Get taken away by the current, and float inside every melody. It’s more intoxicating than even the most lucrative bar deal on Jägerbombs.

James’ voice remains the deserving centrepiece. Still fragile, but now sounding more confident than ever, those pipes sound warmer and thicker than ever before.

Their debut documented pure, unrelenting struggle. Ullages finds a way out. Mitchell remains a captivating frontman, but he’s an entirely different blend to the one we knew before.

More than three decades on from the day the pair first met in an electronics shop on the King's Road the Pet Shop Boys still manage to pack more ideas in an album than many others do in a thirty year career.

‘Heart Tax’ is much more expansive, and has her spreading her wings in a number of different stylistic directions whilst maintaining her trademark hypnotic rhythms as a through-line with which to tie everything together.

Those seeking another Interpol record won’t have much luck here, but ‘Muzz’ stands confident on its own two feet.

Radiant, joyous record.

As a self-contained piece, just furthers her ability to create immersive worlds to fall into.

This is an album which very much belongs in 2016, and an expectedly assured debut from a band who are by no means redefining the sound of New York City rock ‘n’ roll, but are laying claim to being worthy flag bearers of it going forward.

With sticky melodies and a spring in its step, ‘Medicine At Midnight’ is an experiment that pays off, simultaneously adding a new shade to their sound and injecting a dose of fun and escapism when we need it most.

More so than some of his other recent material, the record has a sense of drama and occasion to it, as well as being the most musically seamless album he’s made in nearly twenty years, since 2004’s ‘A Grand Don’t Come for Free’.

There are no answers, no solutions to any problems, and no gateway doors through escapism, but for half an hour the record shines a light through confusion, and just for a while, it doesn’t have to feel like such a loss to be lost.

Packed full of genius--with a few dips that promised more--for the most part, this does play a little like a Greatest Hits. An impressive achievement from such a new band.

Granted, they may not be reinventing the wheel, but the duo feel reinvigorated.

From the punishing storm that’s whipped up within the introduction of ‘Universal Chokehold’ through to the unflinching frenetics of ‘Set In Stone’, there’s a real sense of confidence that runs throughout the record’s 11 tracks. This is a band at the top of their game.

For the most part, ‘Death of the Party’ shows a band actively pushing themselves to grow. They might not be the same happy chappies as before, but not even The Magic Gang can stay young forever.

The result feels less like accidentally walking into David Attenborough's funeral and more like some incredible, unrealised score for an immersive, imagined Icelandic crime drama.

A very subtle progression from what has come before, it remains to be seen whether 2020-era BBC will capture the hearts and minds of a new generation. But for those who’ve held on in hope of their return, the rewards are fruitful.

It’s a crossover record rich with cultural touchstones.

‘The Prettiest Curse’ is packed with grooves, hooks and riffs, and from the opening bass drum to the closing fade, not a single beat is missed.

This is an emotional juggernaut--an avalanche, in fact. Just when they look to have delivered their parting blow, in steps another moment that captures life’s ups and downs with perfection.

Musing on “perfected harmonies” while unexpected string sections peer into the foreground, we’re witnessing a group confident enough to start afresh while giving forceful nods to their celebrated past.

This second LP Crush Crusher sees her grab all the promise of her 2016 debut and years at the heart of her hometown’s DIY scene and turn it into something great.

Something On High is earnest, intelligent and more than anything, sincere.

It’s by far the happiest MUNA have sounded; a celebratory expression of queer love that loses none of the trio’s magic.

While The Dream Is Over doesn’t quite match the ebullient nature of last year’s ‘Too’ or ‘V’, there’s still much to fall for.

After the immediacy of Wolfgang, ‘Bankrupt!’ can seem like a sidestep. But delve deeper and this is an album reveals itself as a gem; one which mixes their crowd-pleasing hooks with an inventive shift in their sound.

An album that immerses you into its world, a headphones record that is at once both their most accessible and their most challenging, revealing new layers after every listen. Unpredictable, in the very best way.

The band’s trademark sampledelic sound provides a tasteful glimpse of the familiar, while also sidestepping overt pastiche, remaining consistently fresh throughout.

It’s a far braver album than his debut. Chaotic, experimental, but oddly refined, it looks like Aaron Jerome has released one of 2014’s most exciting albums.

Poliça have broken new ground and consolidated old strengths with this laudable step outside of their comfort zone.

Iit goes deeper and sees our protagonist at his most mellow and introspective.

Hessler has returned a man, sounding free of obstacles and matured by the events in his life. This doesn’t just come across in his lyricism, but sonically also.

Love Songs for Robots is a thoroughly accomplished album that oozes musicality from every reverb-soaked pore.

