A melancholy streak runs through the album’s second half where tales of devotion (‘Lifeboat’), longing (‘Daydreams’) and ruminations on mental health and anxiety (‘Nightmares’, ‘Living Strange’) shine.

Far from experiencing growing pains, Car Seat seem to have had a lot of fun here.

Aitch’s debut draws on local heritage but remains heavily anchored in a forward-thinking rap blueprint. With the ‘cheeky chappy’ mask tucked slightly back (if not fully removed), and a more introspective attitude on show, it’s an even more powerful formula.

Out Of Touch In The Wild sees them evolve into the Field Music you can dance to--or the Talk Talk you can smile to.

Mess’ is characterised by synths and distorted beats. But unlike the often self-doubting and timid ‘WIXIW’, it revels in its own demented chaos.

The end result is a record rooted in the bass flicks, shimmering synths and lovelorn lyrics that defined their debut.

Of the most recent phases of Patti Smith's musical output (always surprising since 1996's Kurt Cobain tribute 'Gone Again'), Banga is by far the most successful.

Kveikur comes as a violent but welcome surprise.

Currently, there are few notable British producers creating such brilliantly odd pieces of music as this.

‘Zeit’ might be a more reflective album than previous Rammstein records, but it’s still an energetic, swaggering beast.

'Rudebox' is not 'Robbie Williams the serious artiste', but it is an amazing pop album.

They're a band who are defiantly British and who haven't sold their soul to current trends--and they're all the better for it. [20 Jan 2007, p.29]

It's only rock'n'roll but you'll probably like it.

Ready to break noisily out of the underground, the quintet have made one of the year’s most accomplished metal albums.

The chilly Euro-house stylings may be a mite predictable but Diddy proves a generous curator, laying on blockbuster exhibits and atmospheric slow jamz alike in the greatest cast-of-millions hip-hop joint since, well, Kanye's latest.

Fernandez is a warm presence, murmuring his stream-of-consciousness lyrics on mini-masterpieces that promise a sunny future.

Weirder, funnier and fiercer than ever, Girl Band return as heroes of the weirder corner of rock music, and they’ve outdone themselves this time.

There are a few early misfires here, but they are rescued by a stunning second half on which Beck’s trademark sound is stripped back and drenched in a glistening synth-filled air that takes him into a daring new era.

It feels like a joyous, slowly unfurling epiphany. It’s a gift to be able to listen in.

By recording the album with his live band, he frames his unmistakably husky countertenor with a set of warm, natural sounds that form a bedrock for the raw emotions on Blood rather than distracting from them.

As impressive as her gossamer-light voice layered over the strings and breakbeats on ‘Bad Boy’ is, Speech can do upbeat as well as down.

Newcomers might just wonder why these old dudes are ripping off Bloc Party.

An essential emotional pummelling as well as an aural one.

‘Reeling’ is gripping throughout, and the band always seem ready to ascend to another level.

Timeless. [19 Aug 2006, p.35]

The 2009 Projectors have adopted a more enjoyable model, thanks in part to Longstreth holding back that horn.

Get past the initial jolt of weirdness and you'll find in his delivery a soul-puncturing cry from the very frontlines of life, able to evoke both desperate tragedy and skyscraping joy all at once.

Old Fears provides a fascinating insight into the mind of an increasingly-indispensable pop polymath.