AtoZ

Archers Of Loaf broke up in 1998, but an exploratory 2020 reunion that yielded the elegiac “Raleigh Days” convinced singer/guitarist Eric Bachmann and his erstwhile bandmates to recommit. The resulting Reason In Decline juxtaposes the Big Country-like clangour of “Saturation And Light” with furious punk rave-ups like “Misinformation Age”, on which Bachmann, testing his surgically repaired vocal cords, bellows about dark days and demagogues. The 51-year-old family man’s struggles with depression and anxiety bring unrelenting urgency to the album, most explicitly in “Mama Was A War Profiteer”. Only in “Aimee”, a gentle ode to a lasting relationship, does Bachman find solace.

BUD SCOPPA

Already busy providing soundtracks for the films of his wife Lena Dunham, Luis Felber continues this productive streak with his first album as Attawalpa. The 10 songs here blend ’80s sophisti-pop trappings with swirly, sleepy psych-pop with modestly beguiling results; and though Felber’s wan vocals deprive the upbeat “Too Much” and “Look Away” of the drive they might’ve had, the grooves of “The Fear” and “Estamos Vivos” reveal his forte for the Day-Glo paisley funk of mid-’80s Prince.

JASON ANDERSON

Previously found exploring euphoric club music alongside pared-back ambience, here Avery leans into thick, dense textures where melodies often feel buried under the hisses of noise. He revisited his record collection when making the album and the influence of Portishead hangs heavy on tracks like “Only” and “Near Perfect”, while “Lone Swordsman” is a tribute to the late Andrew Weatherall. Featuring guests such as Marie Davidson, Kelly Lee Owens, Sherelle and James Massiah, this is as much a celebration of collaboration, camaraderie and community as it is a noted personal evolution. DANIEL DYLAN WRAY

Bibio’s tasteful psych-folk and pastoral electronica is beautifully produced but can be insufferably bland, so the idea of Stephen Wilkinson emerging from the woods with a slick disco record to celebrate his 10th studio album kind of makes sense; he certainly has the chops, the gear and reasons to be cheerful. In the end, BIB10 lands somewhere between the Bee Gees and Gravenhurst, its highs cresting with the funky R&B of “Potion” and “SOL” – nodding to early-’80s Quincy Jones productions – while the likes of “Cinnamon Cinematic” and “A Sanctimonious Song” eddy elegantly, a swirl of shimmering guitars and ghostly vocals. PIERS MARTIN

BOO emerged at the turn of the millennium from Montreal’s post-rock/experimental scene (members have variously served with Godspeed… and Thee Silver Mt Zion) but took a break after 2006’s Nisht Azoy. Now comes their third, which re-establishes their primacy in the interpretation of klezmer, Yiddish folk and traditional Eastern European music. It’s a compassionate and thoughtful set, speaking to the experience of diasporic cultures in poetic songs that feature violin, clarinet and cimbalom, and run the gamut from sombre to almost skittish. There’s plenty to admire here, but the crepuscular rippling of “Skotshne” and “Viderkol”, a bilingual piano number that heaves with delicate sorrow, are standouts. SHARON O’CONNELL

Solo piano seems to have become as popular as electric guitar since these 20 compositions accompanied a 2017 book of the Oregonian’s sheet music, and its growing ubiquity renders this collection a little superfluous. Though now freshly dressed in subtle reverb, many pieces remain primly decorative, whether Broderick’s circling round “Sonata For The Sirius”’s simple melody in a Harold Budd fashion, riffing on “Query”’s simple arpeggios, or adopting Lubomyr Melnyk’s continuous music technique for “It’s A Storm When I Sleep”. The hesitant “Under The Bridge” is more intriguing, and “When