If there’s a criticism to be made about Big Box Of Chocolates, it’s that while every track works on its own, often a song has a tendency to knock the course of the album as a whole off centre by contradicting its predecessor.

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.

A reinvigorated set, it’s the sound of a band resurgent.

FLOHIO’s debut shows a willingness to step out the boundaries like few other rappers, and she’s got the power to prove it. Out of Heart plants well-intentioned seeds; with some refinement, FLOHIO has a real shot of some bangers to sow.

If 2022 album ‘The Alchemist’s Euphoria’ represented a clearing of the decks, a shake-up from top to the bottom, then ‘Happenings’ continues this process. As times, it feels as though you’re caught in a snow-globe, being shaken up and down, from side to side – watching the pieces fall is a thrilling experience.

Endless Scroll is 14 snappy, spirited and occasionally incantatory songs.

A work of subtle evolution, it’s a record that rewards repeated listens, with patience allowing these fresh elements to rise to the surface on an album that underlines Bonobo’s role as one of UK electronic music’s most consistent, and pervasive voices.

‘With Heaven On Top’ is comforting yet absorbing, timeless but timely, a space to escape in while still feeling challenged, and still feeling entertained. Whatever it is, Zach Bryan has cracked it.

Overall ‘Quarter Life Crisis’ reigns true to Baby Queen’s signature synth-pop sound whilst being let down by lyrical cliches on a couple of the more manufactured upbeat, pop tracks. The album, however, triumphs on the more toned-down tracks showing a new dimension to the alt-pop starlet’s songwriting style.

Not only does it showcase her ability to blend introspective vulnerability with infectious pop sensibilities, but it also finds McRae discovering the sound she’s most confident in, leaving everyone wondering where she will take it next.

Nothing here transcends either songwriter's back catalogue, but Jonny is a welcome blast of warmth that shows the fires still burn bright.

An endearing, and wholesome end for an album so wonderfully content it it’s own bubble.

Mogwai have come a long way since ‘Angels vs. Aliens’ in 1996. Gone are the walls of raging guitar and searing feedback. In its place is understated quiet and contemplation. This underpins KIN and really adds a grandiose dollop cinematic majesty.

Egypt Station feels like Paul McCartney having a blast being Macca, grasping his own identity, and relishing it--a fun, at times downright bold, return it’s something fans will cherish.

Admittedly the aural range she executes on the project isn’t massive but it does prove to make a cohesive second album and what she does present shows an incredibly polished sound that doesn’t disappoint after such a monumental first album.

Little Red should rightly see Katy B cement her ascent to the stratosphere, joining the rest of dance music’s glitterati.

Following the trend set on previous effort ‘Olympia’, the beats continue to become crunchier, direct and undoubtedly more contemporary--but unfortunately less interesting also.

She questions, she purges, she excavates and embraces the thorny contradictions of her life. Smith continues to shirk commercial viability, stripping away sheen and artifice, presenting herself as dimensional; flawed, bruised, exposed, at times disbelieving, but ultimately worthy of love.

It makes for a stark--often chilling, often exhilarating--collection of music that spans the genre(s), from the well-known to the esoteric, the accessible to the impenetrable.

While there’s certainly more emphasis on melody this time around, it’s brought about through noticeably more mature, more refined compositions.

Ultraviolence marks real progression: never has Del Rey sounded so compellingly crystalline on a set of recordings. Thematically, though, tracks can appear content to splash in the shallows.

While hardly reinventing the wheel with ‘What Do We Do Now,’ J has yet again delivered a set of songs that only an enigma like he could.

Lyrically, it is an album with contemporary themes, but sonically, for much of the record, it remains rooted in a style that is essentially nostalgic.

It may not be original, but in a time where bands prefer to gaze wistfully at their shoes or navels, Leeds’ Eagulls are like a necessary breath of fresh air.

Antiphon is going to divide opinion, but give it a chance--it might just be the best thing they’ve ever done.

It meets its pre-release hype head on, and comes away the winner.

Without it being a slight on Wood’s performance, it also adds to a beneficiary mix of vocal viewpoints, aimed at tightening the Orchestra’s hold over main stages and secret, more intimate tents out back.

A fun and colourful indie album full of pop sensibilities, Different Days is a joy from start to finish and is further indication that Tim Burgess and co. show no sign of stopping.