More confident in their own musical skins, it all adds together to make Every Open Eye a second album even better than the first.

There’s a constant feeling that instead of edging towards going one bigger, this band have embraced their calling. And if Foals didn’t already have enough songs in their arsenal to top festival bills, they’ve just added ten more.

‘Blue Weekend’ is an album that revels in its feelings. The dynamics are constantly shifting, often moving from tender sparsity to luxurious sonic opulence in the same song, but everything feels like the absolute peak of what it could be.

Bad Contestant is a stunning debut with two very opposing personalities.

Handling pop punch with the same rightful care as punk rebellion, Sløtface aren’t indebted to any of their touchstones. Instead they’re mashing them to new, distinctive effect.

II is an advert to be a whole new generation’s Sonic Youth or Nirvana and on this performance, you’d be foolish not to buy in.

Change, escape and identity are not easy things to navigate, and ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ is the dark, unsettling, sprawling beauty that comes out of it.

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.

Too is a big, dumb-smart, happy-sad, universally-specific beast of a record, then.

In its refusal to sound anything like its alt-pop predecessors, ‘With A Hammer’ is a breath of fresh air: innovative yet familiar, lackadaisically cool yet brave, a brilliant and sparkling window into the future. Its idiosyncrasies, consistently and wonderfully oxymoronic, are its greatest strength.

A record that perfectly proves how much strength is in vulnerability, it’s undeniably Hayley’s most powerful move yet.

The Horrors go several steps further. Fragments of the group's past link together and the future illuminates in unison. Luminous is the album they've been destined to make.

If Skepta’s ‘Konnichiwa’ was grime’s breakthrough, Gang Signs & Prayer is its blockbuster--an all-encompassing ride through human experience that’ll stand tall for decades.

Quite frankly, it’s a towering edifice of electronic brilliance.

In short, Night Time, My Time is stunning.

As a whole, Villains is the Californian filthmongers’ most danceable offering yet--and all the better for it.

Not just a return to form from a group whose recent catalogue has been somewhat patchy, but a true classic, ‘Saviors’ is Green Day at their musical and thematic best.

After Saturation's freewheeling spirit and an insatiable appetite for fun, Iridescence had to confront the past nine months, and make a statement as to how the band move forward. It does so emphatically.

Highlight ‘By Myself’ sings of relapsing after getting sober, but is set over a simply joyous ska-tinged musical romp - musical and lyrical contradictions are all over Almost Free, but it gains its power from dancing through the hard times with a massive grin on your face. The musical experimentation of the record continues throughout.

Along with the equally exceptional St Vincent which came before it, this is the moment that St Vincent enters the fabled realm reserved for the greats.

The power and ferocity with which they do so across the album--as well as its rollocking instrumentation and clear social conscience--makes it a triumph.

They’ve created a huge, rich, brilliant documentation of youth, one which will last for years.

It’s an absolute tour de force, a record full of drama and emotion and pleasure and pain.

‘This Is Why’ is a blistering melding pot of artistry.

Witty, sexy, confident, and charged with live energy, I’m Not Your Man is the sound of Marika Hackman making the album she always needed to make.

They have crafted a new geography of their own, pulling together all of their strengths and vulnerabilities.

Ratworld is that rarest of beasts--a debut album that’s got a backstory running deeper than all six seasons of Lost, but still sounds like it’s delivered without any requirement for effort whatsoever.

The quartet’s ability to instrumentally weave among each other has always been one of their great strengths, and here (with the addition of new bassist Holly Mullineaux) the band sound more unified than ever, able to spin strange sonic tales all the better as a result. A triumph.

‘CrazyMad, For Me’ is a triumphant whirlwind of pain and self-preservation, which reveals more of itself with every listen.

There’s no difficult second album syndrome here. Visions Of A Life is a gorgeously twisted beast that keeps Wolf Alice on the path to being Britain’s best band.

‘The Overload’ lives up to its hype with flying colours. Brilliantly constructed to unfurl like some sordid soap opera of Brexit Britain, it brims with vignettes populated by instantly-recognisable caricatures of the now.

Undeniably ‘WEEDKILLER’ is a funneling of rage - a quest to rediscover autonomy and cement identity - but despite the darkness is ridiculously fun, too. It’s a triumphant debut - one that changes the game like a live wire in water.

‘Prioritise Pleasure’ manages to challenge accepted norms and help to exorcise long-buried demons; it’s powerful to the last drop.

