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.

Again Future marshals the glittering soundscapes expertly, his tuneful flow reining in the beats while imbuing all the fragility, heartsickness and aggression that make it the most impressive instrument in rap right now.

It’s immersive and ambiguous, these tales belong to you as much as they do the person next to you on the train.

In short, it’s a low-key gem.

Unpredictably diverse and unexpectedly personal, this album sees Bugg managing to maintain the relatable style which won him so many fans in the first place, while taking the necessary risks that allow him to grow as an artist.

The main takeaway from ‘Dawn Of Chromatica’ however is Gaga’s curatorial ability, and the even strength of talent on display. Capable of moving from Ashnikko’s playful digitalism through to the ballroom energy of the Jimmy Edgar and Bree Runway take on ‘Babylon’, it’s a relentlessly entertaining display.

It is a bewitching, beautiful album, with no two songs alike.

This is a clear transition from her work with brother Angus, allowing her individual expression, resulting in a work of true depth and emotion.

A wonderful, worthy follow-up.

The career-spanning retrospective Alone and Unreal: The Best of the Clientele serves as a potent reminder of just how discreetly revelatory the group's primary method of operation has always been.

Let Them Eat Chaos is engaging and at only 48 minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome. Tempest seems to relish the challenge of delivering a concise but complex story over a compelling variety of instrumentals.

‘Sorry I Haven’t Called’, brings out the best dance music has to offer because although Vagabon’s music is soft-indie-pop at its core, she has somehow captured an intrinsically heavenly sphere throughout the twelve tracks, making it the best record to keep a tiny bit of summer inside of us as the autumnal air is taking over the outside world.

Always respectful of the traditions from which they emerge, Steve Gunn and the Black Twig Pickers are happy to less these sounds evolve exponentially into stunning, unforeseen vistas. A real gem.

Eleven years on from her debut, TORRES’ songwriting remains as infatuating as ever.

His third is a fun yet wonderfully composed record that sounds radically different to what he’s produced before. If a little odd at points with a dialling down of immediacy, patience is required to fully appreciate the pay-off.

A project that demands to be listened to in one sitting, there is an immersive quality across the tracklist that instantly strikes through. Each track is submerged in a nocturnal wash of acoustics, playful in its use of distance, textures and melody.

Amid the deferential nods, Mazes exude vigour and vibrancy.

Undeniably impressive, ‘Three’ neatly frames the wondrous aspects of Four Tet’s work. It doesn’t move beyond the landscapes fans will be familiar with, choosing instead to embrace a more understated pursuit of evolution. For those in search of electronic beauty, however, few albums will be more radiant or rewarding.

Marks to Prove It is the most cohesive offering from the Maccabees to date.

While the album is pretty much removed from her usual major pop moments, it’s more refreshing that way, and there’s more of a connective-unit feel to Positions than much of her previous work. After all, Grande has always been an album artist, and this one is yet another to whistle home about.

For this project Ben Cohen has taken the vocal outtakes and sketches and has crafted wonderfully rich and vibrant music around them. Is it what Leonard would have wanted? We’ll never know, but it doesn’t sound out of place in his rich canon of work, which is the important thing. Long-term fans will revel in another chance to lap up his wisdom and that captivated audiences for almost 50 years.

With a mix of frantic and scrappy pop songs alongside blankets of processed peacefulness Contra is a fun and always intriguing listen.

[Here shows] a true progression without losing any of the magic that made their first album such a breath of fresh air. Simply superb.

The Long Island five-piece show a greater willingness to vary their musical palette than many of their contemporaries

When Gambino plays it straight he sounds majestic.

Wilson has a fantastic ear for the unexpected. Similarly, the timbre of ‘Mountains’ sees Wilson’s vocal blend like a true instrument. A woman strong in her practise, with little room for improvement. 'ALPHA' is Charlotte Day Wilson in 360.

Sure, few will love everything on here but the hubris, yet the sprawling mess that is More Light can’t help but impress.

A synth heavy, angst ridden, paranoia-fuelled musical monolith filled with catchy hooks, heavy drums and nods of the cap towards Dubstep.

A stunning effort all-around, it is a pleasure to have Temples back, the prospect of where they can go from here is one of excitement and thrill.

‘Fir Wave’ is a subtle triumph, a record whose innate beauty dissipates to reveal complex aesthetic machinery, while never fully revealing its secrets.

Produced by man of the moment, Danger Mouse, the sound remains unmistakably Black Keys but adds further dimensions to what is already a winning mix.

Vivid, colourful, and distinct, 21st century ennui has scarcely sounded so intoxicating.

Five ravishing down tempo moments, ‘Life On Earth’ is a pivotal transmission from the R&B artist, one that is heavy on aesthetic sensuality and lyrical emotion, which dipping into varied points of inspiration.

