The Comet is Coming is a power trio born in London in 2013 when saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings (King Shabaka), keyboardist Dan Leavers (Danalogue) and drummer Max Hallett (Betamax) joined forces. Whilst the group’s postmodern hybrid aesthetic set the tone for the new British jazz wave for a time, they’re now developing a sound that’s radically different from the hedonistic and ‘joyfully’ mixed positivism the trio has previously been known for. This new release (their fourth release as a group and their second for the Impulse! label) gives a striking insight into their music. Whilst it still contains a spicy cocktail of cosmic (free) jazz-rock, hardcore electronica and psychedelic rock, it considerably tones down certain aspects of their sound (there’s no more of the spiritualist serenity inherited from the post-Coltrane movement of the 70s…). The end result is music that’s tense, harsh, dark, and suffocating by design—and there’s no escape.This album was recorded in four days under the experienced eye of producer and sound engineer Kristian Craig Robinson. The raw material—a selection of collective improvisations—was sampled, sequenced and edited into a series of short, condensed and extraordinarily energetic tracks that sum up what the band is capable of producing. Not a solo in sight, this release is full of simple melodies based on staccato notes and repetitive phrasing, played on a saxophone that makes full use of electronic effects. These melodies surf atop 80's synthesisers and pulsate with drum'n'bass-inspired grooves and hardcore electronica, plunging the listener into a sound that feels both naïve and nightmarish. It undoubtedly offers a striking and uncompromising portrait of a world on the brink of apocalypse. © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz

After belatedly celebrating three decades in the game with 2022's 30 Something, Orbital released their tenth studio album, Optical Delusion, in 2023. The duo emerged as pioneers of rave culture back in the late '80s, and they've always produced dance music with a social conscience as well as a concern for the environment. They released a silent track in reaction to the anti-rave Criminal Justice Bill in 1994, and they recorded 1996's "The Girl with the Sun in Her Head" using a mobile solar power generator belonging to Greenpeace. 2018's Monsters Exist commented on the corruption of the planet's political leaders without naming names, and urged listeners to consider the state of the world and embrace progress. The visuals during the album's live tour drove home these points, yet the shows were clearly meant as raves and not political rallies, and the new material fit perfectly alongside updated versions of the duo's classics. Optical Delusion is Orbital's post-pandemic album, and it conveys the panic of witnessing the world fall apart while also remaining thankful to be alive and involved with the dance music scene. Most of the album's tracks feature guest vocalists, giving Orbital's concerns more of a voice than ever. On the effervescent dance-pop tune "Are You Alive," Penelope Isles' Lily Wolter defiantly resists being screwed over by capitalism, then clears the way as the splashy synths and elevated beats take over during the track's second half. Jason Williamson, the bloke from Sleaford Mods, directly blames the masses who keep voting crooked politicians into office over the rumbling punk bassline and pounding kicks of "Dirty Rat." Mediæval Bæbes appear on "Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)," reminding listeners that an innocent nursery rhyme has a longstanding association with the Black Death. Dina Ipavic's near-operatic vocals soar along with the sublime glide of "Day One," while Anna B Savage provides a more introspective narrative over the shuffling house rhythms of "Home." The two instrumental tracks are highlights, with "The New Abnormal" being an exuberant breakbeat-driven crowd-worker, while "Requiem for the Pre Apocalypse" is a chest-rattling drum'n'bass number that gradually reveals a brilliant light shining through the oppressive darkness. The nightmarish "What a Surprise" dices sinister voices into trap beats, and "Moon Princess" warns of computers that "try to make rational decisions." Even at their most dystopian, Orbital never lose their excitement for exploring new sounds, and Optical Delusion doesn't get bogged down in cynicism or nostalgia.© Paul Simpson /TiVo

Monster is indeed R.E.M.'s long-promised "rock" album; it just doesn't rock in the way one might expect. Instead of R.E.M.'s trademark anthemic bashers, Monster offers a set of murky sludge, powered by the heavily distorted and delayed guitar of Peter Buck. Michael Stipe's vocals have been pushed to the back of the mix, along with Bill Berry's drums, which accentuates the muscular pulse of Buck's chords. From the androgynous sleaze of "Crush With Eyeliner" to the subtle, Eastern-tinged menace of "You," most of the album sounds dense, dirty, and grimy, which makes the punchy guitars of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and the warped soul of "Tongue" all the more distinctive. Monster doesn't have the conceptual unity or consistently brilliant songwriting of Automatic for the People, but it does offer a wide range of sonic textures that have never been heard on an R.E.M. album before. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

