This is still an intrinsically Maxwell record, but he navigates familiar tropes through friction and distressed noir-soul, the cohesiveness of the record all the more commendable as a result.

A sorrowful, yet captivating collection of songs, ensuring that Ms. Mitchell continues to snap at the heels of PJ Harvey in the female singer songwriter stakes.

He has vision and ambition beyond the scope of most of us and he is able to bring it to fruition. Long may he find new fans for his challenging but deeply satisfying work.

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.

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.

Process is his ‘Carrie And Lowell’, a healing record for the broken, the lovelorn and the lost.

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.

‘DEACON’ is a triumph because it realises and relives love’s quiet, archived moments, be it romantic or spiritual. It’s a triumph because it reminds us R&B exists on a vast continuum, forever a source of inspiration and innovation.

‘Big Conspiracy’ never fully sits in one place, this ever-evolving puzzle with J Hus at the core. He wears many masks, but it’s often when these slip that ‘Big Conspiracy’ is at its most viral, and revealing.

These 10 tracks comprise a head-and-shoulders-above collection that immediately imprints itself as one of the best hip-hop records of 2013 so far.

‘Praise…’ feels like a completed maze, a finite and full creation, and cements Tumor as an extraordinary explorer.

Without doubt, this is one of the folk albums of the year.

It’s a real banquet, a feat of folk re-contextualisation driven forward by the sharp emotional instincts of its formidable maker.

Through turns wholly strange and ambiguous, it’s often unclear where the breadcrumb trail of 'House Of Sugar' is leading us, but it’s a mind-bending trip worth taking nonetheless.

With its heady hooks and exuberant riffs, ‘But Here We Are’ is ambitious, poignant, and vivid in equal measure. The emotive and raw sonics are painful but positive at the same time and we as listeners feel every note, line and beat throughout this ten track album which ranks as one of the best Foo Fighters albums in their history.

‘Promises’ is five years' worth of experimental soundscaping condensed into one mind-boggling harmonic journey. A highly accomplished piece of music, Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points both excel in their newfound exploratory duo with a piece of work which will go down in jazz-cross- electronic-cross-classical history.

This album, though, is not a story of what might have been but never was; it is a picturesque view of what happens when a monumental level of care and attention is put into a project. It is a wonderfully constructed success.

An album with soul jazz, spiritual jazz, jazz-funk, electro-soul and many more genre-busting approaches incorporated across 16 wondrous pieces, aspects of free rhythms nestling next to vintage seventies soul sounds, all evolved effortlessly for the 21st Century. ... You won’t hear another record like it this, or maybe any, year.

Full of self-aware wistfulness and post-ironic references, it avoids the pitfalls of many other flash-in-the pan internet culture records by also being genuine; genuinely nostalgic, genuinely sweet, genuinely interesting, and genuinely great.

A work of real refinement, ‘The Great White Sea Eagle’ is peppered with jewels.

A stylish, impactful and accessible collection, ‘Negative Spaces’ is music for our post-genre, post-everything digital age.

Before its release, Fetti had the potential to be one of the strongest hip-hop albums of the year due to the skilled people involved and it has no doubt fulfilled that promise.

While the singles may be his most commercially appealing to date, he never once loses integrity or his aural signature as an artist.

Dublin in the rain belongs to Fontaines D.C., and rather than being too real this album is just right, it is a ragged delivery. The trick lies in the seemingly un-filtered rawness combined with its stark poetic reality. The three components help secure this album’s position as an example of authenticity; authenticity in its most concentrated and truest form and expression.

While some greatest hits collections can feel like cheap cash grabs, this feels like a reminder of why fans fell in love with Hot Chip in the first place. If you’re looking for an album of synth floor fillers, this will certainly do the job and some.

A dystopian masterpiece.

The second album by the Melbourne five-piece is a riot, in the party sense of the word.

Don’t listen to ‘Raven’ expecting immediacy. Instead see ‘Raven’ as a point of discovery, fostering dialogue on and beyond the dancefloor; an open expanse and a surround sound experience for the marginalised seeking thrills beyond the white gaze.

With his trademark pliability anchored deep beneath the surface, he is able to swerve from garage blues (“A_01,” tentatively) to glimpses of the Raconteurs (“A_03”) to electric folk (“B_02”) with a coherence few can replicate.

Porridge Radio have not only written the album of their careers but possibly of the year too. Their new project ‘Every Bad’ is full of the catchy songs that are overflowing with lo-fi ramshackle post-punk guitars and uplifting vocals.

This is an album encompasses everything Klein has experienced so far. It is rich with texture and ideas. Let’s hope it doesn’t take her another lifetime to create something as singular and enjoyable as this.

Dense and obtuse it may be but those who follow this most intense sonic explorer will be rewarded the greatest.

Such is the ability of Angélica to articulate herself through her songs, you don’t have to understand Spanish to appreciate this powerfully emotive album. A voice to be heard.

