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.

It’s difficult to envisage anyone else but Remy conceiving such a record. This is exemplary, political pop music executed to near perfection.

Three decades after forming, hitting the reset button has unleashed this iconic duo afresh, demonstrating an insatiable ability to forge the perfect dance track, whatever the era. Go get your rave on.

Live up to the hype? The short answer is ‘yes.’ The slightly longer answer is ‘yes, but not as you’d expect it to.’ Funnily enough, the record packs something of a slow burn effect.

There’s a profusion of standout tracks that invite you into Teyana’s world of emotions, sex and vulnerability. ... This a grown woman ready to continue her reign over R&B.

An exhausting and thoroughly absorbing set.... It is a record that everybody should own. Meticulous, majestic, momentous.

San Diego’s Crocodiles have absolutely nailed album number four.

Potent in its masculine restraint, this record has surely always existed, just waiting to be plucked from the surf; a mercurial, magisterial, stick of seaside rock.

From ‘Stuck in the mud’ to ‘What you Reckon’, Digga D is quick and snappy, delivering lyrics that push you to listen again and again. With the confidence that knows he is a star ( he raps ‘I’m as hard as Stromzy and Dave, what a statement to make but I say what I say and I mean it’), Digga D proves he is greater than just another rapper. He is an icon.

If they’ve perfected the modern pop template associated with acts like SOPHIE (on production duties here) - and they have - it’s somehow not the most impressive element of the record. The second half of the album includes a pair of breathtaking epics, ‘Cool & Collected’ and ‘Donnie Darko’, that showcase a songwriting maturity well beyond their 18 and 19 years.

Charli is no doubt an album of too many features and too many parts, but it somehow all fits together in a way that allows her penchant for unconventional songwriting and her ear for an exciting melody to work in concert, creating a project better than most anything she’s done in the past.

The party standards are present and correct. ‘Mamma Mia’ is as dizzying good and gay as you’ll get, the aural equivalent of downing three bottles of pink fizz in an Uber with Magic FM, getting pissed with your pals, on the way to the best night of your life. ‘Waterloo’ crashes in on glam-rock drums, a pantomime dame in silver thigh-highs, as she battles and bosses that irresistible chorus. ‘SOS’? Not even going to talk about it. It’s a double-dunt of serotonin; a sure-fire cure for sadness.

‘Homegrown’ not only lives up to the hype of being a lost classic, it surpasses it.

‘TM’ feels like a classic BROCKHAMPTON record. Immaculate production, genre shapeshifting, and some of the cleanest verses from the group in quite some time. There’s no filler on the record either – just eleven tracks of pure BH instant classics.

It's a truly incredible album, a special album and a rare album.

One of the most engrossing UK electronic albums to land in 2022.

It’s an album that’s somehow halfway between DJ mix and a greatest hits compilation, and arguably the best of The Avalanches’ trio of releases thus far.

This is music that’s meticulous and expansive without ever falling into the trap of being boring or self-indulgent.

Claud’s ability to create earnest, anecdotal songs ensures ‘Supermodels’ is not just a queer-pop triumph but a universal one.

Most of ‘Halo’ was sculpted on the road, a moment of pause and introspection that affords Bakar space to surge forwards creatively.

It's a gem for Harcourt fans and the sweetest of introductions for new listeners.

Hollowed will give you hope, then gut you. Nothing but a victory all round.

He’s deftly left himself room to manoeuvre, but at this rate, there’s a hyperpop throne with his name on it.

Ezra Collective have once again released an album that is hard to fault.

What might be the most understated and confident album of the summer.

Few albums this year will match up to the level of proficiency and commitment here and yet it remains a distinct probability that the world still won't listen. An album that will shadow most others.

Sounding fifty years out of time and traversing genres without concern, it is unlike anything else you will hear this summer. And you really must hear it.

‘RTJ4’ is a must listen. It is diverse enough to appeal to even the hardest crowds. Many genres are represented here, but lyrical hip-hop is at the forefront of all that Run The Jewels is. They stand out from the crowd, whilst invoking the people to stand up for themselves. There is not a bad song on the entire album and the production and features are second to none.

If you love the ambiguous crossover between half-step London sounds and crushed and warped 4/4 peddled by the likes of Martyn, Burial or Joy Orbison, then the love in you will find this album.

As ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ shows, this is an exercise in catharsis. Leafing back through the storybook of our own formative years, we feel it all.

Caroline Polachek has set a serious precedent for any pop releases that follow it this year. She is an artist completely in her own lane, refusing to conform, every moment on this record a vicissitude. Her commitment to her craft is undeniable, her talent indisputable.

