We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is an incredible offering in both a prolific and boundary-pushing career for the New York rappers. Building on their gifts as MCs and lyricists, Billy Woods and Elucid have further cemented their place in alternative hip hop as one of the headiest yet most exciting groups right now.

We get to hear that continuous struggle that she chronicles in all of the songs on Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again. She faces these issues with brilliant songwriting.

Explosions in the Sky have always been epic in their approach and execution. End is no different, even if this album leaves unclear what is ending or what might be just beginning.

Mitski’s forte in her work has been her willingness to discuss her vulnerabilities. In The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, she imparts the idea that such vulnerabilities are better understood as mutual.

Gentle Confrontation has moments that feel like they can fit in the palm of your hand; just as often, it calls for total immersion. Longing builds to tender catharsis, loss to acceptance. Loraine James plunges into open water and keeps going deeper, charting an evanescent path and dwelling in every electric step of the journey.

The best parts of Midnight Rose are scattered throughout, which thankfully diminishes the impact of its weaker moments.

With Rustin’ in the Rain, they have dropped one of the year’s more vital pure country albums.

Its genre-fluidity and accessibility, while at times being as heavy as any of their old material, portrays much of what makes the genre so thriving even outside the mainstream eye.

Cousin feels like a pretty good album from a band that outgrew “pretty good” long ago. Wilco can stand out from the roots-informed indie pack, but Cousin shows they are content to go with the flow, much like that affable enough relative you get along with but don’t see that often.

At times relentlessly dense and at others wistful, her back catalog at least hints at what’s on display here.

In weird ways, softscars works as a satisfying slice of artful pop for the Anthropocene that oozes catastrophe.

Like the inanimate object from which the album gets its title, it’s just the context that makes it bizarre. A wig that lies there is just a wig. One that flies is strange. That’s true of this record as well.

While her latest work may share a bit of sonic ground with contemporary drone-based artists such as Ellen Arkbo, Kali Malone, or Sarah Davachi, none of them create music quite as fluid or as wide-screened as the sounds heard here.

It’s powerful, empowering, and, most importantly, fun.

Southern Star succeeds because Cobb is more interested in telling a story and having a good time than pontificating.

This new recording from MeShell Ndegeocello has her in that role — making her guests sound better, sometimes dominating a track, and always creating a mood around the music that puts rhythm, harmony, and melody in delicious orbits. Even the tracks that don’t contain a vocal, like “Omnipuss”, are arresting. It puts a spell on you.

Rosenstock’s choruses are catchy, the tempos are fast, and it’s an impressive proper studio performance. But does it go the length to be called anything groundbreaking? Not so much. But that’s not the point. Rosenstock has been doing this for a long time; experience goes a long way. For what it’s worth, he’s really good at what he does.

The album might not stun, but it deserves more than faint praise. Bluegrass feels like comfort food tastes, not because it’s familiar or steady but because its nature pleases instantly.

It is a must for jazz fans and anyone with an appreciation for rich and reflective creative art.

Strange Disciple finds Nation of Language’s devotion to their craft and the acts that inspired them admirably intact, even dogged. It is probably their most listenable album from start to finish. Still, it leaves the sense that, cool as they are, a bold new turn may be coming due.

More than just having fun updating her work, Demi Lovato refashions herself and her music to reflect the person she is today, which is bold and defiant.

The individual tracks offer empathetic portraits of people and places that he presumes have been undeservedly ignored or overlooked. The album’s underlying theme concerns Weiner’s growth as the world changed around him. Musically, Low Cut Connie embrace Reed’s textured approach to pop music.

They’ve changed by never really changing their old-timey style and showing that keeping one’s roots exposed in the musical world can be a smart decision.

With just one album, Dayes goes all over the map. That he pulls it off non-frantically is one of Black Classical Music’s many selling points. So call it jazz, call it classical, call it whatever you like, just don’t sleep on it.

The acoustic tracks are worthwhile, and the big, catchy singles “Last Word” and “Shine” are sure crowd-pleasers. However, it’s not as ambitious as the dual-color records Yellow and Green or Gold & Grey, and it comes up a little short compared to the excellent Blue Record.

The resulting tension in many of Hynde’s songs comes from the push-pull between connected love and guarded aloneness, and it propels much of Relentless.

As a soundtrack, End of the Day will ultimately be a minor work in Barnett’s catalog. However, it does illuminate her capacity to lower the volume and explore a different register of ambient frequencies in her ongoing sound. This LP is fascinating for its introspective character, even if the key elements that have defined Barnett’s popular appeal are missing.

On The Window, Ratboys reach their fullest potential, expanding and stretching their collaboration, continuing to explore their multi-faceted musical face. They have produced one of their best and most rewarding efforts thus far, and the catchiness of their songs will make listeners return gleefully if the tracks don’t stick to them during intermission.