Continuing to give airtime to these softer, more playful moments could see Showalter achieve greater success in mainstream circles.

Spread across 18 tracks, Meek Mill's creative contouring isn't fully consistent, leading to some awkward moments; 'Love Train' and 'Love Money' feel insubstantial, while the mid-section loses its punch.

The sonics are strange and hard to recreate: they are forward thinking but in some ways ageless, a natural fit for Tirzah’s magnetic voice.

Existing in a different realm to ‘Chromatica’, it’s testament to Lady Gaga’s astonishing breadth, and the timeless effervescence of Tony Bennett.

At times spread too thin across its 17 strong tracklisting. ... ‘Trip At Knight’ serves to finesse his sound and approach, allowing room for Trippie Redd to attempt new projects within his digi-focussed framework – it’s a chapter so many of his contemporaries have been cruelly denied.

It hardly moves mountains as a standalone effort, but is moderately impactful and somewhat befitting of its lofty pandemic-era presentation.

‘Dawn’ is the product of years of curation, brimming with emotion and beautifully articulated lyrics.

This offers an unparalleled listening experience. Each quality – the gorgeous vocals, the radiant tones, the graceful guitar – manifests enlightened bliss. The expertly blended transitions between each track transform them into puzzle pieces that fit smoothly together.

With Johnny Marr-Esque riffs, life-affirming lyrics that have a sincerity, depth, and wisdom beyond their years, the Lathums are cementing themselves as one of the UK’s top bands.

Poppy is ready to leave her mark upon the world again with this hook-focused album that favours front-to-back consistency over constant mayhem and it makes you wonder what’s next.

The 29-year-old’s skilful complexity as a musician and producer has undoubtedly progressed along with his self-development.

Big, bold and ambitious, it’s both a welcome return and a statement of intent.

The main takeaway from ‘Dawn Of Chromatica’ however is Gaga’s curatorial ability, and the even strength of talent on display. Capable of moving from Ashnikko’s playful digitalism through to the ballroom energy of the Jimmy Edgar and Bree Runway take on ‘Babylon’, it’s a relentlessly entertaining display.

While the pop-facing moments may not appeal to all, Tommy shows her dexterous talent and the extent of her creativity on ‘goldilocks x’.

González hasn’t changed much since his 2003 debut ‘Veneer’ but his fans won’t be disappointed by his new project and will surely be glad to have new songs after waiting six years.

It’s an impressive record, albeit one that’s often difficult to get a foothold on.

Injury Reserve’s new album is a truly dystopian impression of despair, smashing together polar opposite genres to create something wholly new.

‘MONTERO’ excels the marketing spin by delivering one of 2021’s most daring, riveting, and honest pop statement.

This isn’t a project for newcomers. ‘Springtime In New York’ – taken as a five disc whole – requires patience, and a degree of love for the core texts.

The amount of moments of contemplation away from the mosh pit benefits the listenability of the album, though its overall sequencing is blotchy and still more like a mixtape.

‘star-crossed’ demands to be listened to in one go. ... She has calcified a range of difficult, overwhelming, sometimes liberating emotions into a time capsule marking the most turbulent time of her life. This is heart on sleeve storytelling.

A hugely impressive achievement, ‘I’ve Been Trying To Tell You’ is technically exquisite, while remaining incredibly difficult to pin down. A project to bathe in, rather than simply enjoy.

When it punches hard, ‘Jose’ doesn’t miss. ... Yet ‘Jose’ – like Drake and Kanye’s efforts, previously – is led down by quality control. The creativity is undiminished, but it struggles under the weight of its 24 track span – clocking in at more than hour, the record at times tries the patience.

‘A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2’ stares down the traumas that proliferate our lives, offering hope, creativity, and soul filtered through Common’s profound hip-hop vision.

