It’s not all perfect - no pop record that takes as much chances as this could ever hope to hit 10/10 home runs - but it’s certainly entertaining. Direct, up-front, and completely unabashed, ‘Poster Girl’ finds Zara Larsson living up to the fame that has surrounded her for more than a decade.

Arab Strap are back with a vengeance. And it’s fucking glorious.

This is an album that finds progress in small gradients. Subtle in its evolution, Kings Of Leon treat ‘When You See Yourself’ as a means to re-engage with their early bite, yet remain unwilling to cede their place at rock’s top table. As a result, it’s neither the complete break some yearn for, nor an attempt to re-capture the commercial power that emanated around ‘Only By The Night’.

A band whose early commercial ubiquity shouldn’t obscure the continued creative vitality of their work, Maximo Park open a fresh era with some of their finest work in a decade.

This is an impressive and well-rounded collection of work from the hard-working Australians.

‘Invisible Cities’ is a beguiling album that is as rich as it’s subject matter. A Winged Victory For The Sullen designed 13 piece of music that are architecturally sound but tap in directly, and build from, their enchanting debut album.

This isn’t just a Greatest Hits set, oh no, throughout Young and Crazy Horse throw out hidden gems and deep cuts. ... Again, though, we return to the question “If Neil had this and ‘Homegrown’ in the vault, what else is there?”

Constructed amid the dystopia of 2020, ‘CARNAGE’ instead stands as something unique, the sound of two vastly experienced musicians removing themselves from expectations, and constructing something both beautiful and visceral, tender and blood-thirsty, wholly terrifying and completely absorbing.

Soaring vocals and clean-cut production allow for an easy listen where listeners can grasp the feelings of the collective. This new release was needed, not just for the fans who have been dying to hear new music, but needed for the music community in general. The current climate is dark, moody, uncertain with the pandemic in mind, but this new album brings joy and happiness in a time where it is needed most.

Their sound hasn’t evolved but simply bettered itself, and as per usual, finds its way around an extensive (and slightly absurd) range of instruments.

On her third album, the view has swung from microcosm to breathtaking panorama.

Now, they’ve unveiled their eighth collection of poetically punky musical works which carries their fresh momentum to expansive heights.

Whilst this LP doesn’t break any new grounds or shatter any glass ceilings, it does bring is a beautiful blend of house, electro-pop and funk, culminating to astoundingly enjoyable heights and sparkly moments that would make even the biggest metal-music-elitist bright-eyed and giddy.

While human suffering or pain isn’t joyous, the special craft of nothing,nowhere. most certainly is, and ‘Trauma Factory’ is a splendid occasion for celebration.

His strongest album to date, and one of grime’s true classics – even if there is a not-very-good Ed Sheeran feature slapped in the middle of it.

‘As The Love Continues’ is Mogwai at their best, and is possibly their most consistent record since 2006's ‘Mr Beast’. Their mums should be proud.

Avoiding easy cliches that exist in this universal experience, Claud brings humour and light to what could have easily been a reproduction of any Adele album.

This latest 4-CD/5-LP boxset is a treasure trove for both hardcore fans and music buffs in general. The first thing your hard-earned money gets you is a beautifully crisp 2021 remaster of the original album, every solo, and cymbal crash, never sounding so unspoiled. Being a deluxe album set, you've naturally got the kind of material that only a lunatic would revisit regularly.

Emerging from a phase of growing pains and fitting perfectly into the mould of an awe- inspiring frontwoman, Baron-Gracie lays bare everything from depression and darkness to clarity and optimism with her mature songwriting.

Often lifted by angular, bug-eyed guitars, Mush can’t help but approach matters with considerable levity. Hyndman revels in the irony of American patriotism being the product of KGB-controlled algorithms on ‘Bots!’. His cutting and sarcastic remarks are telling of one nation’s innate habit of being easily led.

While ‘Glowing In The Dark’ isn’t their strongest album to date is it their most accomplished. The wonky fun of their debut has been replaced with slick productions and the songs just sound amazing for it.

It’s a multi-faceted and mature second album from an artist that a lot of people wrongly assumed could only work in one narrow lane.

In 'FLOWERS for VASES / descansos' Williams belts the stapled vocal range she’s praised for in notable tracks, ‘All I Wanted,’ ‘Feeling Sorry,’ and ‘Ain’t It Fun,’ and completes it with comforting acoustics, simplistic key work and alluring songwriting.

With titles like ‘Carpathian Darkness’ and ‘Weeping Ghost,’ this latest set is a must-listen for both fans of ‘The Fog’ and those who love their instrumental music dripping with malice and danger.

Succinct and ultra-tight, ‘I Told You So’ clocks in at nine tracks, yet its breathless manouevres move from post-bop phrasing through to 80s stadium pop, somehow tying them all together with the effectiveness of their mission. A record that gets under your skin, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio are well worth tracking down.

Ultimately, ‘Introducing...’ thrives because of how natural it feels – a record as authentic as the dust on Dan Auerbach’s control booth, it places Aaron Frazer as a golden-voiced embodiment of this modern soul age.

Despite Allen’s years of fighting insomnia, he appears to come to some form of conclusion during ‘In Praise Of Shadows’, one which we get a sneaking insight to – magnifying the introspective world of Puma Blue and this dreamy debut album.

These thirteen tracks, detailing joys and sorrows, love and loss, indicate that The Staves are as vital as ever.