It’s not always entirely successful and moments of cliché are peppered across this album, but the moments of success are plentiful and Ali Shea’s distinctive voice ensures that Daydream is an endearing statement of intent.

A record that lands with such hazy panache, transporting its listener into a nocturnal wilderness where dreams are limitless. The record is undoubtedly a strong return to form for the folktronica vanguards and potentially the signalling of a second coming for the band.

Bring On The Sun’s fascinating sonic tensions never make the listener feel tense. This is cure-all musical therapy for the ages.

I Love You But I Don't Know What To Say perfectly concludes a haunting album that truly reveals Adams' bruised soul.

A focussed, unified return, ‘Volcano’ doffs its cap to some supreme influences, while also allowing Jungle to expand, and evolve. Soulful songwriting with a thirst for house and disco, it finds the production duo amplifying their ambitions, and finessing their techniques across a cycle of exceptionally strong songwriting.

A more immersive, majestic and ultimately engaging release than album one.

Not everything on All Nerve works. But then, perfection was never the aim for Breeders; instead, they’ve provided something vital, visceral, completely modern. In never once looking back they’ve re-captured the incessant energy that drove ‘Last Splash’, and given us something to take its place.

The impressive chemistry the trio displayed on their earlier work continues here.

Everything about the record restores the belief that Stereophonics can remain relevant in a world of troubadours and try-hard indie bands.

‘A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2’ stares down the traumas that proliferate our lives, offering hope, creativity, and soul filtered through Common’s profound hip-hop vision.

As a body of music Exai lividly pulses, possessed by a half-life of disturbing magnitude.

This fascinating collection of spirited hooks, and deeply heartfelt lyricism, cleverly blends high-tech energetic synths, quick wit, and trippy guitars into something you weren’t quite expecting. Arguably, the result is a much bolder record than his last solo debut ‘Twenty Twenty’.

Previously it felt like as though these two sides have been difficult to reconcile on record; the abrasive would often be at odds with the tranquil, particularly on last studio album ‘Cherry Bomb’. On Flower Boy, though, Tyler has perfected his marriage of the two.

The LP’s home stretch is up there with Blake’s best, not just in the tense penultimate title track and wet-cheeked closer ‘If I’m Insecure’, but on the lead single. ‘Say What You Will’ shows off the magic trick Blake’s perfected by now. Vocally, he’s unsettlingly beautiful.

‘How Do You Sleep At Night?’ is a solid debut, a multifaceted foundation that Teezo Touchdown is sure to spring from. The record boasts some great production and a genre-less style that for some may lack cohesion, but on a debut record like this it allows Teezo to follow any sonic path he desires in the future.

As The Last Shadow Puppets, Kane and Turner have served up an exquisite offering that is melodically rich, diverse, and more complex than its predecessor, centred around a collection of undeniably terrific tunes.

This is a photocopy of the original Britpop blueprint.

The first 11 tracks are an exhilarating dip into some of J. Cole’s core tropes, a finessed exploration of where US rap is situated in 2024. .... Stylistically the production [on"7 Minute Drill"] is slightly out-of-step with the tape as a whole, but it taps into some of the project’s over-arching themes – self-worth, separating talent from hype – and feels more ingrained, really, than Kendrick’s own bars on the hit ‘n’ miss Metro Boomin and Future tape.

Marrying a bewildering array of influences, Shaker Notes presents a probing, unified voice on what could well be White’s finest album to date.

A hodgepodge LP bound skillfully by the starry-eyed aestheticism he's become so fond of lately.

Taking his time, as much of the album does, is no bad thing when the melodies are this compelling.

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

Driven by demons and fired by fury, 'Blunderbuss' is a turbulent insight into one man's wrath - but it rocks. Hard.

An album that's completely beguiling.

Unfailingly imaginative, her return offers another vital chapter in her unfailingly riveting career.

IDLES' fourth record in just as many years is their most ambitious, most introspective, and most powerful to date.

For this, Fruit Bats' fifth outing, the Chicagoan took inspiration from a decade-old train ride.

Sonic Citadel towers over its surroundings as one of the best albums of Lightning Bolt’s career to date.

The future, past and present is Enter Shikari’s, restructuring the sheer meaning of creativity with another commanding album.

Beach Slang play with the kind of heartfelt abandon that you could imagine translating to wider audiences in a similar vein to The Gaslight Anthem or, going back even further, The Goo Goo Dolls. For now, the no-hopers have a voice, but you get the feeling that it won't be theirs alone for much longer.

What Peck provides on Pony is music framed in that mould, and in doing so offers a brilliant palate cleanser to the vast majority of overblown, raucous and vapid compositions that have taken over the genre over the course of the last three decades or so.

