John Frusciante kicked it into high gear in 2004, not only releasing Shadows Collide With People through Warner Bros., but also planning to release an album every other month or so through the rest of the year on the Recordcollection label. The first of these releases is Will to Death, a collaboration with Josh Klinghoffer (who also helped out with Shadows Collide With People). Those familiar with Frusciante's other solo work will know that this material will be far from Red Hot Chili Peppers lite: Frusciante definitely has his own (somewhat haunted) muse. The songs are basically nice little pop tunes, with hard-panned oddball production and very personal, introspective lyrics. This album also marks a new personal aesthetic for Frusciante: he wanted these songs to be raw and immediate (as inspired by some of his favorite albums), and to this end there were very few takes involved with any of these songs, and mistakes and elements of chance found their way in as well.
Tegan and Sara have never been shy about changing up their sound, but 2013's Heartthrob was their biggest leap yet, one so drastic that it left some of their fans behind. Their slickly produced modern pop sound also gained them lots of new fans in return without sacrificing the intense emotions, lyrical insight, and songcraft their earlier albums delivered. Turns out the sisters are great pop vocalists, too. Their next album, 2016's Love You to Death, stuck to the same basic template, retaining Greg Kurstin as producer and surrounding their heartbreak ballads and empowering new wave rockers with glitteringly clean synths, percolating drum machines, and state of the art production.