A singular, precise, and continually inviting experience, Clean finds Soccer Mommy reaching a new level of artistry, using her earlier releases as a bedrock to support her ambitions. A marvellous debut, it’s truly something to savour.

Call The Comet doesn’t quite reach the heights it sets out to, as the execution on some tracks falls flat despite some interesting ideas. That being said, there are enough moments throughout the record to remind you that the Marr magic is alive and well.

HOLY FVCK serves as brilliant proof of Lovato’s hard rock capabilities. Lovato suits hard rock, those vocals absolutely gorgeous when paired with a sturdy burst of heavy soundscapes. While Lovato can knock out a summer-ready banger, it’s equally as thrilling to see them lurking in the shadows.

It again boasts a plethora of instruments and will likely remind fans why Belle and Sebastian are so great at what they do.

Ride seem to be embrace and move past their illustrious past, resulting in one of the most finessed, intriguing albums of their career to date.

A bold, tremulous feat, Sucker Punch will leave you floored.

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

The variations aren’t as wild, but that doesn’t mean you don’t notice them, the Glasgow zeitgeist keeping things moving as a supreme technician (ever the perfectionist, this final cut apparently took five takes).

It’s an unabashed pop record that anyone should be proud to play at full volume.

‘The Land, The Water, The Sky’ is an album to savour, to go back to again and again to either get a greater understanding of what she is imparting and to find a new melody you missed the last time.

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.

‘World Record’ is a thrilling ride through some admittedly familiar pastures. But then, perhaps that simply underlines how potent Neil Young remains, and the increasing resonance of his eco-politics.

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.

It's a more mature record, one that keeps the energy of its predecessor and filters it through new sonic filters. Thanks to its subtle mix of styles there's a timeless quality, the sound of freethinkers finding their feet in a very weird time. Get on it.

At 13 tracks there is perhaps a little weight that could be shed – at times, ‘Never Let Me Go’ can feel a little indulgent, lacking a certain concise nature, with ‘This Is What You Wanted’ sounding like a flat cousin of Coldplay’s ‘Clocks’. That said, when it hits ‘Never Let Me Go’ is a reminder of how thrilling, and genuinely intoxicating Placebo can be.

Come for the headlines, but stay for the below-the-bar thrills. ‘I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU’ is in turns earnest and surreal, confusing and pristine.

All the usual suspects are in place as you would suspect from a band with, let's be honest, not that many hits of the great variety.

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

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

The beautifully crafted fuzzy rock record has sonic concoctions that could have easily been taken from the best 90s and 2000s teen movies; not only does it serve its purpose of self-acceptance and healing, but it also further solidifies Laus’ place in the industry as a formidable, agenda-setting songwriter.

Yet American Football sounds like nothing that’s come in the last 16 years, or the last two for that matter.

Successful forays into synth-disco (‘Look At Your Hands’), slo-mo new wave (‘Coast To Coast’) and hymnal R&B (‘Home’) rescue a uniquely energetic, smart record in danger of over-saturation.

Bloom oozes simplicity, honesty and contentness. It will be a welcome sound of summer for 'Teen Dream' fans, but don't expect anything too radical.

He seems to explore his craft, experimenting with electronic instruments throughout each track, yet stays close to home.

Packed with personality and innovative sounds, this is an incredibly strong release.

The Bride is a stellar soundtrack to the complexities of womanhood within the institution of marriage, a triumph of raw intensity.

[Seeds is] not up there with its makers’ very best releases, but a welcome indication that they still absolutely mean business.

Ape in Pink Marble doesn’t do anything innovative because it doesn’t really have to. So go ahead, Devendra, celebrate.

Tessa Murray's voice is gorgeously fragile and the backdrop will lift you out of encroaching grim winter evenings.

Fionn’s great rocking out and full of energy, but here, just voice and guitar for most, he’s just so listenable.

Broad to the point of contradiction, it’s a record that covers a lot of bases, while lacking a singular purpose. It’s almost as if KNEECAP are enacting a cartoonish version of their own lives – it’s fun, but ultimately two-dimensional.

This is a beautifully blissed-out record, coloured by minimal rhythms and Lewis Rainsbury’s isolated vocals.

