The full listening experience is perplexing, intriguing, sometimes perhaps infuriating, but rarely less than intoxicating.

This is gorgeous record that starts great and gets better with each additional hearing.

It’s an expression of what we should all do with our trauma, which is open up, share, and react to each other with the greatest of support. And that is so unbelievably beautiful, we’re left at the end with a single phrase. Thanks, Keaton. Thanks.

It confirms how they’ve always been a band that have explored human emotion in deep, meaningful ways but Distractions feels like something more, like the beginning of a fresh chapter in their story.

It's eccentric, it's exhilarating, it is, in parts, absolutely insane. Yet it's never less than absolutely compelling, which is what makes The White Stripes one of the greatest bands of modern times.

Killer Mike has taken a meticulous approach to ensure MICHAEL paints a nuanced, vivid picture of him and his community, and the effect is inspiring.

The legions who bought and enjoyed El Camino are sure to enjoy this unofficial second helping and those who yearn for more of the freakier blues of Rebennack's 1960s heyday are certain to agree this brilliant gumbo is just what the doctor ordered.

Tenderly questioning at every turn and predominantly joyous in its approach, these subtly provocative tracks are a defiant call to arms in an ever more uncertain age, underlining Bottum’s impeccable songwriting chops following his tenure in the disparate groups Faith No More and Imperial Teen and gleefully showcases Holman’s innate charm.

These songs show him in a newly redemptive prime, and will satisfy both short and long term devotees.

Exai shows they still occupy a special position in the current generation of forward-thinkers, producing music that couldn’t have been made at any other time other than now, unostentatiously trailblazing a path for others to follow in.

Whatever your interpretation, it's clear both parties have a deeper understanding of one another's music than any outsider could ever hope to comprehend, a synergy that has only strengthened over the 20+ years of their acquaintance.

Le Bon and Presley are certainly a potent cocktail and this is one of the most uncommonly satisfying releases of the year so far, whose charms reveal themselves best after a few plays.

Singles is a record that is experimental, yet hugely accessible.

There’s no pure pop moments like Losing You and she may never generate the same amount of press inches as her elder sister does on a regular basis, but this third album is an endlessly compelling one.

Life Metal resonates in the surrounding air particles long after the last track concludes, and will reverberate in the minds of listeners longer still. A truly magnificent, very real, and ultimately restorative record.

New album Delta Machine is about more than simple fulfillment--going one further to actively excite, as it lays the template for some of the band’s most vigorous, energetic material in 15 years.

This is an album that seeks to explore a shifting in spiritual planes, and the music reflects this by twisting its source material into something entirely other.

It may be occasionally unnerving, but there is pure balm to be found here, music to speak to even the most troubled of souls.

Efterklang have managed to locate the sweet spot where the organic meets the electronic, and have carefully stuffed each track full to bursting point with a gorgeous mix that at times seems to require a new musical format, just to deal with the sheer bandwidth of sonic invention on display here.

For all its blaring noise and sneering obnoxiousness, its probably ATR’s most accessible album; playing Reset feels like lighting a fuse and detonating something.

They may have hit national treasure status a while back, with all the advantages and pitfalls that that can bring, but as long as they carry on producing music with as much soul, heart and beauty that’s contained on The Take Off And Landing Of Everything, Elbow will be with us for some while to come.

2:54 is deep and dramatic, taut and poised. It stands up to repeat listens with a unperturbed grace and a wonderful habit of showing you something new and unheard each time.

Its youthful sense of noise and joy and wonder are heartening, its way with a tune addictive. Would that all summers were as warm, as happy and as big-hearted as this music.

Feels like a jolt to the nervous system in the best possible way. As a soundtrack to the weird times we all find ourselves in, and a potent call to action, it doesn’t get much better than this.

In writing this stunning, emotive album Sarabeth Tucek has not only dealt with her own grief, but will undeniably help others in a similar situation, a perfect way to commemorate her father.

Deceptively expansive, Fink’s tricksy Hard Believer is essential listening.

[Love & Hate] was a magnificent album, and the formula is continued with the same collaborators to stunning effect on KIWANUKA.

[A] glorious album, that is full of both gravity and levity, wisdom and beauty, and that is, most of all, infused with the honesty and humanity that make of it such a triumph.

He has made five albums, at least three of which are very fine indeed. But concern was growing that he might have peaked creatively. Bleeds refutes that notion emphatically, within a minute of the start.

Ultimately, the whole album is a triumph of collaboration and should be seen as a celebration of the artistic vision of Rob Marshall. There’s not a misstep on a single track, and there’s a depth here that rewards repeated listens.

