In and of itself, So Long, See You Tomorrow is more or less flawless BBC; their music has always been polite, erudite and winsome, and that beat does not skip here.

‘Morning’ is stately in a hopeful sort of way; ‘Heart’ an uptempo standout that hints at the quiet majesty of Nick Drake in his ‘Bryter Layter’ period. Meanwhile the striking ‘Wave’ pits Beck’s vocal against a lush, sad string arrangement by his dad--but there are moments where the introspection slides into an acoustic torpor, too.

The Oklahoma songwriter is back with some of her most ebullient, ambitiously styled music to date on St Vincent.

Occasionally the bare-bones arrangements, a virtue in the main, serve to expose minor shortcomings in the songs. But overall, it’s a quibble far outweighed by the thrill afforded by a record that’s as honest and open-hearted as anything this great band have put their names to yet.

Menace Beach may have their sonic ingredients already established, but the result is even better than the sum of their parts.

A well-rounded and mature second album.

More Dum Dum than Vivian, September Girls’ debut LP is a reverb-ridden sass-pot of a thing--all fluttering eyelashes and scratchy underbelly.

Total Strife Forever (thanks, Foals) is an ambitious, absorbing debut, and still probably only a glimpse of what East India Youth’s capable of.

Sure, there’s clunky country passages (‘Houston Hades’), brassy crooning (‘J Smoov’) and Cream-y jams (‘Cinnamon and Lesbians’), but Malkmus’ wit remains more than intact in his middle-age.

It might be as modern as loincloth, but ‘California X’ is surely a future classic.

Join The Dots makes good on the band’s promise to deliver a new album every year, though you can’t help but feel certain songs were neglected in favour of more sophisticated production values.

Even attention-grabbing appearances by Lovefoxxx and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor don’t distract from the ambition, intellectualism and plain-speaking seductiveness that make ‘SUM/ONE’ a more than impressive listen.

It all feels rather too short, which was surely Mazes’ plan all along: leave ‘em wanting more.

This is just the latest in a series of EPs from the Philadelphian, though some may quibble it’s light on original material.

Featuring cameos from David Longstreth, Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek, Kindness and more Cupid Deluxe is a rich, rewarding listen.

There’s a handful of ballads too--the surest sign of maturity--but just when we think they’ve given up the pacy numbers forever, they sucker-punch us at the death with the perfect one-two combo of ‘Unwanted Place’ and ‘Young’.

Psychedelic leanings and Le Bon’s fragile Welsh lilt make Mug Museum a typically unusual listen, but its sincerity shines throughout, finding beauty in the strangest, sometimes saddest of places.

It’s good to have them back.

When it works, it’s brilliant.... But at times Caramel feels undercooked.

Whilst Lorde’s world creates its own incredibly distinctive atmosphere, it feels accessible and open to maturing.

Bold, vulnerable and pleasingly disjointed, miraculously Night Time, My Time was worth the wait.

With psych bite and cosmic volume stripped away, Nielson’s brilliant, dextrous playing and addled lyrical bravery are illuminated brighter than ever.

The now-quartet’s fourth record marries prickly melody with glossy discord, eclipsing not only its predecessors but its entire genre.

Thanks to the sheer joy with which he performs it (produced here for the first time by Kieran Hebden), it’s irresistibly, inevitably satisfying.

What richly rewarding, flourishing, beautiful songs they are.

Beautiful Rewind is the sound of an artist looking to cut loose, and its playful spirit proves catching.

The rapid and rabid ‘You’ve Got Me Wonderin’ Now’, replete with wonky recorder, matches the velocity of that record [Light Up Gold], as does the hurtling ‘Descend (The Way)’.

For now it’s still deliciously entertaining.