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

An album that’s ultimately OK with not being OK, it’s for that reason alone that it may just be perfect.

Musically tying everything that’s come before together in a comprehensive showcase of the band’s continued prowess, and lyrically providing an ominous but defiant voice for 2019, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost is Foals’ definitive statement. And that’s only part one!

‘Jubilee’ finds its creator older and wiser with melody, lyrics and storytelling pulling focus in a fashion that cements Michelle Zauner as a true creative force to be reckoned with. From here on out, Japanese Breakfast can go anywhere and we’ll follow.

With Alas Salvation, they’ve set a marker for every borderline-insane newcomer emerging in the next decade.

An album that dreams not just big but huge. It begins with a literal orchestral overture - 96 seconds of world-building that removes you from boring old reality and plants you into their version of Fantasia. Then, 11 tracks of similarly sky-high, grandiose ambition, that tie together lofty literary sentiment, cinematic sweeping theatricality and killer melodic indie hooks with an equal affinity for each.

A far way away from debut ‘Chaleur humaine’, yet just as unafraid, ’PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE’ is like no other exploration of grief - a new magnum opus.

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 band put their flag in the ground as the most intriguing musical voice we have, creating a bombastic, immaculately put together portrait of modern life.

‘Screen Violence’ marries visceral anger and empowerment. The result is their most euphoric rallying cry to date.

An album that will follow you for hours, if not days.

A near-perfect album if there ever was one.

Not to Disappear is intentionally difficult to stomach. It finds a dark pit to nestle in and then digs deeper. But few acts could deliver these unceasingly grim details with such majesty.

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.

Mike Hadreas takes a scalpel to the inner-workings of his creative brain, and the love that feeds it. An absolutely flooring record from once-in-a-generation talent.

On all fronts, with ‘Daddy’s Home’, St Vincent has delivered spectacularly.

Just as unique as that now-classic debut, Alvvays have inadvertently gotten their wish all the same. They’ve wound up in a league of their own.

Everything across Lux Prima feels completely right; familiar yet new, revealing more of two beloved figures without losing what made them great all these years.

It embraces the unconventional with resounding ease, finding its voice in the skilled hands of two of pop’s most forward-thinking pioneers, both busy rethinking just what it can be.

Each track could essentially be classified under a different genre, yet there’s a unifying atmosphere throughout--a kind of balmy warmth to the production that allows the duo’s treasure trove of ideas to knit together in one harmonious package.

Throughout, ‘American Noir’ delivers a vibrant and fitting homage to the recently departed Jim Steinman; the eight tracks harking to his musical opus.

‘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.

Across ‘Cool It Down’, Yeah Yeah Yeahs remain true to their roots without making it sound like a nostalgic grab for previous glory. ... It turns out Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2.0 is exactly what 2022 needs.

A decade on from the pained remoteness of For Emma, Forever Ago, i,i holds the same intimacy and urgency, elevated by years of groundbreaking experimentation.

Chris is a second album that thrives in the realm of the uncertain, throws perceptions on gender, sexuality and expression comprehensively out of the window, and cements the status of Héloïse Letissier as a true star.

If ‘GREY Area’ saw Simz come-of-age as a rapper, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ is Simz making her first long-lasting artistic stamp on the zeitgeist.

By the time closer ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ hits, Dua’s already smashed it out the park, and the euphoric ballad cutting down inequality with her impassioned chorus of “boys will be boys but girls will be women” only further cements what this album has proved: Dua will be going down in pop history as one of the best.

There’s enough originality pumped throughout each track that ‘Tension’ will undoubtedly stand as one of the most favoured contemporary Kylie eras. There’s no pretension to its greatness, just our Kylie, once again, humbly proving how easily she can forge gold and transform into pop culture phenomenon.

The sound of an artist coming home to themselves, ‘The Theory Of Whatever’ is proof that you can grow up gracefully with every inch of your vibrancy still intact.

It’s impossible to resist the instant, limb-grabbing appeal of the pop music Grimes is making here, and dizzyingly big, this is a record about shaking off every constraint, and wrenching hold of reality with both fists.

over again. A snarling, twisted, mischievous creation, Foil Deer is a leaping, high-spirited joy of a record.

This is music in its purest, most experimental form. This is a record which doesn’t make sense, because it doesn’t have to.

