It's this capacity to write immediately affecting songs coupled with an effortless cool that will see Hurts catapulted towards stardom. The fact that the album tails off dramatically with a series of appalling ballads in the shape of The Water and Unspoken will almost certainly be overlooked in favour of the classy sounds of Wonderful Life or the glorious pulsing anthem of Better Than Love.

The result is fun, easily listenable, entertaining and good material for weddings, 40th birthday parties and, for those of you who weren't there the first time round, any '80s theme party you might want to hold.

Although there mightn’t be a Feed The Tree or Super Connected to be found this time round, Dove is a coherent collection that retains Belly’s essence while acknowledging the passing of nigh-on a quarter of a century.

When Blunt sticks to playing it safe, he offends the least. And whilst it seems contrived to applaud an artist for sticking to his zone, this man is an exceptional case.

Despite its occasional uplifting moments, the overall feeling you get from Ultra Vivid Lament is indeed a lament for something better, something briefly promised by Resistance Is Futile despite its title sounding more Borg-like than Star Trek character Seven Of Nine.

The album is certainly easy to listen to but it could do with a bit more of the focus, directness and urgency of the band's EP. Perhaps, then Surf City will get the kudos they are looking for.

Ultimately, there are some really strong pop moments on here, but they’re overshadowed by inane, inert, insignificant drama-queening of the highest degree.

As interesting as Garratt seems on the surface, his debut is constantly attempting to straddle the line between being edgy and different and achieving widespread appeal. Ultimately, it is the latter that wins through and the end result is a record that is highly accomplished, but lacking in any real adventure.

There are certainly highlights but not enough good songs to give the album a big impact overall.

An album which is both fascinating and hard to listen to at times. Gag Order may not go down as Kesha’s best album, but it’s certainly the album that she has to make at this present time.

Prince is at his best when his music is unmistakably his. Half of the tracks on 3121 could not have been made by anyone else, but the slushy R&B ballads are not amongst them.

Ultimately, by the end of Word Of Mouth, there is a feeling that it is more interesting conceptually than it is musically.

Basically, this is the sound of a band happy to be coasting, which can be a chore to listen to.

For now, Held In Splendor is a promising, if limited, stepping stone.

If only her music might just occasionally match the freeform, flighty, extravagant nature of her words.

Like a lot of her previous albums, The Breakthrough is overlong and spoilt by too many producers sticking their oar in.

Despite the classic approach of most of the songwriting here there’s no doubt that it’s a step up in quality for Nesbitt and the result is her most assured and confident collection of songs yet.

There’s much to enjoy on True Romance, although it’s probably best sampled in small doses as it doesn’t hang together that successfully over the course of an album.

While there is a satisfying absence of polish, there is a feeling of substantial professionalism to the whole of One Track Mind.

He’s going for a darker sound, one which explores different themes than he is used to, but some of the resonance is negated by a reliance on grandiosity. Some judicious editing and pruning might have been preferable.

This record probably won’t change the world in the manner that Van Gogh’s art did, but fans of quiet, unfussy acoustic music will find much to enjoy.

There’s no doubting Middleton’s way with a skewed tune and a wry look at the world, but Summer Of ’13 is buried beneath the sheen of production that sits uneasily on his shoulders.

There’s a danger throughout Marigold of looking too deeply into every lyric, and of searching for meaning in each song. Those who come to Pinegrove without knowing the backstory will find an album of pleasant alt-country that may not hit the heights of their back catalogue, but feels like a tentative step back to normality.

Disc 2 is a largely inessential collection of insipid dance remixes and the Massive Attack tracks. Disc 1 is a succinct summation of Thorn’s doleful, soulful voice and writing career that gives balm and bathos to those on the sidelines that, through their bruisings, let the brasher, flasher and more empty briefly succeed, but through doing so endure and become stronger in themselves.

His potential is audible, his aggressive performance on Name being a great example, but Errol is hopefully a stepping stone to a more actualised sound.

Josh T Pearson’s latest experiments have made for his most uneven record yet, but among the less characterful songs, there’s still some of that old miserable magic to relish within the directness of it all. The Straight Hits! may not be his finest, but maybe the purge was a necessary one.

At times, you yearn for the presence of a strong editor in the studio.

Abnormally Attracted To Sin turns out to be a collection of tracks that simply doesn't work as a whole because it can't properly be listened to in one go. Pity, for somewhere in amongst it all Tori proves that she's still capable of producing a storming album.