‘Jaguar II’ is a compressed listen with only 11 tracks but still packs in dimensionality and texture. It marks a new pinnacle and a denouement of an era for a once clandestine figure now dancing under the prismatic light of a disco ball.

Put aside your cynicism, and dial into the fireworks: ‘Wet Leg’ is an exceptional debut album.

Random Access Memories confuses, disappoints and grates.

Serpentwithfeet teaches us to be ourselves, to endure and be happy and love each other, and it’s rare to hear these simple, well-known things being delivered with a power and strength that can transcend the medium of music itself, turning it into a pure magic.

Happiness, for Lana, is a process. This album is a testament to her afresh stability and strength, and shows that hope might be a dangerous woman for a thing like her to have — but she’s finally got it.

It’s difficult to envisage anyone else but Remy conceiving such a record. This is exemplary, political pop music executed to near perfection.

Melodic, melancholic, at moments almost celestial, it's simply stunning work.

Cocoa Sugar is a record that merits mass appeal recognition, a timely offering educing the moral panic fever reigning over our everyday existence.

Further proof that The Arcade Fire may indeed be the best band on the planet.

An emotive, emphatic and often joyous collection of music that plays equally for the head and the heart.

This is a thoughtful and sensitively crafted project showcasing an awe-inspiring collection of carefully-crafted tracks. It is a touching tribute to this special musical partnership and demonstrates their musicality, artistry, and emotive storytelling.

Maybe it’s the sentimental Beatle-maniac in us, but ‘Now And Then’ feels like something beautiful, something to cherish.

As natural and inviting as the curling of the leaves, ‘Shore’ is Fleet Foxes at their best. A voice of comfort for an atmomised generation, this is less album, and more treasure trove.

‘Hit Parade’ is as colourful and playful as Róisín Murphy herself. Truly a contender for album of the year, Murphy has created an album of true musical depth that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

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.

The truth is that in matters of injustice, anger is one of our most powerful tools and with it ‘Hugo’ showcases an essential part of the depth and criticality Loyle Carner possesses as an artist.

‘Being’ is the most enjoyable album Maal has released to date.

V is the record that has finally given The Horrors a set identity. Perfecting every element they did so well on their four previous records, V is a pure and unadulterated celebration of The Horrors.

Kali has created a lucid dreamscape where you can be whatever you want to be, self-venerated and free. Isolation is an escapist escapade of the highest order.

Yes, 22, A Million is painfully, painfully sincere. Yes, it’s also hopelessly oblique, grandiose, and pretentious. Yet it’s also an absolute diamond of a record, at once fragrantly beautifully and also hopelessly complex, easy to disregard and yet thoroughly hypnotic.

Pom Pom Squad seize these influences and DIY them to fit their own Gen-Z aesthetic. In other words, ‘Death Of A Cheerleader’ is a tour-de-force that toasts to all of our own Dumb Bitch Selves.

Yes Patti Scialfa joins him for ‘Tougher Than The Rest’ and ‘Brilliant Disguise’, but other than that it’s just The Boss doing what he does best, “To provide an entertaining evening and to communicate something of value”. And in all honesty that’s all we could ask for.

Authoritatively potent, bitterly bleak and beautiful, this record is an unexpected but essential punch in the face.

‘Heavy Heavy’ sees them fully marry their two sides; is this a very fun album from a very serious band, or a very serious album from a very fun band? Why not both? Young Fathers can have it both ways.

‘Where’s My Utopia?’ is a musically diverse step forward for Yard Act, who refuse to be intimidated by their debut.

There are thoughtful beats and thoughtful words here, complementing each other instead of overpowering one another.

So, while Robyn shows that her body can certainly do the talking, when it comes to walking the walk she's prone to stumbling in directions she should avoid.

Hollowed will give you hope, then gut you. Nothing but a victory all round.

SOPHIE manages to incorporate the personal without detracting from what set her apart in the first place, and it makes for a record that’s as affecting as it is thrilling.

This is an album that further cements their legacy and feels like it captures elements from across their 20-year career into something wholly new and exciting.

While the opening moog throbs of ‘No-One’s Easy To Love’ and ‘Comeback Kid’ are initially distracting coming from an artist once known for her sparse compositions, they quickly blend in to become just another part of the atmospheric scenery that add colour to her widescreen laments.

The album does a good job of rekindling the connection with our younger, hopeful selves.

It’s a truly fascinating listen.

A genuine thrill from an artist who could rest on her nostalgia laurels, Kylie is back for her well-deserved crown.

A wonderful, worthy follow-up.

All good music transports the listener, and 'Afrique Victime' does that in spades while spreading a message of hope, resilience, and lessons on political inequality.

By working with a producer who sought him out and by letting the songs lead the way, he has delivered a timeless album.

