Their heaviest record since ‘Suicide Silence’. Well, maybe their heaviest record since ‘There Is A Hell…’. OK, almost certainly their heaviest record since ‘Sempiternal’. This is not to say that going back to their brutal roots is a bad move. Sykes recently described heavy music as the band’s ‘bread and butter’, and there’s definitely a sense that BMTH are playing on home turf with ‘SURVIVAL HORROR’.

This is labour intensive listening, but hard work reaps rewards. A gnomic, genre-busting album.

With 37 previously unreleased performances, On Air Volume 2 is essential for any Beatles collector. For everyone else, it’s an informal insight into the world’s greatest group on the verge of an exhilarating ascent.

A heart-wrenching collection of songs that urges the listener to give themselves over to this album as much as Ethel Cain gives herself over to you.

This is the kind of record that inspires new listeners to explore unfamiliar sounds and musical histories; the kind of record that bodes very well for the future of British jazz.

It is so unmistakably Deerhunter without sacrificing any of their mythos or crucial genetic makeup. And we sure can't find any fault with that.

Each song presents itself as a story-in-miniature; a perfectly crafted beginning, middle, end (albeit sometimes the artistry of the track makes the listening experience more middle, end, beginning).

Viagra Boys stamp a great big watermark over this album as they engrave their aesthetic right down to its core. ‘Cave World’ sees them bounce back with another grandiose LP just a year after their last – true miracle workers.

A beautiful diversion then, rather than an eye-opening reboot or soul-stirring call to arms.

They’re worth the minor missteps along the way.

The album's ear-catching finish endorses Golden Ticket as a rewardingly receptive, slightly slippery customer to the death.

The result is an intense kind of dialogue between man and machine, and draws from the typically organic piano sound a new, otherworldly texture.

There isn't really a dull moment on 7 Days, as the pair clearly enjoy being allowed to flex lyrically without any thought of watering down due to commercial considerations.

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.

Delivered in a soft whisper, with the most minimal of supporting musical infrastructure compared to its studio counterpart, ['Distant Sky'] is immediately tender and transcendent, but devoid of all hope, the addition of Danish soprano singer Else Torp's stirring vocal enough to render even the hardest-hearted individual a bawling mess.

More than once, in fact, the album surprises with moments of rock gusto. Wilson’s trademark balladry is still in full force, but musically this is a much rawer affair than anything previous album ‘There Are No Saints’ could have foretold.

Off-kilter energy, and their trademark honesty abound, LIFE - who received accolades such an ‘Album Of The Year’ listing from BBC Radio 1- prove with their second album that they are a quality band capable of making stand-out records more than once.

Lapalux has a great touch, but a bit of attention on the parts of the project that feel slightly off could bring out all the fantastic in this record.

Though it may not be their most daring record to date, it’s certainly one where they’ve taken most risks, and their blend of indie-rock and electro-pop certainly pays off.

A powerfully affecting song cycle, ‘On Grace & Dignity’ peels back preconceptions, stabbing straight for the raw nerve.

On ‘Brothers And Sisters’ he sounds like he feels comfortable being in his skin and writing uplifting music that doesn’t have a massive political message, though one is there. It doesn’t have a massively personal message, though it is there. Instead, he’s written an album for everyone.

The album marks itself as one of the most special and singular of the year and beyond. With a cohesive tone of lysergic, hypnagogic soupiness, yet plenty of variety, the genre traversal is almost seamless. The only major struggle from ‘partygatorpurgatory’ is the impatience induced in waiting for more.

The songwriting is easy-going, the risks taken effortlessly; more than 15 years into their time together, Bombay Bicycle Club are still taking chances, and still reaping the rewards.

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.

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

To the uninitiated, this kind of '70s-inspired thrum-rock might sound a bit AOR, but given time it reveals its nuances, placing Vile somewhere between a rougher-edged M. Ward and a bluesy Ariel Pink.

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

What the album lacks in genuine surprises--it features fewer floor-filling basslines than its makers’ previous LP ‘proper’, 2010’s dance-designed ‘We Were Exploding Anyway’--it more than makes up for in comprehensive consistency.

It’s less Nick Drake-y than Lay’s last effort, and it feels more self-assured and hopeful.

The anthems are still here, rest assured; they’re less obvious, but definitely no less compelling.

The album is full of anticipation. At times it’s ugly and overblown. But it’s a collective vision, one that reflects back on our own inputs into the dataset as well as at our folk stories of survival and resistance.

An arresting, astonishing experience, Schlagenheim is a vital, stunning, puzzling album, one that demands to be heard.

Front Row Seat To Earth strongly standing as one of the year's most affecting and luscious releases.

’Ignatius’ is the album the hip-hop scene didn’t know it needed, the raw voice and understanding Jadakiss delivers here offers much-needed respite from the shallow music we seem to be swamped in at the moment. What a way to make a comeback.

