Meek Mill has definitely earned his place as the people’s champion, and in turn has provided his best album to date.

Overall, the album--filled with as much theatrical swagger as great music--is much more than just a remake as Ferry’s baritone vocals and inventive arrangements make for an album that invokes a lot more than nostalgia; with the ability to attract new fans as well as hold the old.

This record comes on like the voice of a friend, confessional and familiar-- full of small, important reassurances.

The fact that I’m listening to this album on a gloriously balmy afternoon and am getting in the festive mood is testament to Legend’s conviction and the arrangements. However after 14 tracks, it does start to lose its way a bit.

Before its release, Fetti had the potential to be one of the strongest hip-hop albums of the year due to the skilled people involved and it has no doubt fulfilled that promise.

Another sign of the creative ripples emanating from London’s jazz underground, There Is A Place features some stunning playing with an abiding awareness of the power music can hold.

Although not his greatest work to date, Oxnard confirms Anderson Paak at the upper echelons of the hip-hop scene.

It’s romantic, existential, frantic, and disorganised, and that ultimately strange mix of tones, genres, and production all adds into a singular esthetic. Nonetheless, it’s hard to ignore its shortcomings, and it is all too easy to rue what might have been, as there are moments of brilliance here that are too often cut short by an unnecessary lull in artistic reinvention.

After a few listens you get the feeling Art Brut are generally excited to be recording together again. The time apart has done them the world of good, as the enthusiasm they exude is infectious. Argos’ vocals have aged well and now have a warming tone, but the snarky bite still remains.

Phoenix has been four years in the making, waiting in the wings to see the light. And now that it’s finally here, Phoenix is definitely worth checking out.

With tracks produced by Timbaland, Skrillex and DJ Mustard, Carey duly pays homage to the sounds prevalent at different stages of her career whilst remaining fresh and contemporary.

Albarn on Britain is a proven formula, but Simonon, Allen and Simon Tong combine to craft curious twenty-first century folk about curious twenty-first century folk.

Is this new release going to blow any minds? Doubtful. Yet 'Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol 1.' sees these alternative figureheads finding their chemistry once more, whilst opening an intriguing new chapter. They've managed to beat the haters this time, let's just hope things remain cool in the SP camp.

Holy Hell succeeds in pushing Architects’ sound further than ever before. The grooves dig deeper, while the instrumentation is techier.

It’s a plaintive, poetic, and endlessly endearing return, a sign that the acoustic well, while previously untapped, remains brimming with inspiration.

Though its DIY production takes some getting used to, it’s an interesting insight into where Smith is as a songwriter today.

As it stands FM! is little more than a placeholder--an interesting but self-indulgent sketch from an artist who could be creating masterpieces.

Tthese songs are as focussed, refined and honed as anything Spencer has ever done, yielding some of his most infectious guitar lines and arguably some of the finest tracks of his lengthy career.

No Tourists is unlikely to win The Prodigy any new fans but it’s unlikely to upset any existing ones. And really, if rave-influenced industrial dance is your thing, these old heads are still a cut above anyone else out there.

Empress is that rare breed of album that is entertaining and says something worth saying. Once you get past the tight production and bass blips, what you are left with is a way to live your life.

This is an album made by musical artisans, who know exactly how to translate the sound in their heads on to record.

These songs may be scorched with an unavoidable yearning quality, but they find her standing at a new creative peak: ‘The Gypsy Faerie Queen’, co-written with Nick Cave, might rank among the best songs either have written, while ‘Born To Live’, her piano-led paean to departed lifelong friend Anita Pallenberg, speaks of our corporeal impermanence with a calm but unswervingly frank honesty.

Works of art like these elevate us beyond the material world, if only for an afternoon, and for that Holter remains worth her weight in gold.

Melancholy remains the primary colour in Robyn’s work, though it continues to sparkle.

Nao is entirely galactic on this record--there is an omnipresent sensation of otherness throughout the album. Whether it be in the trademark effluvient vocal or in the consistently atmospheric and glistening instrumental, Saturn is spacial.

While she might play it safe as far as messages are concerned--generally exploring relationships--her metaphoric representation of them somehow manage to keep the oft-played theme quite fresh.

While tracks like 'Beautiful Wreck'--springy, satisfying and by no means a misfit within this gripping offering--seems quite bland in comparison to the rest which boasts a bold sound, the album remains fascinating, never misses a beat and keeps you listening through to the end.

Delivered in a soft whisper, with the most minimal of supporting musical infrastructure compared to its studio counterpart, ['Distant Sky'] is immediately tender and transcendent, but devoid of all hope, the addition of Danish soprano singer Else Torp's stirring vocal enough to render even the hardest-hearted individual a bawling mess.