Inhaler avoid difficult second album problems by sounding more like they’re on a confident fourth record.

If it is a mess, it’s a glorious one.

It’s an album of unlikely collaborations. Day One features the operatic talents of Dina Ipavic, while Are You Alive, sung by Lily Wolter of Penelope Isles, floats into moodier, more analog territory. Best of all are The New Abnormal (Golden Girls’ Kinetic turned inside out) and the anti-gammon state of the nation rant of Dirty Rats.

End-times prophecies have always been a part of Gorillaz’s world view, but here Damon Albarn’s lyrics allude to personal burnout. There’s something poignant about hearing Stevie Nicks’ weathered voice twin itself to Albarn’s while singing about reaching a place “when you can’t help yourself anymore and the madness come”.

Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) serves the showman well, making this era sing, one of The Bootleg Series’ most intriguing investigations so far into Bob Dylan’s working practices and mindset.

Their unpredictability and magnetic power remain undimmed by the years.

That Bad Reputation deep cut – as well as five better-known extras including a spine-tingling Still In Love With You not heard before – reminds us we are in what was, for so long, uncharted territory. ... Live and definitive!

Cale remains the star of the show, however, still crafting richly textured songs that don’t always go where you might expect them to, and refusing to pander to expectations.

This is a thoughtful, and thought-provoking, set of songs from a writer whose responses to the world around him illustrate an ever-deepening maturity, which is intriguing to chart across his four solo releases to date.

Cacti might show Maries in survival mode, but revealing vulnerability has seen her songwriting soften and come into its own.

Whether you prefer him pensive or primal, his 20th solo album brings that big time.

The scattergun concept inevitably results in a broad range of styles and not all of them are entirely successful. ... Still, the above are minor quibbles, as the bulk of the album is a gorgeous concoction of disparate inspirations finding hitherto elusive homes. The guests get their works in progress nailed by an esteemed craftsman, while Rundgren himself, a man with a partial history of self-sufficiency bordering on the behaviour of a control freak, sounds reinvigorated by allowing others into his world.

A take on the Star-Spangled Banner provides a waymarker here, but its playful cadence offers little warning of the unholy commotion to come.

A cappella mixes of studio material have been a hallmark of every major Beach Boys box set, and those on Sail On Sailor deliver as expected. ... Further studio outtakes underscore the group’s range and versatility.

And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow is a rich, nuanced and brilliant reflection of a world in turmoil.

Those lyrics [from previously unreleased demo, Tired Of My Life], slightly tweaked, would also make the final It’s No Game; that they date to this period of self-doubt and self-discovery and ended up bookending one of the greatest decade-long streaks in music is revelatory. Demos of Hunky Dory standouts have fewer surprises: written during a spate of fevered creativity in Haddon Hall, his boho Beckenham pile, everything is all but there, a few lyrical improvements aside.

While it’s certainly not as upbeat as 2020’s Gold Record, the directness cuts through in a way that 2019’s Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest didn’t. It’s an album that finds Callahan in great form.

The kids aren’t alright as decades get mashed; conspiracy theories and misanthropy, leavened with wit, abound. A fantastic record. You auteur hear this.

It’s hands down the band’s most powerful and compelling musical statement to date; a vivid snapshot of an important inflection point in their career trajectory.

The Car is a slick mover, immaculately appointed and often beautiful. What it’s driving at, though, can feel naggingly elusive.

Sorrows Away is a landmark album by an extraordinary band, full of brutal truths, hope, and moments of musical transcendence that will resonate for generations to come.

From heavy skiffle to serpent gods to ponderings on Pacino, noir and mortality, this charms and challenges.

Stumpwork demonstrates that the Dry Cleaning business is going from strength to strength.

After a handful of stirring ballads set to create further communal festival experiences, Here Is Everything peaks with Magic, golden funk worthy of Odelay-era Beck. The album cover depicts singer Jules Jackson during her pregnancy: her band have given birth to something magical here.

Heaton remains the go-to chronicler of the Everyman condition, but let’s not underplay Abbott’s vital contribution as both equal-billing foil and relatable conduit of female perspectives in these songs. Plays not just for today, but for weeks, months and years to come.

An album that taps into Suede’s galvanic guitar-rock drama without falling prey to that dread declaration of stagnation, the back-to-basics album. Perhaps deceptively, Suede’s approach here is forward-thinking.

How Do You Burn? finds the Whigs in particularly lusty form.

The contents, which comprise the first volume of the Lou Reed Archival Series, are of enormous cultural significance – fascinating, extraordinary, at times revelatory.