Sometimes its hard to separate the art from the artist, but Lily Allen has once again drawn upon brutally honest and painfully raw experiences from her own personal life to create an all-encompassing and emotive sonic journey that keeps your finger firmly on the repeat button. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of here.

“Absolute carnage” was how we described Maruja’s Glastonbury appearance earlier this year, and while no studio recording can capture that sort of live magic, ‘Pain To Power’ comes pretty bloody close.

‘Red Moon In Venus’ solidifies Kali Uchis’ appeal as both a fringe artist leaning fully into her idiosyncrasies, and a crossover one executing universal easy-listening with élan.

Two years on from the initial release of ‘Norwegian Wood’ – cue an onslaught of media attention, baseless industry plant allegations and Courtney Love’s stamp of approval – Picture Parlour have honed a sound that feels admirably self-assured and truly authentic.

For a 2026 experimental capitalist-critique, dedicate half an hour of your time to this album. You won’t regret it.

Meshing 80s pop revival, conscious club classics that could slide into her diverse DJ sets, moodier and more alternative, experimental sonic paths, Avalon Emerson is embracing more of what she loves, more of the unknown and the joys of collaboration in the & the Charm project with ‘Written into Changes’.

With this 17-tracker, Joshua Idehen and Parment fashion a musical balm in an age of discontent.

‘Microtonic’ is not just the soundtrack of a rattling dance towards doomsday, but a eureka moment for bdrmm in which they’ve fallen into the vast potential of their musicianship.

Sounding like club music for grown-ups wanting a decadent summer of love return without wanting their troublesome kids tagging along... Likely to be a hit in the woods and beyond.

It’s a huge record, a panoramic thriller that places three incendiary MCs against a digital orchestra – an ambitious, lavish, and extraordinarily successful release.

The heart of the matter on this record carries so much weight and substance, but it is presented in light playful ways and therein lies its appeal and beauty. It has light and shade.

It’s note-worthy how fresh and vivacious ‘Man’s Best Friend’ sounds.

Enriching yet austere, its methodology seems to embody the title of a previous Claire Rousay song: ‘everything perfect is already here’.

Stranger is at its best when it steps away from the safety of cloud rap melancholy in favour of Lean embracing his outsider identity.

Calling this 'No Waves' suggests a symbolic sympatico bond between the duo, best evidenced by the graceful way that Gordon and Nace hone in on controlling this beautiful racket with apparent ease.

Though her personal tragedy has been transformed into an affecting record of real beauty, one truly hopes Li’s next chapter isn’t quite so agonising.

From the shoegaze-tinged jangle-pop of 'Future Love', to the dreamy indie of 'Clouds of Saint Marie', Ride sound incredibly fresh-faced.

Less one-eyed compared to, say ‘Omega: Alive’, far less experimental than the last ‘Nighttime World’, ‘Victorious’ still leaves open the interchangeable nature of where Robert Hood starts and Floorplan ends.

The thrashing energy does relent somewhat towards the end, yet this remains an impressive introductory manifesto.

She embraces their words, often of death and reminiscence on youth, as if they’d come from deep within herself. It is, after 38 years, a fine reminder of her vital place in British musical tradition, as the essential elder stateswoman of folk.

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.

Eight of these nine tracks constitute the best album for night driving under city street-lights since Growler's estimable ‘City Club’.

Ambitious, emotive, and completely open, it’s a gorgeous song cycle, drenched in jazz-leaning arrangements.

This teaser [is] no doubt just the beginning of a new strain of avant-footwork coming our way in 2016.

They’ve managed to meld together the grand themes of ‘The Soft Bulletin’ and ‘Yoshimi…’ with some of the experimentation of ‘Embryonic’ and ‘The Terror’, and it makes for a fascinating return.

Deep cuts remixed, ‘Nine Inch Noize’ is blend of studio and live, and it emerges as a transfixing, completely realised collaborative work.

Her new music sounds way more nuanced, as if Margaret has learned to work on another level of detail and to find deeper meaning in small, insignificant words. This brings her vocal comeback closer to the approach of another maestro of layered lyrics and sonics – Phoebe Bridgers.

Bold, confessional and full of vulnerability, the Liverpudlian quartet serve up poetry amidst the pain with a stellar offering of euphoric resilience.

At times soft, at other times thick with sinew, 'Not In Chronological Order' allows Julia Michaels to parade her immense talent as a songwriter, as well as her charismatic, oh-so-expressive voice.

Production-wise especially, this is The Weeknd’s strongest project yet, and deserves all the recognition.

‘Blindness’ revolutionises The Murder Capital’s sound once more and this prioritisation of urgency and energy brings an infectious listen.

Revelatory, raw but resplendent throughout, ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ is one of Shakira’s best albums to date and is a fitting testimony to her strength and resilience turning what was a devastating situation into a beautiful body of work.

