Frank’s rich sense of storytelling is still here, it’s just fragmented. But once Blonde’s ambiguity begins to piece together, it becomes something remarkable.

Brave in its deeply honest expression, it’s a beautiful record that tactfully captures the often confusing and contradicting feelings when truly in love.

A vulnerable, accomplished but, most importantly, empowering debut.

The result is a deeply personal album, at once beautiful and mournful, and rarely straightforward.

While Hop Along’s frontwoman’s vocal still acts like a pummelling, emotive and unmistakable instrument, Hop Along’s sound has expanded accordingly on Painted Shut to fully accommodate her storytelling.

While the troubles are integral, ‘Pain Olympics’ also manages to find moments of lightness and creative joy throughout.

Too Bright is a diverse, multi-faceted and all-absorbing slice of sheer mastery.

The music is the same gorgeous blend of folk-rock in the vein of Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks as on previous albums, and indeed, many of the song titles, such as ‘Children of the Empire’, feel lifted from the dusty cover of a forgotten LP of ballads.

Puberty 2 leaves no stone unturned in its attempt to make grim tales seem even worse than you could possibly imagine. It’s a brutally tough shock to the system, one that will leave its trace for years to come.

Dense to the extreme, a thick fog of emotions that concedes nothing, this is as uncompromising and potentially definitive as a break-up album could ever be.

Still, for all his determination to thumb his nose at convention, I Love You, Honeybear finds Tillman falling face first into perhaps the most expected of musical tropes: the “mature” sophomore release.

As a self-contained piece, just furthers her ability to create immersive worlds to fall into.

A masterclass in grandiose ferocity, the album harks back to the urgency of their early days and collides with the expansive melodies that underpinned much of their more recent output. Although on the surface the most aligned to their turn-of-the-century sound, ‘Ohms’ is filled with the twisted flourishes and unexpected juxtapositions that have guided the band’s lengthy career.

Produced by acclaimed synthpoppers Hot Chip, the record creeps and sizzles with their circuit-board infusions to layer an added eeriness upon Ibibio’s Afrofuturist vision.

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

Random Access Memories is, for all the DJ-on-camera dancing hype, an album in the proper sense of the word; these aren't thirteen dancefloor ready bangers, it's a grandiose statement of intent.

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.

Whether it’s a modern California of wildfires and livestreams, or a nostalgic glance at a James Dean, Marilyn Monroe make-believe - it’s Lana Del Rey’s world, we’re just living it.

The message of US Girls hides under an instrumental output which is far more intriguing than its lyrics--the music is a bit too good for its political musings to be wholeheartedly focused on.

Exploring further realms--both musically and lyrically--with familiar hands, heads and hearts, this is an album, and a band, ready to give survival a go.

Familiar yet new and exciting, individualistic without being exclusive, ambitious yet welcoming and engaging, and inventive without becoming the sound of being clever for being clever's sake.

It paints a deeply personal portrait of romance and intimacy, underpinned by an ever-present sense of fun, not least on lead single ‘Daddy’ or the piano-led ‘Please Be Friends’.

Young Fathers haven’t done what was expected of them on Cocoa Sugar but in dodging expectations once again, they continue to triumph.

A showcase of his ability and the things he loves most (Romy and Oliver Sim’s guest spots are a vital part of the LP), it’s the most confident he’s ever sounded.

On ‘hugo’, Loyle Carner proves his willingness to take risks and it pays off. While it feels like we’re still waiting on a total knockout from him, his lyrical progress and appetite for new sonic territories on ‘hugo’ suggests he’s verging ever closer.

Five albums in and The Horrors have obviously found a new lease of life. This V is for victorious.

Expanding upon the electronic foundations laid so deftly with EP ‘Hallucinations’, there’s an assuredness to PVRIS’ latest move - especially during the affirming closer ‘Wish You Well’ - that shows off just how much she’s conquered.

More often than not, musicians determined to avoid old tropes are exhausting. But 22, A Million stands out as Bon Iver’s finest moment yet, a cross between invention and beauty that’s delivered without compromise.