‘Girls – The 2nd Mini Album’ demonstrates an advancement of aespa as artists. It has solidified the group’s creative intentions whilst also illustrating their ability at owning other concepts.

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

The pace is infectious and small helpings will sweeten your day.

It’s studied, sure--these guys are superbly technically proficient--but never is the fun obscured by fretwork pyrotechnics.

The band's strengths are here in abundance, but they are reimagined, twisted into new shapes and given a visceral intensity that is utterly irresistible.

Boxcutter flirts competently with funky house ('Zabriskie Disco'), UKG ('Moon Pupils') and even mid-'80s funk ('TV Troubles'), all showcasing his deft and malleable production styles.

This mature, experienced point of view on the nation’s favorite pastime is bound to rock clubs this summer.

Live in London see as duo with chemistry stronger than ever. Let's just hope their busy schedules make room for the long-rumoured movie. If their past work is anything to go on, it will be gold.

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.

Held together by a singular sense of purpose, ‘The Feminine Divine’ is at times daring, at others anthemic. Both puzzling and entrancing, it refuses to be hemmed in by past success, reaching out instead for new challenges.

The diverging styles can at times be overbearing but there is a sense of freshness and bold shifts that is hard not to appreciate and it will be interesting to see how their style evolves.

The album feels like an amalgamation of its two predecessors; the rap energy from ‘Scarlet’ and pop punch from ‘Planet Her’.

Ritual Union is the rich vindication of Little Dragon's slow burning upturn.

There’s a vision and attention to detail here that’s led to an decidedly individual record that, like a new love, shares a little more with you whenever you spend some time together.

There is so much to unpack here across a myriad of styles from jazz to folk and blues but it all seems to fit the subject at its heart, Dennis Hopper. It may not all work but when it does it is mesmerising.

The music has stark contrasts that work well to portray the emotions of singer Jim James.

Multi-Love undoubtedly reveals Unknown Mortal Orchestra's willingness to reinvent and innovate, yet it's still beset by some of the difficulties that have featured in their previous work.

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.

This album is a rich Norwegian delight.

As a whole, Breaks & Bone is a little samey, but as a showcase of one of Glasgow’s finest musicians, it’s a gem.

His music marries complexity with club-ready thump, resulting in a dystopian dancehall of morbid booty shaking.

The beautiful performances captured here, touching on all five studio albums, are more than enough of a reason to seek this out.

A rewarding evolution for the band.

Chugging and thunderous, Stefanski’s debut set as Raffertie is self-assured: an expertly stitched quilt of textures.

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

The most impressive thing about In League With Dragons is that it’s the 17th Mountain Goats album, and Darnielle shows no signs of running on empty. This is an album that should excite existing fans of the band. ... It also works well as a gateway for new fans as the songs are catchy, the music is well balanced and when the band hit that sweet groove its glorious.

This isn’t download territory--it’s a journey, and if you buy a ticket, you have to put the time in to get to the destination. But what a destination.

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

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.

It carries a deeply insidious atmosphere, never revealing what is coming round the corner before exploding into either a flurry of motion or into a whispering, ephemeral moment.

Best when he’s corralling others into out-of-their-comfort-zone creativity, it’s the Albarn-sung tracks on the second half of the album where the attention wanders and the album opening Snoop Dogg cameo seems a million miles away. Of course, there’s alot here to take in and maybe it just needs a fair few listens to fully digest it - the sign of any album worth its salt.

I Don’t Run advances Hinds’ endearing charm and esprit de corps, which in turn makes this another totally enjoyable listen.

It’s a brilliant pick me up, a dazzling set of songs that tap into our innermost impulses. A colourful way to remember those good times, and one that is perfectly prepared for our eventual return to the dance floor.

British music fans should gaze upon King Krule with great pride. Under immense expectation, he has managed to become the product of his far-flung influences, rather than a pastiche of any.

Albarn on Britain is a proven formula, but Simonon, Allen and Simon Tong combine to craft curious twenty-first century folk about curious twenty-first century folk.

