St. Vincent: Masseduction
Despite some great moments, Masseduction doesn't always sound comfortable letting its artifice crumble, and its half-hearted attempts at social commentary cause it to sag at times.
Andrew Dorsett
Kelela: Take Me Apart
Kelela's excellent debut manages to evoke megastar crooners from decades past, cyborgs from the future, and, unmistakably, the defining sounds of pop music's present.
Chelsea Wolfe: Hiss Spun
Wolfe's fifth studio album continues to aggressively pursue metal and industrial music, making for an enrapturing listen all the way through.
Hundred Waters: Communicating
Hundred Waters' third album has many appealing parts, but a core that feels unstable or even nonexistent.
Alvvays: Antisocialites
Antisocialites is chock full of sly, honest assessments of the misery -- or, at best, the ambivalence -- inherent in so much of dating, especially when toxic masculinity enters the frame.
Tori Amos: Native Invader
On her 15th studio album, Tori Amos dispenses wisdom and evokes complex, unspeakable emotions with inimitable skill.
The War on Drugs: A Deeper Understanding
The War on Drugs have always had a way of conjuring sweepingly romantic images of the open road, but A Deeper Understanding finds them as desolate and far from home as they've ever been.
Black Asteroid: Thrust
Rather than channeling misery, Thrust has a way of inflicting it.
Washed Out: Mister Mellow
Mister Mellow is an album of interludes and abstract experimentations as much as it is a pop record.
Lana Del Rey: Lust for Life
Lust for Life postures itself above all as Lana Del Rey's most optimistic, political, and globally conscious record to date.
Toro y Moi: Boo Boo
Boo Boo is an engaging, immersive album that unfolds itself over repeated listens.
Beach House: B-Sides and Rarities
This collection adds further definition to our understanding of a band too often reduced by oversimplified interpretations.