The most impressive thing about this large-scale (in terms of both musicianship as well as time) collection, particularly given its improvisatory nature, is that it never tests your patience. The final five tracks are least impressive, but the earlier stuff, particularly in the first half, are spell-binding.

Raw Money Raps is an exciting audible adventure into progressive hip-hop.

An assured work framed engrossing ideas.

The material more than matches the ambition on these 11 bewitching songs.

At times brooding, at times impossibly bubbling with light joy, this is a release that highlight Mattiel’s musical abilities - easily able to drop one sound for another at a moment’s notice, and doing it all with absolute class.

Why Love Now is a brash ballache of an album that will make you hate yourself as much as it makes you hate the world. Rest assured lads, the bar is now slightly higher than it was a week ago.

An energetic and vibrant project, that is exactly what the music scene needed in such an uncertain time. One of J Balvin’s strongest projects to date.

They’ve created something quite distinct from their former work. In this regard, Relaxer places them firmly back on track.

Lean, mean and as uncompromisingly focused as its maker, this is an album for everyone's collection, and whilst Weller is perhaps not the man he once was, the man he is now is most definitely still a force to be reckoned with.

The woozy title track seems deliberately designed to unsettle the listener at the halfway point of an album that is in turns both richly emotive and beguilingly, bewitchingly uneasy.

A thriller from start to finish, Been Stellar’s ‘Scream From New York, NY’ is one of the most assured indie rock debuts to land on our desk this year. Focussed, concise, and rippling with incredible energy, it’s an assured 10-track statement that blends visceral melody with raw power, tapping into their live prowess while embracing the clinical control of the studio environment.

While tracks like 'Beautiful Wreck'--springy, satisfying and by no means a misfit within this gripping offering--seems quite bland in comparison to the rest which boasts a bold sound, the album remains fascinating, never misses a beat and keeps you listening through to the end.

The complete departure from Weezer’s usual formula of distorted electric guitars and pop rock will almost certainly be divisive amongst the band’s incredibly dedicated fanbase. But ‘OK Human’ undeniably contains some of the Weezer’s catchiest songs Weezer have put out in their entire career.

She imparts yearning with such controlled restraint and lightness of touch it’s sublime.

These thirteen tracks, detailing joys and sorrows, love and loss, indicate that The Staves are as vital as ever.

On 2021’s ‘K(n)ow Them, K(now) Us’ and 2022 follow-up ‘Ibeji’, there were glimmers but on ‘On a Modern Genius (Vol. 1)’ there’s no denying his talent. Everything is bigger, tighter, looser and just in your face. Roll on ‘Vol. 2’.

If you like filagree synths and dimorphous melodies, then this is the album for you. The songs are immaculately crafted. The melodies catchy. Lyrics memorable.

Modern music can often be accused of being so predictable and so formulaic that you’d be forgiven for expecting Hakim to churn out a new record without taking a hint of a ghost of a chance – but ‘WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD’ is a thrilling, timely reminder that true art shines brightest when it emerges from the darkest skies.

The prominence of structure beams through and makes this more of a traditional offering than a novelty. Still unlike anything else, this is time well spent.

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.

An emotive, emphatic and often joyous collection of music that plays equally for the head and the heart.

After the swelling synths of the album’s intro track, ‘Adulter8’ opens with a chip-tune alarm sound, and you kick your feet out of bed only to find the floor fall from under you, as shards of a euphoric bassdrum take over and fragments of haunted vocals dislocate you from any sense of direction.

With their frantic live performances and a solid set of tunes behind them, the sunbaked stoners are on to a winner with this ten-track wonder.

It is a personal, self-referential record, then, but one of the tenets of radio is the shared listening experience it provides, the sense of togetherness. It isn’t too much of a reach to say that listening to this album helps to process and make sense of these times and, especially, of the state of play of pop-adjacent electronic music.

Like all Björk albums before it, Vulnicura is the work of many but the vessel, really, for the voice--and everything that means--of just one persistently empowering talent.

An emotionally ambitious 20-track built on pain, vulnerability and self-identity.

Working versions under soon-to-be-changed titles, these sparse arrangements are more than just sketched outlines. Stripped down to their rawest nerve, unfiltered yet purified - they transport us straight to the feeling.

While there are moments that lack substance, ‘Can’t Rush Greatness’ also provides some of the best music of Cench’s career thus far. Central Cee went into this project carrying the belt of a UK Rap mainstream heavyweight, with ‘Can’t Rush Greatness’ he’s managed to retain that title.

The only tiny criticism is that once or twice Heartworms’ palette ventures a little too close to retro eighties post-punk worship; see the guitars and drum machines of ‘Celebrate’ as an example. But other than that minor quibble, this is a seriously strong debut from an artist in total command of her craft, one that’s all the more impressive for so elegantly incorporating eccentric, sometimes abrasive ideas into its unabashedly pop vision.

By concentrating heavily on this former and earlier part of Elliott Smith's career, the compilers of An Introduction To... have gathered some of his best songs into a starkly beautiful and coherent album.

For best results listen, not hear it, on headphones. The way the backing tracks float in your head is just bliss.