The closest ‘Quadra’ comes to breaking new ground and entering unclaimed territory is the dramatic metamorphosis of Green’s voice during the nostalgic nu-metal hymn ‘Agony of Defeat’, not to mention the superb acoustic intro and the profane chorus of ‘Guardians of Earth’. More crucially, the samba drum-kit of ‘Capital Enslavement’ and the syncopated beat on ‘Raging Void’ shows that the idea of exploring percussive possibilities is slowly growing on them.

A helter-skelter ride through extra-dimensional sonics, ‘Wilds’ is an exhilarating return, The Soundcarriers’ lengthy absence simply making their return all the more potent.

Dreamy but real, hazy but pure and insightful, this project facilitates fresh ambition and explores new ground for Real Estate. And maybe, this record will take them even closer to that elusive ‘main thing’.

At times pretty, at others curiously appealing, ‘AIR’ is more-often-than-not simply boring, ca selection of mood music that fills up space without every truly saying anything.

While this might not be the most fun album to listen to, Neil Young and Crazy Horse deliver solid performances that elevate it from seven songs of despondency.

A 10-track wonder that is a more mature and eclectic take on her gloriously femme and thundering electro-pop.

Snotty, minimal, sparky; so much more than worth the wait. [Jun 2024, p.81]

Avey Tare’s new album ‘7s’ sits in the shadow of ‘Time Skiffs’, but it contains a curious character of its own. Featuring – naturally enough – seven tracks, it both nods to some of the conduits of Animal Collective’s work, while also injecting something different.

This is strange, boutique folk-pop with a vitalised imagination--a rewarding listen, and then some.

The result is something that sounds mechanical and generally detached from emotion.

A dark and perilous experience, one just hopes there’s light at the end of Adams’ tunnel.

Sad, weird, beautiful, fiercesome; music to move and excite. [Apr 2013, p.97]

Well worth imbibing.

The album is a sun-kissed trip with layered overdubs, shimmering guitar inter-play and a sense of wanderlust, a warm departure from the celebrated lo-fi debut LP.

With plenty to digest, there’s no lack of ideas, if maybe a lack of focus. Stripping this back to a leaner, focused synth set might have injected a bit more punch. That said, Office Politics finds the underrated genius as acerbic and creatively inspired as ever.

Stars Are The Light is an aural journey, one which forces the listener to reconnect, or at least reconsider, their relationship with nature. In doing so, it encourages individuality and challenges one to break-up with the conventions of modern life.

The result is a solid, if overly safe album that avoids some of the pitfalls of the past but fails to ignite the heart.

It takes a special sort to do such songs justice with a mere acoustic guitar, but Marshall manages it. When things go electric, the ante isn’t upped nearly enough, however, and can’t help but pale compared to the frantic energy of The Hawks and Dylan fighting the audience.

Passionate and reflective, ‘We Are Love’ captures a band rooted in experience and brimming with creative renewal.

It’s schizophrenic and really quite silly in places, Broke is never less than entirely entertaining.

A more concise LP that continues LUH's mythos, whilst also branching out sonically, Love Hates What You Become reinforces their necessary purpose. Fearless, life-affirming and without compromise, Lost Under Heaven's future blues have the potential to be a soundtrack of a generation.

A record of sheer beauty and one that finds London Grammar at the absolute top of their game.

When Gambino plays it straight he sounds majestic.

Despite at times being muddled, Segall is not afraid to stand up and confront the audience, evoking the most visceral of feelings and pushing the boundaries of comfort. Divisive, but all the more brilliant for it.

The maker and breaker of neon daisy chains, 'Galaxy Garden' is a fantasia that's as lush as a chain of soap shops.

The pair still aren’t in that DFA1979 category of combatively brilliant, just yet.

Tracks such as ‘Aurelia’ and ‘Feed From The Floor’ harbour familiar macabre theatrics, though this time they feel more matured and far less overwrought than in previous offerings.

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.

Dream Nails often surprising, forever enlightening debut album proves that the revolution will be a whole lotta fun.

This is a punchy record sure to spark some vital debates, as well as having a solid slew of crowd-pleasers.

A bold, impressive debut offering, it finds the songwriter’s perfectionist streak paying off.