After belatedly celebrating three decades in the game with 2022's 30 Something, Orbital released their tenth studio album, Optical Delusion, in 2023. The duo emerged as pioneers of rave culture back in the late '80s, and they've always produced dance music with a social conscience as well as a concern for the environment. They released a silent track in reaction to the anti-rave Criminal Justice Bill in 1994, and they recorded 1996's "The Girl with the Sun in Her Head" using a mobile solar power generator belonging to Greenpeace. 2018's Monsters Exist commented on the corruption of the planet's political leaders without naming names, and urged listeners to consider the state of the world and embrace progress. The visuals during the album's live tour drove home these points, yet the shows were clearly meant as raves and not political rallies, and the new material fit perfectly alongside updated versions of the duo's classics. Optical Delusion is Orbital's post-pandemic album, and it conveys the panic of witnessing the world fall apart while also remaining thankful to be alive and involved with the dance music scene. Most of the album's tracks feature guest vocalists, giving Orbital's concerns more of a voice than ever. On the effervescent dance-pop tune "Are You Alive," Penelope Isles' Lily Wolter defiantly resists being screwed over by capitalism, then clears the way as the splashy synths and elevated beats take over during the track's second half. Jason Williamson, the bloke from Sleaford Mods, directly blames the masses who keep voting crooked politicians into office over the rumbling punk bassline and pounding kicks of "Dirty Rat." Mediæval Bæbes appear on "Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)," reminding listeners that an innocent nursery rhyme has a longstanding association with the Black Death. Dina Ipavic's near-operatic vocals soar along with the sublime glide of "Day One," while Anna B Savage provides a more introspective narrative over the shuffling house rhythms of "Home." The two instrumental tracks are highlights, with "The New Abnormal" being an exuberant breakbeat-driven crowd-worker, while "Requiem for the Pre Apocalypse" is a chest-rattling drum'n'bass number that gradually reveals a brilliant light shining through the oppressive darkness. The nightmarish "What a Surprise" dices sinister voices into trap beats, and "Moon Princess" warns of computers that "try to make rational decisions." Even at their most dystopian, Orbital never lose their excitement for exploring new sounds, and Optical Delusion doesn't get bogged down in cynicism or nostalgia.© Paul Simpson /TiVo

A brilliant distillation of '90s alt-rock. A crass and noisy attempt to cash in on grunge. A band in need of rock tunes for an upcoming tour after six years off the road. The fact that R.E.M.'s ninth album Monster can after still inspire such polarities is proof enough that it's worth a fresh listen. New mixes by Scott Litt, a trove of demos and a 1995 live show from Chicago featuring mostly a post-I.R.S. years setlist fills out the portrait of the 25th Anniversary reissue of one of R.E.M.'s most contentious albums. With liner notes in which Peter Buck admits, "We wanted to get away from who we were," Monster 25 is the sound not only of Buck, Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Bill Berry pondering what it means to suddenly be rock stars, but also of a band deep in one of those periodic left turns that artists need to pass through or call it quits. And while the lyrics are typical Stipe-ian jabberwocky mangled further by vocals buried in the original mix, it's Peter Buck's ever-present guitar, bashing out crunchy power chords bathed in delay, reverb and buzzsaw distortion, that remains the album's most controversial aspect as he ditches his former loyalty to acoustic textures and intricate arrangements for an overdriven, rocked up Cobain-life heft and snarl that's fiercely front and center in the mix. The remixed album is a very different experience from the original: the instrumental parts are now clearly delineated, instead of a blurry, roaring mix. "Tongue" drops the four beat count off in favor of a simple piano and loud tambourine. The organ, which was prominent in the original, has been lowered in the remix. "Circus Envy's" sizzling guitar distortion has been dialed back and Berry's drums have been pulled forward. Most noticeable of all are Stipe's vocals, some of which are entirely different takes from the original album's. "Crush with Eyeliner" begins with Stipe voicing an unaccompanied "la, la, la" and continues with a more stylized T. Rex and Iggy Pop-influenced vocal take than the original. Some of the changes are outright deletions. Buck's organ in "Let Me In," and his choppy guitar part in "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", and the percussion in "You" are completely gone. These changes are needed context, connecting the album to the band's musical progression and in the process making it seem less like an outlier. © Robert Baird / Qobuz

