Thematic monomania is one thing, but musically, In the Lonely Hour could have done with more variety.

As the album progresses, Plapinger’s vocals too often fail to engage, particularly on the more downbeat tracks, and there is a paucity of good ideas towards the end.

These squelchy tunes pack much summer sunshine, and even kitsch jungle noises on the title track. But the long-range outlook is a little more mixed.

It contains flashes of her former glories--This Ain’t Love’s soft R&B lilt; The Answer’s joyful chorus--but the rest is proficient, if hackneyed.

Even with Frankmusik included among the production credits, these one-time synth-pop pioneers sound lifeless compared with all the 80s-raiding whippersnappers so indebted to them.

Neon is a smooth, proficient pop product that steers clear of conflict or strong emotions unless they have to do with matters of the heart.

The music--lots of nondescript ballads, a splash of contemporary disco--is no less banal [as headlines from the Daily Mail].

Of the 20 phoned-in songs here, 19 are at best inessential, at worst actively irritating.

Such an efficient compendium of current pop influences is a little underwhelmng; nothing here sets out to redefine the girl group sound.

Their hometown makes itself known--lots of songs are accented with steel guitar--but the instrumentation stays delicate throughout.

Her debut should end on the inventive Shadow Flash rather than the overcooked Mess Around. It could lose a lot of the moody filler clogging up the spaces between the substantial songs.

They slip in some elements of skipping French Caribbean zouk on Courage, but power rather than swing is the SJO’s thing, and while they have upped their vocal output here, the right-on slogans don’t take you far.

His fourth major label album is too comfortable in its introspection. Where Stormzy’s Gang Signs & Prayer carefully balanced bangers and ballads, this is sluggish and solemn.

Staying at Tamara’s defining mood is one of unchallenging, and unflinching, politeness.

Although some of Godfather II stays true to a classic sound--see the authoritative I Call the Shots, feat JME--other tracks, such as Certified, feat Shakka (a banger), are unabashed lunges for the mainstream.

It’s let down by a few too many unremarkable ballads (Fumes, I Would), but that doesn’t detract from the fact that Testament shows this comeback is more than simply an exercise in nostalgia.

There’s nothing wrong with this album’s unifying ambitions and things-get-better mood. There’s just something studied about it that’s hard to love.

Duck crashlands in as confused a space as that might suggest; it’s a very mainstream record, but doesn’t sound sure that it wants to be.

With the exception of OK (Anxiety Anthem), produced unmemorably by the usually excellent MNEK, these 14 tunes could have been made by anyone with a well-oiled larynx. Even as Mabel’s voice stands proudly without Auto-Tune, High Expectations is just disappointingly all right, lacking any playfulness, or top spin, or a sense of who Mabel is.

Respite comes with the atmospheric closer, Gaia – a nicely understated duet with Elissa Lauper that also features the Blue Nile’s Paul Buchanan – but it doesn’t make up for the pedestrianism elsewhere.

Roughly half of the album cleaves fabulously to this back-to-basics template, with songs such as What You Really Mean drawing out the doo-wop sadness in Gano’s songcraft. The rest is what you might call “touring” Femmes.

As it is, these ghost stories pack few chills.

Her seventh album in seven years is all filthy lyrics and crashing dubstep drops: R&B-pop turned up to 11.

A bright, colour-saturated record indebted to the loopiest excesses of 60s psychedelia – but the chirpiness is wearing thin.

Flawed, but enjoyable.

For all the mash-ups, Bangerz feels stitched together in the dark, and the attention-seeking begins to grate.

While Later... lacks the intensity of the band's first set, the title track and Choices in particular suggest they shouldn't be dismissed.

There are nice moments of nostalgia: banger Hearts and Flowers references Jenny from the Block, while the excellent Rebound is a throwback R&B jam accentuated by fluttering harp. But songs such as To Be Yours and Not.going.anywhere offer very little outside of simply soundtracking a cosy night in chez Bennifer.