An artist who scarcely slows, Andy Bell offers a fine blend of psych-pop, folk finger-picking, and home made electronics, all within the familiar confines of his shoegaze day job. More, please.

It’s a truly delightful experience that delights in its unexpected and uncompromising approach to positivity. The art work and overall feel of the compositions may speak to a chilly, typically Nordic solitude, while the music of this record is anything but. A late year treasure that shouldn't be overlooked, it is as timely as it is timeless, and as needed now as any musical work of the last year or so.

‘Young Shakespeare’ is a fascinating artifact. Before ‘Sugar Mountain’ he says he’s 25 years old. Imaging being 25 and knowing you have another album, pretty much, ready to go and teasing audiences with snippets from it? It really does boggle the mind. The album is another flawless release which sees Young digging through his live recordings and releasing albums of interest.

He sounds freer than ever. ‘The House Is Burning’ subverts expectations. ... Rashad’s music is like a sonic encyclopaedia of Southern rap reference points.

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

IDLES' fourth record in just as many years is their most ambitious, most introspective, and most powerful to date.

‘Bubblegum’ is the most creative, well-thought-out and simply fun project to come out of the UK alt-pop scene in quite some time. Biig Piig continues to improve, every release getting her closer and closer to the stratosphere – and even that won’t stop her rise.

A conceptual album which feels honest and authentic, ‘Drop Cherries’ showcases the best of her musical ability while being lyrically complex – it’s another strong record for Billie Marten to add to her repertoire.

No less inviting than their debut, while asserting its own identity at every corner, ‘O Monolith’ is a fine second album.

The resulting record leaves the listener feeling power alongside their anger, and brings a fresh and compelling blend of punk, rock, grime and rap together in an experimental way.

At times it feels like Martin and Kamaru aren’t just making new music, but they’re trying to invent a new musical language. This is an album to connect with, on every level. Miss at your peril.

The invisible presence of Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Diana Ross, and other goliaths of the so-called Motown sound is felt in every track here, in every scratch of the tape. Yet, Cottrill managed to completely rebuild these genres for herself, almost inventing a new one.

‘Stream of Life’ is a reflective, uplifting and intelligent album that stands out in the Maxïmo Park canon and is full of texture, soaring melodies and sagacious storytelling and lyrics.

‘Constellations for the Lonely’ is an intricate and masterful record from a band at the top of their game.

Done and dusted in 35 minutes, it’s tempting to view ‘Wuthering Heights’ as a studio palette cleanser, a means for Charli xcx to fully divest herself from the ‘Brat’ era. Yet the music itself so much more rewarding than that definition allows – at times gorgeous, at others deliberately grotesque, it offers a series of dark gothic fantasies that inhabit a transformative realm.

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is a brave and fortuitous debut album from the LA teen, capturing the hopes, fears and vulnerabilities of an entire generation. The genius in this record is its unaffected relatability.

‘Cousin’ is the perfect entry point for those who have inexplicably escaped the shadow of the Wilco’s influence to date. Showcasing all they do best it is also unique enough to stand as one of their finest moments.

Ultimately 'Saves The World' is a bold, colourful, lyric return, one that is asserting while remaining utterly honest, completely true to themselves.

The samples are cleaner, more deliberate — used to tell stories rather than simply reference them. From Sugababes and Basement Jaxx to Just Jack and Nardo Wick, the influences are varied but handpicked. That full-circle moment on ‘Stars’ is one of the mixtape’s most striking flips, a clear sign of how far she’s come.

Occasionally it feels like it veers too suddenly from braggadocio to piety, and it’s questionable whether Stormzy has a sufficiently versatile delivery (he’s no Durrty Goodz) to support this. But by casting his net so wide, the MC is unlikely to disappoint his diverse audience.

Worthy of comparison to the late career stylings of Björk, Plunkett’s vocals often steal the limelight but, make no mistake, this album is considerably more than the sum of any individual part.

One of the songwriter’s most overtly gorgeous works, it finds Panda Bear easing into new ground while maintaining his near effortless melodic touch.

The self-described “cowboy gothic” leaves the album’s listening experience in a state of assurance that SPRINTS have not crumbled under the pressure of the success of their first album.

Musgraves is gifted at letting the melodrama slip into something sensual and ‘Mexico Honey’, and its neon-lit innuendos, proves that her pen is still razor sharp. .... Her voice is as serene as ever and it rarely complicates her desire to embrace the undefined. If anything, it amplifies it through her day-glo incisiveness.

This band is having a ball, that much is plain. It’s a danceable album, upbeat in tone basically all the way through. On ‘Zero Sum’ especially, it all starts to pop off – savour the evergreen treat that is Thom Yorke being a snarky little so-and-so over a raging fucking bop. You love to see it. The slow number, ‘Tiptoe’, is absolutely gorgeous.

A mix that has 2017 in its pocket.

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.

Still flaunting in the grunge realm, the overall result is tough, yet accessible, including some deeper moments.