“What Was That” captures a flash of the fiery intensity that is often found in her best work. The song gratifies the wishes of many hoping for a return to form, but the song (thankfully) doesn’t just reheat her own leftovers from 2017. 

Djo packages sunny guitars and sonics that are both spacious yet jam-packed into a 12-track cacophonous symphony of quirk and charm.

More’s seven songs do not reinvent the sonic wheel, so to speak, but refine the group’s sound across moods and melodies. 

Indie rock trio Wallows continue their impressive musical output with “Coffin Change,” a quintessential Wallows track that’s amped-up, guitar-forward and promises that the group’s upcoming EP will deliver even more.

EUSEXUA follows the scary, liberating and needed pursuit of the pinnacle of human experience through 11 sonic pillars, with each differing thematically and emotionally to deliver a vivid snapshot of the singer’s own journey forward.

Even in the year of pop acts going country, Gwen Stefani seemed like an unlikely face to join in on the fun. Sure, she married Blake Shelton in 2021, but how could the former No Doubt frontwoman and early aughts pop goddess possibly abandon her brilliant knack for quirky ska gold and creamy smooth pop magic? 

Ethel Cain, the monarch of Southern gothic iconography and brooding alt-rock, has returned at long last with “Punish,” the first sampling from her upcoming sophomore LP Perverts, due this upcoming January.