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.

‘WeirdOs’ is one of the finest debut albums I’ve heard in a LONG time. It delivers more than the promise of their debut 7” ‘OGO’ and the ‘Slice’ EP suggested. The songs are absolute chonks.

A thriller from start to finish, Been Stellar’s ‘Scream From New York, NY’ is one of the most assured indie rock debuts to land on our desk this year. Focussed, concise, and rippling with incredible energy, it’s an assured 10-track statement that blends visceral melody with raw power, tapping into their live prowess while embracing the clinical control of the studio environment.

Arriving at 14 tracks spread over an hour, it would be remiss to mention that ‘Stung!’ might be a little on the long side (at least, at first), certainly their longest yet anyway. But with music this exhilarating, Pond’s buzz eventually lands a memorable sting.

While mostly pensive throughout, each moment on ‘Sonido Cosmico’ feels different from the other; each picture evoking something different from the imagination. It’s hard to find a track not to like here.

Not quite unshackling himself from the past, ‘always centered at night’ is a rewarding experience which will do much to push back unjust preconceptions.

‘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.

While ‘Model’ might just be the fourth installment for them, it’s clear that growing up together has allowed the members to fully play in on each other’s best qualities, resulting in a no-skips record.

Broad to the point of contradiction, it’s a record that covers a lot of bases, while lacking a singular purpose. It’s almost as if KNEECAP are enacting a cartoonish version of their own lives – it’s fun, but ultimately two-dimensional.

Ultimately, ‘The Art of The Lie’ is a perfect distillation of everything one yearns for in John Grant’s music; his golden baritone voice, icy electronic soundscapes, emotive balladry, sumptuous funk and phenomenal diction all remain intact on yet another fabulous album.

By final track ‘wasting’ the band have taken you on a long, winding journey – not all of it sticks, but the best material here ranks alongside Goat Girl’s finest work.

Such is the ability of Angélica to articulate herself through her songs, you don’t have to understand Spanish to appreciate this powerfully emotive album. A voice to be heard.

This an album that proves Kaytranada’s production skills to be limitless.

The magnificence of Lauryn Hill? The success of Sade? Tems is out there in a lane of her own.

‘I Hear You’ is a solid tribute to vintage house, brought cohesively together under Gou’s powerful artistic stamp. But, there’s a feeling we’ve already seen her best work – 2021’s gorgeous synth-wave single ‘I Go’ is included in this tracklist but is not rivalled, while tracks like ‘1+1=11’ sound a bit too close to Gou’s self-professed love for 90s German trance DJ, ATB.

Broad, in-depth, and held together by her singular sense of purpose, it’s time the world cherished this blossoming star.

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.

A weighty 20-track affair, it’s a record peppered with highlights.

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

‘In This City They Call You Love’ is an album of universal themes and tones, and one of Richard Hawley’s finest.

Granted space once more to create his own world, ‘Set The Tone’ is an enjoyable addition to one of rap’s core catalogues.

There are times when the producers’ imaginations seem to be tearing at the seams a little, pulling as they are in so many different directions at once. But these are minor critiques in an album which does so much so successfully, and whose ambitions soar so high above so many of its influences, that it more than makes up for the four-year wait.

There’s generally less immediacy on this record than seen on previous albums, and this will no doubt turn off a few fair-weather fans. The flip side is a band pushing its boundaries, grabbing some serious Warp artist vibes, and evolving into something more cinematic and mature.

Some may say Atwell could have opened up further, but there’s no doubt this is an album of depth which deserves repeat listens and which will be loved by her fans as well as enjoyed by newcomers.

‘Ramona Park…’ was a bravura work of therapy, a rap bildungsroman that crafted an entire world. More insular, ‘Dark Times’ is in many ways less accessible; that said, it refuses to let the quality dim, it’s endless stream of ideas enticing and perplexing in equal fashion. In emphatic style, rap’s foremost outlier demands your attention all over again.

The ruthlessly cohesive ‘Dark Superstition’ succeeding in nudging death metal’s borders open by a couple of inches. It’s as likely as any pure death metal album in recent memory to pull a ‘Sunbather’ and convert non-metal fans to its cause.

DIIV have refined their brooding vibe and produced as gorgeous a record as you’ll hear this year.

Moving further than ever from the sound of those initial solo albums, he seems to constantly reach out to new definitions. It doesn’t always land, but it’s incredibly brave; it also needs more than a few listens to truly absorb, and accept – on first listen, this writer couldn’t understand it at all.