It’s true that Lianne La Havas does lull in places, and the vocals do rescue her from a tight spot on more than one occasion, but you get the sense that this is a record which you really have to live with and invest time in before you’re lucky enough to appreciate its myriad charms.

'Legends Never Die' is poetic, prophetic and poignant.

A straight-talking delight, ‘Gaslighter’ refuses to radically overhaul The Chicks’ sound, and that’s ultimately why it’s so successful. Retaining that fine balance between country and pop, it allows the three-piece space to be true to themselves, ably building on their storied catalogue.

JARV… IS grapple with fresh possibilities in a wry, recognisable, but incredibly fresh way.

It’s an album that Beths fans will doubtless like very much, and it offers a strong mission statement to the future that this is a band hungry to expand and determined to explore the hitherto untrodden ground. It’s just a shame that, on this project alone, they’ve not delivered anything of career-defining merit.

The full length return of The Streets, it offers Mike Skinner at his most vivid and most forgettable, offering moments of illumination before retreating into darkness.

‘Unfollow The Rules’ feels like a gentle stroll through the various stages of Rufus’s career; far from creating the impression of Rufus covering his own back catalogue, the effect is like a timely reminder of everything that’s wonderful about Wainwright.

‘6PC Hot’ is a suggestive, highly creative return, one that suggests fresh possibilities while further reinforcing the songwriter’s future-charged brand of arena level R&B.

‘That’s How Rumors Get Started’ shows that it’s possible to stay true to the genre but also engage in light touch experimentation and pursue other interests. This is why she is in it for the long haul.

Stimulating, surprising and supreme, ‘The Glow’ is a remarkable outcome, a place where guitars receive as warm a reception as sequencing, drum looping and synths.

The album might be inspired by grey and harsh reality, but it doesn’t go the obvious route with slow-burn and somber-toned tracks. Instead, ‘Pure Luxury’ still remains anthemic and rave-worthy with its vibrant rhythms—the tracks just happen to have deep lyrics.

Vulnerable, complex and beautiful, it is an album that gets richer with every listen, and cements Hutson’s status as a songwriter to take notice of.

A heady, forward-thinking shoegaze distillation, ‘Bedroom’ is a vital listen, with bdrmm allowing their early promise to fully develop. Much more than a genre piece, it’s a vital delve into the power of our communal isolation.

It is so easy to reach in blindly and pull out a well-produced track with a decent guest appearance and Smoke at his lyrical best. However, the album doesn’t stray too far from the genre, it isn’t by any means innovative.

With a limitless blend of genres, there are songs that your pop princess can access alongside her punk sister, uniting them in their struggle.

‘Forever Blue’ is a confident debut, one that carries the weight of experience beyond her years.

Whilst the album is overflowing with strong tracks, not all are up to par, with ‘The Night I Kidnapped Remo Drive’ slipping below the bar.

A testament to vehement artistry, ‘On Sunset’ finds Paul Weller refusing to let his fire dim.

Daring and beautiful, ‘Civic Jams’ lays claim to a singular location within British music.

Intensely relaxing, wonderfully addictive, and ultra-mellow, ‘Moredechai’ is this summer’s sunset record.

It is a beautiful, enigmatic, joyous, sultry, utterly fabulous and insanely-inventive album that delivers above and beyond its expectations, quite a feat for a record conceived by one of the best British artists around at the moment.

We’re graced with upbeat music, the antidote for the negativity that surrounds us. They speak out and speak up about the wrongs that surround them, like the patriarchal limitations placed on them ('Man In The Magazine'), but also explore the joy of the everyday ('Hallelujah').

‘Kitchen Sink’, is once again political, but is about women’s place in the world, the infinite different lives they lead, and the difficulties of being a strong female. While it goes to some dark places, Shah is able to have a lot more fun as she embodies all these different female experiences.

Vivid, colourful, and distinct, 21st century ennui has scarcely sounded so intoxicating.

‘Welcome to Bobby’s Motel’ is a superb, lovingly crafted set from a band who have clearly done their homework.