Sometimes uniformity is no bad thing at all--when you get the formula right, that is--and Guy and Howard Lawrence prove just that on their debut LP.

Melodies that burrow under your skin and up-to-the-minute production make Tracer a record to savour.

Holy Hell succeeds in pushing Architects’ sound further than ever before. The grooves dig deeper, while the instrumentation is techier.

A work of maturity and quiet meaning, ‘Morayo’ stands alongside some of the defining moments in Wizkid’s work. Staying true to himself, this may be his most honest full length yet, driven forwards by a higher power.

As ever with this band, it’s sure to be an idiosyncratic but beguiling direction, although there’s no hurry with so much to pick over on this thoughtful latest outing.

Overall, a very mature collection of sing-alongs. Templeman has proven that he is evolving as an artist. This is going to be a big year for this young crooner.

Often accused of being too calculating in his constructs, Mind Bokeh emerges as a spectral funk odyssey.

‘do it afraid’ radiates optimism; a timeless, full-bodied work that speaks to embracing the beauty of life amidst dark times.

A record of sustained power, ‘Re-Animator’ manages to pull together many of the band’s finest elements, offering something complex yet accessible.

Undoubtedly this is a record which grips you, taking you on a journey and making you unwittingly invest all of your emotions just from one simple press of a button.

Well worth imbibing.

Rather than crumbling under the pressure of acclaim, Mitski embraces it and is all better for it. These trials and tribulations that birthed Be The Cowboy have not only developed Mitski as a musician, but also act as another sign that she has the potential to be considered one of the best singer-songwriters of our generation.

Perhaps lacking the urgency or unity of the label’s first instalment of 10th anniversary comps, Hyperdub 10.2 nevertheless successfully celebrates the diversity of a neglected side of its output.

Hozier is an authentic portrait of an artist--soulful, spiritual and seductive – and is a deeply impressive first step.

A four-track EP that runs for the best part of 25 minutes and possesses more depth, more intrigue, than most full-lengths running to twice as long.

Whilst openly influenced by the past, an album that bears the capacity to pioneer into the future--eloquent and elegant.

With Eternity, In Your Arms, Creeper have torn up their own sonic rulebook, giving them licence to roam musically wherever they please. It’s a fresh page in a new story for a band who are really just getting started.

Essentially, this is a cheaper, condensed version of last year’s ‘Singles Collection’, a deluxe wooden box set that housed nine 7” singles and which contained all the singles from those two albums, in addition to the songs found here.

Simultaneously depressing and uplifting, evil and camp, it's an inspiring, majestic paradox of an album.

What ‘Septet’ really does well is show how accomplished Kirby has become in his writing. The music is fun, with a joyous bounce, but also hints at a deep melancholy. It’s not sad, but it’s also not happy.

All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us isn’t a sonic leap into new pastures, rather it’s the sound of a band nailing their sound and operating at the very top of their game. In a genre as crowded as metalcore, Architects have managed to craft a sound that’s instantly and recognisably Architects.

A nine-track opus of gorgeous musical exploration on their own terms.

Ultimately, ‘The Art of The Lie’ is a perfect distillation of everything one yearns for in John Grant’s music; his golden baritone voice, icy electronic soundscapes, emotive balladry, sumptuous funk and phenomenal diction all remain intact on yet another fabulous album.

86TVs are a band whose debut album is the sums of its parts; whose formidable past endeavours including The Maccabees have helped cultivate a distinctive sound today which promises to deliver more in their bright future ahead.

They write hooks, they’re inventive, they’re passionate, they can do uplifting and they can do poignant, and on ‘Sick Scenes’, they do it all with panache.

The devil’s in the detail, and it makes for a brilliant record.

Lykke Li seems to have made it work for her.

Loud, hypnotic, vitriolic solos, mordant melodies with biting lyrics. It’s everything we’ve come to expect.

Transcendental trance with some fierce poetry and song? Colour us impressed.

Each ["sides" of the double LP] is so good, it’s a toss up between which incarnation you'll end up liking most.

‘The Night the Zombies Came’ isn’t an album for the uninspired or your average Joe – it’s a bible for the daydreaming visionary who finds beauty in the mundane.

Dirty Projectors [is] a disruption, but a pleasant one at that--it affords listeners the space to grapple with the loss of Dirty Projectors in their previous form, while dispensing enough nurturing, boundary-breaking tonic to ensure that the first run-out for the project's next chapter is shrouded in optimism rather than dissolution, unforeseen obstacles and all.

While his distinctive voice and keening melodies are as enchanting as ever, Wilson has added a cinematic heft that neatly avoids being saccharine.

Two years spent reconstructing and re-dubbing has clearly paid off for the pair; an essential for all the late-night dub heads out there.

‘Wicked City’ is just a tiny slice of what’s to come, leaving a super sweet taste in our mouths.

Romance Is Boring is another step up for the Cardiff seven-piece; avoiding the shoutier, brattier elements of debut ‘Hold On Now, Youngster...’, the band bring to their latest effort a much darker atmosphere, with similarly desperate lyrics.