‘Good Lies’ displays the strength of brotherhood, solidifying their position within the scene by cherishing childhood’s sweetness.

Peppering the underground with some of its most influential cuts, each new project has taken him closer to his goals – hell, he’s even nailed a Grammy nomination. ‘$oul $old $eperately’ works emphatically to bring these elements together and push them to a new level.

‘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.

Ultimately, Salad Days is an aural testament to the old adage that there’s a fine line between genius and insanity.

Returning from a six-year long wilderness of soundtrack work and greatest hits, ‘Heligoland’ sees the duo back at the top of their game.

While it aims to push boundaries, CLPPNG does so in a way that demonstrates a love for the music and culture that forms its source material.

What first seems impenetrable and maybe even pretentious reveals itself to be a rich and detailed tapestry, full of colour and emotion.

Back To Land won’t immediately blow you away, but that warm, overdriven sound makes the latest LP from this San Francisco quartet another compelling one.

The Mars Volta have hit upon an incredibly surprising new phase in their multi-faceted evolution.

With ‘Evolution’ it feels like this has been an album she has been itching to make and she has done so with wisdom, purpose and candour. Truly compelling, her artistry and perspective will make us all open our eyes a little bit wider whilst continuing to hanker after the beautiful human experience.

Overall, it's a glittering, multi-sensory synth-pop record that compels you to let yourself be transported through cosmic dimensions and the rich, textured under-layers of Beck’s creative psyche.

Phoenix has been four years in the making, waiting in the wings to see the light. And now that it’s finally here, Phoenix is definitely worth checking out.

Notably shorter than its predecessor, MU.ZZ.LE is just as rich and arresting, cataloguing Sumach's echoes, mumbles and stumbles through an album of lethargic trip hop and uneasy paranoia.

All of this ultimately comes together to create an utterly enchanting piece of work. A record filled with countless intricate and carefully considered elements, and yet one that never feels cluttered, or at risk of losing its pervasive emotional resonance.

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.

‘Sometimes, Forever’ takes risks, embodies the freeing, ephemeral nature of life, and the joy of following your inner monologue as you follow hers.

Unsettling, certainly, on more than a few occasions. But wonderful is the descriptor that sticks after so many listens to this entirely enveloping LP.

‘Just Look At That Sky’ doesn’t presume to offer solutions; it’s an honest document of what it feels like to wade through anxiety, day by day, not a survival guide or handbook of answers none of us actually have.

This is more Ben Frost than Burzum, more interstellar overdrive than terrestrial church torching. And it’s just a bit brilliant, basically.

Content Nausea sees the band’s Andrew Savage and Austin Brown bashing out a short, pithy not-quite-an-LP while their fellow bandmates variously become parents and math graduates.

It goes without saying that he hasn’t lost what has made him a permanent fixture of British music for so long.

MSTRKRFT themselves have quit trying to mask anything about their sound or approach, electing instead to deliver the turbo-aggressive noise record they’ve always threatened to make.

If ‘Sistrionix’ was Deap Vally as a brooding teenager, Femejism is the more grown up and wiser young adult. Strong and independent, it has just realised that it doesn’t need to impress you, regardless of the immaculate construction that can’t help but bowl you over.

Overall ‘Barn’ is a solid Young and Crazy Horse album. The songs a layered with all that good stuff you want a Crazy Horse album to have. Crunching guitars. Laconic acoustic numbers. Mournful harmonicas. Catchy choruses and a sense of urgency. While this isn’t a classic Neil Young and Crazy Horse album it’s pretty close.

Somebody’s Knocking sees the former Screaming Trees frontman continue his foray into electronica, subtly blending ice-cool synths with dirgey guitars and doom-laden imagery to reveal a love of ‘80s English alt-rock. ... Welcome back.

Morning Phase is a return to the lovelorn introspection of 2002’s ‘Sea Change’--in style, if not substance.

Ride seem to be embrace and move past their illustrious past, resulting in one of the most finessed, intriguing albums of their career to date.

Twelve years after their formation, the East Coast five-piece have created their finest album to date.

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.

Shades of light and dark ripple throughout and keep the listener guessing.

Forever rushing forwards, Saturday Night isn’t content to sit still. It’s illuminating and infuriating, but never easy to ignore.

A 10-track wonder that is a more mature and eclectic take on her gloriously femme and thundering electro-pop.

As a diary entry, defined by dark nights of the soul and cast in the same bluish-purple hues, ‘Midnights’ offers little of revelatory purpose to those who have yet to succumb to Swift’s charms. For those already swayed by her craft, however, it may reasonably go on to be recognised as her best album to date.

As much as this collection of instruments can so often deliver the hair-raising tricks we expect, these pieces feel more resonant, more entrenched. The surface level thrills are there, but the impact lingers.