In totality this album will leave you in a pool of your own unraveling. Margaret’s ambient soundscapes invite us to pour into those caverns of ourselves. She bravely lingers between the waning and waxing of duality: beauty, pain, suffering and light.

At times, ‘Lil Baby 3’ comes close to grappling with maturity, but Lil Yachty’s version of adulthood feels distinctly shallow.

The result is something genuinely startling. Raw, and often quite deliberately unfinished, the lyrics have a bullet point bluntness to them, with Simz aspiring to a level of direct communication other MCs can only marvel at.

There’s a profusion of standout tracks that invite you into Teyana’s world of emotions, sex and vulnerability. ... This a grown woman ready to continue her reign over R&B.

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

Playing it safe just a little too often, it finds John Legend in full flow, demonstrating his undeniable versatility – yet it can also appear to be covering the bases, offering breadth for the sake of breadth.

‘Homegrown’ not only lives up to the hype of being a lost classic, it surpasses it.

It’s an evocative rush of a listen - if Watson insists on making yet more music outside of his day job, we’re glad it’s as fun as this.

If you could see sounds as colours, a la synathaesia, this entire album would be a kaleidoscope of audio-visual, acid-trip imagery.

‘Shadow Offering,’ is beautiful and heartwrenching, pulling on listeners’ heartstrings. The album offers a sanctuary by easing anxiety and fueling hope, acting as a sort of security blanket for these unnerving times.

‘Punisher’ is an immense album tackling the ugly and absurd sides to life with beauty, humour and self-awareness. It’s a unique reporting style and a key statement.

Although this album lacks a certain grounded cohesion, it is rewarding to see him floating and flying for a minute, exploring different avenues of his voice, his history and his sound. He boldly ushers in a new wave of truth and complexity that foreshadows what else he has left to say.

At best, it serves as a reminder that Wiley is one of the best to ever do it, but it often feels unfocussed, and uneven.

An artist haunted by the prospect of his passing while still facing down new challenges, Bob Dylan remains above all else a student of America.

It’s not a full-bore masterwork: the first half of the record packs a stronger punch than the latter. But it’s a more cohesive, complete listen as a result of tighter sequencing. The Ungodly Hour is a soothing salve for a world on fire.

‘To Love Is To Live’ is a sonic poltergeist with sentiment to boot.

It’s compact, elegant and striking.

The songs are a little more distinctive, and they’re crafted a little better.

An album that leaves a profound impact in the softest manner possible, ‘A Quickening’ thrills with its pin-prick intensity, with its phantom-like layers of sound. In documenting fatherhood, Orlando Weeks has emerged as a songwriter renewed.

It is captivating. What is more, we’re listening to every note and hanging on every word.

On her third album, the Irish folk singer has created a record shrouded in mysticism and mystery – that carries the listener far away from lockdown life. The star of the show is Power’s vocal.

At times, it feels like a test drive, pushing the boundaries to prove to itself what can be done. But when he concentrates his focus and narrows his noodling, it delivers substance and heft.

Kember’s vocals throughout are thoughtful and full of promise for the future, rather than the more recent sombre Spectrum albums. ... At times Sonic Boom feels like a long-lost friend you bump into by chance. He is the same person he was in 1989, but he has also grown a lot too. This comes across in ‘All Things Being Equal’.

A fine album that balances its expansive and experimental edge with rich, emotional musicality.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have produced an album that dangles a carrot of the possibilities of exploration at the time of the impossible, but they are absolutely better off for doing so.

'Your Hero Is Not Dead' is essential listening for anyone at odds with themselves or the current state of society, which really should be just about everyone at this point.

Overall 'Self-Surgery' bristles with promise rather than complete realisation. As a raw one-off release it’s a breathless listen; the hope is, though, that the duo may return and build on this project in the future.

It’s a fairly middle-of-the-road indie record. It could do with a little more depth, a little more humanity.

The trio’s self-titled debut album sounds like the first airing of lost classic rock record, with a tonality redolent of tube amps and smoky studios. ... A bold and surprising statement of purpose and intent.

