GEM is nothing short of spellbinding.

An album that values intensity and tenderness in equal measure, You Will Not Die is a multi-faceted and fascinating introduction.

Nodding strongly towards everything from Hall & Oates, to Justice, and Patrice Rushen, and flaunting all of Mount’s influences without a hint of irony, Summer ‘08’ is from start to finish, a back to basics, pure-pop odyssey.

These songs might be the result of time spent in-between projects, but they are no b-sides, and they show a bigger, more cinematic side to Courtney’s songwriting that not only provides solitude in its glistening nostalgia, but conjures excitement for his projects to come.

You're Nothing is the magnificent transition from teens powered by punk angst to men mastering aggressive rock songs.

Elbow sound revitalised here with Garvey proving himself once more to be one of the most eloquent British songwriters around.

‘Model Citizen’ takes everything that has driven the scene forward and injects an unapologetic - and very welcome - Gen Z spin.

Ranging from intimidating to wonderfully eye-opening, it's always forthright, and it barely falters.

Agut-wrenching yet joyous journey into the thick of her every feeling, with neither sugar-coating or shame. It’s a walk on a tightrope, balanced precariously between a downward spiralling cascade of thought.

While Ken is more accessible than its predecessor it seems unlikely to affect the Vancouver musician’s cult name status.

Bleeds bends and twists genres into more combinations than are possible on a Rubix cube; splicing hip-hop, techno and even classical in ways that make it one of the most original and emotionally charged British albums of the year.

This is the sound of a band who have re-discovered the party (the good bits, the bad bits, the seedy bits) and the result is that Too Weird... is an album that pops and fizzes with excitement, vim and intent.

Surfing Strange has the band gliding over waves at record height, with barely a single hiccup.

Rarely entering the realm of pastiche, in all, this makes for a brilliant, ageless album.

As surefire a bet for bigger things as there’ll ever be, for the most part it’s a resounding success.

Self-produced and largely self-performed, Vagabon celebrates her heritage and her community, but most of all her creative freedom to challenge musical boundaries and to break away from the norm.

1982 appears slight on first glance, but it’s packed with so many lasting melodies and shifts in tone and dynamics that it winds up being a much richer project than its 38-minute run time may initially suggest.

Debut ‘Unlearn’ showed promise but Age of Fracture is that promise realised and then some.

Slowing down and refining his output has allowed Alex the time to make Rocket a brilliantly considered next step. It’s also his catchiest record yet.

Much of Cavetown’s fifth album is as one would expect. ... However then arrives ‘a kind thing to do’ - featuring Pierce The Veil’s Vic Fuentes - which plays with punk-pop revival tropes in captivating ways.

Punctuated by Simon’s misanthropic frustrations at a post-pandemic world, it’s a bold and brilliant but bileful record that may alienate even the most diehard of those ‘early-albums-are-the-best’ fans.

Mixing disco, dance, pop and R&B elements, ‘About Last Night…’ whisks us through the highs and lows of the best night out of your life, and Mabel is the perfect party guide.

At a succinct length, the album does exactly what it needs to do without a second to spare.

This is a captivating record; a studied, precise and explorative showcase of songwriting, equal parts accessible and experimental.

Sleek, elegant but neck deep in gory realities, Conscious is a record that deals in the very best and worst of the world but instead of getting dragged down with the weight of these realisations, Broods climb high.

Wild Nights as a whole feels like a step forward for Pins; they’ve played to their strengths in genuinely self-assured fashion.

It's one of the most powerful records to be released in a very long time.

It's not as acoustic and stripped back as some will expect but it does not disappoint (unless you were waiting on eleven 'Ballgames').

There’s a little less edge than on debut ​‘Smiling With No Teeth’, but a softer lens offers more variety, and Genesis Owusu sails the spectrum of human experience with ease to make something just as weighty as the literature that inspired it.

The Beautiful Stories is their liveliest effort to date.

It doesn’t so much as show them in a new light, more picks up where ‘Trompe le Monde’ left off all those years ago. But, as the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don’t fix it.

There’s a real sense of optimism and summer to the record.

Persuasive, pummelling, precise, Refused may have--quite literally--set the agenda with ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come’ but here they’re proving that they can still translate the blueprints regardless of how much time has passed.

