for its creator and a candid audio tour through the living room of one of alternative music’s best ever guitarists. He just doesn’t sound like it here.

Yes, there’s only so much you can do with an instrumental post-rock formula, but MONO wring every last inch and drop of potential from their formula and they do it with guts and to great effect.