‘RTJ4’ is a must listen. It is diverse enough to appeal to even the hardest crowds. Many genres are represented here, but lyrical hip-hop is at the forefront of all that Run The Jewels is. They stand out from the crowd, whilst invoking the people to stand up for themselves. There is not a bad song on the entire album and the production and features are second to none.

‘Alfredo’ excels on every front, a record that fuses a thirst for fresh innovation with a depth of love for hip-hop and rap music that is almost unparalleled. Pretty much an instant classic, it’s the sound of Freddie Gibbs finally bursting free, working with tour de force production to surge past expectations and claim his place at the absolute pinnacle.

There’s a spirit of continuity that makes ‘Harmony Avenue’ feel like a cohesive collection rather than a joined-up sonic pathway; a sense of purpose that somehow makes these disparate sounds all work together.

Across its sixteen tracks, ‘Chromatica’ is entirely over-the-top, but in the best possible way. Every song is an anthem of defiance and empowerment, turned up to 11 and genetically engineered for maximum danceability.

Part of the problem is that Diplo has never done subtlety. He’s in his element when blasting vuvuzelas onstage, working with cliff-edge drops and acres of bass frequencies. Out on the open plains of songwriting he often feels lost, resulting in some startling lyrical simplicity.

This album is an entirely immersive wall of sound that deserves to be listened to time and time again.

Perhaps his strongest solo collection in some time, ‘I Love The New Sky’ holds true to an innate but rarely explicit sense of optimism. Softly uplifting in a very English way, it feels like a slow exhalation, a record that gently tugs at your sleeve. A low-key marvel.

The entire album is a beautiful assemblage of the ways we hurt, how we fall short, how we rise and how we begin again. There is a captivating dizzying quality when you listen, as if Salvat is transporting us to the inner bindings of his heart. There is inertia and there is quiet in the unraveling of the emotional.

On ‘Nothing Lasts’, the final song on the album, Schleicher seems to find peace after what’s been a fascinating but intense journey.

Eve Owen has only just started her journey, but there’s clearly a bright future ahead for the artist as her mature and accomplished album proves she’s indie music’s rising star.

While seemingly a far cry from much of Cole’s early work. It’s clear that despite the pervading neo-classical influence of the record, what it does share with the rest of his canon is a clear, deft understanding of music that can’t be argued against. At a time when much of the world is forced to stay indoors, 'Madrugada' provides a breath of fresh air.

For Smith, though, she doesn’t need loud dynamics in order to submerge the listener; and for much of her latest record the command of her machines is such that the mind is easily able to wander, and forget that they’re there at all.

‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ is lyrically playful and musically a step away from being confused for a compilation album of the best tracks this group has ever released. But that confusion is warranted. This is The 1975’s quarantine Megazord.

‘Yayo’ and ‘Butterfly Paralyzed’ both showcase Lean’s ability to graft chrome-plated hooks onto any track he likes. The former is sparse and simple where the latter is full to the point of overload, but both tracks sound like evolved versions of songs you’d hear on the radio – music for a society of cyborgs.

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

Raw, real and humorous, ‘All That Glue’ is an important event delivering a conclusive overview of the duo’s achievements and successes at a time when there’s a real thirst for it.

Folk textures such as these can sometimes fail to stand out, but Williamson’s powerful vocals practically beg for attention. Either way, even if the idea of country influences doesn’t sound the most appealing, there’s something so alluring about Williamson’s serene tunes that it’s a worthwhile and lush listening experience.

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.

While ‘FLIGHT’ may not be for the faint-hearted, it is undeniable that El Khatib has set out what he wanted to do, and has done so in the style of a true professional.

Charli starts and ends with hard disorienting club bangers, leaving the middle of the album space to expose her tenderness and vulnerability while still retaining her futuristic, unpredictable sound and penchant for an irresistible pop hook.

And so it brilliantly goes. ... These are classic Sparks moments, full of comedy, clever wordplay, deft explorations of all the myriad issues of the world, with arrangements that sound as current and fresh as a dew-soaked spring daisy.

