Of course, elements of hope have always appeared alongside the despair in emo, but the chiptune-infused bedroom skramz of The Civil War in France tilts fully towards the light on There You Are !, an album that processes a troubled past but strides boldly into an uncertain future.

From their own precarious vantage point in Lebanon, Sandy Chamoun, Anthony Sahyoun, and Jad Atoui use their new album Ghadr as a space to vent frustration about the blatant evil going unpunished, and oftentimes outright rewarded, in the world, all without succumbing to a natural soul-shattering pessimism.

Stripped of the meaning typically associated with ancient esoteric rituals, the orphaned prayers of Rawskulled by Ak’chamel unsettle us in all the ways that religion ought to make us feel safe.

Techno organizes chaotic energy across time through a standard rhythm, and rarely has that purpose been made more clear than on the new album ……t by SHXCXCHCXSH.

The eerie lo-fi sounds of AUTHOR by herratic construct an environment excessively hostile to the individual, pushing against the explosive anger of the featured rappers to create sounds of deep unease and discomfort.

On Petals by Warm Currency, change constantly haunts us, threatening us with decay even as our current surroundings inspire nothing but dread already.

Our lyrical narrator descends into a world of self-imposed isolation, disillusioned by conventionally recommended methods of mental relief like therapy, instead delving into temporary energy sinks like hedonistic relationships and fantasies of climbing the corporate ladder.

Visualizing time as a gradual, graceful downward slope, Flip Top Head’s new EP Up Like a Weather Balloon faces tough inevitabilities with a gentle smile and a playful eye roll.

Through the dizzying field recordings, unrecognizable vocal samples, distant synth melodies, thumping deep percussion, and overwhelming low pads, we receive the purest distillation of the melodramatic liminality that so many popular artists chase, unencumbered by the conventions of verse, chorus, and lyric.

The harsh, cynical darkness of noir comes to life on Moon Is Doom Backwards by Sly & the Family Drone, an album that tersely and detachedly creates and reacts to a shadowy sonic space before diving head-first into the emotion which this space was designed to sequester.

As a snickering, cynical darkness befalls the burgeoning post punk scene, 52 Blue by EMZYG embraces the indie sleaze spirit of the times while also indulging in the off-kilter post rock sounds of the experimental underground.

Packaging deeply revolutionary rhetoric in surprisingly cozy packaging, Box of Dark Roses by Mope Grooves introduces us to the lives shattered by institutional dehumanization, seating us at the table with an inspiring family of choice as they weather nonstop storms with no help but one another.

West African dance traditions adopt a psych rock flair on Avoude by Dogo Du Togo and The Alagaa Beat Band, sending us into a swaying trance characterized by bouncing bass lines, playful guitar licks, and powerful horn leads.

Using an unnervingly cozy post apocalyptic setting to frame a relatable coming-of-age story, B| Décimas de Phuyu y la Fantasma by Phuyu y la Fantasma describes events of the current day as a series of traumatic cultural myths and legends.

Chinese neoclassical group Whale Circus announces the now inevitable environmental collapse on An Elegy for the Ocean (I Feel You), reframing the typical call to action narrative on the climate into a heart-wrenching lament for a battle already lost.

Montreal experimental outfit Yoo Doo Right captures our unease on their new record From the Heights of Our Pastureland, aggressively chasing the drama of post rock with an anchor in krautrock that prevents a freefall into formless ephemera.

Expressive vocals connect a series of snappy transitions between sections of dancey post punk, moody post rock, and crunchy math rock, burying a resilient source of warm musical light deep within a layer of overdriven calamity.

Independently solemn, contemplative guitar tracks outline difficult arpeggios, layering atop one another to create a series of warm, gently swaying, yet decidedly off-putting environments.

When we accept the constant presence of this existential discomfort, we gain access to a new plane of peace and prosperity, potentially even giving us the confidence to find other lost, lonesome souls out of place in all space and time.

Unlike some krautrock which leans heavily into an electronic, almost post-human sound, this record takes the bones of this versatile aesthetic in the most humanist possible direction, assembling an enormous lineup of live-recorded musicians playing instruments from all corners of the world.