While these songs are often good, they also lack the colour and experimental zeal of Gorillaz’ best work.

Kazuashita, then, is the barely audible sigh that follows when you crack open the vacuum-sealed bag that preserved GGD in that hiatus--everything’s there, but crisply folded and flat.

Whilst Bad Witch is definitely guilty of too much looking backwards there’s enough to keep us focused on what lies ahead.

Heaven & Earth is ultimately yet another example of Washington’s incredible prowess behind the saxophone but also as a composer.

Hereditary is well worth a listen for a Colin Stetson fan who isn’t really into horror films though as it showcases something that his solo releases lack: overdubbing.

Bon Voyage is a foray into the world of spiritual healing and rediscovery through a various musical textures and emotions.

It will be interesting to see where Protomartyr go from here and if they can sustain this incredible level of output, but if nothing else, Consolation gives hope that this band will continue to be the real deal (pun intended).

It shows that jazz isn’t confined to the past, or dusty records, and is loud, vibrant, angry at society and has something to say. It shows that Onyx Collective can rub shoulders with any band and give as good as they get. It also shows that Onyx Collective can write music flawless music, as well as just jam the bangers out, and have fun doing it.

Funk-by-numbers has not yet had an update worth of Sly Stone; but in Head Over Heels, Chromeo have cracked it. They never miss a beat in updating it for 2018.

For all the remarkably fluid dialogue in Constant Image, none of that would matter if the songs didn’t connect in the first place. And reader, boy do they! Songs like 'Punching Up' and 'Pressure' sound like lost gems that popped up on your local college radio station.

Under all its punk ferocity, however, lies a grander message of mindfulness and mental strength. That’s an immeasurably powerful theme from two musicians both known for bringing vulnerable accounts of severe anxiety and depression to hip hop.

Overall, the album’s songs feel fuller and less wiry in Kidjo and her collaborator's hands. In many respects, the differences aren’t radical, if only in the sense that the band’s influences are so pronounced on the original album. But that said, there are moments that are almost unidentifiable.

You’re listening to Jordan grow on Lush at the same time as you’re wondering how much room she’s left herself to develop creatively; she’s already sounding polished and bracingly mature.

Kanye’s eighth, deeply egotistical, candidly self-aware, frequently cringe-inducing, captivatingly produced and infuriatingly compelling record.

This is a slick, confident, emotionally mature and balanced album, crammed with zingers, from a band who know their territory like the back of their hands.

If Li was a Pokémon collector So Sad So Sexy would have caught ‘em all, but alas--this is music; and the truth is Li should really leave the hip-hop influences too Janelle Monae and Lorde.

Age Of is a maddening, compelling, even thrilling record that feels like a conclusive summation of everything the Oneohtrix Point Never project has been (or even hinted at) to date.

It’s summer-break music for overachievers who grew up to be misanthropic. It’s nightmare symphonic, something that’d play in the movie of your life once you’ve died and the credits rolled. Stripped back more than we’re used to from Joan of Arc, 1984 preserves their sense of humour in the track names only littering their work instead with pure statements of intent.

The record is bookended by the heaviest tracks, and 'Uncle Frank Says Turn It Down' picks up where the opener left off. ... The middle section of the album is more explorative with the metallic, bending and flexes of ‘Europa’ creating an unnerving interlude after the ruckus before it.

If the results could always mesmerise and captivate as much as LUMP’s too-brief debut, perhaps we’d listen and follow suit.

God’s Favourite Customer isn’t quite perfect - it lags in the final furlong as piano ballads are fallen back upon one too many times (the title track, ‘The Songwriter’) and lacks the unified overarching narrative of ...Honeybear--but it continues to showcase one of the finest songwriters of a generation.

This isn’t merely a remarkable return: it’s one most one of the most assured--and assuredly rewarding--albums of the year thus far.

Her abstract notion seems to unfold halfway through opener ‘Spells’, as she starts engaging in a form of scat singing, amid wispy solos and a dreamy chorus.

There is a nagging sense with this attempt that they are leaning on their influences even more than usual, however this is also stands as their best-produced and most accessible record, so there is a balance struck. Whether those outside of the proggy, psychedelic set will acknowledge that, remains to be seen.

Overall, Wildness is a really great comeback record. There are a few dud tracks in there, especially in the first half of the album, but these are more than compensated for by the excellence of the remainder of the record.

The third album by Glasgow’s Chvrches, Love is Dead, is the sound of your heart as it falls back in love.

There are flaws in the album, as some songs could be shortened a little and not every song connects, but once you start trying to add that individual polish, you would risk losing the essential character of the whole. As a solo debut, it is an album of assured intelligence.

What compels here, is Castle’s ability to have created a piece of art so intimately descriptive of her personal fear of death, and how it links to the songwriter process and her thirst for immortality.