The hype for his newest album, 'The Off-Season', reached astronomical heights. Fortunately for fans, they did not have to wait long, and the North Carolina rapper did not disappoint.

She’s broken the curse, she’s woven a spell--and the self-described ‘luckiest little Scottish witch in the world’ is safe to cackle back off into the night, having created possibly the best album we’ll hear all year.

It makes for a stark--often chilling, often exhilarating--collection of music that spans the genre(s), from the well-known to the esoteric, the accessible to the impenetrable.

II is an absolute masterpiece of dancefloor work.

A product of its time, it will unsettle and confuse you, and there are even moments that feel poignant. That is why they will be remembered as an important band, and this album a significant milestone in modern guitar music.

Tense, manic strings chop away at the languid celebration, presaging a gathering storm of noise that reaches its peak only to be plunged abruptly into silence. No neat resolutions here, folks. Onwards.

It is so unmistakably Deerhunter without sacrificing any of their mythos or crucial genetic makeup. And we sure can't find any fault with that.

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

Athena isn’t just an album to be listened to, it’s to be experienced. While this is arguably true of all music, this album is filled with deeply textured soundscapes that feel contemporary but also from the not-too-distant future.

A record that stretches the boundaries, ‘UTOPIA’ feels like his finest hour.

It embraces you like a hug from a friend you haven’t seen for a while. Musically Ellis has created understated gossamer soundscapes that emphasise the emotions of the poems but don't draw the attention from Faithfull’s voice.

The oft-explored worldwide sensualist feels newly alive here, ‘Fountain Baby’ a prime exemplar of mind-expanding afro-pop alchemy that revivifies the weary spirit.

Antiphon is going to divide opinion, but give it a chance--it might just be the best thing they’ve ever done.

Touches of R&B, the nostalgic beats and the impeccable harmonies that the four produce offer comfort with their familiarity and still manage to feel progressive with the 2020 take on these classic elements of an iconic music era. ... Near perfect pop production.

Hopefully we won’t have long to wait for the next instalment but before that let’s just bask in the beauty of this beautiful album.

In context and execution, Songs Of Praise is one of the most daring, scorching, seethingly intelligent, and at times downright funny British guitar albums to come our way in years.

‘Praise…’ feels like a completed maze, a finite and full creation, and cements Tumor as an extraordinary explorer.

Oh My God is Kevin Morby’s attempt at crafting his own post-modern American Songbook. The sound of a succinct vision--executed precisely as intended.

She's brilliant, sometimes inspired, and this tenth studio album finds her gifts undiminished.

Serpentwithfeet teaches us to be ourselves, to endure and be happy and love each other, and it’s rare to hear these simple, well-known things being delivered with a power and strength that can transcend the medium of music itself, turning it into a pure magic.

The Portland-based psych-rock outfit’s second album is an absolute triumph.

Offering up a mix of pop, hip-hop, R&B and a sprinkling of trap and neo soul for good measure, Lizzo covers all bases and serves the perfect introduction to her world for mainstream audiences.

They’ve come out the other end with a truly talismanic record that will live long in the memory for any who experience it.

This isn’t mere voguish reinvention but a masterful insertion into the most indecipherable of back catalogues, and its reliably mutable, endlessly wandering creator.

This album serves up Summer Walker’s best work yet. It’s brutal, yet romantic, it’s fun, yet flirty, it’s everything any listener could be wanting. A rollercoaster of emotions and she’s not even finished yet.

It’s not as shiny as ‘Nevermind’, nor as raucous as ‘Bleach’; it’s not as sensibly realised as it would have been has DGC had entirely their own way, but nor does it completely kick against Cobain and company’s prior achievements.

He draws on the many splintered facets of UK rap – and other sonic traits besides – while somehow transcending them. Literate, wise, and emotionally devastating, ‘We’re All Alone In This Together’ places Dave at the absolute pinnacle of British music.

A dystopian masterpiece.

He sounds freer than ever. ‘The House Is Burning’ subverts expectations. ... Rashad’s music is like a sonic encyclopaedia of Southern rap reference points.

[Gloss Drop] is one of the most startling, visually emotive albums we've heard in years. Vividly audacious.

It's heavy, but so very beautiful.

Thankfully, they’ve saved their finest ideas for Tomorrow’s Harvest, which burns as brightly as anything they have accomplished thus far

As his main band disappears into "indefinite hiatus", console yourself with the knowledge that Birgisson has just made the best record of his career.

‘SIGN’ is an album that doesn’t just get under your skin, but in your head. If you give it enough time it will own, you and you will feel better for it. Autechre have returned and the wait was definitely worth it.

There is just Nick Cave, stripped to the bone and robbed of a future. It’s impossible to turn away.

