On Live from the Underground, Big K.R.I.T. arms himself with words, and his lyrics are stacked and dense. He doesn’t use one word where three would do. He multiplies his voice, doubling his tracks and echoing the ends of his lines often. For all the prominent guest spots here — B.B. King, Anthony Hamilton, Ludacris and Bun B again — this is K.R.I.T. telling his own stories.

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Valtari, Sigur Rós’ first album in four years, is a collection of moodily gorgeous, slow-paced sound-washes. With the notable and remarkable exception of “Varúð,” which builds to a crashing climax in the spirit of the band’s recent classic “Festival,” little here deviates from the absorbing minor-key gloom of albums like 2002’s ( ).

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Regina Spektor’s first new studio album in three years, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats finds her scattering in several directions without losing sight of the sweet melodies that make her so accessible.

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Silfra unfolds like half-remembered scenes from dreams. Textures and images shift randomly, triggered by an odd assortment of sounds that can frighten or delight. Hear what happens when star violinist Hilary Hahn meets Hauschka’s piano full of marbles, duct tape and more surprises.

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Mount Eerie’s Clear Moon, out May 22, finds common ground in experimental folk and ambient black metal.

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The Only Place doesn’t just advance Best Coast’s formula; it perfects it. Producer Jon Brion applies a rich coat of shiny sparkle, as is his wont, but his touch complements these songs without threatening to overwhelm them. At 35 minutes, not a second of the album is wasted, even as Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno wind down the proceedings with a nearly five-minute ballad, “Up All Night.”

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Beach House’s fourth album, Bloom, is unquestionably a Beach House record, and one that on the surface feels more like a continuation than the product of evolution. That is, until you go back and hear how far this band has truly come.

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As accessible and comfortably sweet-voiced as Sara Watkins’ music is, the former Nickel Creek member is smart enough to spike her new album with surprises — including guest spots from Fiona Apple and Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith.

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Master of My Make-Believe has its playfully bouncy moments — Santi White says it’s inspired in part by a trip to Jamaica — but its overall tone is one of severity, even solemnity. It’s as if pop music caught up with Santigold’s sound, and she tacked left to avoid the glare.

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