Drummer Tony Allen has already gifted the world at least one lifetime’s worth of rhythmic innovation, working both solo and with legendary collaborator Fela Kuti to alchemize the sinewy, slithering grooves of Afrobeat.

There are roughly three groups of people that are aware of The Horrors. First is the cult following that have been devoted to the charismatic group from its Ramones-esque beginnings.

Upon first listen, Concrete and Gold—Foo Fighters’ ninth studio album—may land with a bit of a shrug, relying on overly familiar hard rock grooves and staying largely in the band’s comfort zone. The riffs crunch and Dave Grohl alternates between soft balladeer vocals, a gruff snarl, and occasional scream.

Back in 2013, we praised this Australian dance-pop unit’s fourth LP, Free Your Mind, while admitting it wasn’t a much of a step in any direction for their sound. Four years later Cut Copy returns with Haiku From Zero, and still little has changed-and perhaps it’s time new directions be explored.

There are artists who experiment relentlessly and continuously release a totally different sounding album from the one before it, breaking new ground and challenging their audience in the process. And then there are artists like The Clientele.

Midnight Sister sound like a lot of things, but the one constant is their swagger. The debut collaboration between singer and lyricist Juliana Giraffe, and classically trained composer Ari Bazoulian is a kaleidoscope of colors pulled off with a beautifully baroque strut. It’s experimental art-pop that doesn’t forget to entertain along the way.

On the cover of Moses Sumney’s long-awaited debut full-length album Aromanticism, Sumney is levitating about a foot off the ground; his head is not visible. Given that his hands are clasped behind his back in tangled prayer, perhaps Sumney’s head is bowed.

M.C. Taylor has always been a songwriter unafraid to mark the starkest contrasts of human emotion. In an interview with The Washington Post last November, Taylor described his last record Heart Like a Levee as a “reflecting pool” for people to view their own emotions in his words and music.

Like II, the third entry from METZ makes no compromises. The Canadian hardcore trio have an uncanny knack for capturing lightning in a bottle. Their sound lays the ferocity and unrelenting power of their live shows onto tape. To sacrifice that for more expansive, appeasing sounds would be to give up what makes METZ, METZ.