The colour of ‘Chromakopia’ resides in the album’s grooves, layered production and immersive penmanship. While some elements feel a bit safe, the sound design is chiseled and sharper, showcasing Tyler, the Creator’s now-mastered style in HD glory. If ‘Chromakopia’ is anything, it’s profoundly human and revealing.

Shields is an engrossing, beautiful work which could only come from Grizzly Bear, and only at this point in their career.

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

Fragile, heavenly and utterly compelling; this debut paves the way for boundaries-pushing pop. This is music that shatters you with a single tap.

Brilliant stuff is still very much spooling out of Thom Yorke. His voice is revelatory on these tracks, better than ever, a peerless instrument; buttery and mellifluous in falsetto, snide and viperish on the growly bits. His magpie instincts for a tart one-liner remain razor sharp.

She has developed her own world over the last few years, this record feeling like the grand opening; the musical renegade uses this sonic landscape to release feelings of sorrow and doubt and anger, culminating in a truly vivid and innovative record.

A mystical brew of funk, gospel and delta rock.

The first half of the album follows an upbeat style, reminiscent of raspy rhythm ‘n’ blues, sharp-edged funk, and early Motown. ... The second half of the album harks back to the golden era of soul with gospel roots and orchestral interludes.

The Betas were a formidable live band, and the radio session tracks here are as good as, and sometimes better than, their studio counterparts. There’s little in the way of actual rarities, though.

As always, Wild Beasts' songs are unusually intimate, and the electronic evolution of Present Tense captures their characteristically microscopic explorations of human interaction.

While ‘My Name Is My Name’ was a great album, this is a masterclass in design: in contrast to the 20+ track albums of this streaming era, Kanye’s ruthless editing ensures every song, every bar and every sample have purpose.

While DRIFT’s production values remain solid, a few tracks would have needed more time to be fleshed out. ... Even then, you can trust Underworld to play to their strengths. ... By taking all these ideas and running with them, Underworld has rushed in where most artists fear to tread.

‘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.

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.

From understated bedroom pop to innovative troubadour, Skinner’s new record is truly a gift.

‘Loud Without Noise’ is brave in its honest lyricism and empowering in its sound while still paying homage to the angst-fuelled, punk spirit that first grew them a following. It is a nostalgic mixtape that will make you shed your inhibitions, let go of those social anxieties and, at least for the 20 minute duration, feel a complete freedom that you may not have ever felt.

‘Black Classical Music’ is a unique experience, a true journey, the musical autobiography of a musician central to the ongoing development of UK jazz.

Flitting between the glamorous and raw, the album thrives on contradiction, delighting in camp spectacle and coarse truths. Dancing amidst this ambiguity, Smerz’s allure, vulnerability, and dry humour makes this darkly dazzling record a potent reflection of cosmopolitan womanhood.

Grief, cross-cultural exploration, and musical experimentation coexist effortlessly, grounding the record and giving it both emotional resonance and sonic adventure. This is an album which proves Gorillaz can stretch their sound even further while remaining entirely in control.

A nerve-jangling experience, it could well rank as their masterpiece.

A powerful and truly wonderful return from The Twilight Sad.

The great just gets greater.

In returning to the project that best suits his sense of adventure, James Murphy has done nothing to tarnish what has gone before. American Dream is a darker, more diverse record than its predecessors and a more human one too.

It’s an album that’s somehow halfway between DJ mix and a greatest hits compilation, and arguably the best of The Avalanches’ trio of releases thus far.

It’s intimate yet expansive, it’s beautiful, but also reveals the ugly truth that death is inevitable for us all, but how you live your life is what counts. ‘Mahashmashana’ is assured, emotive and luminous,

With this latest album, Ichiko Aoba has created yet another subsuming listen, an oceanic and blissful record that is a masterclass in escapism.

‘Saving Grace’ is intimate, emotional and transcendental, a warm mosaic of blues, alt-country and folk storytelling that reawakens the spirit of roots music that has been sympathetically reimagined through the clarity of a modern lens.

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.

Richly melodic and possessing a classicist pop sensibility, this is rock music with soul.

‘Blue Rev’ is a magical, twisty excursion to a crossroads where the band simultaneously reflects on yesteryear and explores the turbulence of divergent realities.

‘New Long Leg’ feels a world apart from the staleness of so many groups tagged with the term ‘post punk’. Indeed, as a complete aesthetic statement, the debut album from Dry Cleaning hardly merits contemporaries at all – suffocating, surreal, and exploratory, it takes chances other groups could scarcely envisage.

As an album, though still swinging from one place to another with glee, The Underside Of Power feels important, and very, very serious, as a body of work. It is one of the year’s very best albums, and sets out Algiers as one of the decade’s very best bands.