Sweet Baboo’s gloriously eccentric back catalogue has nevertheless often hinted at the capacity to deliver a truly special record: a glorious, emphatic collection of songs showcasing his truly affecting vocal and knack for ridiculously insistent hooks. No further hints are required for, with The Boombox Ballads, Black has got there.

In 'FLOWERS for VASES / descansos' Williams belts the stapled vocal range she’s praised for in notable tracks, ‘All I Wanted,’ ‘Feeling Sorry,’ and ‘Ain’t It Fun,’ and completes it with comforting acoustics, simplistic key work and alluring songwriting.

Whilst ‘Night Gnomes’ embraces a plethora of new sounds and concepts that make it distinct from the aforementioned album, it still maintains an overarching complexity and sonic ambition that listeners of old and new can revel in.

All discussion of technique aside though, there can be no doubt that with Brute, Al Qadiri has invoked her own personal brand of protest in a world in which discussion over that right has become ever more charged.

In all its floaty, seductively numbing glory, 'Good Morning It’s Now Tomorrow' is an exceptional work of chamber-tinged indie songwriting.

On OCHL they’re keen to take risks, side step that familiar territory and play with the formula. That consistent need to innovate and grow is what makes Deafheaven so divisive, so unpredictable and so extraordinary.

The ruthlessly cohesive ‘Dark Superstition’ succeeding in nudging death metal’s borders open by a couple of inches. It’s as likely as any pure death metal album in recent memory to pull a ‘Sunbather’ and convert non-metal fans to its cause.

Occasionally the momentum wanes, but only the cold-hearted could fail to forgive the odd misstep from a band taking risks, shaping their sound and refusing to stand still.

While Delorean captured the spirit of summer with 2010’s Subiza, now they’re aiming to nail the soundtrack to the end of it.

‘Further Out Than The Edge’ is a creatively rich and inspiring debut from Speakers Corner Quartet, an emblem of their sixteen years spent together as a community of musicians.

The combination of having finely crafted compositions and a relatable, poetic voice is effective.

‘Same Kind of Lonely’ holds moments reminiscent of ‘Witness’ and his self-titled debut, while ‘Show and Tell’ stands playful in its sonic clarity. ‘Heavy On My Mind’ peels back the layers of Booker’s internalised truths, before rounding out on ‘Hope For The Night Time’, a ballad-esque piece that gives a final push into his dreamscape.

‘Hellfire’ is at once goofy and high brow. A volcanic eruption of serious silliness.

It’s rare that an album is ten years in the making, and honing that much emotion and experience into roughly 41 minutes is a monumental task. Chloe Foy accomplished it.

‘The King’s Disease’ finds Nas grappling with a raft of contradictions, contrasting the opulence of his lifestyle with the need for vitality in his message. It’s not perfect, but it’s less an end product, and more the search for creative process – by the end, you become convinced the Queens rapper has found his throne.

Everything feels so much more alive, everything so much more stark; Longstreth seems to have emerged from a year-long slumber, and there is no more sleeping in sight.

The album is a fine document of why Wiley was, is, and will continue to be such a cornerstone of the grime scene.

Put together, the disparate elements that make up ‘My Light, My Destroyer’ may betray the occasional influence, but combine to produce a singular world – one that is, at points, both deadly serious and funny, but always habitable.

Aromanticism is style over substance, certainly his sentiments run the risk of evading the listening, such is the beauty of the dreamscape he weaves. Yet as you revisit the record, the case for being ‘aromantic’, has never sounded so fully realised, so complete and so utterly inviting.

Combining this pandemonium with a more polished finish on the cosmic pop of "Echoes" and trademark falsetto chants of "Venusia," it's safe to say Surfing the Void was worth the wait.

An album that occasionally feels uneven but is executed with such heart, joy and vigour that it’s difficult not to love.

Breezy but not without substance, if Resort reveals anything about Tuff Love’s trajectory, it’s that they’ve become more contemplative over time, while refusing to forgo their shambling melodic impulses in the process.

‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, like most of their projects, has something for everyone, but this time does stay in one lane – and that’s for the better.

A brilliant debut that positions her as one of the brightest young songwriters operating in this age of internet bred pop stars.

A record that walks the streets of West Africa and West London with equal confidence, ‘Strange Timez’ offers respite from the dark clouds that swarm above 2020, a gateway into another realm.

Brimming with sensory overwhelm, ‘GOAT’ re-affirms the mysterious Swedes as being one of the finest vassals for truly forward-thinking psychedelia traversing inner and outer worlds this century.

With downtempo, melodic and deep felt emotion coursing through it, this is an accomplished Late Night Tales debut that showcases music that, put simply, makes the soul feel good.

‘Forever Ends Someday’ is wonderful – a rich, emotionally vivid experience, an inspired statement from start to finish.

The soul tradition turns once more, and this evocative, moving record is leading the way.

The ambition behind Apollo XXI was already easily perceptible on singles like ‘Playground’, whose energy could best be termed ‘Yung Prince’, and becomes clearer still over the course of its other 11 songs.

For all its touching and personal lyrical matter, Next Thing undoubtedly boasts improved production and more developed song-structures, as well as a more fluid use of warm synths and punchy snare drums.