We’re a long way away from the days of riot grrrl having its own instantly identifiable sound, but L​æ​nge Leve De Vrede by Situationsfornærmelse utilizes an impressive array of novel techniques to express that familiar feminist rage.

The Man from Atlantis calls our attention to this slowly sliding ground on Spirits Align, an experimental drone album that pulls heavy influence from Indian folk music to deliver a psychedelic sound.

All the while, frantic lyrics summon strikingly detailed imagery and deep, dark subject matter through rapid-fire, one-off references, sending our attention on a schizophrenic easter egg hunt for the components of a human race hellbent on removing itself from the earth.

Musically, competing drones from violins and synths slip in and out of tune, creating subtly pulsing sonic textures that chart our slow arcs through the shade of worry.

Celebrating the life of the late experimental musician Peter Rehberg, Lewis incorporates this beloved mentor’s sound, vision, and personality into her own work, fusing digital drones with contemplative human performances.

Temporality weighs heavily on experimental music legends Xiu Xiu as they enter their third decade of existence, but their new record 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto With Bison Horn Grips gives us every reason to stare the unrelenting onslaught of time in the face and dig in our heels.

In a reversal of typical associations with id and ego, the id here feels most represented by moments of airy vocals, bouncy rhythms, whimsical percussion, and light melodies, while the ego emerges later on the album in the form of difficult chord progressions and unsettling interactions.

Making the rare dark alt pop record that genuinely charts new territory and employs exciting, fresh sounds, Ukrainian group Тощо (Toshcho) with their new album Косметика (Kosmetyka) makes alternative party music for a time and place with nothing to celebrate.

Finding our paradigms constantly challenged by the world’s complexity, we encounter doubt even in our most fundamental assumptions, an upheaval represented sonically by spacier composition with jazz influences, all centered around dissonant meanderings reminiscent of krautrock.

Assailable//Agonism by Abandoncy shrieks out in post hardcore fright, pointing out the mechanisms driving people against each other while hopelessly feeling their own feet swept away by the same unstoppable tide.

Puncturing the dark homogeneity of trendy post punk with an individual flair and local influences, Slif Slaf Slof by Mermaid Chunky mixes traditional Scottish and Irish instrumentation and dance sequences with that moody sound we all know and love.

This once-in-a-lifetime coming-of-age moment shines in all its melodramatic glory on An Appeal to Cats in the Business of Love by Trent Liptak, a bedroom folk concoction that balances its homespun charm with surprisingly mature songwriting and a production quality that punches well above its weight.

Paradise Cinema simulates this process on their new album Returning, Dream, an experimental jazz record that uses West African traditional percussion and sinister synth sounds to contextualize otherwise tranquil solos into a world of anxiety.

Stripping pop songwriting from pop aesthetics results in After Image by Hyper Gal, a fascinating fusion sound that falls into no other category than the seemingly paradoxical no wave pop microgenre.

Thus, a dark underbelly lurks under much of the record, with some rhythm section grooves which would feel comfortably at home in the abyssal settings of 90s post rock and post hardcore.

No More Apocalypse Father by We Are Winter’s Blue and Radiant Children, a Montreal supergroup sharing a member with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, takes a noisy ambient approach to this sensation of empty empathy.

Though free jazz frequently draws from a collective creative euphoria, the dark sound of The Face of Us, Smiling on Its Own by The Big Fuss Ensemble builds its emotion in the complete opposite direction.

Spiky guitar leads and wild bass riffs add a jittery edge to a strong foundation of foot-stomping drum patterns, all of which slams into a brick wall of moaning vocals and lo-fi production.

The resulting cleanly produced, tightly composed, meticulously detailed afrobeat album illustrates Lollise’s identity as a New York musician whose childhood musical interests vary dramatically from most of her American peers.

By the end of our journey, we learn that the energy we have spent to change our course only increased our speed, intensifying this unvirtuous cycle and potentially locking us in this spiritual desert forever.