Sheer, unabashed stadium sonics delivered with a heart of gold, ‘Imploding The Mirage’ finds The Killers providing one of the biggest – in both a sonic and emotional sense – albums of their career. It’s a propulsive achievement, pushing their songwriting to the limit in a thrilling, Devil-may-care manner.

The result is an album of intimacy, introspection and incredible beauty; a communion with the sands.

No one has travelled further than the band themselves. Yet it’s a journey worth savouring, with the renewed duo seemingly capable of soaking up all that life can throw at them.

Beginning and ending on a high note, Hardwired miraculously leaves the listener hungry for more, following an all-out binge on some of Metallica’s strongest work since 1991.

On the surface, a hyperpop post-punk album should never work. But somehow, by some distorted miracle, Courting pulls it off – in the best way imaginable. In a landscape of so many albums regurgitating overbaked sounds, Courting have redefined guitar music. Instead of using the guitar as a songwriting tool, they use it as a weapon.

This is an album about growth, however messy and non-linear it may be.

Futurology is the Manics doing what they do best, with added Krautrock, Georgia Ruth and Green Gartside.

A strutting, assured 42 minutes of funky indie-pop indulgence born out of the ashes of a pretty stagnant indie rock band. Proof everyone deserves a second-chance.

Undoubtedly their best record to date, it finds Palace asserting themselves in ways they’ve always suggested were possible.

Despite the dark aesthetic of ‘Reborn’, the album shines bright with promise for the futuristic vista of Kavinsky.

Despite the more upbeat sound to 'Bite Mark' TRAAMS ensure they still pack enough punch to really sink their teeth into their slightly frenzied and disheveled (but completely hooked) listeners.

An endlessly engrossing record.

A vital, thrilling affair, it ranks amongst the best of his solo work.

These are gloriously creative songs.

There’s a lot to like about this summer soundtrack packed to the left of your luggage.

The biting nostalgia of middle age runs throughout the lyrics and the band’s desire to produce something akin to ‘Automatic For The People’ is largely fulfilled.

This is a record that showcases Tyler, the Creator’s continued refusal to be caged in by any set sound or genre, with references to his earlier style alongside tracks that sound completely new. Defying expectations, Tyler, the Creator continues to rise.

These 10 tracks comprise a head-and-shoulders-above collection that immediately imprints itself as one of the best hip-hop records of 2013 so far.

The end product is another outstanding record, executed with fearlessness and grace.

Sleigh Bells' novelty though, lies in a tingling barrage of granular guitar distortion and overdriven, over-compressed girl-pop squall.

The strengths of My Name Is My Name vastly outweigh its minor faults, and Pusha’s studio debut finds itself easily nestled into the year’s top five rap releases.

Don't be surprised if Ghostpoet is on Mercury minds once more with this excellent effort.

This mini album sees Wire once again looking askance at modernity via cryptic cynicism, bassist Graham Lewis's obtuse lyrics reaching new levels of vexatious impenetrability.

A bold work of evolution, ‘EVERYBODY CAN’T GO’ utilises some fantastic production – notably from Hit-Boy – to piece together a seamless record, one that hauls his sound forwards into a fresh era.

Le Bon’s finest moments bypass rational analysis in favour of radiant gestures. We should welcome them during these colder days.

This is music that stretches from the decaying rain-lashed estates of their home to the stars.

A record that focuses on fleeting glimpses, on liminal evenings and burgeoning mornings, it’s imbued with sublime melodic flair and a lingering atmosphere that echoes after the final note has been plucked gracefully from Bibio’s well-served guitar.

It’s a record stacked with an adeptness of touch from a production standpoint, a modern tapestry that weaves in and out of genres defined by black artists of past.

It's classic Americana rock at its best, combining musical echoes of Springsteen and Dylan but crafted with a poet's eye for detail. Dreamy, infectious, and full of hope. A powerful antidote to all those who say the best days of American classic rock are well over.

The final result is a debut album brimming with confidence, confidence not only in Lipa’s own voice and her eye for a chorus, but in the emotive quality of her lyrics.

He might ramble sometimes, but his ramblings are like the songs of angels.

Snõõper have succeeded in creating an album that celebrates the joy of live music, while not sacrificing any of their energy, originality or fun in the process.

Tycho never loses sight of what he is known for: the skillful mastery of crafting brilliant ambient soundscapes from bare computer programs. And believe it or not, his sound here is that much more captivating.

