Laura Snapes

Each track on Rina Sawayama's Hold The Girl is extremely, outlandishly major, proceeding at an exhausting intensity. Thurstan Redding/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

On Laura Veirs' 12th studio album, Found Light, her command never falters. Shelby Brakken/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

PJ Harvey's Uh Huh Her was a powerful force for critic Laura Snapes. "Seeing this woman I so admired derail a linear path to greater success and greater approval – the de facto path as far as teachers were concerned – was revelatory," she writes. Photo Illustration by Estefania Mitre/NPR; Getty Images; Courtesy of Island Records hide caption

Mary Margaret O'Hara gained critical acclaim and a cult following with her 1988 album Miss America; last year, Perfume Genius' Mike Hadreas invited her to perform at the Dutch festival Le Guess Who? Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images hide caption

Hiss Golden Messenger. Andy Tennille/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band's new album, Dreaming In The Non-Dream, comes out Aug. 25. Maria Dumlao/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

The National's new album, Sleep Well Beast, comes out Sept. 8. Graham Macindoe/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

This Is The Kit's new album, Moonshine Freeze, comes out July 7. Lucy Sugden-Smith/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Before Jens Lekman recorded his fourth album, Life Will See You Now, he went through a period of disconnection from his music. "I think I was kind of trying to ruin things for myself," Lekman says. Ellika Henrikson/Courtesy of Secretly Canadian hide caption

Allison Crutchfield's new album, Tourist In This Town, comes out January 27. Jesse Riggins/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Bon Iver performs in Saal 1 at the Funkhaus in Berlin during an unnamed festival dedicated to collaboration and creation of new music. Michelberger Hotel hide caption

Jenny Hval's album Blood Bitch was released on Sept. 30. Jenny Berger Myhre/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

"Jack [Rose] transcended the shadow of [John] Fahey, and I think that's really difficult to do," Steve Gunn says. "It was undeniable when he played — people paid attention." Sam Erickson/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Mitski's new album, Puberty 2, comes out June 17. Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of the artist hide caption