Created by two genuine outsiders and made with a refreshing lack of irony, Album is a welcome addition to the very best albums of 2009.

Surely nothing tastes as delicious as this music feels.

Overall though, this is another wondrous album from a band at the height of their considerable powers.

One of his best albums and deserves better, confirming Damien Jurado to be an artist operating at the peak of his powers.

While existing fans are catered to generously, the band have brought their sound on in leaps and bounds; an achievement that is testament to Mount's evolving songwriting prowess. They don't come much better than this.

On first listen, it seems unfocused, rambling and at times impenetrable, but given time, it unfurls into something utterly compelling and all encompassing. ... It’s a difficult and traumatic journey at times, but it is worth taking.

Slow Focus is unmistakably Fuck Buttons, the logical continuation of the music produced by a duo who never strive to do something expected.

Something wonderful and terrible has happened in the world of Shabazz Palaces, and there’s no choice but to join the wild ride.

Pop Levi is an oddball, an eccentric in the finest English tradition and a man who evokes the effortless, timeless cool of many and varied heroes of modern music's life and times.

Shifting perspectives and clever juxtapositions are all over this album, Middleton and Shrigley have created an album that on the face of it appears to be simple, but there’s untold depth here, as well as some endlessly creative swearing.

Héloïse Letissier’s synth-driven record is a more subtle, catch-you-unaware affair.

Without boundaries but with form, experimental and noisy but always totally listenable, III is one hell of a record. Psychedelic, maybe. Fantastic, most definitely.

The National have pulled off a neat trick here - an immediate, commercial album that grows with each listen. While High Violet is patently as good as its antecedents, it is also very much its own beast.

Átta is an album which demands to be listened to in its entirety, a 56 minute journey which ebbs and flows magnificently. It’s exactly what you’d expect from Sigur Rós, with a few surprises thrown in, and without doubt one of the more welcome comeback stories of the year.

Sunbather is an emotionally overwhelming but truly absorbing listen. But best of all, it’s cleansing.

Body Talk shows just how easily she can churn out hits more frequently than labels can process production teams.

This is an album that demands attention. An album that is experiential--at once lo-fi and richly textured--where the listener is a fly on the wall, mesmerised by minor-chord introspections that come in waves – some lap gently; others overwhelm.

They’re constantly trying to better themselves, and provide their listeners with new ways of looking at old feelings. As Long As You Are is an endlessly rewarding listen, and it’s certainly worth the wait.

Its aching honesty and immaculate balance prevents About Farewell from being just another break-up record, as Diane presents something to us lyrically raw but unafraid to sport obviously produced yet sentimentally appropriate musical flourishes, from strings to harmonizing female choruses, when the time comes.

May is a professional, measured and refined debut--and a near-perfect record.

Tthe Icelandic trio has now adopted darker musical stylings to create a record that’s every bit as transcendental as their best work.

Unlike other overhyped albums that have achieved similar fame, Making Mirrors is the real deal.

Anyone interested in music of whatever form, the work of any of the contributors who are present here, film scores, or Tiersen’s early work specifically, will surely find Portrait to be quite the perfect picture.

A collection that contains no weak links, no fillers, no afterthoughts and almost no mistakes.

We knew Sky Larkin had potential. It’s been more than followed up on with Motto, surely one of the best albums of the year.

Ultimately it's impossible not to get swept away by the emergency room blues of Leviathan, or the electro-swamp-psychedelia thrum of Tiny Grain Of Truth and not marvel at Lanegan's damaged genius in the process.

The echoes of previously heard themes, motifs make for a compelling examination of memory and experience as much as for an effective soundtrack.

Be it the sawing blasts of guitar that rushes you through the poignant Lose My Way, the spiralling vortex of Dead & Gone, upon which you helplessly bob along in or the careering momentum of Kopter, it's never anything other than intoxicating and brilliantly realised.

With songs that face the pain and torment of neurotic fears, John & Jehn have crafted an absolutely stunning album of beautiful and noisy sounds placed atop slow, steady tempos and invigorating dance beats alike.

Seventeen Going Under is powerful, essential stuff, a coming of age album that speaks to the human experience in the here and now. Its creator is absolutely the real deal.

Constantly brilliant. White Chalk is an amazing album, racked with beauty, stricken with fragility and haunted with something otherworldly.

While the days of the indie dancefloor hits from their first two records may be long gone, the Arctic Monkeys we’re left with now are undoubtedly at the top of their game.

First Mind is an album that can be played time and time again without ever sounding tired or laboured, and it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see it on many people’s end of year lists come December.

In sum, How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident cements Future Of The Left as unique.

