Imagine if, instead of blossoming within the late -1960s' Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter scene, Joni Mitchell had been transported to the early 1980s, and had been influenced by the collected works of Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil and Siouxsie & the Banshees. That's Pain is Beauty: a very strong collection of songs that flirt with singer-songwriter tropes but embrace the dark side. Sacramento-born Wolfe was a relatively underground name until 2012's Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs, which gathered stray recordings of hers into a tidy unit. Pain is Beauty is the studio follow-up to 2011's Apokalypsis, and it's a leap into a bigger, more elegant space. The unfailingly impressive songs form a perfect bridge between drone-driven art-rock and earthy folk. chelseawolfe.net

Download: We Hit a Wall, Destruction Makes the World Burn Brighter, They'll Clap When You're Gone