Owen Maxwell

Florence + the Machine – Dance Fever (London, U.K.) The grandiosity and rich beauty that Florence Welch brings to her music has been missing in our landscape as of late, and her latest return feels utterly refreshing. Though this is more of a mix of her best sounds than a true step forward, [...]

Sunflower Bean – Headful of Sugar (New York City) Currently adrift between tones of new Arctic Monkeys and the classic Fleetwood Mac, Sunflower Bean are beautifully making their own vision of a rich 70s sound. While the alternating influences that drive the album mean that it might not [...]

Pup – The Unraveling of Puptheband (Toronto) Pup has noticeably honed their punk and pop with every album, constantly satisfying both ends of their fandom with their sharp sensibilities on both ends. With The Unraveling of Puptheband, they truly have it finessed to an art, as they elevate [...]

Wet Leg – Wet Leg (Isle of Wight, U.K.) After a string of the some of the most hyped singles in recent years, Wet Leg’s full record is finally here. Full of unpredictable production choices, great riffs and a refreshingly explicit lyrical choices, this is a band that feels [...]

Jack White – Fear of the Dawn (Nashville TN, Detroit, MI) After years of mutating his own brand of garage and country-influenced rock, Jack White has decidedly turned his sharp riffing knife on experimentation. While he balances this with a lot of classic touches from across his [...]

Aldous Harding – Warm Chris (Lyttelton, New Zealand/Cardiff, Wales) With every album Aldous Harding takes on a wondrous and often quirky jaunt along the line of wistful folk-pop and complex orchestral arrangements. Subdued tonally, this record finds Harding adding so many little melodic [...]

Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You (Brooklyn, NY) Few artists can truly mystify our minds in the acoustic music world these days, but the subtle craft and sublime voice work in Big Thief does it every time. With their range as musicians not only showing through the [...]

Charli XCX – Crash (Cambridge, U.K.) Between her heights of pop and experimental phases, Charli XCX has clearly taken every turn as a lesson to refine her writing. Now with an arsenal of amazing production and tones behind her, and the sharpest two-minute pop bangers she’s [...]

Basia Bulat – The Garden (Montreal) As a true legend of the Montreal music scene, it's great to see Basia Bulat giving her own work a reflective take. Often adding unexpected new twists on the original tracks, this is a lookback record with wings. "The Garden" is a stirring [...]

Mitski – Laurel Hell (New York City/Japan) Ever the master of the emotional moment, Mitski turns the narrative into a full sonic torrent on her new LP. While some of its catchiest moments do lean heavily on familiar writing, Mitski adds so much charm in the actual stories and deeper details [...]