Tinariwen’s Emmaar possesses a sense of wonder, restraint, and discovery.
Sam Roberts Band has added some serious production gloss and dance-floor grooves to their repertoire on their latest album, Lo-Fantasy.
Burn Your Fire for No Witness is noisier, brasher, and more confident than its languid predecessor.
Give the People What They Want finds Sharon Jones at her most vocally ferocious, lending a self-assured voice to the down and out.
Nina Simone’s spirit is lovingly refracted through a Xiu Xiu lens on Nina.
Drive All Night is a sleepy, forgettable EP composed of songs featuring down-on-their-luck subjects hoping to find redemption in love.
Avril Lavigne is ultimately a handful of watered-down genre tropes trotted out seemingly because they’re on trend.
Bangerz is a personal, idiosyncratic effort that finds equal rewards in twentysomething indulgence and inspiring “be yourself” mantras.
On Oni Pond plays it too safe, the Man Man formula scrubbed clean of its dirty charm.
An abstract and occasionally disjointed album that ultimately finds a rewarding balance, both sonically and lyrically, between the obscure and the deeply personal.
Murray discusses creative limitations, breaking out as a solo artist, and the dark state of the music industry.
The album feels incomplete and rushed, with the artist cramming in as many of his ideas as he can.
The album employs dissonance to suggest restlessness and unease, but it can also be often tedious.
Stars Dance is a lazy, bloated, and occasionally offensive album that lacks any remnant of personality or creativity.
With his debut full-length, Id, Wise Blood’s music continues to brim with lofty ambition.
Gold Panda’s Half of Where You Live boasts a newfound depth and poise.
Save Rock and Roll is a clutch of infectious melodies constrained by a dense commercial shell.
Mikal Cronin’s MCII sheds much of the fuzz for a more balanced and polished approach.
Afraid of Heights points to a set of punk-rock signifiers rather than thoughtfully engaging with them.