Injury Reserve’s new album is a truly dystopian impression of despair, smashing together polar opposite genres to create something wholly new.

Although 'Elephant In The Room' is not quite as diverse as his 2018 effort 'Pieces Of A Man' or as fresh as his breakout tape 'Wave[s]', there's a lot to love about the album, and it's likely to one that ages gracefully over time.

This is a messy, distracted record for messy, distracted times. Its creator has produced something studiously imperfect, a cracked vase that’s beauty you can’t help but admire while still wishing you could see it perfect and whole.

Like acid (which, again, he never touched) this record is illuminating, often inaccessible, often scary and most people would hate it. But it's still one hell of a trip.

The album tells its own superbly structured story, bathing in synthesis and heavily grounded in the contexts of lockdown, while allowing these very contexts to steer the process beyond angst and towards a utopian catharsis.

If you love the ambiguous crossover between half-step London sounds and crushed and warped 4/4 peddled by the likes of Martyn, Burial or Joy Orbison, then the love in you will find this album.

‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, like most of their projects, has something for everyone, but this time does stay in one lane – and that’s for the better.

When you listen to the albums back-to-back you get a better idea of who Autechre are and how they see the world. Yes, it is a wonderful place full of natural beauty and hope, but it is also dank and skittering full of people who only care about their self- interest and petty squabbles. Both of which Autechre have captured in exquisite detail.

More Waitrose advert than classic Wrigley’s; the Black Keys’ raw power’s been polished. Some things are meant to stay rough around the edges.

Whilst the initial surprise felt on the original ‘Saturation’ may have subsided, the erratic excitement and experimentation on that album has been executed more confidently on each subsequent chapter. The LA group are everything progressive rap music should be; forward thinking, energetic and perhaps most importantly, exciting.

If you’re looking for an album to brighten your day, come enter the world of CHAI.

‘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.

The criss-crossing sounds better than ever, and is everything you’d want from a FaltyDL opus.

Overall, the album--filled with as much theatrical swagger as great music--is much more than just a remake as Ferry’s baritone vocals and inventive arrangements make for an album that invokes a lot more than nostalgia; with the ability to attract new fans as well as hold the old.

Blood is a work that speaks for itself, an album that’s boundless, and restlessly pursues the ideas of its creator.

Picking up exactly where they left off, The Raconteurs’ denim-clad early ‘70s reference points are in check, delivered in gleeful, exuberant, electrifying fashion.

‘Fulton’ and ‘Morning River’ are early highlights, while ‘Circuit Rider’ seems to exude the characteristics of the album’s Los Angeles setting. Closing with the reflective ‘Ever Feel That Way’, Steve Gunn marvels with the lightest of touches.

With its mixture of wonky psych, fiery funk, and jazzy jams, this may stand as the label's most eclectic and enjoyable compilation of the year. If you love to groove, look no further than this set of scorching songs to keep you moving during the dark, cold nights.

A glittering gem amongst recent releases, ‘IRL’ sees Mahalia defining herself as a long-standing name within British RnB.

The ambition behind Apollo XXI was already easily perceptible on singles like ‘Playground’, whose energy could best be termed ‘Yung Prince’, and becomes clearer still over the course of its other 11 songs.

Stella Donnelly has an unwavering ability to execute a subtly empowering and relevant record with derisive humour and mischievous wit.

The real issue is that in a genre filled with imitators, many whom Deerhunter no doubt inspired, we need a bit more bang for our buck. When the oddities on this album ride so high they should have let complete weirdness take over.

This preference for impulsiveness and reaction off of one another when making their music comes through in the warm, emotive feel of the whole record.

Over its twelve tracks, the listener is taken down the proverbial rabbit hole as Grzegorz Kwiatkowski's hypnotic and repetitive lyrical attack lulls you along. This isn't an album that grabs you by the collar, but rather builds tension and release as it lures you through the dark thickets of your mind.

This is a contemplative, confident record which will only strengthen with further listening.

It isn't just the narratives that feel more mature however, the entire composition does. Something which stems from its two individual halves.

‘God Don’t Make Mistakes’ is a stunning, multi-faceted achievement.

‘10,000 gecs’ is a sub-thirty-minute blast of the duo at their best, creating some truly bonkers music and refusing to ever conform.

Enriching yet austere, its methodology seems to embody the title of a previous Claire Rousay song: ‘everything perfect is already here’.

Although fans are nostalgically pining for the innocent, youthful sound of her voice from her early albums, there’s no questioning that she has a more controlled and comfortable vocal ability now.

It’s a fully realised, sprightly rocking album that proves that sometimes musicians are best left alone to do what they do best.

The land may not currently be fertile in terms of crops but it certainly is in artistry, as there is a wild eclecticism and experimentalism here that touches the soul.

‘Not Your Muse’ is not a revolutionary album, but every track is a more than enjoyable listen.

The album is bold, eccentric and proudly rooted in classical South Asian traditions, whilst sounding fresh and accessible at the same time.

