Having watched countless American artists demonstrate through their music that Black Lives Do Indeed Matter, Kele Okereke has finally achieved his own Black-British take in ‘2042’, capturing all the fears and foibles of our current political system through a sonic palette that recalls some of the earliest of Bloc Party’s work.

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.

There's no doubt 'Nocturniquet' is amongst the band's best work, and sufficiently different – witness for instance the loud bass-heavy synths that pervade the heavier tracks – from their career highlights that it should satisfy all comers. It's f***ing brilliant, and that's really all there is to it.

Born Under Saturn is a record so vivid it threatens to become visual.

Free of statements and the man’s desire to make every record some kind of grand manifesto, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is a mini-triumph that’s only occasionally tarnished.

Too True is a decent enough album and one which ends more strongly than it begins. But it isn't as good as 'Only In Dreams' and because of that, it can't help but feel a bit underwhelming.

It's very different, and whether or not it's better than The Mars Volta is a debate for others; what is clear is that Omar Rodriguez Lopez--and friends--still have a lot more to offer.

A laid-back, well-considered and joyous effort to swing you through the summer months.

iven the excitement that’s put to tape, it’s obvious this has been Jungle’s intention all along; not to be mysterious, not even to be adored; just to be the record that plays while people’s lives are shaped. Something that’s remembered within every pang of nostalgia.

This is a fine piece of synthpop that is a good addition to the collection of any fan of this genre.

More questions than answers, more problems than solutions, but with just enough moments of sheer brilliance to justify it as a release.

It’s very much designed in their own image - as debuts go, this is an impressive mission statement.

They still sound like they’re on a process of self-discovery, just a couple of steps away from striking gold.

It’s a rewarding experience and probably one of the closest, most intimate listens an artist will offer this year.

A welcome return.

There are a number of genuinely interesting pieces here that make this a very worthwhile addition to Bjork's discography.

Although the ten tracks are by no means light of memorable moments, it's the thrilling range of diverse songs that flow effortlessly that makes Antipodes a debut album to take note of.

A far cry from ‘Magnolia’ and even ‘Peripheral Vision’, Good Nature is proof that experimentation can pay off. And though not so left-of-centre as to be inaccessible, it’s still a richly nuanced record that reveals more of itself with each listen.

None of this feels enough to truly deserve that futuristic tag, but maybe this new set-up just needs time to find their own MO? In the meantime, we’ve got another great single to add to that hypothetical greatest hits.

Forever is just a little bit tedious, quite repetitive and by the end, unfortunately, thoroughly forgettable.

There's a bewitching quality to it which suggests Clinic actually only exist in some form of musical vacuum. And right now, that sounds like a most spellbinding place to be.

Despite some stellar production and sparkling pop moments, it feels like there’s been little evolution in the duo’s sound in the five years since ‘Another Eternity’.

Leaning more into the pop-rock sound of their previous record, ‘Unwanted’ shines in its ability to produce a pop-punk anthem your ‘00s faves wish they could’ve written. Throughout, Heather holds nothing back.

Every song has its own character, with each one further clarifying Will as a great musician and songwriter in his own right, as though there were any doubts.

Moving beyond previous stand-out singles, Scheller also treads new paths, with varied results.

These are tracks that could easily be ballads slipped into a Hot Chip record, but where there they’d be bolstered with synths and programmed beats, here they are stark and knowingly bold in their simplicity.

Glasshouse isn’t exactly groundbreaking. It could also do with being about half its mighty 17-track length.

While the heavy beats and hooky vocals guarantee fruitful foot-tapping rewards, there’s also an abundance of obnoxious sound effects lurking around every corner. Snapped Ankles revel in this kind of chaos, though, so as far as they’re concerned, it’s mission accomplished.

What’s most impressive is in how Cole’s story peaks towards the end. Instead of dragging you down or being overbearing, Is The Is Are’s tale finds stark truths when it closes.

Despite the missteps it’s What the World Needs Now’s ability to sound energised and fresh which makes it an album that you can’t dismiss.

Each track here, from the Argentinian horns and swaggering funk of ‘Angels / Your Love’ to the offbeat drumming and joyous vocals (courtesy of soul legend Charles Bradley) on ‘Grant Green’, it’s like a meticulously stitched patchwork of musical discovery.

There are some cringey bits, the title track relying a little too much on well-trodden punk tropes, the vocals ‘Still Breathing’ not as vulnerable as the lyrics might warrant, and ‘Youngblood’ a bit of a mis-step. If punk’s 50th anniversary has shown us anything, it’s that many old rockers grow old, go soft and give in. On that count, if not all, Green Day are faring pretty well.

