The Pope of Mope, Morrissey, returns this week with his ninth album, Years of Refusal. The former Smiths leader draws on emo (what else?), glam-rock riffs and plenty of cheeky punchlines on this three-and-a-half star effort that Will Hermes says shows how age has only validated Moz’s drama-queen spiels.

• Morrissey – Years of Refusal

The Him of She and Him — M. Ward — sounds lonely and winsome on his latest solo disc, but his comfy Americana is still wrapped in strings and beautiful singer-songwriter rock.

• M. Ward – Hold Time

Aussie indie-pop duo An Horse recall the best of Nineties alt-rock — and with the return of Blink-182 and Green Day, it’s refreshing to nab a female take on living through this.

• An Horse – Rearrange Beds

Jersey emo pioneers Thursday whip up a power-chord racket with the help of Dave Fridmann on their fifth studio LP, but the tunes aren’t hot enough to warrant the fuss.

• Thursday – Common Existence

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