Dark, deluded and dangerously danceable, Paris Suit Yourself are the inspiration for wild dance floor seizures, or, at the very least, lucid gonzo dreams.

With lyrical viewpoints and musical references more diverse than ever, this set is his finest solo release to date.

Big, bold, invigorating stuff.

It’s not an Oasis record and it’s not a wholly experimental album either. However, it is his best work in an age and an interesting marker for a Weller-esque creative purple patch from an artist rediscovering their sense of purpose.

While human suffering or pain isn’t joyous, the special craft of nothing,nowhere. most certainly is, and ‘Trauma Factory’ is a splendid occasion for celebration.

Run The Jewels has again pushed rap away from regular rhythms and rhymes and into territories that they’re still calculating the dimensions of. May they never reach the sum of such remarkable parts and continue to exclusively Run Them Jewels fast.

You can’t tell that Bella Union founder Simon Raymonde and Wisconsin-raised vocalist Stephanie Dosen didn’t even make it into the same room for this beautiful collaborative record as Snowbird, such are its dreamy, enlightening and angelic qualities.

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

‘Bloodless’ will fascinate anyone who stumbled across the path of ‘Honey’, while also charming new listeners.

A record that refuses to divulge its secrets immediately, ‘Life Of A Don’ is packed with immaculate sonic detail while also relishing a certain directness.

Sleaford Mods have managed to express perfectly and effortlessly, what it feels like to live in 21st century Britain and from here, they can only get bigger.

‘How To Replace It’ finds dEUS facing up to their past and refusing to be hemmed in by it. At times daring, at others direct, this feels like the work of a band with nothing to prove.

A project that stands on its own, a work of engaging individuality, ‘Jackman.’ is his best, most in-depth album yet. Literate, experimental, and emphatically rebellious, it’s the sound of Jack Harlow operating on his own glorious terms.

Surefooted, revelatory, well-rounded and emotionally deep, ‘Council Skies’ cements his reputation as one of the best songwriters the UK has ever produced.

By tweaking the American seasoning in their long-simmering stew of English folk, Smoke Fairies have finally delivered on their early promise to create an album you can truly get lost in.

Allowing each artist to dominate the tracks in their own way, Girl Unit has curated a project so personal and progressive it’s no wonder he’s made us wait so long.

With echoes of Lou Reed in many of the tracks, including ‘What Makes Him Act So Bad’ and ‘Cigarette Burns Forever’, and faint hints of Green’s previous work with the Peaches in others - ‘Oh Shucks’ - ‘Minor Love’ sees Green marry his roots with the new directions he’s taking, and comparison to the tape recorder fodder of old isn’t so hard make anymore.

It won't be everyone's cup of tea but this could well be a guilty pop pleasure for many.

House music’s fire will never go out. And this pack of rhythmic aces can only help fan its hypnotic flames.

This is the album we've been waiting for, whether we knew it or not.

The opening three tracks are almost an EP in their own right, before a quick reset. Semi title track ‘The Art Of Starting Over’ begins anew, a straight forward bop that gets to the root of Demi’s recovery – her natural talent, her ear for pop magic, affording room for personal renewal.

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.

Even as the tracks begin to mesh together a bit, hearing the versatility that AFI has pushed themselves towards is thrilling. Sonically, the looming influences of The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Sisters of Mercy trail every chord and drum lick.

Remastered and supplemented it has received a contemporary injection and doesn't feel out of place in today's scene with that Mould influence shining through.

[The music] shows you the lengths he’s still prepared to go, criss-crossing in lo-fi and between human conditions.

Yes, at times it is ungainly and crosses over that line into sheer noise, but it never stays there too long as Giant Swan is all about the tunes, despite all the distressed window dressing.

In ‘Honora’, Flea has found a way to redefine his humble musical roots, far from a vanity project, it’s a deeply considered, richly textured body of work.

‘Beautiful and Brutal Yard‘ sees the Uju Militer remind us why he’s so adored. ‘Intro’ finds Hus sounding rejuvenated and full of new source material.

Bloody marvellous.

Unlike a time-worn relic that loses its lustre, ‘BLACK’!ANTIQUE’ is a curio of mind-melting hip-hop that becomes more corporeal, revealing its magic with every listen.

The band embody the peculiar feeling of in-betweenness – the post-apocalyptic experience of being the only person awake – in a way that feels true to their history whilst scaling new heights.

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.

‘The Universe Will Take Care of You’ is a delightful album – the melodies are strong, the tones are great and the overall feeling of togetherness and optimism carries on after the album finishes.

While British Road Movies can’t quite match the shock of the new provided by The Long Blondes’ early material, it’s a strong and confident comeback, and better than we’d any right to expect from someone who hasn’t been involved in an album release for over eight years.