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

Streamlined and minimal but bursting with intelligence, humour and ideas, BODEGA are the real deal.

An overwhelmingly intimate record that makes you wonder just what Years & Years could be capable of next.

ENSWBL, Part 2 picks up the baton of its predecessor and sends it surging to the finish line, leaving Foals legions ahead of their competitors.

Unique, raw and totally joyous.

Need to Feel Your Love is an album that not only shreds, but feels prescient, too.

It’s ambitious and uncompromising, in both structure and content; rather than spoonfeeding, Goat Girl demand more from their listeners and provide more in tandem.

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.

A stellar record. ... Which is to say, it’s bangers, bops and top-notch observational lyrics at every turn.

The sheer breadth of sound is astonishing, yet easily pulled together by Lindsey’s distinctive wavering tones and lyrical impact.

On all the evidence here, The Big Moon have succeeded in unearthing the secret to a fire debut.

More than one kitchen sink has been proudly gafer-taped to their musical fun bus; every idea--however half-formed--integrated with complete confidence. Delivered with the swagger of someone who’s just half-inched Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat, it works spectacularly.

Taking stock of the dizzying array of touchstones on this record, this also the sound of an auteur hellbent on short circuiting all convention. ... Dirty Computer might just be the record that finally elevates her to pop’s highest echelons

Sampha’s voice might be the most instantly recognizable piece of magic in his arsenal, but it’s his patience and craft that makes ‘LAHAI’ such a stunning experience.

This is a debut like few others. In fact, the only way we’ll ever get another record like Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit is if Barnett hits Groundhog Day. It’s beyond bonzer, mate.

Kendrick Lamar rose to the top with his last album, and on DAMN. he tries to rediscover himself while on this new perch, with spectacular results.

It’s still a work that’s defined by its own dynamism. Anyone following these guys from the start won’t have doubted their capabilities, but that doesn’t stop A Dream Outside from dwarfing expectations.

For those who missed the rabble-rousing of ‘Dogrel’ but liked the darkness of ‘A Hero’s Death’, this record splits the perfect difference, sealing it along the middle with the superglue of a band who now know exactly where they’re going. Truth be told, they’ve never been more at home.

slowthai’s newest is the work of an artist clearly more excited than ever about what he himself can do now he’s booted his own doors wide open. ‘UGLY’ is a beautiful thing to behold.

Contagious and sarcastic, in-your-face and self-aware yet ultimately all about cutting loose, Wavves have offered up an album that proves themselves as leaders in the punk pack.

Beyond anything, A Moon Shaped Pool feels like the beginning of a new chapter--the first time these five have merged their own idiosyncrasies without compromising or crossing wires.

It’s the slightly wonky worldview of the band themselves that really elevates ‘Wet Leg’ into the realms of the truly special.

For a project that could have held unreasonable expectations, it overdelivers time and time again. Both parts of the duo are on their A-game in equal parts.

Their most complete record by a serious stretch, it's a work that laughs, cries, detests, adores and above anything else inspires.

A journey of self-discovery, confidence abounding like limits simply don’t exist.

Clearly not ones to do things by halves, ‘Sex, Death & The Infinite Void’ may be an album that feels boldly unexpected for a rock band in 2020, and that makes it all the more remarkable: for Creeper, it’s their most astonishing and liberating move yet.

Across its 40-odd minutes, Joy As An Act of Resistance makes you want to laugh and cry and roar into the wind and cradle your nearest and dearest. It is a beautiful slice of humanity delivered by a group of men whose vulnerability and heart has become a guiding light in the fog for an increasing community of fans who don’t just want, but need this.

With resounding beauty, ‘Heterosexuality’ deconstructs social norms through a powerful freedom of self-expression, yet also acknowledges this pain and struggle.

It’s musical exorcism at its very best, rallying against socially-imposed doubt and anxiety and - in its unique horror - finding welcome moments of inner peace.

In equal parts an unequivocal call to arms and an excitable ode to a wonderful friendship, even in the company it keeps. RTJ3 shines.

Over four songs and just twelve minutes, it packs enough punch to inspire air guitar, desk drumming, shower singing and wanting to start a band just so you can try and shred like these three. Truly fantastic.

Everything Everything have sculpted a masterpiece.

Punchy, fun and beautifully constructed, ‘Pink Noise’ is the triumphant sound of Laura Mvula finding her feet. A career-defining return that most artists can only dream of; pure synth-pop ecstasy.