In its final form, Wilsen’s debut is big and bright, melodic guitar lines sprinkled across the whole thing.

This time, with their newest album, the band seem to want to give something back, and whilst obviously somewhat dark at moments, it comes loaded with joyous and celebratory sounds.

There’s two sides to Blood, that much is certain, and it’s the juxtaposition of these cradling tracks with the gut punchers that really leaves you breathless for more.

With room for refinement this isn’t LFY’s crowning glory by any stretch, but it’s a purposeful record that shows a trio holding on to the makings of something quite special.

It's a unique record in the wider sense, but maybe less so within the band's own back catalogue--if you've yet to be snake-charmed by the occasionally venomous but oh-so-shiny Black Moth Super Rainbow, this is certainly a good place to start.

The lyrics are a little more personal, the band a little more developed - it seems that this is the start of a new and exciting chapter for The Gaslight Anthem.

It’s hard to ignore the inconsistency and feeling that something’s lacking from its second half. That said, the rough-around-the-edges charm and guitar-packed indie give DMA’s a great starting point on this album.

The result is a set of nine songs, each one brimming with musical interest and experimentation.

Blood, like ‘Woman’, is honest. It’s an endearing expression of sexuality.

TEEN’s sonic approach is chaotically diverse throughout and this very much feels like an album of two halves; when it captures the alienation and isolation it strives for, though, it soars.

It's just a little more grown up.

While its inconsistencies might betray the circumstances of its creation, it’s comforting to know that The Go! Team’s defiant experimentalism remains undiminished.

There’s still plenty of room for Fear of Men to grow, but without outside influence, they’re already masters of a unique craft.

Life-changing? Perhaps not. Life-affirming, on the other hand? You betcha.

There is a lot to take in here but certainly a lot of fun to be had in the process as well.

An excellent collection of soul-bearing Americana.

Assured, confident, and infectious, Wait For Something To Happen sees a band developing both as musicians and songwriters while still retaining what made them great in the first place.

All in all, Summer Camp have offered up a wholly enjoyable second effort, possessing of a homespun charm that bears more similarities to those early Myspace demos than predecessor 'Welcome To Condale'.

Featuring some fairly rudimentary drumming, and predictable solos, this is the musical equivalent of 'painting-by-numbers'.

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

Richly detailed and supremely defined, Half Of Where You Live is a wonderfully vivid follow up from a producer at the top of his game.

It's good--but not great.

Sic Alps is an often fine, often frustrating listen which only succeeds when some flesh is applied to those skinny Californian bones.

While not exactly the wildlife-soundtracking level of Nan-friendly safe his day job has reached, it’s largely default Jónsi, just with a few more effects.

After the immediacy of Wolfgang, ‘Bankrupt!’ can seem like a sidestep. But delve deeper and this is an album reveals itself as a gem; one which mixes their crowd-pleasing hooks with an inventive shift in their sound.

Soft Will marks Smith Westerns moving into another realm of quality and experimentation, and, to put it quite simply, this album is just a complete pleasure to listen to.

‘Are You Fucking Your Ex’ has none of the melodrama its title suggests, the question holding about as much weight as ‘did I leave the bathroom light on?’, and ‘I Got Hurt’ sledgehammers the line “I got hurt… and it didn’t feel good”. For a songwriter who’s so loved for finding poetry in the quotidian, for saying so much with so little, it’s just a bit basic. Maybe if he’d allowed him - and us - to wallow a bit, he’d have had more of a point.

For every moment which drifts slightly, there is another where they toss the superfluous and it all returns to tremendous, streamlined pop.

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

So we get the usual talk of death rides, mescalitoes and, erm, black pudding. But when the duo do click, it’s masterful.

It’s a far braver album than his debut. Chaotic, experimental, but oddly refined, it looks like Aaron Jerome has released one of 2014’s most exciting albums.

Mixed Emotions' has a track for every mood without ever sounding in the least bit forced or contrived... Finger clicking good.

‘You Better Run’, while perfectly adequate, has the aura of ‘pub back room’ to its chugging riffs; it’s fine, but it’s largely filler. In general though, As You Were is almost certainly the best thing Liam’s offered us since he parted ways with his big bro.

It’s all the more joyous for its lack of shame. This is a major label pop album and that’s OK.

Throughout, keys shimmer, the production is bright and sky-facing, with an emphasis on synthetic beats. It makes for an album that’s unsubtle and all the better for it.

With his debut album, Alfie Templeman has found a means of discovering himself and a means to cope. It makes for something incredibly promising.

