It probably won’t break her out of the cult status in which she’s often resided, but for those who seek it out, it will prove an immensely rewarding listen.

Too big in their influences and scope to fit in even the biggest pigeonhole imaginable, The Besnard Lakes thankfully produce music chock-full of tunes and spine-tingly loveliness not seen since The Beach Boys or more recently the sheer joy and ridiculous grandeur of The Polyphonic Spree.

For what it sets out to do, it's damn near perfect, and what higher praise is there than that?

Pretentious? Undoubtedly. Overblown? Yes, of course it is, but we expected nothing less.

Whelm is a confident and well-defined musical statement that shows Douglas Dare has taken little time to hit the standard we’ve come to expect from Erased Tapes.

Esmerine has once again created an album full of depth, wonder and flights of fancy.

This is a talent to watch, The Return laying down an impressive statement of intent, a marker of Sampa The Great’s potential. This will surely grow with subsequent releases, and it is exciting to think of where she could go next.

Flying Dream 1 is, in many respects, a typical Elbow album – warm, comforting and sincere. It’s also a record that many of us need after the last two years.

The opening half sees him attempt something a little different with mixed results, the second half seems him return to more familiar ground with only moderate success.

The idea that synthetic beats only serve to sterilise is ridiculous and passé – but while they show potential for something really interesting here, they do have the effect of cooling and sterilising an otherwise warm and welcoming record.

Concise, even at 17 tracks, it’s a superb trolley-dash through Lawrence’s obsessions, both of the moment--listed among these in the sleevenotes are the twisted synthpop of SOPHIE, Japanese girl-group Perfume and “Side 1 only” of Dollar’s 1979 debut--and longstanding.

Despite the prevalence of rootsy Americana throughout the album, there are a pleasing variety of styles on display.

It could be said that a work as strong as Majesty Shredding cements Superchunk as an important band or a permanent indie fixture, but that's a bit of a misnomer. If anything this record is simply proof that Superchunk are going to make the music they want to make regardless of whether it fits into a modern context or not.

Some may find the often austere arrangements off-putting, but this is an album which proves that Tiny Ruins are a band that can creep into your heart without you even noticing.

It might not be entirely mega, but there's enough to fawn over with this robust collection of breezy and inventive Americana.

It could be argued that Soul Time! itself is nothing new within the Dap-Kings catalogue, made up as it is of old tunes (Longer And Stronger, for instance, was written to celebrate Jones's 50th birthday in 2006), but these favourite oldies are collected here for the first time, and that's really something.

The adoption of low energy, skeletal electronic instrumentation serves to shine a light on her often brittle and vocoder cloaked vocals. A sensation of emotional fatigue circles above proceedings, as the music elicits the haunting effect that this ongoing lack of human intimacy is having on all of our psyches.

Night Network may not be the 12 tracks which would shake the person who doesn’t like The Cribs out of their most curious position. But it is 12 more assertions of greatness from a band who you really should like.

This is a record you can dance to, even if it’s also a record you can cry to. The sum is an inspiring record both for the creator and the listener.

By the time Free The Ruler’s soulful loop fades out, we’ve only come to a conclusion in the loosest sense. The listener enters Earl’s world in medias res and 25 minutes later he’s still maintaining, still working everything out, but the journey’s been nuanced and engaging.

With this debut it is clear that O'Halloran and Wiltzie have prosperously joined neutralist ambient and 20th century classical music together. In so doing they've formed aesthetically pleasing sounds which can allure every night-time audience.

It pays to listen to the originals, to form a full appreciation of just how much Jones brings to the table in each interpretation, expressing more emotion than he probably has at any point in his career. The instrumentation is the icing on the cake.

Some may describe this album as too raucous and little more than a racket, but it's a glorious racket.

For a dance music album, Swim sounds not only refreshingly organic, but also remarkably downbeat. Most remarkable of all, perhaps, is the way that Caribou have succeeded in marrying up these two things and still managed to make an album that is infused with a rhythm, a groove and a watery loveliness all of its own.

This being Cave, classy lyrical dexterity is never far away. But here the fire and brimstone preacher is a little less po-faced than much of his back catalogue, allowing humour (still black as coal) to gain the upper hand.

It’s a strange album that is melodically approachable, but lyrically draining.

It feels like the deepest and most soulful album she has made.

Chatma never feels like any kind of compromise, and the presence of Tinariwen singer Wonou Walet Sidati adds a new dimension to the music, one that sometimes threatens to overpower Ousmane Ag Mossa’s less imposing vocal presence.