The maximalist production on show is boundless, and in turn, is a celebration of daine’s spiritual transformation.

Thank You for Today marks the stirring opening of a new chapter in this band’s already storied history.

There’s nothing about the album that’s easy or comfortable to listen to, but it’s so meticulously constructed and so raw across each fragment of existence yeule lays out that its most perplexing moments become its most moving.

An album that rarely dips below being immensely enjoyable.

On Relaxer, alt-J sound utterly, wonderfully like no one but themselves.

After such a long time away, ‘Good Woman’ finds The Staves rejuvenated and inspired, treading new ground while retaining the identity that made them so loveable in the first place. For all the trials bestowed upon the trio in the past few years, they emerge positive and victorious, changing and creating music on their own terms as echoed on closer ‘Waiting On Me To Change.’

Whether viewed as empowered statement from a newly-free artist, or simply as a great record from pop’s new princess of darkness, ‘I Disagree’ is in fact, extremely agreeable indeed.

Their sound may have matured, and may be more accustomed to a laconic calmness, but Damage and Joy still burns with purpose and when it throws its punches it lands them with ease.

Unlike 2016’s iconic ‘Lemonade’, ‘Renaissance’ firmly embodies this world. No ballads or break up songs necessary, the album sits proudly at 16 tracks of pure energy. A masterclass in reinvention.

While the album is laced with enough venom to keep existing fans happy, we defy anyone not to stamp their feet and fist pump come track nine 'I Don't Wanna'.

Los Niños Sin Miedo is a richly enjoyable exploration of the weird and wonderful, and a big two fingers up to all those who ever doubted them.

On ‘Radical Romantics’, Fever Ray posits the idea of love as an imperative condition for human function, and probes into both its darkest corners as well as the simple, mortal desire for affection, producing a fascinating study of electro-pop in the meantime.

Lizzo has created something often softer and more intimate than anyone might have expected. Of course, as the disco strut of lead single ‘About Damn Time’ will attest, there are still cheeky bangers contained within.

Formation’s greatest achievement is not just in making a floorfiller record with genuine variety and depth, but that All The Powerful People sounds entirely, only like them.

Despite the evident WTF factor, this remains a record chock-full of invention, a pursuit of the new and--most importantly--gigantic songs.

Dutch Uncles’ most direct and user-friendly album yet.

Somersault raises the bar on 2013’s ‘Clash The Truth’.

Singles ‘Level’ and ‘Being Around’ are given a new lick of paint, while newies ‘I Wish It Was Sunday - an invigorating thrash defined by screeching guitar solos - and closer ‘Boring’--a live favourite that sounds even more intense on record--show that Our Girl can more than hold their own across a full-length. It’s what’ll come next that we’re most excited about though.

From challenging, in your face exploration to beautifully light-as-air soulful ballads, there’s a constant idea that there’s no clue as to where the next track will swerve. There’s a feeling that Bowie is having fun too.

It may not be a career defining record but The Something Rain is crammed full of twists and turns to create an emotionally rich and thoroughly rewarding listen.

A rare collection of songs that succeeds in both evoking the ethereal and forcing you to reach for the volume button.

From start to finish, Vultures is a relentless storm of roaring rock royalty.

Best Coast will never win over the cynics who like their music to sport a more assured style of intelligence and invention, but for those who fell in love with the sunburnt stoner of old, there's plenty more to revel in, here.

By keeping enough of the old--and allowing themselves the space to go a little heart-on-sleeve--their tales of 2010s disillusionment are a resounding success.

Where The Acid surpass their peers is with the sheer emotional depth layered into each track.

It’s powerfully honest and refreshingly unfiltered, beautifully crafted and distinctive. Most importantly of all it carries the legacy of Tom Searle, and of the remaining Architects members, forward.

The singer-songwriter’s most comprehensive release to date, turns up the production slickness while sacrificing none of his affable, boyish charm.

Resisting the twin urges to oversimplify or over-complicate where inappropriate, Vessels may have succeeded in making one of the smartest and most beguiling electronic albums of the year.

Silent Earthling is far from an reinvention: it’s simply Three Trapped Tigers adapting and tinkering with everything that made ‘Route One Or Die’ such an exciting debut, to end up here with a leaner, more focused, brilliant second album.

Blame Confusion is great.... It spends its whole ten tracks threatening to break out in to full-blown epic--but remains able to stop short every time.

15 years in and with no sign of slowing or calming down, Kasabian don’t have to prove anything anymore. If you’re not on board, it’s frankly your loss.

[In Our Heads] is another joyous triumph.