There is melody here, clear structure. The Blackest Beautiful is a pop record, of a kind. The kind that eats the other albums racked next to it.

It’s a fearless, intricately crafted and sonically expansive body of work that effortlessly showcases why he’s one of the UK’s most talented songwriters.

Reaching greater and greater heights, ‘Magic 3’ could well be Nas and Hit-Boy’s finest hour together – the closure of this chapter allows us to analysis their relationship, but you’re still left yearning for more.

Atmospherically broad, it moves from quiet sounding to the creation of something big and epic sounding. The emotional setting of each track changes a bit throughout, but it’s a record that is deeply connected.

For all the album’s deliberate obscurity, there are small certainties and simple candours. She charts the emotional weather contained within four walls (Pale Interiors), the blue sky that sparkles above Kelso. How a lover’s skin can become a causeway, then a canyon.

It’s an effortless comeback, then, that almost plays like a greatest hits set.

This is still an intrinsically Maxwell record, but he navigates familiar tropes through friction and distressed noir-soul, the cohesiveness of the record all the more commendable as a result.

A sorrowful, yet captivating collection of songs, ensuring that Ms. Mitchell continues to snap at the heels of PJ Harvey in the female singer songwriter stakes.

He has vision and ambition beyond the scope of most of us and he is able to bring it to fruition. Long may he find new fans for his challenging but deeply satisfying work.

The answers aren’t as easily obtained as on its Grammy-winning forebear, but ‘King’s Disease II’ dares to ask questions of its maker, and its audience.

Process is his ‘Carrie And Lowell’, a healing record for the broken, the lovelorn and the lost.

This isn’t a project for newcomers. ‘Springtime In New York’ – taken as a five disc whole – requires patience, and a degree of love for the core texts.

‘DEACON’ is a triumph because it realises and relives love’s quiet, archived moments, be it romantic or spiritual. It’s a triumph because it reminds us R&B exists on a vast continuum, forever a source of inspiration and innovation.

‘Big Conspiracy’ never fully sits in one place, this ever-evolving puzzle with J Hus at the core. He wears many masks, but it’s often when these slip that ‘Big Conspiracy’ is at its most viral, and revealing.

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.

‘Praise…’ feels like a completed maze, a finite and full creation, and cements Tumor as an extraordinary explorer.

Without doubt, this is one of the folk albums of the year.

It’s a real banquet, a feat of folk re-contextualisation driven forward by the sharp emotional instincts of its formidable maker.

Through turns wholly strange and ambiguous, it’s often unclear where the breadcrumb trail of 'House Of Sugar' is leading us, but it’s a mind-bending trip worth taking nonetheless.

With its heady hooks and exuberant riffs, ‘But Here We Are’ is ambitious, poignant, and vivid in equal measure. The emotive and raw sonics are painful but positive at the same time and we as listeners feel every note, line and beat throughout this ten track album which ranks as one of the best Foo Fighters albums in their history.

‘Promises’ is five years' worth of experimental soundscaping condensed into one mind-boggling harmonic journey. A highly accomplished piece of music, Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points both excel in their newfound exploratory duo with a piece of work which will go down in jazz-cross- electronic-cross-classical history.

An album with soul jazz, spiritual jazz, jazz-funk, electro-soul and many more genre-busting approaches incorporated across 16 wondrous pieces, aspects of free rhythms nestling next to vintage seventies soul sounds, all evolved effortlessly for the 21st Century. ... You won’t hear another record like it this, or maybe any, year.

Full of self-aware wistfulness and post-ironic references, it avoids the pitfalls of many other flash-in-the pan internet culture records by also being genuine; genuinely nostalgic, genuinely sweet, genuinely interesting, and genuinely great.

A work of real refinement, ‘The Great White Sea Eagle’ is peppered with jewels.

Before its release, Fetti had the potential to be one of the strongest hip-hop albums of the year due to the skilled people involved and it has no doubt fulfilled that promise.

While the singles may be his most commercially appealing to date, he never once loses integrity or his aural signature as an artist.

Dublin in the rain belongs to Fontaines D.C., and rather than being too real this album is just right, it is a ragged delivery. The trick lies in the seemingly un-filtered rawness combined with its stark poetic reality. The three components help secure this album’s position as an example of authenticity; authenticity in its most concentrated and truest form and expression.

A dystopian masterpiece.

Don’t listen to ‘Raven’ expecting immediacy. Instead see ‘Raven’ as a point of discovery, fostering dialogue on and beyond the dancefloor; an open expanse and a surround sound experience for the marginalised seeking thrills beyond the white gaze.

Porridge Radio have not only written the album of their careers but possibly of the year too. Their new project ‘Every Bad’ is full of the catchy songs that are overflowing with lo-fi ramshackle post-punk guitars and uplifting vocals.