What will keep you coming back to Film Festival is a profound desire to dissect further, to unpack the lyrical and instrumental proficiency to such a degree you feel so in on the joke that Mike and Paul aren’t just collaborators and flawless music makers to you, they’re friends.

Dublin in the rain belongs to Fontaines D.C., and rather than being too real this album is just right, it is a ragged delivery. The trick lies in the seemingly un-filtered rawness combined with its stark poetic reality. The three components help secure this album’s position as an example of authenticity; authenticity in its most concentrated and truest form and expression.

The trio’s self-titled debut album sounds like the first airing of lost classic rock record, with a tonality redolent of tube amps and smoky studios. ... A bold and surprising statement of purpose and intent.

Duchampian yet danceable and nothing short of essential.

An uplifting album with a distant and ever present sadness culminates on a high note, and then right before you know it, you’ll start it all over again.

‘Young Shakespeare’ is a fascinating artifact. Before ‘Sugar Mountain’ he says he’s 25 years old. Imaging being 25 and knowing you have another album, pretty much, ready to go and teasing audiences with snippets from it? It really does boggle the mind. The album is another flawless release which sees Young digging through his live recordings and releasing albums of interest.

{Awayland} is just brilliant.

A dazzling display of technical and emotional virtuosity, ‘Busy Guy’ is an incredible experience, a work of true intimacy from a songwriter whose return is long overdue. Magical.

While DRIFT’s production values remain solid, a few tracks would have needed more time to be fleshed out. ... Even then, you can trust Underworld to play to their strengths. ... By taking all these ideas and running with them, Underworld has rushed in where most artists fear to tread.

A record everyone with half an experimental ear should experience, even if they run from it, screaming.

A work of quite singular intensity, it leaves a lasting impact.

bar italia unravels the sprawling and playful, yet concerted, development of their sound. Largely abandoning the sketchy, diaristic transitions and abrupt ends so characteristic of their previous sound—and World Music acts, generally—’Tracey Denim’ progresses with relative sonic coherence.

Overall, ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ is excellent. The praise the original album received for its composition, songwriting and overall curation is still absolutely worthy, and will hopefully serve as a reminder of how and why Taylor Swift became one of the greatest solo artists of her generation. The tracks from the vault are exquisite and make strong additions to the album as a whole, and it would be surprising if these songs didn’t become immediate chart successes given their likeability and quality.

Without doubt, this is one of the folk albums of the year.

Devastating, but utterly beautiful.

'Superache' is a definitive evolution for Gray. A matured turn since his debut 'Kid Krow', 'Superache' continues to exemplify Gray's flair for pop bops, but with ripened introspection.

The North Borders is a triumph--each listen is a revelation; seemingly it’s a breadth of work that marks a new, exciting era of electronic music.

To Be Kind is altogether more colourful, an expansive record--fleshier, bloodier and lusciously psychedelic.... Near perfection.

Something about the songwriting on ‘This Is Why’ are undeniably the most something, Williams both elegant and sandpaper-coarse, depending on what is called for.

This is Hopkins’ strongest album to date. It is also his bravest. Which is saying something indeed.

An excellent return.

Rest assured, his remarkable voice and grasp of melody remain undimmed and while it may not sound exactly as you were expecting, it is a bold, distinctive and genuinely excellent record.

Put aside your cynicism, and dial into the fireworks: ‘Wet Leg’ is an exceptional debut album.

‘Hit Parade’ is as colourful and playful as Róisín Murphy herself. Truly a contender for album of the year, Murphy has created an album of true musical depth that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

A genuine thrill from an artist who could rest on her nostalgia laurels, Kylie is back for her well-deserved crown.

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.

Where three years of agonised, vice-grip creation and destruction preceded Grizzly Bear’s 2012’s multi-dimensional effort ‘Shields’, the five years of space following has worked in their favour--leading to the conception of a creature that breathes confidently with a heavy sense of hyper-ambition in Painted Ruins.

As an album, though still swinging from one place to another with glee, The Underside Of Power feels important, and very, very serious, as a body of work. It is one of the year’s very best albums, and sets out Algiers as one of the decade’s very best bands.

This is a confident, bold and captivating record, and one which is dominated by that beguilingly ragged voice.

This record is about living, even as it is shaped by loss. They make the tiny changes, as the grieving do. Re-frame what is left, and keep him alive within.

Michael Kiwanuka has undoubtedly created a timeless album, one made with impressive confidence.

Most bands master a sound, but there’s the distinct feeling here that TOTS are merely vessels for a force operating somewhere beyond our comprehension of what can, and does, qualify as pop music.