Defying all expectations, they have taken a brave leap forward and delivered one of the first great albums of 2013.

WYWH should be played seasonally to stoke the nostalgic embers of summers past, for it's as equally hazy and precious as the memories it depicts.

Abrasive yet euphoric, Pigsx7 continue to supply the world with wired and vivid records.

While much of Memento Mori is thoughtful, and some of it visits the dark side, there is a great deal of positivity underpinning Depeche Mode’s work as a duo.

While it’s a stretch to describe the record as ‘poppy’, it’s certainly their most accessible material to date, with songs like The Arbor, Videograms and Let’s Get Lost taking up residence in the head long after the record has stopped playing. ... It may be only January, but there’s already been a place filled on that Best Albums Of 2019 list.

An album that is nothing short of a triumph, one that perfectly balances their craving to be “unsettling” again with soaring, arena-ready anthems.

Skellig is a searching piece of work. Beautifully constructed, it is at times uncomfortably sparse and weather-beaten, but its resilient head remains unbowed at the end. As an image of humanity through and after the pandemic it comes into clear focus, providing solace for those who need it too.

It is a special piece of work, reaffirming Avery’s position as one of the most consistent and exciting electronic artists at work today. We need to keep him under close observation.

This disc proves that their ascension to lofty heights is complete and something heavenly indeed.

It is arguable that Ones And Sixes is their most fully integrated album to date--a richly satisfying and coherent work drawing together many of the different strands of their career so far.

Basically, it’s a fantastic debut.

For him, music is all about expression and collaboration. On The Visitor, he has crystallised those principles into a richly beguiling and inventive work that crosses musical boundaries effortlessly.

The extroverted, joyful melodies of Photon or the sustained brilliance of Spectral Split seem like brilliant recontextualisations of Weber’s artistic virtues.

It’s an album that’s easy to feel intimidated by at first listen, due to its sheer scale and ambition. However, after a few listens you’ll be in no doubt that Genesis Owusu is one of the most exciting names of the year.

As ever from this source, the songs are neatly crafted, with a touch of folk music added to their melodies, not to mention the instantly memorable and quotable lyrics.

As with every track on this perfectly crafted piece of work from one of the world’s most distinctive voices, it is really quite beautiful.

There’s neither swag nor swagger here, just talent and a single-minded creative vision worth every gasping breath it takes to keep up with.

A Different Ship might be the sound of a band often cast adrift, but in Godrich there's now a firm hand on the tiller, his steadying influence streamlining their sound and taking them to the next level.

Here Come The Tears sounds like the best album that Suede never made, full of romantic, smouldering pop songs with a soaring depth to them.

Jamie T bares his soul on Carry On The Grudge to the point that, by the end, it’s almost impossible not to love him for it.

Beneath the corny flamboyance and exaggerated phrasing lies an album of killer tunes that may be mannered to within an inch of its life, but are crammed full of wit and bravado.

Eloquent, glamorous, spirited and now more sonically innovative than ever, the quintet have affirmed their place as one of Britain's most exciting bands with this release.

And such are the music's joyous highs, subtle thrills and rich and deep layers, they can undoubtedly be judged one of the most worthwhile and special bands currently at large.

At only eight tracks long, Debris never overstays its welcome – in fact, you immediately want to go back and experience it again, which is a pretty impressive feat for a record so steeped in melancholy and fragility.

Each and every song here would sound completely at home as closing credits music for any number of fantastic horror movies. Not necessarily because of the finality of the songs, but rather because they conjure an unnameable, hideous feeling that is generally only experienced after witnessing something terrifying.

21 really is one of the great 'break-up' albums, and the first truly impressive record of 2011. Here is a timely reminder that British soul hasn't lost its mojo.

It is the finest achievement of Coombes’ solo career so far, a magnificent record – and the feeling still persists that there is more to come.

Róisín Machine sees the singer charismatic, confident and in control, and Barratt’s beats accompany that mood perfectly. Accept no imitations, this album has some of the best electronic music you’ll hear all year.

With this record Young Fathers have managed a perfect synthesis between what they are saying and how they choose to present that sonically. Yes, this is a highly political and experimental record, but it is also a brilliant pop album.

Melodrama delivers everything pop music should, but yet it manages to find more. As an album it is unlikely to be bettered in 2017.

Transangelic Exodus is a beautiful, dark, twisted, painful and yet hopeful tale.

This is a bold, honest and carefree collection that, rather than announcing Kozelek's frustrated retirement, seems set to point to new and exciting musical adventures.

Not only is the music a step forward, the songs are too--and Coombes revels in their delivery.

Write off Jaguar Love at your peril; this is one of the best albums of the year so far.