The last third of the record is more streamlined, with the sweeping, subtly metallic ‘Kill Or Be Killed’ offering a welcome throwback to the days when Muse were at their best, but it’s not enough to redeem this all-too-OTT offering.

Seven albums in, they’re not so much shifting the formula as refining it and waiting for cult stardom to creep up on the scene.

Hobo Rocket is a genuinely believable, and extremely successful celebration.

Synths bloom like the early morning rays of the sun, reaching out to a lover lost in the darkness. ‘Tu sais ce qu’il me faut’ celebrates seduction as he lusts over a beau; the way they walk, the way they dance, their body is celebrated in all its glory.

Another Language’ opener ‘New Topia’ is quite starkly different to their early work, losing much of the dark overtones in favour of a gentle build and furious, ecstatic release. From a distance, it’s the kind of no-holds-barred heavy rock sound that Mogwai made their own, but This Will Destroy You take it a step further, pushing the whole recording into distortion.

Comparisons are all well and good, but ultimately Making Time’s strength is in asserting exactly what Woon specialises in. After so many years away, a reminder was much needed.

It’s an album which sees the band taking new sounds and crafting songs in new ways. But this tightness and restraint is sometimes to the detriment of the songs.

Tales From Terra Firma offers a richer, fuller sound than the debut album and some tracks are tinged with an ever-so-gentle coating of sobriety and growing maturity but the important components of melody and subtlety are relatively unchanged.

Machineries Of Joy isn’t [the truly vital album], but what it is is a touching, ambitious and inventive album, and one which stands head and shoulders above most

Inevitably, in this bursting collection of high energy rock, the album loses its bite towards the end.

The real charm of this record comes in its additional moments of character; the spoken-word interruptions (‘Do Something’) or soundbite introductions (‘She Wants Me Now’) which somehow tie the album together even more tightly.

The record finds a way of making her atypical pop sit comfortably in the mainstream, offering something genuinely new. Coming a long way since sitting adjacent to Pharrell in the studio at NYU, Maggie Rogers has certainly found her own voice.

It's one of those albums you could listen to again and again.

Maps & Atlases have carved for themselves a neat little niche in the indie rock world. And we should be grateful for that, rather than having another generic album, and be interested to see where the band goes next.

‘Unlimited Love’ certainly won’t win over the naysayers. As the laid-back funk and wordplay of ‘Poster Child’ attests, all their usual tropes are present and correct, meaning whatever your view on the Chili Peppers, this record will only confirm it.

There is intelligence and creativity on display here that other bands would do well to pay attention to.

>> is not a pleasurable listen and it is not an easy listen, but it is an incredible one.

‘Generations’’ best trick is in its variety: if Will is undoubtedly a curious, enthusiastic sort, then that curiosity stretches across propulsive, vitriolic riffs (‘Bethlehem’), idiosyncratic, stripped-back synths (‘Hide It Away’), Randy Newman-esque piano send-offs (‘Fine’) and more. What unites the record, however, is an urgent, anxious sense of unrest.

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.

Delicate duets, bluegrass string strumming and some of the most genuinely emotive lyrics you'll hear all year combine to produce an album of rare and beautiful quality.

Recycled though some of these tales may be--his notable past tends to weave its way into much of his work--sung with his Southern drawl and playful hollers, Seasick Steve just about has the charm and vigour to carry them through.

Flexing their muscles as they stretch their creativity, on Pollinator Blondie might not be testing any limits or redefining any capabilities, but they make thinking inside the box sound pretty damn fun.

Your Friend’s unusual combination of the ultra-real with the unnatural world of electronic manipulation makes for a slightly unsettling final product.

For all its adventures into the weird and wonderful, You’re Welcome retains the hallmarks of Wavves at their most recognisable and best.

Trick manages to blend melancholy and unsettling weirdness with a strange, uplifting sense of hope.

He’s created an admittedly imperfect but nonetheless loving ode to some of the greatest milestones in electronic music.

A masterclass in reinventing ‘70s rock for a ‘20s audience, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard are a captivating oddity.

The electronic beat of ‘METALIZM’, with its winding guitars and chanting vocals echoing their melody verbatim, comes over a little too recent-era Muse than anyone needs. But what, on the surface, is mostly a fun, noisy collection does also offer an infinite rabbit hole to dive down.

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.

With highly catchy choruses on ‘Heart of Mine’ and ‘Deliver It’, it’s obvious that the band can deliver the pop sheen they are known for. But while reaching for style, it is only by exception that they achieve their usual substance.