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

The project includes a host of features from some of the biggest names in the genre, who provide welcome (but somewhat unnecessary) co-signs as she herself manoeuvres with a standout level of artistry that leaves you in no doubt that she is indeed here to stay.

Even at it’s bleakest, All At Once is sheer rock’n’roll joy from start to finish.

Individually the songs are great, vibrant and bouncy. However, together it can get a bit too draining. Now, I’m not saying that this much pop is a bad thing – the album is a delight to listen to, but there is a lack of variation in both sound and texture as it’s all so IN-YR-FACE.

In ‘Postindustrial Hometown Blues’ they tell their story, but it’s a universal one. The sense of joy in using lyrics to express emotions is palpable, as is their humour. The duo use their musicality, shifting between soul and blues, punk and passion.

If there’s a lack of truly revelatory alternative takes, then Anthology 4 makes up for this by shining a light on The Beatles as people, and as studio musicians.

The magnificence of Lauryn Hill? The success of Sade? Tems is out there in a lane of her own.

It’s a confident and powerful statement, and one that underlines his complete and utter dominance of the genre at this moment.

It's easy listening, while thankfully having nothing whatsoever to do with the much-maligned genre of the same name--and the sort of fascinatingly layered album that appears demanding and austere from the outset but is in fact home to a set of beautifully realised songs.

A fantastic release, ‘SICK!’ pushes Earl Sweatshirt into a new chapter of his work, while adding further context to what has come before. The production work is impeccable, its dizzying imaginative flurry the perfect hinge against Earl’s lyrical precision. Short but emphatically creative, it presents an entire universe to explore, with its finer details laying in wait for repeated listens.

Self-possessed and uncompromising, this is a record with regal bearing.

It all combines to create a record that asserts Horn as an incredible and innovative talent both within the folds of folk and also at the forefront of the genre.

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

She’s broken the curse, she’s woven a spell--and the self-described ‘luckiest little Scottish witch in the world’ is safe to cackle back off into the night, having created possibly the best album we’ll hear all year.

Badbea is a key part in Edwyn Collins’ remarkable solo career, one that has defied critics and doctors to wilfully do its own thing. A rich, vastly creative experience, it’s a further sign that Edwyn’s work remains something to treasure.

Beautifully accomplished, ‘Weather Alive’ stands as an imposing career-high by a fine, fine songwriter.

Although uncompromising in it’s vision and delivery, Stranger To Stranger ultimately, serves as another fine testament to Simon’s craft and ingenuity as a songwriter.

She's brilliant, sometimes inspired, and this tenth studio album finds her gifts undiminished.

This isn’t just a Greatest Hits set, oh no, throughout Young and Crazy Horse throw out hidden gems and deep cuts. ... Again, though, we return to the question “If Neil had this and ‘Homegrown’ in the vault, what else is there?”

‘12’ is not an album to take lightly. It is an album to listen to intently as often as you can. With each listen you learn something about what it takes to be a great artist, Ryuichi Sakamoto is a great artist, but it also teaches us not to take things too seriously because one day it could all be over.

This is a deeply original debut from a raw, ambitious band, one whose post-industrial urbane quality (check out this awesome video of them playing in an abandoned New York tunnel) provides it with a terrific sense of place and texture.

‘Mr Morales & The Big Steppers’ is one of his most profound, complex, revelatory statements yet, a double album fuelled by sonic ambition, the will to communicate, and Kendrick’s staunch refusal to walk the easy path.

While one of her least immediate records, it stands as one of her most rewarding.

Leaving behind krautrock and other prog influences, along with most of their post-Brexit new wave tricks, they have begun their journey toward a cohort of self-assured artists—ones who, thanks to their more expansive vision, no longer have to copy the paintings of great masters.

It’s a record about growing up, and playing it straight; a more open, rounded experience than we’ve come to expect from St. Vincent, it’s a brave, fascinating record.

The product of producing something so relatable that people find solace where you once only saw pain. Sack off therapy, just stick this on.

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.

Iridescence feels like Brockhampton have regrouped musically to create a great, if not perfect, representation and platform to build on.

Succinct yet packed with information, ‘Now Would Be A Good Time’ finds three musicians who are bold enough to let the pieces fall where they may. Folk Bitch Trio refuse to over-think the arrangements, and this lends their music an understated intensity.

ZUU is an experience that transports the listener to a specific time and place. ZUU is further proof that Denzel Curry is one of hip-hop's most interesting and progressive MCs.

Lyrically ‘All My Heroes Are Cornballs’ feels very stream of consciousness full of political commentary, the concerns of living in American 2019, whilst being engaging, humorous, and informative.

Sleep Well Beast is an album that rewards repeat listens and unfurls its beauty slowly over time: The National have yet again made an album that’s as brilliant as it is ambitious.

With both music and curation straying into increasingly beguiling territories The Lost Tapes is as delightful as it is overwhelming.