Unusual, refreshing and vulnerable KoKoro is an album inspired by the political, environmental and the human conscious.

‘Evermore’ wholly offers more conviction, without sacrificing the vulnerability that enamoured even her biggest critics earlier this year.

'Escapades' is an audible hallucinogen, and it’s a trip you’re gonna want to take.

GoldLink refuses to be one-dimensional here, offering up his dynamic and improved flow, as well as the vulnerability and edgy appeal that bubbles up throughout this project.

Although the second half of the record loses steam somewhat with a succession of slow R&B vocal numbers like ‘Your Space’ and ‘Feelings of the World’, Sounds of Crenshaw Vol. 1 largely maintains its coherence. Its slight messiness is representative of a life lived, something that in itself never coheres as a perfect narrative.

'Few Good Things' picks up steam with 'Still', a reflective collaboration with 6lack and Smino, climaxing four songs later on 'If I Had a Dollar', the most melodically ambitious and emotionally evocative song on the album.

CYHSY have created an album that is both jubilant and disarmingly vulnerable.

At once a relatively pragmatic re-release of already heard material and the satisfying conclusion to its previous flirtations, Joli Mai is a hybrid: part-album, part DJ-toolbox--and totally playable, in any context.

Stepping out of the shadows suits her after all.

The solemnness of the title track reverberates throughout most of the other tracks on the ‘Prizefighter’ album. It easily wins the ‘prize’ as the best song on an especially spectacular album.

Ibeyi has continued to present the bejewelled depths of their spiritual and ancestral heritage with great success; it's clear that their source is not only deeply personal but boundless too.

Half the tracks see the beats surface into formed drums but for the rest the stratification and distortion takes the sound field to new places. Dangerously engaging.

The band's fondness for over-long outros means that it occasionally drifts, where a tighter edit would have made it soar. But for the most part this is an entrancing album of spectral lullabies.

It’s a record that will make you smile and swoon as it burrows its way into your heart. A triumphant return.

The short and well-paced tracklist is likely to leave fans yearning for more. If Kehlani aimed to create a collision of the soul and mind, for the most part, they succeeded.

‘Jaime’ is arguably Howard’s most important work to date spiritually, let alone critically. Named in memoriam of the beloved sister she lost to cancer when both were in their teens, the album is a sonic sucking of the poison from the wounds of life, and the regeneration of the artist thereafter.

With a rich string chorus that runs through the final track and the songs preceding it, Soccer Mommy has created a dream-filled escape that always falls back to the present.

Just bask in The Unseen in Between enigmatic glory.

Outstanding work with the sound, abundance of catchy tunes and thoughtful, memorable lines make Rest an engaging experience for any listener, guaranteed to evoke or further develop the interest for the story of the illustrious Gainsbourg family.

For all their feel-good, boppy charm, The Orielles have created a truly intelligent indie-pop album with Silver Dollar Moment.

Get some eggnog inside you and give this enduring pair a little respect.

Not every song is as enjoyable as it is intriguing, with moments of too many detours and not enough destinations. However, while ‘The Twits’ feels imperfect, intentionally so, it also feels like the final cliffhanger before a chapter ends in a thrilling novel.

Wallowing, dreary vocals are effectively juxtaposed with electronic twinkles on the likes of ‘You Are’. But other tracks, like ‘The 5%’, seem too chaotic and narrowly miss their targets, resulting in an album just falling short of top marks.

Rarely has an artist’s death been so vivid. R.I.P. Actress; your dystopian electronic visions have widened our nocturnal vision. We now await your reincarnation.

They have created their most youthful album yet; a vibrant record which paints a picture of the near future so vivid it seems convincingly real.

Though it is far too early to start talking about this as one of their finest records, I have no doubt that 'Firepower' could slip through a wormhole in time to stand in the mighty presence of 'British Steel' and 'Screaming For Vengeance' and feel no shame.

Masterful in its softness of touch, Sault know when to apply and relieve pressure; at moments it can be intense, yet others are bathed in a beatific R&B halo.

A sometimes otherworldly, frequently tongue-in-cheek, and occasionally surprisingly punchy album. It’s a distinctive part of the Yorke canon which also stands apart as a musical reference-point marking the convergence of two creative minds.