A brilliant distillation of '90s alt-rock. A crass and noisy attempt to cash in on grunge. A band in need of rock tunes for an upcoming tour after six years off the road. The fact that R.E.M.'s ninth album Monster can after still inspire such polarities is proof enough that it's worth a fresh listen. New mixes by Scott Litt, a trove of demos and a 1995 live show from Chicago featuring mostly a post-I.R.S. years setlist fills out the portrait of the 25th Anniversary reissue of one of R.E.M.'s most contentious albums. With liner notes in which Peter Buck admits, "We wanted to get away from who we were," Monster 25 is the sound not only of Buck, Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Bill Berry pondering what it means to suddenly be rock stars, but also of a band deep in one of those periodic left turns that artists need to pass through or call it quits. And while the lyrics are typical Stipe-ian jabberwocky mangled further by vocals buried in the original mix, it's Peter Buck's ever-present guitar, bashing out crunchy power chords bathed in delay, reverb and buzzsaw distortion, that remains the album's most controversial aspect as he ditches his former loyalty to acoustic textures and intricate arrangements for an overdriven, rocked up Cobain-life heft and snarl that's fiercely front and center in the mix. The remixed album is a very different experience from the original: the instrumental parts are now clearly delineated, instead of a blurry, roaring mix. "Tongue" drops the four beat count off in favor of a simple piano and loud tambourine. The organ, which was prominent in the original, has been lowered in the remix. "Circus Envy's" sizzling guitar distortion has been dialed back and Berry's drums have been pulled forward. Most noticeable of all are Stipe's vocals, some of which are entirely different takes from the original album's. "Crush with Eyeliner" begins with Stipe voicing an unaccompanied "la, la, la" and continues with a more stylized T. Rex and Iggy Pop-influenced vocal take than the original. Some of the changes are outright deletions. Buck's organ in "Let Me In," and his choppy guitar part in "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", and the percussion in "You" are completely gone. These changes are needed context, connecting the album to the band's musical progression and in the process making it seem less like an outlier. © Robert Baird / Qobuz

Innerstanding is Dhani Harrison's second album, arriving six years after his debut. Between those two records, Harrison worked with his partner Paul Hicks on a variety of scores, honing their abilities at sculpting sonic soundscapes. Their skills are evident throughout Innerstanding, an ever-shifting, meditative record occupying a space somewhere between close listening and ambience. Despite its reliance on mood, this is not instrumental music, nor is it all hushed. Often, Innerstanding lurches forward on shards of noise, distorted voices and gnarled guitar, including some contributions from Blur's Graham Coxon on "New Religion." Harrison doesn't assault the listener so much as provoke, keeping them off guard enough to allow the meditations and soul-searching of his album to seep into the subconscious. If Innerstanding favors aural texture to melodic immediacy, there's intrigue in how its electronic pulse intermingles with shimmering mantras, resulting in a record that reveals its mysteries over time.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Following the noble misstep of 2015's grunge-rap Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven, Kid Cudi returns to introspective hip-hop weirdness on his sixth outing, Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'. The sprawling effort finds Scott Mescudi in a new, healing state, fresh from a self-imposed hospitalization for depression and suicidal urges. Sonically, it recalls his early Man on the Moon period (production by Mike Dean and Plain Pat keep things consistent), but emotionally, it offers deeper therapy and catharsis. Running at one and a half hours, Passion is long and occasionally drags. Although split into four digestible "Acts," it tests the limits of the casual listener's patience. Fans should be pleased, however, by the wealth of new material. "Tuned," the album's first act, is one of the better portions, blending '90s trip-hop with a concoction of Kanye's 808s and Trent Reznor's Ghosts soundscapes. From the mournful atmospherics of "Releaser" and the languid "Frequency" to the catchy André 3000/Pharrell Williams island-tinged collaboration "By Design" and Mike WiLL Made It's popping "All In," "Tuned" sets the course for another intergalactic therapy session. Aptly titled "Therapy," the second act contains some of the best insights into Cudi's state of mind. On "ILLusions," he bids farewell "to the demons in my head," declaring "no more misery...free, free." On "Baptized in Fire," Travis Scott pleads with his "big bro" in a sweet moment of vulnerability, asking the Man on the Moon to phone home because he's needed. Yet, despite appearances by Willow Smith (on the beautiful dark twisted dirge "Rose Golden") and another from Pharrell ("Flight at First Sight/Advanced"), this act is where Passion's energy starts to lag. Third act "Niveaux de l'Amour" ("Levels of Love") is the only segment devoid of guests, kicking off with a one-two punch of hyper-horny sex jams. The throbbing "Dance 4 Eternity" is the mood-building foreplay to the blush-worthy "Distant Fantasies," in which Cudi promises, among other things, to "pound it 'til it's numb." However, as the track draws out, the only things getting numb are the listener's tolerance and attention span. Still, the latter half of the act manages to be one of the album's best stretches, from the cathartic "Wounds" -- where Cudi proclaims "I'mma sew these wounds myself" -- to the lovely "Mature Nature" and sweeping "Kitchen." Finishing on "It's Bright and Heaven Is Warm" -- a spin on DMX's It's Dark and Hell Is Hot -- Cudi soars like an eagle on "Cosmic Warrior" and reclaims his sense of self on the uplifting "Heart of a Lion" callback "The Commander," on which he reaffirms that he's "so in control." On closer "Surfin'," Pharrell takes the reins once again, sending Kid Cudi off on a horn-filled tribal wave. While the album could have been split into two thematically concise releases (or a single focused edit), Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' breathes gravitas into the Kid Cudi discography, realigning his trajectory and hinting at hope, possibility, and, most importantly, recovery. © Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Many who listen to this album will say "Hey, this isn't punk" after not finding the power chords and I-IV-V structures that they associate with poppy skatepunk bands like NOFX and Lagwagon, but this is what revolution is all about -- taking an industry of specifications and expectations and turning it fully on its head, yet holding on to some semblance of what once was. Refused are pure innovation and passion spouting Nation of Ulysses-esque doctrine while fusing together the bite and flavor of fist-raised, Dillinger Escape Plan-style hardcore with ambient textures, jazz breakdowns, and other such deviations. Choppy, beautiful movements, choked thoughts, and feelings of elevation -- this is what punk is all about, although to the common ear it may not sound like it, and that is precisely one of the reasons why it is so potent. [In 2010, Epitaph reissued a Deluxe Version of The Shape of Punk to Come in a three-disc set, complete with a bonus live CD and a DVD documentary.]© Blake Butler /TiVo

