Backed up by lyrical content that has never been more potent and relevant, this album is proof that A Tribe Called Quest never really left.

The drought may be over, but SZA left no crumbs.

But by going through it all, by exposing all the pain, he’s created something beautiful and vital.

Though some of their peers may have waned on their long, drawn out returns, Sleater-Kinney have only grown stronger in their time off. Ten years away has made them more essential than ever. Nostalgia be dammed.

As the record builds to a final cathartic hushed scream, ‘Punisher’ marks a clear step forward, but one that remains as fundamentally graceful as all that has come before.

Imbued throughout with a fusion of Pa’s Gambian heritage, and life growing up in Coventry (“COV, #cityofviolence” introduces ‘Informa’), it’s a varied, confident and cinematic trip through where the performer finds himself.

Taken individually these songs are all gorgeous, but as a whole they create an effect of being hemmed in by absence, that inhospitable land overwhelming in its minimalism. No other record today sounds so beautiful and full while being quite so sparse.

It’s powerfully honest and refreshingly unfiltered, beautifully crafted and distinctive. Most importantly of all it carries the legacy of Tom Searle, and of the remaining Architects members, forward.

It’s a truly cathartic listening experience, driven by the belief that our darkest moments can only be alleviated if we sing about them beautifully enough.

It’s clear all three are being pushed beyond their usual creative comfort zones.

Equal parts elegant and antagonistic, it comes together to be every part the listening experience that he wanted it to be - complex, unconventional and ultimately, essential.

The record feels more like opening a time capsule than self-congratulation; as if that 2011 statement locked a door we’re only now allowed to peek back into. Also crucially, many of the songs here were never even released as singles. ... The breadth and depth of how much they did while still keeping it (relatively) simple is so evident.

St. Vincent showcases Annie Clark as a fiercely accomplished musician, a relentlessly original artist, and now, an innovator of pop.

This is a performance, a showcase of crazy that does nothing but dazzle.

[Missing U's] Thudding kick drum pounds away underneath defiant lyrics of heartache, and it’s as affecting as she’s ever been. It’s the rest of the record, though, that really excels, pointing the way forward for an artist changing her tune.

Confidence and swagger flows through the album as a whole, with every twist and turn adding another colour to its extraordinary palette. The sound of an artist hitting their stride and then some, ‘That! Feels Good’ really does live up to its name.

While some of the stylistic variation here can feel disjointed at times, there’s plenty on offer to suggest a band on the rise, capable of rising even higher.

‘RTJ4’ is by far Killer Mike and El-P’s most accomplished chapter, wrought with rage but injected with a humour and wisdom that offers razor-sharp clarity and, with that, an unapologetically raw and sobering take on our times.

Confined to merely six tracks, the ‘La vita nuova’ EP feels like it ends too soon - and that’s entirely symptomatic of how strong the songwriting is. In 2020, Christine is still truly in a league of her own.

It’s a smart pop record that’s doused in self-awareness but still direct in its assertiveness - and never not compelling.

M3LL155X is sometimes more show than substance, but it’s ultimately a sign of twigs getting more confident by the second.

‘I Love You Jennifer B’ feels like everything that’s come before has just been a trial run. It’s bolder, more rewarding, and so much more cohesive.

Swampy and tumultuous like a month’s worth of rain, the Dundalk five-piece have spared no expense in creating immersive, cavernous spaces of shoegazing, post-punk splendour.

The band’s most concise sound yet whilst never taking itself too seriously, as Mannequin Pussy continue to dominate a world of their own creation.

‘Natural Brown Prom Queen’ is Sudan Archives’ most accessible record to date. An unashamedly brash and confident one, but much more subtle and realistic. Rumbling beats, smooth R&B grooves, with just a touch of the experimental. Yet, in opening itself wider, it loses some of the sharp idiosyncrasies that made the early material so exciting.

This is an astonishingly good album, and the fact that it's a debut makes its stylistic and thematic consistency, as well as suave swagger, all the more to be recommended.

This is a sonically rich, musically accomplished record - and it truly is - it’s Holly’s enviably dextrous voice that can’t help but take centre stage. They can belt with the best of them.

Coloring Book is exactly the kind of record necessary to elevate an artist from viable to visionary.