Time & Space is Turnstile taking what worked from their prior material and seasoning it with a modern, diverse zest. While this body of work has some blunders, the band are well on their way to what might soon be their pinnacle release.
From top to bottom, In Celebration Of Us is every bit as impressive as Skyzoo himself alluded to. Stellar production, songs that require multiple listens to fully grasp all the gems, and a conceptual vision that hits the mark — this is upper echelon hip-hop.
Unburdened by expectations, Tudzin pieced together a fun, emotionally satisfying record that should become the sound of this and many summers to come.
There are only six tracks here, but they cover massive lyrical ground ... Combined with spare arrangements that highlight hypnotic acoustic strums, moody keys and even a some fuzz-drenched rock-outs, the result is an emotionally nuanced meditation on death that is both heartbreaking and hopeful.
It's perhaps a tad long and unwieldy, but there's no denying Kozalla's skills as a master collagist here.
Marking another chapter of triumphs, trials and tribulations in Kline's life, Vessel's sound is amplified and cohesive. It's a record to remind us that "being alive / matters quite a bit / even when you feel like shit."
It is, in some ways, an auditory microcosm of the band's career up until this point. Its first half features some of the group's sweetest pop confections since those massive singles, while its second delves into the muggy Barrett-isms of their more recent work.
Hop Along are the kind of band whose records inspire fierce loyalty and foster deep personal connection, which makes Bark Your Head Off seem like a gamble, given its broader palette. It only takes a few listens to realize that it is really the fulfillment of the band's potential, though. You could have said it after pretty much any of their previous releases, but once again, Hop Along are truly a band at the top of their game.
On Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, Dutcher focuses mainly on what is still relevant today; the songs that have been rediscovered, recovered and revived here are beautiful, celebratory and very much alive.
Courtney Barnett's (solo) followup to Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit finds an artist who has grown more introspective as a writer, more outspoken as a singer and more imaginative (and a lot louder) as a guitarist.
It's an impressive compilation of provocatively disparate ideas, but taken in in its intended order, there's a mesmerizing continuity to it all.
Lush, sensual and eclectic, Isolation is a sure-footed declaration of independence, and each track presents one of Uchis's different facets.
Before you write this off as exhausting or pretentious self-indulgence, give it a listen or two. Peruse the lyrics, dissect them and have a laugh. Commitment isn't as scary as you think.
To the sober ear, the drawn-out chugging riffs, which are the foundation of the band's sound, come off as stretched and border dangerously on the verge of repetition. But stoned, those riffs are ploughing the fields of your mind, pulling you into a deep hypnotic state washing everything away with rich distortion.
For anyone who has been following his career since Rock City — and even those who have been following him since the Game Records days — Book of Ryan is a welcome origin story, an issue zero that leaves no stone unturned.
The age-old saying goes if something isn't broken, don't fix it, but the re-release of Twin Fantasy shows that, seven years later, Car Seat Headrest are capable of re-contextualizing their work in ways that cement the faith that we have in them as revolutionary musicians.
Clean explores feelings of infatuation, insecurity, and acceptance as Allison wearily enters adulthood ... Allison is promptly hitting her stride and clearly gaining confidence and showing it with strands of snarkiness and angst mixed within her delicate, vulnerable songs.
Beach House continue to explore new crannies of their familiar dream pop sound, occasionally highlighting a new aspect of their style without ever changing it completely.
With Dirty Computer, Monáe isn't afraid to get political, encourage empathy, explore her sexuality and have goofy fun, often doing all that and more in the same song.
DAYTONA, the long-awaited new LP by Pusha T, boasts a mostly sinewy and understated sound that'll leave hip-hop heads in revelry.
On his latest record, J. Cole continues to be a beacon of social issues, allowing KOD to be a vessel that addresses different states of addiction, both direct and indirect, and its effects on society.
While Cardi B's own relationship with Migos's Offset has been thrown into the spotlight, Invasion of Privacy feels like her Lemonade moment, one that magnifies her insecurities for public consumption.
Groovy and scintillating, but with depth and meaning to spare, In a Poem Unlimited is U.S. Girls — and pop music — at its very best.