The choice to make the album half fun, half sincere was a smart one, and the admirable trait of honesty through hardship definitely deserves praise.

Disjointed? Slightly. But who cares. He’s conjured something mischievous and joyful. A record that feels like it’s been beamed in from a distant star, sounding something like a near and possible future.

There is a heady optimism to the album. Instead of claustrophobic soundscapes, Lake has built elegant drones around pockets of space that allow the songs, and listener, to breathe.

It's brutally honest, yet comforting and displays the freedom and catharsis she felt via making it. A compelling new chapter for old fans and a thrilling set for fresh ones.

Loss, regret and shame are wound up in this album’s DNA, but they are balanced out by a generous dose of hope, a solemn promise that someone can go through the darkest of times and come out stronger, steadier and more complete than ever before.

The album's arrangement of serenading beats and jazzy undertones has genuinely proven that Kehlani is a force to be reckoned with.

’Ignatius’ is the album the hip-hop scene didn’t know it needed, the raw voice and understanding Jadakiss delivers here offers much-needed respite from the shallow music we seem to be swamped in at the moment. What a way to make a comeback.

The first half of the album is particularly monotonous, with the one-man band fervently spewing similar hooks that show very little dynamism and only serve a purpose to maintain a foot tapping rhythm.

Through channeling their frustration into their craft, Boston Manor have not only made their finest album to date, they’ve lent a voice to the disaffected youth of modern Britain at a time when that is sorely needed.

t’s open season on genres here. There’s the puerile punk of ‘Hollywood’ (“makes me wanna puke”), and the misguided balladry of ‘What’s With You Lately’. But they’re the only real bum notes. This experimental streak finds better pay off on ‘Hymn (Remix)’, crammed with juddering synths, and the delicious 80s pop of ‘Can’t Cool Me Down’. Sometimes, they veer almost to the middle of the road, radio-friendly hit ‘Martin’, warmed up with muted brass and intricate looping.

With this, Ghostpoet has created another fantastic, authentic body of work, meeting those high expectations.

No two songs are the same - each one brings something new and tells a melodramatic story to the album. There’s a good mix of more punchy tunes and sweeter tracks, making it a well-rounded record that's been worth the wait.

Tom Misch’s vocals return towards later in the project for stunning standout ‘Last 100’. The piano chords brighten the mood whilst a raspy yet soft vocal line glides down, with quick-fire guitar peppered throughout, while album closer ‘Storm Before The Calm’ rounds off the mood with bittersweet nostalgia.

Eight immersive and somewhat melancholic numbers that still evoke a great sense of calm. It’s a reflective record, made during a pensive season, British winter.

'A Billion Heartbeats' perhaps lacks the cutting perspective or lyricism of classic protest records, while managing to present the revolutionary spirit of old in a modern context.

It’s an accomplished album, but it feels like a debut and there is nothing here that gives any kind of excitement or majorly distinguishing feature that comes with time.

With a new sharpness, Hazel English has delved into a sophistication that dynamically blends her previous music to create an oscillation of hard and soft that exudes in her tonality.

While that album was littered with features, seeing artists put fresh spins on their classic material, this project is completely stripped down in comparison with the sole features being from Lil Tjay and Mansa respectively.

With their modest personas and its subtle production, it could be easy to disregard dvsn’s third record as more of the same, but repeat listens reveal a warm and unpretentious record, from an act confidently starting to evolve.

Unlike the release of his second studio album, KIRK released last year, a major fraction of 'Blame It On Baby' lacks effort and even originality.

Fiona Apple on a career of highs might just have produced her finest work yet. An album that we will surely look to as a cultural text, with its cutting commentary of contemporary culture and its feminist narratives.

It’s when EOB dares to experiment that 'Earth' really lifts off. The erratic, rumbling distortion of 'Mass' is as eerie as the thought of space itself, where his sounds tell a greater story than words ever could.

‘The Don Of Diamond Dreams’ is a glorious album that yields more and more with each listen. And listen you need to, because if you don’t you might miss something.