Bar a couple of underwhelming or wholly unoriginal takes, 'The Metallica Blacklist' is a surprisingly solid listen considering its breadth. While the snobbier rock connoisseur out there might still view Metallica’s king-making album as when they ‘sold-out,’ this set just shows how malleable, how influential, and just how damn fun these songs still are.

The band are effectively building and complexifying their sound to keep things fresh. 'Comfort To Me' sounds like it could be played in a rowdy Australian pub the band are used to – or a colossal arena.

A very clever album that plays with musical codes and conventions brilliantly to create something greater than the sum of its parts. This could be the bravest Low album in recent years. It surpasses ‘Double Negative’ in a way that is surprising, but also feels obvious.

It’s this tight-rope walking of pop-maturity, moment-capturing awareness and beauty-in-simplicity attitude that has aided in Seinfeld’s rise to the top of the dance music ladder, and has helped him shape a record that showcases exactly where he is sitting in terms of sonic aesthetic right now.

While subtle, this album captures the evolution of a band in their element once more.

Aubrey Graham hands over his fifth project to cross 80 minutes, an hour and a half smorgasbord of all-new tracks. In his defence, the Drake cuisine is far too extensive and varied at this point, but this dilemma has been around for a number of years now and some sort of sacrifice for a better, more cohesive project has to be made if he wants to release another classic.

It’s truly miraculous that this experience formed in just eight days of work, and the engrossing journey passes by just as fast - if you survived the voyage, you’ll be pressing repeat immediately.

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.

Trend and time can’t touch them, and with ‘Senjutsu’ they’ve produced one of their best albums of the past 20 years.

With ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, the answer seems to be found in widening that scope and ambition in a way we’ve never seen before. The cinematic flourishes are cranked up and Simz is more confessional than ever, pondering what defines her as both Little Simz the artist and Simbi the person. It makes for addictive listening.

‘You Signed Up For This’ is the most developed offering the singer-songwriter has delivered so far, with higher levels of production really allowing her storytelling to come through.

A world of distortion and contradiction, blood and venom, ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ is a singular statement, one of extreme power.

‘Any Shape You Take’, rich in the emotional palette that it’s genre-free conveys, gathers together sentiments that may be familiar to many but haven’t been depicted in the vivid and complex methods explored here.

Turnstile are flexing some of their heaviest hooks yet - gliding us across nonchalant bops and hellish riffs, the Maryland five-piece have yet again come out with a bang.

‘Fulton’ and ‘Morning River’ are early highlights, while ‘Circuit Rider’ seems to exude the characteristics of the album’s Los Angeles setting. Closing with the reflective ‘Ever Feel That Way’, Steve Gunn marvels with the lightest of touches.

‘Screen Violence’ is so striking it makes 2018’s ‘Love Is Dead’ seem almost blasé in its deliverance.

With echoes of everything from PIXIES to Declan McKenna, what Lang lacks in refinement he makes up for in a very obvious encylopedic knowledge of guitar music. His ambition and obsession with producing more cosmic chords will, with no doubt, make his second full-length a more radical, enjoyable listen.

A project with literally no skips, ‘Fire’ seems to lay down a marker for his peers – The Bug is back, and the bar has been raised yet again.

Despite appearing torn between a middle-finger attitude and something much deeper, ‘333’ triumphs in never having a dull moment. It’s a document of character and expression while hopefully pushing forward to something more focussed.

These 11 songs display the underrated skills of a multi-faceted musician taking a series of bold and brave steps forward – fortunately, they pay off in droves.

Deeply cohesive, conceptual and considered. Controlled while still being unexpected. Comforting within confines, placing a new level of distance and boundaries between her personal life and her fans as she focusses on feelings over stories.

‘Fever Dreams’ is very possibly Villagers’ most ambitious and endearing record to date.

There are some real moments of beauty on the record - 'In Blur' aches and sparkles, whilst singles 'Great Mass Of Colour' and 'The Gnashing' showcase a band adept at building beautiful soundscapes even with the guitars turned down - but at a certain point, the album suffers from the lack of depth in Clarke’s vocals, or range in his melodies.