Mothers have taken their tactics of constant instrumental juxtapositions into another realm, somehow finding a middle ground between the pleasant and the discordant, where Mothers have comfortably found their niche--it’s not always uplifting, but it consistently delivers.

Fall Into the Sun is the best Swearin’ record yet; that Allison and Kyle have not just reformed the band, but actually brought the creative best out of each other in doing so, is a powerful advert for reconciliation.

Unpacking messy feelings over delicate guitars, Crushing may have been born from a place of confusion, but Julia Jacklin’s voice sounds clearer than ever.

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is a supremely exciting, innovative first move from a pop voice that feels utterly fresh and modern.

Celebratory, rich and more confident than ever before, they’re yet again the finest versions of themselves.

‘Sticky’ is music for living life in full colour, and until you listen, you won’t know how much you needed it.

‘The Dream’’s strength is in packing not just alt-J’s usual futuristic twist, but a heavy side serving of nostalgia too. It’s a perfect, subtle, and unpretentious combo.

Yhis is a band tight enough and confident enough to know they can take anything, and anybody, on.

It's nothing we haven't heard before, but it's delightfully packaged, making it feel unique in its own way.

Love Is Magic feels like a victory lap. Frequently boundary-pushing, side-splittingly funny and anything but safe, John Grant’s fourth LP is a rip-roaring thrill ride that’s immensely danceable to boot. Magic really does work in mysterious ways.

Whether trying to find solace in community while battling your deepest demons, or after an uninhibited jig to some of the catchiest indie-pop around, Martha still have your back.

‘The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain’ is an escapist dream, and immersive story.

With this near-mystical storytelling ‘Quiet The Room’ leans heavily on folk, yet in style it embodies something entirely different. Seemingly on the edge of collapse, it tells a fraught tale of fragile memories that exist on the very brink of reality.

‘The Car’ is Alex and crew’s most soundtrack-like work so far, flowing together in one long movement made cohesive by Bridget Samuels’ lush orchestral arrangements which adorn it.

The title of serpentwithfeet’s debut full-length soil is perhaps literal then: a return to his roots and a celebration of finally having found his feet.

On this record, their drum-and-synths minimalism is more refined, the bass-lines more prominent, the hooks almost embarrassingly memorable.

While Savage remains the same bleary-eyed and soft-hearted crooner he always has been, Bermuda Waterfall feels far more widescreen than anything he’s done before.

As might be expected from a mix with such sheer diversity, there’s occasionally a jump or a straight cut that’s a little bit of a jarring leap in sound, even for a club mix. A few occasional seconds of tonal whiplash are a small price to pay to go on this roller-coaster ride with Daphni.

Whether the group’s sound prevails or begins to show its limitations remains to be seen, but when the songwriting and appetite for invention remains this strong, Django Django certainly have a lot more to give.

While things may start to sag towards the end as the wind in King Gizzard’s new sails dips low, Paper Maché Dream Balloon is undoubtedly one of their more confident statements yet.

While these tracks are testament to how well the LA trio can build an astronomical sense of atmosphere, they can create icy harshness with equal brilliance.

Whatever the contributing factors to Bubblegum and 'Bulldozer', it's clear this is Devine brimming with confidence and energy--and to remarkable effect.

When it works, it really works.

It’s thrilling stuff but most importantly, with him [Sergio Pizzorno] solely steering the ship, it’s the most authentic this band have sounded in a long time - once again, it feels like they’re capable of going anywhere they want.

On ‘Utopian Ashes’, Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth breathe new life into an old formula, and surface triumphant.

That there’s nothing particularly ‘new’ about Morning Phase is by no means a fault: this is acoustic Beck, and it’s acoustic Beck at his most sublime.

This is an album designed to move people, and Payola manages to do so in so very many ways.

‘Blue Banisters’ presents a collection of sun-kissed moments and hazy memories, free from judgement and firmly rooted in place.

Perhaps most impressively, is the record’s consistent hooks.

Eclectic almost to an extreme, Baio combines reckless abandon with infectious introspection to create something entirely, captivatingly new.

Goat are making true, sludged up psychedelia that seems to come from a new, specially cultivated brain-lobe.

Titanic Rising presents an immensely elegant journey to a different place and time; in equal parts beautifully delicate and powerful.

Listening to ‘Cave World’ is akin to dipping your whole body in murky, warm sea water - you feel blinded and a little bit disgusted, but overall excited to explore your new surroundings.