To take influences from so many places, whilst still being as focused as 'Skin' is no mean feat and while it can be hard to define the line between the worlds the band traverse, no one else out there is walking that line right now as well as they do.

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.

King Princess’ work is arrestingly transgressive because of how comfortable she is with her sexuality. Now she’s releasing full-length projects, we’d all better get just as comfortable with it, and fast.

Jazmine Sullivan makes her Everest-like task look deceptively simple. A woman speaking her truth in poetic, soulful fashion, ‘Heaux Tales’ could be her defining chapter.

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

A slow burn of an album, Broken Politics artfully cuts through a turbulent, noisy world.

'R.I.P.' is both an update on the bass explorations of restless Britain and perhaps a timeless thesaurus of blistered tones and ideas that younger producers will beg, borrow and steal from for years to come.

This is music that’s meticulous and expansive without ever falling into the trap of being boring or self-indulgent.

It’s a lengthy, beautiful work, and undoubtedly a late career high from one of the most important, courageous songwriters in the country.

An odd but beautiful and often remarkable album, Atlanta Millionaires Club has a depth of feeling that is difficult to shake off. Material that evidently emerged from a dark point in her life, this should represent the point Faye Webster steps out into the light.

Loss, regret and shame are wound up in this album’s DNA, but they are balanced out by a generous dose of hope, a solemn promise that someone can go through the darkest of times and come out stronger, steadier and more complete than ever before.

With his debut album he firmly establishes himself as one of the leading lights in UK rap (if there were any doubts), and in a year where some of the scene’s heavyweights are also dropping albums, it won’t be a surprise if AJ’s project is rated as among the best of them by the end of 2019.

It’s not a full-bore masterwork: the first half of the record packs a stronger punch than the latter. But it’s a more cohesive, complete listen as a result of tighter sequencing. The Ungodly Hour is a soothing salve for a world on fire.

‘Honey’ pivots between lyrical complexity and spartan, but endlessly pretty arrangements.

All of these stylistic inspirations make AM an invigorating experience.

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

The swagger comes in the form of knowing your strengths and for Stern, she's put all of them on display with Marnie Stern.

Sometimes uniformity is no bad thing at all--when you get the formula right, that is--and Guy and Howard Lawrence prove just that on their debut LP.

As a document of four years of on-off collaboration it is fascinating, and for fans of either artist it's pretty much essential.

Bonito Generation is likely to be the most fun album you’ll hear all year. The production is disarmingly joyous and, thanks to a predilection for early ‘90s dance, some of the tracks here are absolute bangers.

Jardin is also no departure from Garzón-Montano’s first release, 2014’s EP ‘Bishouné: Alma del Huila’, but rather a continuation of theme and sound. Perhaps it is his self-imposed musical exile which has created a sound that some listeners may find repetitive whilst others meaningful in its persistence.

Maybe the product of a transitional period in Rowsell’s life, it’s easy to get lost yourself in the singer’s endearing lyricism.

Open Here is a defiant and impassioned statement in which Field Music prove they have mastered the art of addressing the political and the personal simultaneously. It’s fun, it’s loud, it’s dense. It’s not content with wallowing in the state of things and wants to inspire positive change.

A singular experience, You Will Not Die is a theatrical jewel, the sound of a rich, vital talent moving briskly into the limelight. At times reminiscent of Kate Bush in its sense of performance, ANOHNI in its integrity, or even Marvin Gaye in its soulful, sinewy groove, this is an album to be cherished.

While Live at the Troxy does a good job of trying to capture and recontextualise the Fever Ray live experience, it doesn’t quite pull it off. This is down to trying to capture a 3D, 360 degree experience in mere audio: you get an idea of how good the gig was, but it doesn’t quite do it justice without visuals. However, Dreijer and her vocals – their clarity, and her charisma – are still the stars of the show.

Turn to Clear View, takes everything that made ‘Starting Today’ playful and fun while ramping up the captivating melodies, and guest spots, to create something that feels like an instant classic.

This is a playful project, not afraid to dabble with creativity but also showcasing both Denzel’s lyrical ability and Kenny’s creative dexterity, both artists’ visions. It’s as if they created a glitch in the hip-hop matrix, and one that would be welcome again soon.

Nova Twins’ sound remains 100% homegrown British beefiness. There are many people out there from across the rap-rock spectrum who will despise this album (for reasons both fair and foul), but there are many more who will appreciate the lack of compromise in this rollicking call to arms.

The diverse range of music on offer is second to none, but in certain ways acts as an Achilles heel of the record, the competing genres feel cluttered, never quite firmly settling on a succinct sound. That said, this body of work is strictly feel-good and reinforces the promise behind Duckwrth’s major label debut.

The album really feels like it was years in the making. Somehow the neo-soul-leaning cuts (‘Anywhere’) complement the heavier-set tracks (‘Pusher Man: BWI’) with genius levels of curation.