Sure to be a hit with the disenfranchised, give the man a single bulb to perform under on stage and fans will be riveted.

Free For All is a debut album from a producer continually finding new perspectives on your favourite sounds.

While ‘Dim Probs’, on initial listens, may not appear the most substantial addition to Rhys’ work, it is nevertheless a relaxed (and relaxing) thing of warm humanity and beauty that, in the long run, may be more durable than much of his more lavish and accessible outputs.

This release feels like she is fully embodying her own skin – this is a release that aims for timelessness in its own right, allowing the true, unfiltered Miley Cyrus to step into the sunlight.

Ultimately, ‘COSPLAY’ is Sorry at their most innovative and impressive, with their strongest songwriting to date. The album has everything the band is loved for, but it’s augmented and heightened.

I genuinely mean that as a compliment: music doesn’t always have to be hard work, and Richter’s latest offering, ‘In A Landscape’, feels like the opposite of work.

Like it or not – I very much do – this is not an artist playing it safe. As on the last album, RAYE is unequivocally at her best when she leans contemporary, in production and subject matter.

Iggy Pop is what it says on the tin and Iggy Pop is what every aspect the music revolves around.

‘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.

With such grand ambitions achieved, great music produced, and a five year journey concluded and justified, Morricone would be proud: Rome was well worth the wait.

There's no doubting the commitment in delivery though, with solid musical cohesion and a thrusting triple-guitar assault that has an astounding clarity and is expertly choreographed.

When she leans into vocal layering and harmony, the record comes alive. And while the production is minimal, the clarity it affords her words makes every lyric land with intention.

‘Savage Mode 2’ matches ruthless entertainment to phenomenal artistry, a collaboration that works on a number of levels. Once more exposing fresh layers to 21 Savage and Metro Boomin.

The stabilisers are off for global fusion; the first ride could have been a lot worse.

Preaching the same elements on 'Different Scales', this EP shows us what is to come on Jenkins' forthcoming album. If 'The Circus' is just a prelude, then old and new fans alike are up for a special treat.

This is really an album about empathy, and feels incredibly necessary today.

Deranged and balefully bleak.

It’s a triumphant comeback.

With six of the fourteen songs already in the public domain, the LP tips its hat to familiarity whilst still creating a whirlwind of excitement from fans.

The tough guy act only gets you so far, though. And that is why 'Karma 3' really comes alive when East exposes his character’s soft underbelly. ... Memories tainted by regret and guilt – the flip side of nostalgia – resonate in Motown-style acoustic instrumentation and chunky Golden Era beats combined with a supreme cast of vocalists.

‘Euro-Country’ is impeccably timed, but it’s also a weighty release, with the gorgeous Nashville-tinged songwriting allied to some fantastic polemic. This is a fantastic release – CMAT in excelsis.

‘Silence Is Loud’ is unafraid to look beyond this hyper-focussed lens. As such, you’ll encounter jazz and neo-soul vibes, alongside bass-bin rattlers galore.

With ‘Hell Is Here’, HIDE have shown that a quick trip to the dark side might not actually be a laugh, but it can be somewhat enjoyable, as long as you don’t mind the static.

Black Panther: The Album is an instantly enjoyable project that allows its featured artists to shine under the watchful eyes and ears of Kendrick Lamar.

In an age of hostile austerity manufactured by moral panic-inducing powers, Ezra Collective’s debut effort is a polyrhythmic balm for disillusioned youth seeking a dose of musical dopamine.

It's a joy.

A record of real depth, ‘Wall Of Eyes’ closes on a sombre note. Distinctive, melodic, and defined, ‘You Know Me’ doesn’t so much pull at the heartstrings as slice right through them, Thom Yorke’s voice dissolving into a mesh of strings. It’s a suitably potent moment to end the record on – poised and suggestive, it becomes a bridge from one phase, to something as yet uncharted.

Down In Heaven is a great, hazy summer album.

This first true-solo effort sees the man responsible for some of rock's most iconic riffery joining forces with the friends he met on the way (including The Cult's Ian Astbury, Lemmy and Iggy Pop) and is a rocking riot from the off.

Cyrus conveys a jaunting and heartening honesty throughout her lyrics as she reflects on love, guilt, addiction and the business of breaking hearts. In a year shrouded by isolation and starved of social interaction, where individuals have been forced to discover the unexpected joy of solitude, “Plastic hearts” might just be the soundtrack to through this journey as you embark on your very own Rocky-esque beast mode montage of shameless self-empowerment.

Scratchy, inchoate electronics, heavy, almost-metal power gestures and subtle violin all conspire at different points to make this a beguiling artistic protest of an album, and singularly one of the most considered and thought-provoking records of 2016.

As pure and rich as milk and honey.