This is an album encompasses everything Klein has experienced so far. It is rich with texture and ideas. Let’s hope it doesn’t take her another lifetime to create something as singular and enjoyable as this.

Dense and obtuse it may be but those who follow this most intense sonic explorer will be rewarded the greatest.

Shields is an engrossing, beautiful work which could only come from Grizzly Bear, and only at this point in their career.

JARV… IS grapple with fresh possibilities in a wry, recognisable, but incredibly fresh way.

Fragile, heavenly and utterly compelling; this debut paves the way for boundaries-pushing pop. This is music that shatters you with a single tap.

Brilliant stuff is still very much spooling out of Thom Yorke. His voice is revelatory on these tracks, better than ever, a peerless instrument; buttery and mellifluous in falsetto, snide and viperish on the growly bits. His magpie instincts for a tart one-liner remain razor sharp.

She has developed her own world over the last few years, this record feeling like the grand opening; the musical renegade uses this sonic landscape to release feelings of sorrow and doubt and anger, culminating in a truly vivid and innovative record.

A mystical brew of funk, gospel and delta rock.

The first half of the album follows an upbeat style, reminiscent of raspy rhythm ‘n’ blues, sharp-edged funk, and early Motown. ... The second half of the album harks back to the golden era of soul with gospel roots and orchestral interludes.

The Betas were a formidable live band, and the radio session tracks here are as good as, and sometimes better than, their studio counterparts. There’s little in the way of actual rarities, though.

As always, Wild Beasts' songs are unusually intimate, and the electronic evolution of Present Tense captures their characteristically microscopic explorations of human interaction.

While ‘My Name Is My Name’ was a great album, this is a masterclass in design: in contrast to the 20+ track albums of this streaming era, Kanye’s ruthless editing ensures every song, every bar and every sample have purpose.

While DRIFT’s production values remain solid, a few tracks would have needed more time to be fleshed out. ... Even then, you can trust Underworld to play to their strengths. ... By taking all these ideas and running with them, Underworld has rushed in where most artists fear to tread.

‘Kitchen Sink’, is once again political, but is about women’s place in the world, the infinite different lives they lead, and the difficulties of being a strong female. While it goes to some dark places, Shah is able to have a lot more fun as she embodies all these different female experiences.

Overall, a very mature collection of sing-alongs. Templeman has proven that he is evolving as an artist. This is going to be a big year for this young crooner.

From understated bedroom pop to innovative troubadour, Skinner’s new record is truly a gift.

‘Loud Without Noise’ is brave in its honest lyricism and empowering in its sound while still paying homage to the angst-fuelled, punk spirit that first grew them a following. It is a nostalgic mixtape that will make you shed your inhibitions, let go of those social anxieties and, at least for the 20 minute duration, feel a complete freedom that you may not have ever felt.

‘Black Classical Music’ is a unique experience, a true journey, the musical autobiography of a musician central to the ongoing development of UK jazz.

A nerve-jangling experience, it could well rank as their masterpiece.

The great just gets greater.

In returning to the project that best suits his sense of adventure, James Murphy has done nothing to tarnish what has gone before. American Dream is a darker, more diverse record than its predecessors and a more human one too.

It’s an album that’s somehow halfway between DJ mix and a greatest hits compilation, and arguably the best of The Avalanches’ trio of releases thus far.

There's no doubting the commitment in delivery though, with solid musical cohesion and a thrusting triple-guitar assault that has an astounding clarity and is expertly choreographed.

Richly melodic and possessing a classicist pop sensibility, this is rock music with soul.

‘Blue Rev’ is a magical, twisty excursion to a crossroads where the band simultaneously reflects on yesteryear and explores the turbulence of divergent realities.

‘New Long Leg’ feels a world apart from the staleness of so many groups tagged with the term ‘post punk’. Indeed, as a complete aesthetic statement, the debut album from Dry Cleaning hardly merits contemporaries at all – suffocating, surreal, and exploratory, it takes chances other groups could scarcely envisage.

As an album, though still swinging from one place to another with glee, The Underside Of Power feels important, and very, very serious, as a body of work. It is one of the year’s very best albums, and sets out Algiers as one of the decade’s very best bands.

Patiently moving into a new era, ‘Happier Than Ever’ is shrouded in a transformative darkness.

The project includes a host of features from some of the biggest names in the genre, who provide welcome (but somewhat unnecessary) co-signs as she herself manoeuvres with a standout level of artistry that leaves you in no doubt that she is indeed here to stay.

Even at it’s bleakest, All At Once is sheer rock’n’roll joy from start to finish.

Individually the songs are great, vibrant and bouncy. However, together it can get a bit too draining. Now, I’m not saying that this much pop is a bad thing – the album is a delight to listen to, but there is a lack of variation in both sound and texture as it’s all so IN-YR-FACE.