It's an optimistic, romantic and frequently lovely record.

The rollercoaster ride of his delivery makes it an enjoyable experience rather than a textbook headache.

Though it might be lacking in the amount of quintessential indie floorfillers that we’ve come accustomed to with Peace, Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll shows progression.

The punchy indie exuberance pervading this record is its calling card but beneath the surface there's a whole lot more going on.

This may be the sound of an artist working with a formula: a formula that is certainly an effective, endearing one, but a formula nonetheless.

With his debut, Styles manages to escape the notorious curse of former boy banders, turned leading men, creating an immersive, reference-fuelled tribute to classic rock for the millennial generation.

Lower Than Atlantis may have already released a self-titled album in 2014, but it’s the follow-up that sounds more like them than any of their other records.

Blink remain true to form, even throwing in a few sub-1 minute swearword screamers, but with the band back together and continuing to go through life, it seems their form is grounded in something firmer.

It’s a bit less frenetic than previous material, but across ten songs Thomas leaves his unmistakeable sonic signature with auteur-like precision.

Splicing the spirit of ancient Viking alcoholics with some red-hot Jamaican jah, BSP are finally having fun.

Far from a departure, it's more the continuation of a recurring theme--but one that isn't half bad at all.

Despite the promise of impending doom, ‘Who Wants to Talk About Love?’ is a free-flowing, acoustic dream – a true testament to Bird’s dedication to her craft.

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.

‘Higher Than Heaven’ is a pitch perfect return. Following her excellent 00s channelling Calvin Harris link-up ‘Miracle’, Ellie Goulding is on her best form since those epochal blog era bops in the 2010s… and we are here for it.

A gradual evolution, then, and all the better for it.

Honest, uncompromising, raw and restless, it's a rock album of some distinction.

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.

It’s one that sees TOY testing the water for the future blueprint of their music, which seems only to be building on its successes.

It’s not a perfect album by any means – I’m still torn on ‘Wretched’, whose anthemic chorus seems a little too eager to please, and ‘Cosigns’ is a little too spartan in its production. Nevertheless, it takes a wealth of creativity and guts to make an album as individual as this.

The album’s first half sees Taye relish the experimental nature that first drew him to the scene, and to its defining Teklife cohort. When it works, it’s weird - but it definitely works. ... The latter half of the record serves a more straightforward (if such a thing is possible) footwork rinse-out. And it sings.

Instrumentally, the album maintains the similar Owen tropes we’ve come to love and expect.

On balance it's still a more than worthy addition to the New Jersey outfit's growing collection.

A solid album that despite getting into a more forward stride, does slow burner as patience tester.

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

Had it been trimmed down to ten or eleven tracks, then maybe we’d be talking about one of Green Day’s strongest releases. As it stands, ‘Saviors’ turns out to be a somewhat confident return to form, but one that also fails to build upon the records that inspired it.

Darling Arithmetic finds O'Brien continuing to fashion his sound in this cherished manner, the tales he spawns both introspective and impressive.

This new album pinpoints some of Ibibio Sound Machine’s singular charms, reflecting the band’s live energy back at them. A decade on from their debut, the band remain a force to be reckoned with, a noble fixture on the landscape of British music landscape.

‘April’ might not be as strong as 2016’s ‘Second Love’. The songs are solid but not quite as pristine as its predecessor. However, it’s understated melodies and melancholy laced lyrics still have the power to stop you in your tracks. This feels like third love.

‘C,XOXO’ isn’t Cabello’s brat moment. A lack of refinement and direction is the burning issue at play here, but she has succeeded in making an inherently fun record.

Amen & Goodbye is undoubtedly a strong return but also one that’s just a couple of tracks short of something genuinely great.

The album’s production works against it, however. Beyond proficient, it's so clean and glossy your attention slides off the album. You long for a little grit and texture to really bring the music alive.

At times Wolves' polished, pop-tinged punk sounds more like a proffered Pepsi can than a clenched Molotov cocktail, but it is still punk to its bones in a time when the label tends to be skin-deep.

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

It can arrest large scale arenas, and Matrixxman's Swiss Army Knife game is indisputable, though it's often used as a plot twist that's not necessarily relatable to the original story.

Employing a dense rack of synths, the opening tracks establish a slightly chaotic fug that the record gradually emerges from. And, once its found its feet, the album treads a pretty glorious path.

The sugar coated melodies and lush production give ‘Finally Over It’ a frictionless feel this time round, but Walker’s aching monologues keep things grounded in reality.