Fans of Depeche Mode can be happy to receive the band’s best offering of this century (though don’t get it twisted, ‘Playing The Angel’ is still a great record) but it’s unlikely they’ll change the minds of non-listeners, as foolish as such people are. The same ground is tread here, just in new shoes.

A radiant and eminently danceable album, it’s a necessary salve to put on this year.

It’s great fun, and clearly a Bay Area attempt at the big league. Like hip-hop used to sound. Praise be.

2009 has seen the emergence and critical success of other techno-pop bands, including The xx and Fever Ray, and Pantha du Prince plays into exactly this sort of intelligent, thoughtful, and in many ways uplifting music.

Sonically and lyrically, Shura is at her most urgent and incisive.

This album is purposely ambiguous. By omitting such boundaries, it offers a storyline recognisable to everyone. Love is universal!

With ‘The Spiral’ acting as a key moment, a fusion of individual voice and collective endeavour, it’s clear that his journey has only just started.

The focus from all concerned makes the convincingly grisly fiction a lot of fun.

This open-ended offering brilliantly entices you to extrapolate meaning from it, to attach it to a time and space before letting it fully unfurl.

There are no bounds. ‘Exotico’ let’s go of control, so remarkable things can happen. It’s the closest Temples have been to releasing a masterpiece, and that’s saying something.

Romare sets out to bring in elements of his distinct sound from across his career always combining it with something fresh and invigorating. The fact that all of these elements come together into such an approachable and restrained album is quite impressive.

A striking, fantastically original work, this is an album that taps into animalistic emotion.

One of the songwriter’s most overtly gorgeous works, it finds Panda Bear easing into new ground while maintaining his near effortless melodic touch.

Expectations for CMAT’s second album were sky-high, but she’s managed to reach new musical heights with ease and style. ‘Crazymad, For Me’ is another smash hit from a showstopper vocalist that really puts the fun back in pop music.

As You As You Were already feels like a festival anthem in waiting. Stunningly good music.

Taught and lean, bold and mean, Blood Red Shoes are fighting fit and Fire Like This might just be their knock-out punch.

The Murder Capital offer authenticity, honesty and truth aplenty, it has already become difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a vibrant music scene without them and there is a sense that this album is only the beginning of their compulsive journey.

Life is about growth, and with this bold, brave project Loski matures as both an artist and a man.

Woolford fends off critics of unoriginality by contributing to/completing bass music’s circle of life. Good tidings of Thunder and Joy.

Seven deeply moving songs teetering deliciously on the brink of collapse. It was a long time in the making, but now, at the age of 27, Minus feels alarmingly close to the album Blumberg was always supposed to write.

Viagra Boys have a deep well of emotional intelligence hidden underneath their aggressively ignorant façade.

Albarn on Britain is a proven formula, but Simonon, Allen and Simon Tong combine to craft curious twenty-first century folk about curious twenty-first century folk.

There is a ‘fine line’ between plain pop music and good pop music that’s interesting to listen to. On this album, Harry Styles definitely falls into the latter category.

There’s a stunning candour to the lyrics, though it gets a little stodgy in the mid-section and, at 80+ minutes, is a little more verbiage than the typical album. Yet we’re dealing with an untypical songwriter, and the last two tracks are among the best he’s ever written.

These sounds are heavier and Miller flows naturally in this element.

Almost every track on ‘Magdalene’ is built upwards from a simple piano line, hammering home the impression of someone delicately yet decisively knitting themselves back together after coming undone.

All the changes made to beloved tracks like ‘You Belong With Me’ and ‘Love Story’, simply make them shinier. Throughout the whole album, banjos are crisper, guitars are fuller, drums are heavier, and Taylor’s strong 31-year-old voice leads the music. Clearly taking care to not step over her 19-year-old self, all the changes feel totally natural, like they should’ve been that way to start with.

Starmaker is a joy from start to finish. Together, each song on this debut album supports Honey Harper’s ambition to bring his cosmic country into a wider setting and he does it with currency and aesthetics.

Pleasingly self-referential, ‘Household Name’ is a joyous selection, a record that melds together its alt-rock influences to locate a distinctive voice, pitting intricate instrumentation against some killer pop hooks. Looks like we may just have found our summer soundtrack.

The disorientating utopian ride you take when listening to this album in full will no doubt bring you glee, and maybe some weird dreams if you think about being a prawn too much.

He seems to explore his craft, experimenting with electronic instruments throughout each track, yet stays close to home.

‘C O S M’ is the first dramatic reduction in pace, but proves to be only temporary respite, as the album’s second half builds to a glorious finale. Hopkins remains in ascension, and no one is on his level right now.