The follow-up to 2017's Grammy-nominated What Now, Free Love sees Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn deliver another compelling collection of sweetly fractured electronic indie pop. All of Sylvan Esso's strengths are on display here -- fidgety loops, heartfelt melodies, spectral sound collages, and lyrics that feel both inscrutable and homespun -- but where previous efforts administered fast-acting dopamine hits like "Coffee," "Radio," and "Die Young," the more measured Free Love reveals its understated splendor over time. Bookended by the lyrics "What if end was begin" and "Play it again," the ten-track set is both elliptical and existential, yet also emotionally substantive. The off-center fluidity that Meath and Sanborn have cultivated over the years has reached peak buoyancy, with each beep, boop, and trenchant beat serving to punctuate Meath's delicate phrasing. The propulsive "Ring" and "Ferris Wheel" are two first-spin gems that will no doubt populate the duo's set list for years to come, but it's the less immediate offerings that yield the biggest dividends. "Rooftop Dancing," with its soft, summery gait and playground ambiance finds the golden-hued sweet spot between melancholy and nostalgia, the skittering "Runaway" evokes the bouncy urban bohemia of tUnE-yArDs, and the moving closing cut "Make It Easy" proves that a song can be anthemic without aiming for the rafters. Detractors will rightfully point out that Free Love utilizes the same sonic architecture as its predecessors, but it's a fairly idiosyncratic template and one that Meath and Sanborn have shown great skill with over three albums now. Besides, the world always needs more dance music for introverts.© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

The much-anticipated follow-up to 2014's Transmissions, which peaked at number five on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart, Vessels is the sophomore studio long-player from the genre-juggling Columbus, Ohio-based rock unit. Recorded with producer Rob Graves (Red, All That Remains), the Razor & Tie-issued Vessels expands on the nervy, synthed-out atmosphere and huge melodic hooks of its predecessor, as evidenced by the compelling singles "Monster" and "Back to the Earth."© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

The sophomore studio album by DJ Snake, 2019's Carte Blanche, showcases more of the French producer's dynamic, club-ready house, dubstep, and trap jams. The album follows up the DJ's 2016 Top Ten Billboard 200 debut, Encore. Included on Carte Blanche are the singles "Magenta Riddim"; "Taki Taki" featuring Selena Gomez, Ozuna, and Cardi B; "Enzo" with Sheck Wes, Offset, 21 Savage, and Gucci Mane; and "Loco Contigo" featuring J Balvin and Tyga. Also featured, are collaborations with Zhu, Anitta, Gashi, Majid Jordan, Bryson Tiller, Zomboy, and others.© Matt Collar /TiVo

R&B singer/songwriter Jhene Aiko released her sophomore album, Trip, in 2017. Clocking in at over 90 minutes and 22 tracks, the album documents Aiko's journey through loss, grief, and acceptance after the death of her brother in 2012. Released as part of Aiko's MAP Mission project -- which is comprised of a movie, an album, and a book of poetry -- Trip features a number of guest artists, including Big Sean, Swae Lee, Kurupt, and Brandy. © Liam Martin /TiVo