The band’s dependable grasp of instantly joyous hooks still shows no sign of deserting them, and Britt Daniel’s raspy voice continues to marshal the tight groove at their core.... Only ‘I Just Don’t Understand’ hits a truly bum note, sounding eerily like Beady Eye.

‘Hackney Diamonds’ is probably the Rolling Stones’ best album in two decades. .... Equally, while his status as a lizard-like, hip-shaking frontman of immortal prowess remains intact, Jagger’s lyricism – so often underrated – delivers a few clunkers here. The highs, though, are what fans are tuning in for.

Kintsugi hits hard due to its lightness, its bitter heart shrouded in soft arpeggios and catchy riffs.

‘Truth Decay’ is a mixtape You Me At Six have lovingly burned and placed into our open palms. It’s got tracks you’ll love, some you won’t, but there’s an undeniable charm throughout.

It feels unanchored and tremulous, without EITS’s signature drums--but it’s still beautiful.

A curious oddity, Moonlight indicates that there’s far more to Hanni El Khatib than meets the eye.

She’s now surpassed [her debut release] on its follow up Grim Town, which continues the themes of her debut, but with a new emotional growth.

First Serve holds no fear for newcomers, consolidates their legacy, and deserves at least one encore.

Cut And Paste is a well-crafted slice of guitar pop in and of itself, but it largely functions as a placeholder album that succeeds in stoking into life the flickering embers of a dying flame without ever truly reigniting the pyre.

So, whilst ‘Animal’ endangered no creative boundaries, there’s no denying that autoKratz track the footsteps of their predecessors with great panache.

It never quite transgresses those influences, yet in terms of sheer charm and bravura it places Olly right up there with his idols.

A record bursting with artistic emotion and vulnerable resilience.

Definitely for the faint-hearted.

A slimmed down project that is over before you feel it really hits its stride, it exists in an uneven nether space that continues Robyn’s legend in some ways and takes some of the shine off it in others.

Closing the album out, it becomes clear that Moonchild Sanelly takes a more reflective approach to the project, one that is undoubtedly her strongest to date.

Sometimes they feel almost too airbrushed, with Mabel playing it a little too safe to qualify being described as wholly original or progressive. There are moments of talent and flair, but it would’ve also been refreshing to hear more personality (and less autotune). Nevertheless, it’s an album that contains some real highlights.

Refined, and dangerously decadent.

Stereophonics don’t have the lyrical potency of their earlier incarnation, often erring on the side of grand generalisation--as is the way when you have to appeal to enough people to fill your next arena tour. But frontman Kelly Jones has got one of the damn finest voices in rock ‘n’ roll, and that’s surely worth the price of admission in itself.

A singular experience, ‘Island Family’ is unsettling at first, until the listener begins to relax into the world Pictish Trail has prepared. An attempt to discuss familiar experiences in an unfamiliar way, it’s a rewarding, groundbreaking insight into his life, one that retains a playfully experimental edge in the process.

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.

A fine goodbye filled with easy charm and style.

Irrespective of how you choose to approach it, the final installment of the trilogy that Hansen began back in 2011 fully underlines his strength, deftness and creative dexterity as a producer.

Tracks like ‘Swamp and Bay’ bring us punchy indie rock, and ‘Hoax and the Shrine’ give us woeful nursery rhyme acoustics befitting to a reflective train ride in a coming-of-age film. A development for Girlpool, and one of sheer enigmatic bliss.

Lyrically the album does what pop music does and creates a vibe but doesn’t necessarily encite any thought or, challenge the listener and the rest of the album from this point feels quite disconnected as we navigate out of the Afro-R&B with a feature from Rema on ‘Compromise’ to Nigerian highlife with lead single ‘Afro Highlife’ and reggae rhythms on ‘Having Fun’.

On ‘Anatomy’, her second album, Potter delivers a collection of songs whose meanings are never clear. Are they about relationships, the planet, films distilled into three minutes? It’s this lack of clarity that makes ‘Anatomy’ so enjoyable.

Stuffed & Ready is more of Cherry Glazerr’s successes: the album is raw, desolate, and affecting.

Uplifting, invigorating ‘The Resurrection Of Rust’ offers a warm boost down memory lane in one way, while the modern times filter gives the record intricacy, and it is one to check out.

Perhaps too slick for some, the Crowded House catalogue has never been afraid to be open. Maybe that’s a fault, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with a slice of innocence and songwriting purity in a landscape so smothered with irony.

