Golden Hour doesn't carry quite the same bite as either 2015 predecessor Pageant Material or 2013's Same Trailer Different Park, preferring a more loved-up vibe that favours pillowy sophisti-pop over bittersweet country.
Though she doesn’t shy away from the various ailments afflicting the world in 2018, Prass takes her conclusions to the dancefloor, not the barricades, foregrounding the medium rather than the message.
Lyrically, it's pretty baffling where "These Rocks," one of the album's standout tracks, is the most openly confessional song Houck has written, set to a churchy musical swell, congregational and healing, the sound of a lifetime burden lifted by love.
Negro Swan sees Hynes thoughtfully explore themes of racial and sexual identities and anxieties within songs that can be a s gorgeously vaporous as "Take Your Time," as ecstatically funky as "Charcoal Baby," or any state in between.
Outstanding ... Aside from the supple elegance of Landes' warm voice, the most arresting element is her sharp songwriting, which succeeds on a number of levels.
Left to his own devices, Byrne comes home to a screwball hymnal mode that for all the lyrical left turns, feels a little too predictable.
More confident second, full of emotional turmoil.
Lasting just 37 minutes, Bon Voyage begs to be put on again, each listen revealing more of the myriad ideas that make up its weird majesty.
Eleanor Friedberger is rejuvenated on fourth solo album Rebound.
Despite its sometimes laidback nature, Sparkle Hard ... bristles with an energy that proves he’s got a place in the present, and a new accessibility that compromises none of his eccentricities.
Overall, Go To School is a blast, a joyous, ridiculous journey that treads a perfect line between silly, funny and heart-breaking.
Lamp Lit Prose is another outstanding chapter in what is shaping up to be one of the great 21st century musical odysseys.