Album: The Walkmen, Heaven (Bella Union)

Even at their most unhinged, the Walkmen always were about understatement.

So while much is likely to be made of the "maturing" sound of their seventh studio album, they're no less urgent or relevant for it. Drafting in Fleet Fox Robin Pecknold adds a smattering of vocals harmonies to "We Can't Be Beat", while "The Love You Love" is as grandly malevolent as anything they've recorded. Their most consistent and accomp-lished album to date. Paul Bignell