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.

Their subtle blend of kraut-funk, atmospherics and hushed vocals works, but at points several tracks pass by and you realise you haven't noticed anything.

Although a rather formidable theme, NNAMDÏ delivers his most succinct and capital P pop album yet.

Designed as much for the dance floor as smoke-filled bedrooms, this album is a window into the mind of a producer refusing to be defined by, or reduced to, a singular style.

In the end, LP 2 is the sound of a band taking everything that’s worked so far and refining it with style, taste and precision.

PINS still have a long way to go, but they've essentially done what few bands achieve on their second album: made a record more focused and measured while retaining rawness and negating the use of effusive production.

FFS manage to combine all the characteristics of what makes each band appealing but the record never veers too close to Franz Ferdinand territory and neither does the supergroup fully embrace the experimental side of Sparks.

There are thoughtful beats and thoughtful words here, complementing each other instead of overpowering one another.

Interspersed among the cheerful speed anthems are pretty, delicate moments that highlight the enduring songwriting bond that prevails between Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee.

As a project ‘Jack In The Box’ feels personal. It is refreshing to see J-hope experiment with genres not normally associated with his artistry.

A quirky and sincere collection.

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.

Far from dipping into past glories, the Mael brothers continue their storied run on a stylish, impactful record that illuminates their continued engagement with the wonder of the pop song.

Mixing baroque instrumentation with choral elements, Blumberg adopts an already accomplished and familiar formula--but it’s one that, through his subtle twists, still manages to feel intimate and fresh.

‘Nothing or Something to Die For’ isn’t an easy listen. This isn’t an album to shuffle into any old playlist. ‘Nothing or Something to Die For’ demands your full attention and doesn’t want to hear your excuses. It’s also not going to be for everyone, but it knows that.

What saves the record from being a lacklustre, sotto-voiced tribute act is that, strikingly, Briana herself is a cookie-cutter Northwest coast hippie.

Fun, and wildly over-the-top, ‘Harlequin’ scratches an itch for both fan and artist.

Interestingly, the album itself isn't “too true”--rather, it’s just true enough.

Post Malone still provides us with a sprinkling of the classics: bitches, butts and Millie on wrists, it’s appeasing. But for the most part, he created an insightful and eclectic record which is a testament to his versatility and willingness to do exactly what he wants.

With 'Diplo', listeners can raise their hands to the sky and sink into undulating house, dancing safely under the watchful production of a ten-time Grammy nominee.

If you can cope with the extreme twee, Heartleap is a diamond.

While it may not quite measure up to their very best work, this is still utterly unlike anything else you’ll hear this year.

A cross-cultural heavenly palette of starry-eyed soul, psychedelic rock, jazz funk and symphonic pop, ‘Chronicles’ is the most expansive expression yet of Black Pumas’ frenetic creativity and limitless vision to date.

Fortunately, these successes do not overwhelm 1000 Forms Of Fear, with tracks such as ‘Big Girls Cry’ and ‘Fire Meet Gasoline’ more than matching the output of her past clients in terms of captivating, powerful pop.

The album overall feels like an experiment for Aubin-Dionne, each song stands alone but it’s heard better as a whole piece. The use of calming synth melodies and diverse beats that tie together to make for a fulfilling and emotional 40 minutes of music.

There is plenty to admire in the sound and structure, sounding far from a copy of the members’ previous groups. Each member is afforded opportunities to shine, it will be fascinating to see the longer-term trajectory of the project.

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.

It’s an ambitious and sprawling work that tackles some big topics, but it’s not fit to hold a candle to the likes of ‘Lemonade’, ‘Blonde’ and ‘A Seat At The Table’, all of which have furthered the cause of confessional R&B this year, and have done so while being resolutely down-tempo.

Sure, it's not all killer.... But still, this is AC/DC: an unstoppable volcanic force, a group that seems to weather every obstacle placed in its way.

That soulfulness amid the misery is the key to making sense of Spirit.

It’s the balance of maturity and melody that will keep you going back to this album. They’ve grown up, but then so have their fans. Let's just see where they go from here.

Most certainly a bedroom record affair and perhaps suffering for this fact but the overall sentiment captured make up for whatever shortcomings may be presented.

Exhaustive and exhausting, ‘Rush!’ feels like the definitive word in this unlikely rock phenomenon – at its best, it’s a feral reminder of how entertaining the genre can be.

Innovation isn’t on the album’s invite, but nonetheless fans will gobble this up.