It probably won’t satisfy those who still yearn for a return to their ‘90s alt-rock beginnings but it’s a good starting point for newcomers. For the rest of us though, what this all amounts to, in the end, is another fantastic Radiohead album.

The concept of ‘Cottilions’ definitely deserves some applause. It’s a big, brave project for anyone to take on, and rather than disappoint or fail, it impresses, and in some places, it shines.

Having listened from beginning to end scores of times, it always retains its singular charm.

Without it being a slight on Wood’s performance, it also adds to a beneficiary mix of vocal viewpoints, aimed at tightening the Orchestra’s hold over main stages and secret, more intimate tents out back.

Another ambitious statement from a band that has made a habit of reinventing themselves at every stage, while still, somehow, sounding uniquely like Liars.

Bolt on an undeniably zealous execution, a set of simple yet well-written songs, add an element of confident adventure via some experimentation and diversity and the rebirth of indie may just have found its leading protagonists.

A truly stylish but somewhat overly long affair.

Radwan Ghazi Mounmeh and his cohorts have managed to make a record which communicates across the bounds of culture and time.

Breathless and perplexed with ears ringing, the live trip of ‘Rare, Forever’ will be a must witness.

An exhilarating and ambitious collection, it should bring Field Music a deservedly larger audience at last.

An enormous leap forward, Freedom finds Amen Dunes grappling with his abilities, with the passing of the time; a superb record, it’s one that deserves the widest possible audience.

‘Punisher’ is an immense album tackling the ugly and absurd sides to life with beauty, humour and self-awareness. It’s a unique reporting style and a key statement.

On Ignorance Is Bliss, Skepta is back with a renewed hunger and sense of purpose, overcoming a new set of challenges and proving once again why he is a grime mainstay.

The project finds Lil Durk facing up to his faults, and owning them, while never abandoning the landscapes that framed him. At times hugely inspired, the intensity of the experience will leave you breathless.

It’s a wonderful record, one to wrestle with, one that lingers at odd moments of the day and night. Allow it to seek you out.

While subtle, this album captures the evolution of a band in their element once more.

Many have already been drawn into the melancholy whirlpools of their past two albums; yet more will surely be drawn by the warmer embrace of Legrand and Scally’s latest statement, a stronger, rhythmic definition offering a hand through the ether, beckoning the listener into their fluid tapestry.

Lorn builds winning improvements on an already victorious formula of boom-bap nightmares gone crypt walking.

This record isn't really comparable to any of Monkeytown's output, but it still stands up alongside it--and not just as a novelty.

A special album from a special artist, Nepenthe is, indeed, an album that leaves thoughts of others absent as it plays out its otherworldly dance.

Though ‘Everything Harmony’ may be a pastiche, the band carried it past the point of mere replica and into its own identity. It’s resonant in modern times; a dreamlike escape from the electronic clamour and constant buzz that can drain one’s spirit.

‘Screen Violence’ is so striking it makes 2018’s ‘Love Is Dead’ seem almost blasé in its deliverance.

Western Stars is an understated triumph, righting the wrongs of his last few releases and more than emphasises the fact that Springsteen is still brilliant enough to be invested in.

Wistful and wise, ‘Twin Heavy’ offers a portrait of the young man as a record collector. With his magpie-like eye for treasure and eagerness to share, Willie J Healey has conjured something special.

An enthralling listen from a compelling artist prepared to push the unorthodox.

The Chemical Brothers continue to buck any notions of a creative burn-out with their strongest release in a decade.

‘Snake Sideways’ is a culmination of all of Do Nothing’s talents, and a great debut album which is perfect for the live setting – where the band thrives.

Although Lousy With Sylvianbriar lacks the violent eclecticism of their 2007 classic ‘Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?’, it’s a genre-morphing triumph that reveals new surprises with each listen.

Strike A Match feels like it is racing against itself, a gentle, playful intensity that feels wholly inviting.

‘Man Alive!’ is an absorbing consolidation of Marshall’s inimitable sound.

Righton paints the perfect picture of his inner thoughts as he embarks on a cinematic journey with poignant lyricism, exquisite production and charismatically seductive soundscapes reminiscent of Roxy Music.

Drift see’s songwriters Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi reflect on a decade of relentless experimentation to produce an album that truly showcases both their versatility as musicians and the many dimensions of The Men’s musical canon.

In 13 tracks ‘The Waves pt. 1’ is an elegant accumulating of Kele Okereke’s work. It encapsulates so much depth and takes you on joyous rides that you can never anticipate the direction of.