While Carry Fire showcases some of Plant’s best and most confessional lyricism, there’s no denying that this is an album that stands out most for its lusciously complex musical structures and influences, allowing for it to purvey an other-worldly quality.

This album won’t please the fans who wanted ‘Malibu’ again because, simply put, it isn’t. But for those who are excited by an artist unafraid to reinvent and experiment, then look no further.

‘Dopamine’ isn’t a raw confessional either but a balanced, art-directed exercise. It’s a debut that hits the programmed sweet spot, conversant with contemporary trends and greater RnB and soul traditions.

Amid the glitz, the hype, the online intrusion, Don Toliver still locates a space to call his own – and that’s what makes ‘Love Sick’ so thrilling.

‘All Her Plans’ is a triumph, a record that will certainly send these Aussie rockers to soaring new heights.

It’s the Gaviscon after the turkey dinner; the strategic nap to escape the family. Like the best sort of present, I didn’t know I needed it until it arrived.

It’s a perverse and challenging listen that makes very few compromises. But the album is also both intensely lyrical and supremely musical--and it plays out in a way that is designed to be perversely uncomfortable for the ears.

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

We have no right to expect a band to make a record this strong and vital almost three decades into their career. It’s full of piss and vinegar, but it’s full of desire, regret and love, too. Whatever the dismissive album title may tell you, Arab Strap very much still give a fuck.

Accept no imitators; SALEM are back and are still capable of giving us the ultimate soundtrack to the end of the world as we know it.

In the wrong hands this kind of indie pop could become trainspotter-ish, or an exercise in technical skills and box-ticking – as it is, ‘Holo Boy’ is a wonderfully enjoyable cycle of straight-down-the-line songwriting.

McCartney produces his most real, immersive, and innovative work, and roles a mellotron in for good measure.

Ultimately, ‘Introducing...’ thrives because of how natural it feels – a record as authentic as the dust on Dan Auerbach’s control booth, it places Aaron Frazer as a golden-voiced embodiment of this modern soul age.

To be clear this is far from a melancholy album, in fact it is more melodic than their EPs, but still retains the very essence of Humour, with their vividly unique view of the human condition.

Cloud Control's debut is making an early play for the feel-good record of 2011. There are more hooks in Bliss Control's thirty-nine minutes than in Captain Birdseye's entire fleet.

It’s a record that makes incisions into the staid, one that knocks over the steadfast; it’s a bold, thrilling construction, one that pushes her history to one side in order to build anew.

It’s not all perfect - no pop record that takes as much chances as this could ever hope to hit 10/10 home runs - but it’s certainly entertaining. Direct, up-front, and completely unabashed, ‘Poster Girl’ finds Zara Larsson living up to the fame that has surrounded her for more than a decade.

Categorically not your ordinary Christmas album, and one to check out now if you missed it the first time.

‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ is lyrically playful and musically a step away from being confused for a compilation album of the best tracks this group has ever released. But that confusion is warranted. This is The 1975’s quarantine Megazord.

Earl Sweatshirt is telling truths rather than forging fantasy, and Doris is a disturbed and penetrating journey into the mind of the boy that came back from Samoa.

An album that’s both heartfelt and sincere and utterly irresistible in the process.

Fender lyrically distances himself from his first-hand experiences on ‘People Watching’, adding a new dimension to his already accomplished repertoire. Still, this album is a quintessential Sam Fender experience – a heartfelt, homegrown immersion of the mundane and extraordinary people and places this dweller was lucky enough to know.

Emotion and passion are apparent in every word, key and chord throughout this project, boldly asserting Jamila’s second offering as a brilliant new addition to her own legacy, rather than a mere follow up to 2016’s ‘HEAVN’.

‘Loner’ is an accessible and creative collection of colour-splattered dance music whose myriad delights feels all the more impressive for the fact that, like all the best parties, it doesn’t even seem to be trying to be as fun as it is.

The album’s snappy 10 track run-list positively invites further plays, perpetuating this desire to keep the cycle going.

This body of work is as meticulous as it is melancholy, which is what makes it so profoundly personal and universal at the same time.

‘Portrait Of A Dog’ offers up a compelling glimpse into Yano’s chimerical interior world, deftly and sincerely, unfurling memory after memory without devolving into, and getting lost in, syrupy sentimentality.

The major success of ‘The Dream of Delphi’ lies in how Khan communicates with her daughter, which can resonate with many people.