On this record Fat White Family solidify their status as a one of Britain’s most unique voices, and ‘Forgiveness Is Yours’ is the strongest example yet of the band’s caustic creativity.

Pushing 50 Iron & Wine proves he still has much to say in a hypnotic record full of lush production, highlighting the warmth and timelessness of his vocals. If not one necessarily to win over new fans, this will delight longtime fans who have been along for the ride.

This latest set sees Clark back in domineering form. There’s not a second wasted on the album’s taut track list, the songwriter managing to balance her teenage inspirations simultaneously, go back to basics, and break new ground all at once.

Daring, experimental, and hugely addiction, Blue Lab Beats may just have delivered your summer soundtrack.

Towards the end of the album, tracks threaten to meld into each other, making for one big visceral haze of love-lamenting. But beat seekers should find their bag on dynamic tracks like ‘Florida!!!’, a thumping, bewitching collaboration with Florence + The Machine, ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?,’ and triumphantly-erupting, more optimistic ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.’

It didn’t matter where it was, this writer and many other listeners have been able to get away from their troubles, even if just for a moment, and take a moment to breathe, and listen to this beautiful album.

The punchy ‘Drink N Dance’ utilises ominous 80s synths, while ‘This Sunday’ is potent, and atmospheric. ‘Gracious’ is carefully finessed, more evidence of the duo’s world-building techniques. That said, though, there’s a huge amount here that simply passes you by. ‘Always Be My Fault’ is meandering, lacking structure, while songs like ‘Luv Bad Bitches’ and ‘Mile High Memories’ lack substance.

‘Silence Is Loud’ is unafraid to look beyond this hyper-focussed lens. As such, you’ll encounter jazz and neo-soul vibes, alongside bass-bin rattlers galore.

For all their recent productivity and renaissance, A Certain Ratio are no closer to their zeitgeist moment. But with output as strong as this sitting alongside their back catalogue, they are all the stronger for it.

A fast-paced, immediate selection ‘Dark Matter’ easily ranks amongst Pearl Jam’s most straight-forwardly enjoyable releases.

More in keeping with the spirit of indie rock iconoclasts bar italia, say, than Autechre, it nonetheless feels wholly deserving of its place in the Warp Records catalogue – questing, free, and dissonant, it’s the work of a group who remain steadfast in their ability to challenge themselves.

Each track will find its moment to shine, granting the ability to grow and evolve over the seasons. Skimming just under the forty-minute mark, Khruangbin conclude with a focused and consistent body of work, making their long-awaited homecoming.

It’s METZ’s most confident record so far and a deafening reminder that art wasn’t designed to adhere to paint-by-numbers standards – it’s meant to bend until it breaks into something new.

Where Bodega do succeed is in serving up an entertaining, intellectual and heartfelt riposte to the broken systems that have engulfed our culture, albeit in a slightly less successful fashion than before.

While the playing is never less than exceptional – displaying Mark Knopfler’s assured rhythmic sensibility, and his lyrical lead styles – the arrangements on ‘One Deep River’ can sometimes falter.

Hard to say when each track on this album is ridiculously strong in its own right. Much like the artist behind them.

It’s evident that with ‘Yummy’ that the band’s appetite for creating music remains unsated and it sees the band at their most creative and progressive, delivering an impressive and thought-provoking body of work that can easily be ranked as one of their best.

Each note feels necessary, each word feels heartfelt – in chipping away at the excess to reveal these personal snapshots, Maggie Rogers has unlocked something very special indeed.

A step beyond 2022’s ‘Superache’, ‘Found Heaven’ stretches Conan Gray’s pop template once more. Often emotive, it lingers on his truth while relishing synth-pop immediacy.

‘Only God Is Above Us’ is an elegant summation of the band’s journey and strengths – of joy, sincerity and a feeling of believing in and offering calm amongst the chaos.

As with all their output, ‘Ohio Players’ is a few tracks longer than necessary (the cover of William Bell’s ‘I Forgot To Be Your Lover’ is superfluous) but otherwise finds the duo in spirited form.

The resulting record leaves the listener feeling power alongside their anger, and brings a fresh and compelling blend of punk, rock, grime and rap together in an experimental way.

As both a treatise and a sonic testament, ‘COWBOY CARTER’ is its own triumph; unmoored in form, space and time, it’s the work of a preternatural talent painstakingly poring over every word, stratified vocal, sample and stylistic flourish.

