This masterpiece isn’t dulling any time soon. Working on the premise that they were Generation X’s own Velvet Underground, this is their ‘White Light/White Heat’, and one of the most important rock records of all time.

Fiona Apple on a career of highs might just have produced her finest work yet. An album that we will surely look to as a cultural text, with its cutting commentary of contemporary culture and its feminist narratives.

Hopefully we won’t have long to wait for the next instalment but before that let’s just bask in the beauty of this beautiful album.

Ghosteen is not a blissful or comfortable album, but it is a hopeful one. The gaping wound of ‘Skeleton Tree’ is scarring over as Cave pulls away from the past’s savage undertow, content in the knowledge that peace will come. It’s a paean to how all things bright and beautiful can be thrown into blinding relief once you’ve known real darkness, another open letter straight from artist to audience that cuts right to the core of what means to have loved, lost and loved again.

This latest 4-CD/5-LP boxset is a treasure trove for both hardcore fans and music buffs in general. The first thing your hard-earned money gets you is a beautifully crisp 2021 remaster of the original album, every solo, and cymbal crash, never sounding so unspoiled. Being a deluxe album set, you've naturally got the kind of material that only a lunatic would revisit regularly.

The oft-explored worldwide sensualist feels newly alive here, ‘Fountain Baby’ a prime exemplar of mind-expanding afro-pop alchemy that revivifies the weary spirit.

DAMN. does at times feel contradictory and the ideas he’s transmitting at times don’t feel fully formed, but this is where its genius lies. Kendrick offers a true snapshot of the eternal debates that we host inside our heads, and there is immense bravery and artistry in his depiction.

An artist haunted by the prospect of his passing while still facing down new challenges, Bob Dylan remains above all else a student of America.

Despite the elongated nature of its creation, Black Messiah is a fluid, confidently cool piece.... A real showcase of his incredible talent.

There’s obviously going to be more in here for die-hard devotees than the passing generalist, and the sheer size of the release makes it far from the ideal jumping off point for a newcomer. However, it is an undertaking of rare unfiltered insight that allows those willing to stay the course to get under the skin of a true genius in a way that, had the 1990s gone a different way, may never have been possible.

This impressive collection is a touching tribute to Petty’s enduring legacy and demonstrates his candour, artistry, and emotive storytelling. This is a real must have for any Tom Petty fan and paints an even more colourful picture of what has always been a masterpiece as well as unveiling an exciting treasure trove of musical gems which will inevitably become long-lasting Petty classics.

Boasting 17-tracks and a full hour of music, ‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’ is a love letter to his heritage that boasts some of Bad Bunny’s most definitive moments.

On her sixth studio album, Charli XCX comfortably reaches into the extremes of her catalogue thus far, presenting one of her most subversive and conceptual bodies of work to date.

Compiled by Nick Cave and founding member Mick Harvey, the three-disc editions offer 45 tracks to explore the thrilling journey of one of the planet’s most uncompromising and enigmatic groups. All your standards are here.

A bold first full album from a trio whose ambitions are clearly only getting bigger.

His strongest album to date, and one of grime’s true classics – even if there is a not-very-good Ed Sheeran feature slapped in the middle of it.

There is just Nick Cave, stripped to the bone and robbed of a future. It’s impossible to turn away.

Remastered and supplemented it has received a contemporary injection and doesn't feel out of place in today's scene with that Mould influence shining through.

‘Lux’ is endearingly insistent on taking you away from the lethargy of modern life and transporting you to a surround sound, meta-textual dimension. It’s hard-won, but oh so worth it.

This is not just West's best album, it's a keen contender for the most ambitious LP in hip-hop history. West side story!

Refusing to surrender the emotional core of his songwriting against the dazzling array of studio fireworks, this is Dijon at his strongest – an artist stretching his discipline into evocative new shapes.

It isn’t entirely comprehensive, lacking the fabled Witmark demos (which have already been collated in the Bootleg Series). What ‘Through The Open Window, 1956-1963’ supplies, though, is wonderful curatorial nous, one that gives it a palpable narrative thrust. You’re pulled through time to the streets of New York in the early 60s, and behind each door lies tantalising secrets.

‘MOTOMAMI’ blows away the lingering strictures of lockdown, and finds a true modern icon bathing in personal freedoms.

Caroline Polachek has set a serious precedent for any pop releases that follow it this year. She is an artist completely in her own lane, refusing to conform, every moment on this record a vicissitude. Her commitment to her craft is undeniable, her talent indisputable.

It’s a phenomenal record, undoubtedly one of the finest to be released this year – in its mood, kineticism, and an adorned darkness, ‘Untitled (Rise)’ captures something truly remarkable about this chaotic era.

Room 25 packs gorgeous punch after punch, not a second wasted.

[Loveless] not only stands the test of time, but transcends it. Songs like 'When You Sleep' sound as inventive now and would outshine much of the crop of young pretenders... Remains an archetypal classic.

What’s remarkable about this seven track mixtape is the sheer consistency of pop ideas on offer.