This release feels infused with self-assurance and pride, merging know-how and passion with a strong vision that only seems to get bolder with each release.

It’s often difficult for pop-punk bands to bring something new to the table, but in ‘Model Citizen’ Meet Me @ The Altar have completely out done themselves.

Despite having occasionally moments of deflation, ‘Loving In Stereo’ is more refined than past work. Loaded with retrospective jams and summery hits alike, the record leaves their growth open to further exploration.

A rich, rewarding experience, this isn’t an album to be understood easily – uneasy listening, it could be their most enlightening record yet.

‘Different Kinds Of Light’ shows Bird navigating melody and emotion with impressive command, a musician in all senses of the word. Continuing to colour outside the lines on future material could make Bird a household name for years to come.

A strong project from Fredo who shows how to be successful by sticking to your own sound. The production of this album is perfect with the choice of beats getting better as the album progresses.

The answers aren’t as easily obtained as on its Grammy-winning forebear, but ‘King’s Disease II’ dares to ask questions of its maker, and its audience.

Independently released, ‘shame’ is raw and expressive, the result of infinite creative freedom after leaving their label.

Twenty years in, and Liars are no easier to comprehend – but that’s makes their version of the truth so compelling.

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

It’s immersive and ambiguous, these tales belong to you as much as they do the person next to you on the train.

Patiently moving into a new era, ‘Happier Than Ever’ is shrouded in a transformative darkness.

Remaining difficult to pin down even after several listens, it platforms a true artist whose creativity isn’t about to be hemmed by the marketplace – he’s got higher goals.

Eleven years on from her debut, TORRES’ songwriting remains as infatuating as ever.

A reinvigorated set, it’s the sound of a band resurgent.

Whether in love, experience or pain. This album supplies much-needed evidence for those experiencing heartache that their tale is not solitary, but there’s no right answer, and there’s comfort in that.

Playful yet packed with feeling, ‘For Free’ suggests that this is one music legend whose story is far from complete.

While it features some surging highs, it doesn’t quite dispel notions that Anne-Marie has yet to nail down a singular sound she can call her own.

Self-consciously designed to echo a transformative lysergic experience, ‘Yellow’ comes to embody everything Emma-Jean Thackray strives towards, and describes: you emerge in a quite different space than the one you entered in, the world around you subtly transfigured.

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.

The “highs” are as potent and heady as ever but ultimately, they’re ephemeral.

‘Gold-Diggers Sound’ is an effortless and easy listen thanks to the high production value, Bridges’ velvety-smooth vocals, and the strength of his songwriting, it’s set to be one of the albums of the year.

‘All Over The Place’ swaps the focussed UK rap of his debut for something broader, balancing soulful guests and slick production in the process. While not everything here excels, it’s a bold record and cements KSI’s place as a key player in UK music.

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.

A transitional work that finds the songwriter operating with a subtle sense of evolution, it’s the sound of a supremely gifted young artist finding space to stop, and ask: what not…?

‘Faith’ succeeds by offering not ony an elegiac portrait of Pop Smoke, but also a vision of what he could have become.

It doesn’t disappoint. Unapologetically heavy, with some spell-binding riffs and addictive hooks, ‘Below’ takes us across twelve gritty tunes all reflective of the turbulence of fourteen months spent in isolation.

Clairo is clearer now on who she is and who she wants to be. On ‘Sling’ there is the sense that Clairo is in flight, except this time she isn’t running away from her little ghosts. On this record she runs towards them, even dances with them a little.

The album’s 14-tracks takes the listener on a mystical journey of hope, realism, racism and, eventually, the bright stars above. Unfortunately, with every shot of adrenaline and excitement that comes through tracks such as 'Obrigado', 'Mirrors' (featuring SnoH Aalegra and Cam O’bi) and 'Skip To My Lou', there are other that slam on the brakes just as forcefully, just as momentum and energy were building.