Whilst we aren’t handed the next chapter of The Libertines story on a platter, the beauty and tumult of the band is in the subtext. It’s in John Hassall and Gary Powell joining Barat and Doherty’s mythic duo on vocals for the first time on ‘Man With The Melody’. It’s in the closer, ‘Songs They Never Played On The Radio’, which was born in 2006 and finished for ‘All Quiet…’, one of the most beautiful Libertines songs of all time.

The album is Kelly Moran’s finest work to date and really shows why she is in a league of her own. She is moving in her own field.

Long in gestation, ‘Mother’ feels finessed, her technical skills as a producer aligned to a gut instinct for what works in a club environment. Deftly pieced together, this feels like one of 2024’s most assured and enjoyable electronic records.

Ride seem to be embrace and move past their illustrious past, resulting in one of the most finessed, intriguing albums of their career to date.

With ‘Evolution’ it feels like this has been an album she has been itching to make and she has done so with wisdom, purpose and candour. Truly compelling, her artistry and perspective will make us all open our eyes a little bit wider whilst continuing to hanker after the beautiful human experience.

It’s an accomplished record that leans into the familiar with flourishes of exciting new textures that make it a constantly engaging listen with plenty to unpack.

It’s evocative and like much of Empress Of’s entire discography, it’s a reconfiguration of laptop material and pop expectations. It subverts heartbreak, makes it sexy, and silhouettes a continuous desire to distort dancefloor traditions with experimental come-ons.

At times uneven, the project stands as testament to the unique bond between these two A-list rap talents.

An endlessly engrossing record.

A stunning set of songs, this is an album that whispers its impact long after the last note has finished.

Both shockingly immediate and with immense replay value, TYLA’s debut album taps into the emerging energies of spring to produce one of 2024’s most insistent projects.

We are so here for Lauran’s honesty and the way tracks like ‘Mary’ and ‘Jealous’ and ‘90’s Kid’ are anthemic yet personal.

Revelatory, raw but resplendent throughout, ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ is one of Shakira’s best albums to date and is a fitting testimony to her strength and resilience turning what was a devastating situation into a beautiful body of work.

This is an album that further cements their legacy and feels like it captures elements from across their 20-year career into something wholly new and exciting.

Undeniably impressive, ‘Three’ neatly frames the wondrous aspects of Four Tet’s work. It doesn’t move beyond the landscapes fans will be familiar with, choosing instead to embrace a more understated pursuit of evolution. For those in search of electronic beauty, however, few albums will be more radiant or rewarding.

Uncompromising and unconventional, ‘Glasgow Eyes’ sit comfortably in The Jesus and Mary Chain canon.

‘Everything I Thought It Was’ can sometimes be forgettable across its 18-track largesse, while thematically it feels bunched around a cluster of feelings.

‘Rockmaker’ is an experience of the addictive kind, a fitting reminder of what’s terrific about the Portland band, and it offers something novel, something blistering.

It’s the honest messaging that makes ‘WORLD WIDE WHACK’ her bravest work to date. This is music to get lost in. Whack seems to have lost herself and found herself within it too.

Whilst the premise of this album is for Ariana to purge all memories of her previous relationship whilst coming of age into her third decade, it’s highly unlikely we will be forgetting about ‘Eternal Sunshine’ any time soon.

‘Bleachers’ as an album symbolises the full-throttle shift from solo voice to its current form of ensemble unity; a band of six-talented musicians entering their most monumental era yet.

At times ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album’ feels uneven and grating. However, the band should be applauded for their risk taking and sonic shift and there’s no doubt that the album performed live will be full of the energy and polish that is synonymous with their shows.

A record that refuses to compromise, ‘BLUE LIPS’ presents ScHoolboy Q in unfiltered form. A creative accelerator, its commitment to the individual voice makes this the LA rapper’s definitive statement.

It has the power to give you these little, unexpected, rushes enabling you to fall utterly for this intricate, complex, but captivating album.

A new listener to Everything Everything may not be fully converted, but the synth-pop twinkles coating this record freshen up their sound.

‘Where’s My Utopia?’ is a musically diverse step forward for Yard Act, who refuse to be intimidated by their debut.

Psychedelic rock in its original form, the album is unlikely to win the duo many new fans, but as a testament to enjoying life, it’s unrivalled.

Real Estate emerged as a band renewed, the palpable unity in these performances amplifying their sense of purpose. A Springtime joy.

