God bless Lil Yachty. A rapper who once seemed like he’d fade out with the changing of the seasons has instead reinvented himself several times over, piling up a diverse, rewarding catalog in the process. The latest left turn is “Something Ether,” the fractured, noise-blasted title track from his new EP. Over Cardo production that matches the strobing music video, Yachty adapts adeptly to an abstract post-Carti landscape. His bars are defiant, rightly dismissive of haters who still see him as a charlatan: “Unless they get to steppin’, then fuck ’em/ Truth be told, we just really don’t care.” —Chris

h. pruz’s songs sound like a faded photograph, or maybe a Polaroid that didn’t come out quite right. “I Keep Changing” murmurs at a distance. Hannah Pruzinsky sorts through the rubble of a break-up, their progress or lack thereof sharply defined by the before and after. Each verse begins with an action: “I keep seeing change,” “I keep doing things,” “I keep pursing my lips” — unavoidable forward momentum, even if you want it all to stop. I’m most impressed by the texture of it all, how the little lick of a guitar sticks out like a hangnail, the way a piano slips into the mix like it may have been there all along. It’s both meticulous and unfussy, a song that keeps changing because it has to. —James

Running rules. Dylan Baldi understands that going for a jog can be a serene form of solitude — not just a boost for your physical health, but an emotional palate-cleanser too. In his statement accompanying Cloud Nothings’ new single “Running Through The Campus,” Baldi talks about how he sometimes wonders whether it’s depressing to be running alone at night, when others are somewhere socializing. Ultimately, he comes to terms with loneliness and finds beauty in “just doing the things that make you feel good and not getting bogged down in comparisons.” Hence a chorus that begins, “I never run for anyone else/ It’s just a thing I do for myself.” These sentiments are set to the kind of melodic, hard-hitting, no-bullshit indie rock that has become Cloud Nothings’ calling card — a sound that has helped them endure through several hype cycles to become one of the most consistently rewarding bands in their scene. Can you believe how far he has come? —Chris

Though Thank You, I’m Sorry just shared the great album Growing In Strange Places last fall, the Minneapolis band is already preparing for the release of a new EP called Repeating Threes. “When I Come East” kicks off with screeching guitars, leading into opening lines that sound stolen from a 2005 emo song, designed for an AIM away message: “If I mail my heart through the Midwest, would you read it? / Leave a lipstick kiss with your name signed underneath.” The chorus is fit for one big wholesome mosh pit, catchy and invigorating. —Danielle

Guitar fuzz can work as armor. You can reveal the deepest, most shameful side of yourself to the public, and if you do it while you’re screaming over an effects-pedal wall, you might still feel like you’re protecting yourself. A piano and a microphone don’t offer that kind of cover. Bully’s Alicia Bognanno has never been scared to get raw and intimate on mic, but she’s never sounded quite as vulnerable as she does on “Atom Bomb,” a voice-and-piano ballad about being lost in the world. “Atom Bomb” still has the soaring, overwhelming hooks that Bully always bring, and Bognanno still sings it in a scraped, severe voice that induces instant empathy. But here, when she’s singing about living like an atom bomb waiting to be lit or crying over a shade of blue, it hits just a tiny bit harder. It has to. There’s nothing to protect you from it. —Tom