The rapper fails to assert creative delineation over this sprawling mesh of music. That said, ‘Featuring’ is peppered with career highs.

The crisp, contemporary production is a revelation with the finer details bursting out at every moment. It’s a stark contrast to the original demo, which sounded like they were playing in your neighbour’s flooded garage and hurriedly recording everything direct to tape before the C45 ran out.

The sparse palette - Lenker’s acoustic, incidental percussion, reassuring tape hiss - serves to isolate the quiet brilliance of the melodies, setting their winding, spontaneous beauty against angst that spans existential questioning and the nuts and bolts of severing ties with someone you care about.

Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, ‘Moral Panic’ perfectly shape-shifts into its new context in the midst of the current climate. The band achieve another phenomenal album which might have benefited from one or two fewer songs - but nevertheless demonstrates their dramatic range of capabilities with a spattering of radio hits.

The music is engaging, yet thought provoking. It sounds unlike his previous three releases, but there is a continuation of ideas throughout. It’s an album from an artist who doesn’t pander to trends and goes his own path.

‘Burden Of Proof’ pushes Benny The Butcher back to the forefront, and offers further evidence that Griselda is one of the most vital labels in North American hip-hop right now.

It’s been said that every era gets the monster they deserve. If this is the case then ‘Visions of Bodies Being Burned’ is everything wrong, and right, with the world distilled into 52- minutes of absurdist hip-hop. We’ve never had it so good!

A record that walks the streets of West Africa and West London with equal confidence, ‘Strange Timez’ offers respite from the dark clouds that swarm above 2020, a gateway into another realm.

‘Only For Dolphins’ is the sound of free-flowing sonic travel, and it’s depiction of Action Bronson in full flight underlines the conception that this is an MC who is back to his peak.

As a whole, ‘Letter To You’ is a wonderfully warm experience, perhaps Springsteen’s most human for some time.

Some fans may be disappointed by the more subdued nature of ‘Someone New’. Yet her ability to combine woozy guitars with killer synths and endlessly catchy melodies hasn’t disappeared, only softened and matured, as the title track, the brilliant ‘Pale’, and ‘Dog’ prove.

A beautifully crafted, nuanced record, bursting to the brim with ideas and not afraid to test the listener with its expansive sound pallet.

Remarkable. ... The 12-track project explores the collapse of a marriage, financial turmoil, anxiety, self-doubt and self-care. A lesser rapper might sink in the mire, but Open Mike has always been dope on the mic, and ‘Anime, Trauma and Divorce’ find him at his best.

‘SIGN’ is an album that doesn’t just get under your skin, but in your head. If you give it enough time it will own, you and you will feel better for it. Autechre have returned and the wait was definitely worth it.

It’s a phenomenal record, undoubtedly one of the finest to be released this year – in its mood, kineticism, and an adorned darkness, ‘Untitled (Rise)’ captures something truly remarkable about this chaotic era.

This impressive collection is a touching tribute to Petty’s enduring legacy and demonstrates his candour, artistry, and emotive storytelling. This is a real must have for any Tom Petty fan and paints an even more colourful picture of what has always been a masterpiece as well as unveiling an exciting treasure trove of musical gems which will inevitably become long-lasting Petty classics.

‘Fake It Flowers’ is a starting statement that runs on unmitigated confidence, a revealing, enthralling, enchanting debut record, one that finally finds beabadoobee throwing open the gates and letting the world into her life. It’s a joy to behold.

‘Renaissance’ sees Aluna cementing herself as one of the most exciting artists around with this iconic offering that will inspire dance records for years to come.

The instrumentation and guitar playing in particular can sometimes feel like a serenade, to encapsulate such place and time easily lends credit to the talent of this songwriter and all of a sudden, you are a sundowner too.

The best thing about the album, and there are a lot of good things to it, is just how simple it is. Nothing feels overthought, calculated, or insincere. The songs come across like gentle gusts of warming wind when you are out late without a coat.

‘April’ might not be as strong as 2016’s ‘Second Love’. The songs are solid but not quite as pristine as its predecessor. However, it’s understated melodies and melancholy laced lyrics still have the power to stop you in your tracks. This feels like third love.

Herring’s blessed baritone vocals teamed with their trademark bittersweet synth and hefty baselines will continue to make for decent, honest albums for as long as the four-piece please, but the introduction of a faster, lighter tempo in tracks like ‘The Painter’ and ‘Hit The Coast’ could mark the beginning of a much-needed dive into uncharted musical waters.

The twenty-track project, dedicated to his late mother, features Headie’s strongest, most reflective writing to date. Distance offers clarity, and the further he navigates away from his past life, the more vivid the pictures he paints of it.

‘Who Made The Sunshine?’ feels like a fresh slate for the Buffalo artist. Drawing on the weight of his experience to carve out fresh opportunity, it’s a record that – only at moments, mind you – contains some of his best work.

‘Savage Mode 2’ matches ruthless entertainment to phenomenal artistry, a collaboration that works on a number of levels. Once more exposing fresh layers to 21 Savage and Metro Boomin.

Their interpretation of Barrett Strong’s ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ and the mysterious sounding ‘Fever’ brings a different dimension to these classic songs and breathes new life into these and other legendary songs.

We’d be looking at an even better record had it allowed the space required for her often unrecognised jaw-on-the-floor vocals, but as a whole Melanie C has drawn from a whirlwind year to make a jubilant album that understands where she is right now.

The vocals on the album are flawless, particularly for tracks such as ‘White Rooms And People’. ‘Outside’, is perhaps the quaintest offering on the album, but is immediately followed up by ‘Be My Guest’, an industrial offering that sends listeners into a frantic dervish.