What’s unique about Pinegrove is how they compress uncertainty, doubt and fear without being overbearing.

This is Against Me! shifting the topic but retaining all the glory: biting lyricism, punk fury and rock prowess wrapped up in an infectious and perfectly imperfect package.

Joyce Manor are more than comfortable with their own sound now--they’re effortlessly confident with it, and Never Hungover Again is a stark reminder of just how much fun you can actually have without alcohol pumping through your veins.

Without any voices swimming around the noise, the record does lack the variety that came before. Instead, this is a stubborn embracing of all the weird things that make up this unique trio.

The last couple of Dinosaur Jr. records in particular have been praised from all angles for their consistency, but J Mascis is continuing to fire out hidden gems under his own name, too.

Lanterns on the Lake are making rock music that, in terms of how vital it feels in 2015, is virtually without equal. Beings just about confirms that.

‘Life’s A Beach’’s lasting impact is its confrontation of depression and self-doubt: this is a record that will make you feel deeply as well as provide a soundtrack for your first post-lockdown festival.

Ihe duo’s latest project is a barrage of positivity with a collection of upbeat anthems perfect for a sun-soaked summer of love.

There’s something inherently welcoming in the short, sharp, and lyrically open songs, as Laura looks both inwards and outwards at her identity, her chosen music, and her vices. Each track unfolds with an ease only reserved for somebody with so much skin in the game.

The puffier-chested side of his persona is still perfectly enjoyable, but when he packs away his bluster for the second half of the record, he creates something truly memorable.

Time away hasn’t dulled No Age’s musical sword--they’re sharper and brighter than ever.

Soothing to the extreme, but still with enough variation not to lose attention, he’s on to a winner.

This is by no means a ripping up of the rule book for Jade, but from this side-step where she’s going next could be anyone’s guess.

The album is an obvious step-up right from the start.

Now, the scuzz and rough edges of their younger selves is swapped out for the fizz and crackle of these vital reworkings, which take in some of their most varied sounds to date; in amongst the usual post-punk vigour are hints of shoegaze, psychedelia and - on the standout ‘Major Amberson’ - melodic pop.

It’s a sleek collection of pop gems that will live long in the memory.

Paying homage to songwriting ancestors, there’s an unmistakable Americana twist across much of the record that on occasion even turns to Nashville-tinged country. Yet Bought To Rot is pulled together by consistently bestowing valuable life lessons.

With fourth album Reflektor, their past is documented in vivid detail, delivered with such urgency and bombast it's difficult to look ahead. But look ahead they do, arriving with their fullest and most ambitious record to date.

Every song has multiple hooks, catching your brain and pulling your toes up and down to the rhythm.

The Lounge Society clearly have more in their influence pool than just one slipstream, and it’s when they embrace the full flood that they shine.

Daniel’s latest project is easily his most mature work. It might also be his best.

His third album is an engrossing, deeply atmospheric trip, helmed by seven-minute monster ‘A Boat To An Island On The Wall’, that serves as a repositioning as well as a new highlight.

In a year that’s seen the heavyweights of the industry fannying about with abstract release plans and bickering over streaming services, Shamir has swept through and delivered a record that schools every one of them in the art of purest pop.

This is a collection of tracks that see the potent, unafraid icon that is Carter return to the forefront of British punk and he’s using it as an opportunity to really say something.

These deranged components act as one, swinging into motion in one fatal blow. That it comes out sounding seamless is another thing altogether.

Musically you always know where you stand--the sound of a Death Grips record is unmistakable--powerful, aggressive and confrontational. Which leads us on to Bottomless Pit--very much more of the same, while pushing their sound forward.

There’s nothing particularly new here from Fred bar minor switches into previously unexplored electronic styles, but it still boasts some of his best tracks yet.

There is a surety to ‘Permanent Damage’, however, in the sheer force of lyricism at play. With soulful, silk-like vocals, Joesef weaves this narrative, deftly dealing the blows of this world in absolute destruction, before showing that ultimately, some marks never fade and that’s OK.

Baird has produced a record that you know deserves to be heard, yet want to keep all to yourself.

At once fragile and boisterous, screaming and wailing, kicking at walls then curled up against them, Annabel Dream Reader is far more accomplished than a debut should be.

They may be using Morbid Stuff to face their demons head on, but there’s a sense of reckless abandon to the whole thing that makes it entirely freeing.

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