Glass Animals' frontman Dave Bayley created characters from little snippets of stories he was hearing from people he's encountered on tour. The result is an album of songs based on those stories.

'I'm Alone, No You're Not' could be considered the debut from one of the year's most promising acts. Although it's not Joseph's first album, it's a musical statement that the sister trio from Portland, Ore., have found their voices as songwriters and performers.

'Fishing Blues,' Atmosphere's ninth album in 18 years, features Ant's solid production that provides grounding beats for Slug, who may be more than confessional than ever on some of these tracks.

Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National have curated a gargantuan new collection spotlighting the music of the Grateful Dead. The collection includes contributions from the War on Drugs, the National, and Courtney Barnett.

Our Album of the Week is Haley Bonar's 'Impossible Dream,' releasing Friday, Aug., 5, on GNDWIRE Records. Brian Oake describes the album as 'a shimmering, reflective collection of memories and faded dreams' likely to end up on many of the year's best-of lists.

Gifted with a rare ability to translate all her emotions into song, Margaret Glaspy has created a stunning debut album, 'Emotions and Math.'

The Avalanches' album 'Wildflower' isn't a record that easily clicks into focus, but the underlying infrastructure is not only apparent, it's fairly spectacular at that. The joy of the album is its consistent sense of surprise.

It's been four years since Michael Kiwanuka's debut release; his follow-up, 'Love & Hate,' is a genuine, evocative statement that Brian Oake says is not only a beautiful album, it's an important one.

More than 20 years on from their debut, the band Garbage -- with original lineup of Shirley Manson, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker -- continue to create great songs for their fans. Their new album 'Strange Little Birds' does exactly that.

'True Sadness' isn't an inviting title, but the idea of an album that exposes the truly sad parts of life is profound, and the traditional folk arrangements and instrumentation on the album lift you up instead of dragging you down.