It sometimes feels a bit too quick, with most of its tracks coming in at or around three minutes in length. Overall though, hardly anything is forced and it all feels well presented and devilishly melodic.

Wilson has a fantastic ear for the unexpected. Similarly, the timbre of ‘Mountains’ sees Wilson’s vocal blend like a true instrument. A woman strong in her practise, with little room for improvement. 'ALPHA' is Charlotte Day Wilson in 360.

‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’ distills an optimism we can just about taste, but can’t quite feel. The sound of a band coming into their own, it finds INHALER taking a deep breath, and making the most important step forwards of their career.

It’s not easy to write an album about yourself without seeming egotistical, and it’s also not easy to write one which touches on themes of gang violence and poverty without falling into braggadocio or morbidity. On this album, Vince Staples has pulled off both. It may be a short album, but it’s an incredibly deep one.

Despite its meticulous and grandiose instrumentalization, this record is Nandi Rose’s 'Camelot', a masterclass in her own interpersonal gut-wrench, where she has finally figured out how to build a wall of sound that compliments her breathtaking vibrato.

Aiming to pin down essential emotions in a personal way, ‘Utopian Ashes’ succeeds beyond their imaginations – a crisp, entrancing song cycle, it’s unaffected feel helps it linger long in the memory.

The result of her personal awakening is an album that is cathartic, tender and heartbreaking in equal measure.

Balance aside, ‘Get Up Sequences Part One’ sees the band doing what they do best, wading into an often cynical world filled with apathy and melodrama and detonating a glitter bomb - and you’ve always gotta love them for that.

‘Pink Noise’ is a triumph for both the label and for the super-talented Laura Mvula.

Masterful in its softness of touch, Sault know when to apply and relieve pressure; at moments it can be intense, yet others are bathed in a beatific R&B halo.

Instead of throwing perspective on her fears, anxieties and problems and helping to alleviate them, that context and duality only amplifies them. They become her, and she becomes them. ... ‘Hurt A Fly’ is one of the more optimistic-sounding songs on the album, but even its hopeful tone is laden with the threat and/or promise of everything crashing down. The tender strains of ‘Pass’ also offer a glimmer of hope, but one that, inevitably, eventually burns out and turns to dust.

Pom Pom Squad seize these influences and DIY them to fit their own Gen-Z aesthetic. In other words, ‘Death Of A Cheerleader’ is a tour-de-force that toasts to all of our own Dumb Bitch Selves.

While the synth and electro are certainly there, it lacks a little punch.

'Escapades' is an audible hallucinogen, and it’s a trip you’re gonna want to take.

Altogether, 'Mood Valiant' is a joyous, frolicking ode to renewed life. It signals a strong return for Hiatus Kaiyote.

This is a record that showcases Tyler, the Creator’s continued refusal to be caged in by any set sound or genre, with references to his earlier style alongside tracks that sound completely new. Defying expectations, Tyler, the Creator continues to rise.

For 'Planet Her', there is a sense of predictability in that; if nothing else, you can expect a versatile project. Multiple layers mold the artist that is Doja, and as she is carving out a lane that is entirely her own, she is not afraid to be herself no matter how chaotic it may be at times.

A powerful album, confirming Home Video as another exquisite offering from Lucy Dacus.

What’s remarkable about this seven track mixtape is the sheer consistency of pop ideas on offer.

In its length and scope, there’s a feeling here of witnessing H.E.R. in 360 – panoramic R&B that more than justifies the wait, a sumptuous, multi-faceted jewel that seems to reveal fresh colour with each play.

‘Miracle’ delves the depths of human introspection with a tangibly cathartic gleam, imbued with an essence of that wondrous beauty that only miracles can possess.

Strong and raw instrumentation lays a varied and strong foundation for a subdued vocal performance that charms listeners into a relaxed state, in which you can float along to the soaring instrumentals provided throughout.