Imogen Heap has made significant contributions to modern music technology as of late. (above)

By Sophia Lucente, A&E Editor

Morrissey – World Peace is None of Your Business

The former Smiths frontman is a lonely prophet disguised on a dancefloor, delivering obscure commemorations to artisans past and dismissing the world as we know it as mundane and politically corrupt. Echoing with dreamy guitar riffs and electronically-tinged instrumental distortion, the man’s tenth studio album is a seamlessly-delivered jam.

Start with   “Istanbul”, “Art Hounds”

Nikki Lane – All or Nothin’

“All” is a Nashville-produced testament to early life’s loves learned and lost. It boasts definitive fingerprints of its producer, Dan Auerbach, whose chance encounter with Lane while browsing her consignment shop collection encouraged the formation of a band and the production of this record. Various song styles, ranging from blues to alt-rock to pure country, are arranged sweetly albeit somewhat gingerly throughout its tracks.

Start with   “You Can’t Talk to Me Like That”, “Good Man”

Imogen Heap – Sparks

Tenderness and heartfelt messages have always been present within Imogen Heap’s identity as a one-woman conquest in what might be labeled the pop music spectrum. Sparks is striking not only in the richness and complexity of its frequently a capella vocal harmonies but in its modes of assembly: each track is packed with history of world travels and collaborations with fans via the internet.

Start with   “The Listening Chair”, “Entanglement”

Angus & Julia Stone – Angus & Julia Stone

The pair is an Australian brother-sister duo who decided to combine their unique musical careers back in 2006 and have been since producing feel-good, folk-inspired music. The self-titled record is a proud display of distinct vocal characteristics that help convey a certain conversational and emotional tone. Overlapping, sometimes-harmonized melodies are charming – in an ordinary sort of way.

Start with   “Grizzly Bear”, “Heart Beats Slow”

The Fresh & Onlys – House of Spirits

Jangly San-Fran punk princes Fresh & Onlys have put out three full-length albums and three EPs in the past five years – so it isn’t surprising that House is a thoroughly entertaining and well-organized piece of indie rock. Raw, snappy drum fills and carefully woven twangy guitar coast smoothly under Tim Cohen’s sunny, boy-next-door voice to set the whole album in perpetual motion.

Start with   “Who Let the Devil”, “Hummingbird”

FKA twigs – LP1

UK native Tahlia Barnett presents sensual melodies drifting between pent-up breaths. Its appeal is in both its pulsing snap-pop beats and in emotionally-charged lyrics which relate thoughts based in realistic desires but bordering on fantasy. Lush synthesizers and layered vocal lines intertwine, creating a disoriented but effortlessly beautiful soundscape.

Start with   “Two Weeks”, “Pendulum”

Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence

Rey is back with her third studio album following a two-year period of collaboration with Auerbach, along with a handful of big-name producers like Paul Epworth and Greg Kurstin. Her fifteen-track deluxe album is loaded with slow-groove multi-string and bass arrangements that perfectly frame her airy alto vocals. It’s sleepy and vaguely sad, but her vast range is put on full display and makes for a truly memorable soundscape.

Start with   “West Coast”, “Old Money”