What’s crucial is that ‘Let the Festivities Begin!’ never feels like a case of throwing all of these different textures at the wall to see what sticks; instead, the sounds of everywhere from Turkey to Peru to Argentina are wound carefully together on the maddeningly catchy likes of ‘FFS’ and ‘Change of Heart’, before being relayed with exhilarating gusto. There will be few debuts this year that feel like such glorious exercises in musical technicolour.

Reaching further and further afield from their early experimental niche sound, Pulled Apart By Horses are now more accessible than ever.

Each track conjures up dusty Nashville bars, from the spoken word sandwiched between a lament to love on album closer ‘Chain Of Tears’ to a knowing play on country cliches on Jenny’s exploration of happiness in her forties, ‘Puppy and a Truck’.

Deleter successfully blurs boundaries between time and space while gifting the listener with the unexpected opportunity for a total sonic catharsis.

Admittedly, her debut has been a bit of a long time coming--with last minute changes delaying until 2015--but with her songwriting already sounding accomplished and confident, it’s been time well spent.

All in all, seemingly indebted to many, this is a band equipped with new-found confidence, poise and an incredibly impressive sophomore effort.

The record’s finest moments relate to everyone’s lives, in one way or another. Whether it’s golden youth or present day regrets, there’s something to cling onto.

For the most part, though, what ‘Path of Wellness’ signifies is Sleater-Kinney pulling away from their past, towards an era likely to lean heavily not just on their pop sensibilities, but on the move beyond the old push-and-pull relationship between the now-duo - a songwriting bond once defined by their differences has given way to a seamless understanding.

SOHN's essentially written an album's worth of brilliant pop songs.

A far cry from ‘Magnolia’ and even ‘Peripheral Vision’, Good Nature is proof that experimentation can pay off. And though not so left-of-centre as to be inaccessible, it’s still a richly nuanced record that reveals more of itself with each listen.

For the most part, Honeyblood’s second outing is a delicious face-punch of a record, running amok in the best way possible with everything they’ve learned since first time around.

Energising Sleigh Bells with rocket-fuel, Jessica Rabbit stands up as the band’s most consistent record since ‘Treats’.

This follow-up is more inquisitive and self-exploratory, and just a touch darker - while still building on her signature nostalgic sound.

M.I.A is a maverick writing this album only for herself and her cause, but still, Matangi is a welcome return to form.

Their magic remains as strong as ever.

Pixx has created a debut record that shows her to be a fascinating prospect, and though significant turmoil informed the record, the pay-off is equally as great.

More a culmination of all that’s come before; a band confident in their own skin, their identity clearer than ever, their mission unchanged since those transatlantic tapes at the turn of the millennium.

As he says on opener ‘Good Morning’, Matt is here to help “you push your demons away”. And 13 beautifully-constructed ballads might just be the ticket.

It’s 28 minutes of thrashy, unadulterated skate punk and is a knockout from start to finish.

Blue Lips isn’t perfect; it has a predilection towards being over produced. Thematically, though, her honesty about her imperfections is what makes all so irresistible.

The beauty in Drinks is that there’s nothing else too close to their sound. With moments of sheer chaotic genius married with brilliant songwriting, Hippo Lite offers something new on every listen.

At no point of this record are you left hoping for another Editors anthem or new Slowdive music--yes that would be wonderful, but we now have Minor Victories to savour. Hopefully they’re here to stay.

There’s an effervescent sense of fun that fizzes throughout here on an LP heavily indebted to the work of Kathleen Hanna, both in its sound and its politics.

‘Life Is Yours’ is the sound of the band less emerging blinking into the post-pandemic light than bounding back into the saddle.

A bold, brave effort that’ll continue to see them rise through the rock ranks.

Sugar & Spice cements her as the modern day successor to dream pop titans Cocteau Twins from the get-go.

It’s so ludicrously colourful and loud and just the right side of ridiculous and whatever the mission may be, domination is the likely result.

Cerulean Salt represents an outstanding example of that talent blossoming into one of US indie’s most vital and compelling voices.

It's one of the best rock albums of the year and shows there's no age limit on kicking up dust and splitting ear drums.

With Fudge Sandwich, Ty breathes new life into an already solid collection of rock songs, and he is an ever-mutating musician on this album as he is in real life.

In less capable hands, this record might come across as an weighty topic checklist. Sad13, however, doesn’t just raise these discussions, she presents them as a bundle of sexy, glitter-soaked fun.

The atmosphere isn't always strictly severe, knowing right when to let up with gorgeous melodies seeping through the chiselled cracks. These moments save the record from being vociferous without a cause, allowing the more vehement moments to speak louder than they would otherwise.