On Nada Surf‘s eighth album You Know Who You Are, Matthew Caws and his veteran band continue to prove that they haven’t forgotten what they do best even after 24 years together.

More Rain starts with silence. Then the patter of rain on tarp slowly reintroduces us to Matthew ‘M’ Ward‘s lightly graveled croon for the first time in four years. And as he sings “it’s alright if you don’t mind, it’s alright if you do” during opener “Pirate Dial” you’re reminded and reassured of the beauty he is capable of creating. It feels like finding an old friend.

When Miike Snow formed in 2007, the trio of producers delivered a refreshing alternative to groovy electro-pop, creating a canvas of dance tracks with splashes of colorful melodic passages that kept you interested. With iii, it has devolved into paint by numbers.

Following on the heels of 2014’s explosive Hour of the Dawn, La Sera (now officially a duo with band leader and former Vivian Girls bassist Katy Goodman teaming up with Hour of the Dawn producer and guitarist Todd Wisenbaker) returns with their Polyvinyl debut after three albums for the Hardly Art label.

After original frontman Daniel Blumberg departed Yuck between the 2011 debut and 2013’s follow-up Glow & Behold, the London four-piece carried on and promoted guitarist Max Bloom to band leader. It was an unusual move and one that has saddled the band with possibly unfair comparisons to itself.

There is a strange parallel between Suede and David Bowie. Both made comebacks in 2013 after decade-long absences-the former with Bloodsports, the latter with The Next Day. Both were warmly hailed as successes even if they did not have fans falling over themselves, and it felt fitting given that Suede were probably the closest thing Britpop ever had to Bowie’s androgynous outsider.

True to form, Quilt‘s third studio album, Plaza, is a psychedelic jet plane ride back in time to the late ‘60s. The Boston-born group’s sound is hypnotic, a mellow, feel-good experience to be shared with friends in a colorful room adorned with lava lamps, and upon first listen, one might assume the band tours the country in a 1967 VW Bus.

Violinist Sarah Neufeld is best known as a member of Arcade Fire, but her compositional style couldn’t be more distant from that band’s dramatic bombast. It’s minimalist and repetitive, strikingly gorgeous and textural.

Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz’s Keep It Together is a beautiful third studio album from the young Indianapolis sisters. The duo’s career took off just a few short years ago after producer and Zero Boys frontman Paul Mahern discovered their YouTube videos, in which they gorgeously covered songs by Adele, Mumford & Sons, and others.