‘On Purpose, With Purpose’ shows an artist who continues to be authentic, whilst also realising that at this stage of his career he needs to adapt his style in order to achieve greatness.

The rugged, ragged ‘Twenty Things’ sits against the bolshy ‘Sad Lads Anonymous’, a record whose sonic breadth is matched to the assured nature of its construction.

As a whole, ‘Loss Of Life’ deftly balances the ability to appeal to the hardcore fans who have stuck with them, all while winning back the hearts of those who may have been lost along the way.

Nestled amongst some of her most nuanced and carefully placed moments of Americana and joined by a host of backing singers and musicians from Connor Oberst to Hand Habits‘ Meg Duffy, Segarra manages to take solace in the fact that while we are victims of our formative years, there is always scope to heal.

‘Under The Sun’ isn’t an album to play while doing something else. It might start off as this but eventually you are listening intently, lost in its dense fug of sound and delicate melodies.

A project that demands to be listened to in one sitting, there is an immersive quality across the tracklist that instantly strikes through. Each track is submerged in a nocturnal wash of acoustics, playful in its use of distance, textures and melody.

Itasca’s ‘Imitation Of War’ is a wonderful record, one whose spell only reveals itself over countless enraptured listens.

Wise’s third record is a glossy-smooth addition to a stellar discography, oozing with infectious melodies, tempered production and lashes of sex appeal.

In forty minutes, the band not only reminds listeners why they became scene heroes but also why they’re one of the UK’s most thrilling exports. For our money, it’s another home-run of a record.

In terms of consistency, ‘Venus’ doesn’t quite match her previous work. Sure, it’s heaps of fun at times and packed with plenty of euro pop bangers to satisfy the faithful, but this time around, otherworldly, celestial highs compensate for moments when Larsson surrenders to commercial viability during its unfortunately frequent lows.

‘COMING HOME’ competently portrays love as part Afrodisiac, part pulse-racing chase, part languorous and lived-in sensation. ‘COMING HOME’ is also tangential to the live spectacle, and that’s okay.

His third is a fun yet wonderfully composed record that sounds radically different to what he’s produced before. If a little odd at points with a dialling down of immediacy, patience is required to fully appreciate the pay-off.

While it may be hard to place genre-wise, it’s not hard to see its quality and sense of ambition.

While it’d be difficult to proclaim it her finest work, ‘She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She’ is certainly Wolfe’s most ambitious and careful-constructed album. Deliciously-dramatic in its nocturnal flair, it cracks open a whole new set of tantalising sonic possibilities for Wolfe’s and her collaborators’ future.

The record holds a conciliatory anger at a civilisation that can’t save itself from itself. And through an exploration of war, bloodspill, loss and confusion Vera Sola has continued to tell her story, and invite us into her arresting world.

This is an album is subtle transition. Broadening the dynamic between light and shadow, rock crunch and synth splendour, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes grapple with their sound, oozing confidence at every turn.

It’s a delightful, towering debut that will indeed leave you ecstatic.

While hardly reinventing the wheel with ‘What Do We Do Now,’ J has yet again delivered a set of songs that only an enigma like he could.

Arresting, yet often unexpected, ‘Fairweather Friend’ pilfers from the indie pop lineage, while daring to stamp out a unique identity of its own.

A bold work of evolution, ‘EVERYBODY CAN’T GO’ utilises some fantastic production – notably from Hit-Boy – to piece together a seamless record, one that hauls his sound forwards into a fresh era.

One of Kirby’s key strengths is her lyrics, but even with her voice front and foremost her repeated appeal to “wait, wait, wait, listen” seems like it could be genuine. On the other hand, the fact that a first spin inspires a kind of relaxed inattention just makes ‘Blue Raspberry’ more of a slow burn, one which rewards listeners who come back for more.

‘What an enormous room’ is an amalgamation of its title: an expansive collection of tracks, difficult to define, but somehow remains undeniably TORRES.

Despite having to navigate different kinds of losses to get to this stage, Tucker and Brownstein have emerged stringently triumphant, their bond stronger and more unshakeable than ever.

As a debut, it cements the band as one with a long path ahead of them. As an album, it’s a deeply moving, mesmerizing work with themes that stick with you long after listening.

Future Islands’ fans will find plenty to love with this album, with some of the songs here already instant favourites and others feeling like some of the best, most fully realised of their career thus far.

