You can count on one hand the number of artists who have made the breakthrough from teen-baiting boy band member to important, acclaimed darling of the critics. Sure, Robbie Williams, Donnie Osmond, and That One From The Backstreet Boys broke free and sold millions, but their adoring fan bases remained pretty much the same as when they were part of a group. Plus, y’know, they were all shit.

That True Romance is likely to ruffle few feathers on its release speaks volumes about the current shape of modern-day pop music. Once upon a time, such a collection of android beats and glitch-riddled melodies would have singled its creator out as a libido-led sonic provocateur. In 2013 it merely ensures Charli XCX’s place in the pack.

The full-length debut from sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin plays as a fully-formed version of the three DIY singles the sisters already released as Bleached. ­Ride Your Heart features echoes of the punk of the sisters’ previous band, Mika Miko, but Bleached is very much a different beast.

Iron & Wine’s last two records—2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog and 2011’s Kiss Each Other Clean—found leader Sam Beam diving into uncharted musical waters after the calm, acoustic songwriting of Iron & Wine’s first two albums.

Listeners who turn to The Flaming Lips looking for a good time, return now from whence you came. The music included on The Terror is as nightmarish as its name would suggest.

“There’s a little spaceship/Hiding in the clouds/You want it to love you/Its peaceful voice is loud.” The opening line of The Terror could describe The Flaming Lips themselves as they prepare to land with an unsettling new mission.

It’s been 10 years since The Postal Service’s seminal Give Up was released into the world. To say it found a wider audience than its creators expected is an immense understatement-Give Up demolished all sales projections, trickling into the hearts of minds of millions of bedroom-bound brooders across the world.

Some bands run a cosmic treadmill trying to keep pace with current trends; others are content to keep mining the formulas that brought on their biggest successes. This “classic lineup” of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark—on hiatus from 1986-2006—seemed fine to pick up right where they left off.

In many respects, Generationals is the epitome of an indie-rock group. A duo unencumbered by extraneous personnel, New Orleans natives Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer craft their pop with equal parts melodic effervescence, twee charm, organic instrumentation, and synthesized drive.