A record of real depth, ‘Wall Of Eyes’ closes on a sombre note. Distinctive, melodic, and defined, ‘You Know Me’ doesn’t so much pull at the heartstrings as slice right through them, Thom Yorke’s voice dissolving into a mesh of strings. It’s a suitably potent moment to end the record on – poised and suggestive, it becomes a bridge from one phase, to something as yet uncharted.

Had it been trimmed down to ten or eleven tracks, then maybe we’d be talking about one of Green Day’s strongest releases. As it stands, ‘Saviors’ turns out to be a somewhat confident return to form, but one that also fails to build upon the records that inspired it.

‘Electrowavebaby’ is fun but doesn’t seem to add to his sound, while ‘Mr Coola’ feels a little dated. At its best, though, ‘Insano’ can be riveting.

A blockbuster that lives up to the hype, ‘american dream’ is 21 Savage at his most luminescent. In staying true to himself, he’s been able to build something unique – now he’s taking it to the world.

As with the twin EPs that preceded it, however, the glimpses of originality strewn across ‘Lovegaze’ are too often sparse islands in a sea of pleasant but generic etherea.

Whilst it might not be as immediately stunning as the mix of luscious synth pop and alternate universe James Bond themes on that album [Red Moon In Venus], she still shines on this record, code-switching between English and Romance and beat-switching between sultry R&B and sunny Latin party pop.

‘Iechyd Da’ is a forward-moving record rooted in love and loss, marking a significant chapter in the musician and producer’s career.

A gorgeous album, ‘Big Sigh’ is a winter treat for the long January nights.

The human condition and thus society is complex and difficult to navigate but Sprints have not been afraid to express uncertainty and vulnerability. And all the while they have enveloped these themes in the most glorious noise for us all to find comfort and lose ourselves in. Is it possible to have an album of the year contender on only the first week in? Of course it is.

While her debut could in places feel slight, this new record feels lived-in, and true.

Refusing to be hemmed in, it’s a record of real ambition, an example mirroring fan-pleasing tendencies with actual artistic growth. Sometimes the sequels really are better.

‘i/o’ takes us on a journey… of life and all of its experiences and is set to be one of Peter Gabriel’s greatest solo albums to date.

With a 19-track span and a colossal guest cast, not everything on ‘BLOCKBUSTA’ lands. There’s a feeling sometimes that these collaborations were done separately and then spliced together, with some moments lacking cohesion, or a sense of chemistry. ‘HOMAGE’ with Kodak Black feels flat, for example, while the record’s eclecticism prevents ‘BLOCKBUSTA’ from truly coalescing. That said, there are moments of real bravery.

The downside to the album is to appreciate it properly you need to play it front to back, no skipping. Whilst paying attention. This isn’t something to play in the background. You need to concentrate on it.

Kevin Abstract’s newest studio album continues to assert him as one of the greatest talents of this generation, an individual who eliminates conformity and remains earnest and candid, regardless of the sonic environment he visits.

Its primary strength lies in the way Drake threads himself and finds pockets within the grooves and crevices, foregoing lustre and grandiosity in favour of an understated performance piece. .... There’s an existential paranoia about this recent iteration of Drake, however.

This album is a step in the right direction in terms of mood, but it’s an overstep in terms of the emotional burden Brown is offering. The choruses are repetitive and don’t fit, and the take away should be focusing more on balance. However, it’s not a question of if he can get that balance right, but when.

Ultimately, the Achilles heel of the whole project is how invested, how much fans will truly believe in this. To some, it’s a meme stretched to breaking point, the elasticity of his flute-playing hauled out to become an opaque sheet, void of detail. To others, it’s an excellent – almost unclassifiable – mood piece. Whether it’s the meanderings of an internet-savvy millionaire or the crucial work of a modern day ambient auteur is perhaps in the eye of the beholder.

It takes a special sort to do such songs justice with a mere acoustic guitar, but Marshall manages it. When things go electric, the ante isn’t upped nearly enough, however, and can’t help but pale compared to the frantic energy of The Hawks and Dylan fighting the audience.

A long time coming, ‘Heaven knows’ is a debut album that was well worth the wait from PinkPantheress, and a sign of a promising career from the singer.

Overall ‘Quarter Life Crisis’ reigns true to Baby Queen’s signature synth-pop sound whilst being let down by lyrical cliches on a couple of the more manufactured upbeat, pop tracks. The album, however, triumphs on the more toned-down tracks showing a new dimension to the alt-pop starlet’s songwriting style.

It’s an album to get lost in and to find the pockets of light that punctuate the sublime melodies and dank instrumentation.