Strange Peace is more--more intense, more melodic, more brutal, more confident.

Stranger in the Alps is as accomplished a solo debut as you’ll hear all year--a quietly devastating listen worthy of Phoebe Bridgers’ obvious influences.

Tthey continually hit the sweet spot between the dance floor and sweaty indie venue. Songs overflow with ideas and, as the title suggests, they manage to plot a path through them all, finding something poetic amid all the excess.

V will go down a storm with committed Bronx fans, but is curiously subdued in places--which, in the current climate, feels like a little bit of an opportunity missed.

An album without an obvious theme or concept it may be, but somehow, it’s still quintessentially The Killers. It may not be the all-out stadium epic we’ve come to expect from the band but it’s still wonderful (wonderful).

Handling pop punch with the same rightful care as punk rebellion, Sløtface aren’t indebted to any of their touchstones. Instead they’re mashing them to new, distinctive effect.

Foo Fighters’ ninth is, then, more interesting than one might’ve expected.

Forget the fact that even at its best moments the album still kind of sounds like a RATM reunion minus Zack de la Rocha, the biggest issue with ‘Prophets Of Rage’ is that it’s not as radical as it thinks it is. Is it competent and confident, energised and engaging? Sure. But there’s nothing new here.

This occasional, kind of ironic lack of restraint makes some of the blackened themes of Choir of the Mind even more oddly oppressive, even if Emily’s melodies are often spacious and airy. When it gets its balance perfectly poised though, it’s an album that can be engaging and emotionally-charged.

Each track could essentially be classified under a different genre, yet there’s a unifying atmosphere throughout--a kind of balmy warmth to the production that allows the duo’s treasure trove of ideas to knit together in one harmonious package.

Nick would do better to stick to his signature rippling guitar on the ethereal ‘Infinite Trees’, the quietly sensual ‘Lullaby’, or, best yet, the charming ‘Remembering’, which chugs along with a jolty percussive joy.

Heavy with feeling throughout, it makes for a record that’s often a tough listen. But for cathartically allowing herself to tackle life’s most difficult subjects, you’ve got to applaud her.

Just as unique as that now-classic debut, Alvvays have inadvertently gotten their wish all the same. They’ve wound up in a league of their own.

As usual, there’s probably a few too many ideas here and the band trip up on them occasionally--but if they didn’t, it wouldn’t be much of a Deerhoof record.

It’s more of a slow burner--not so instantly gratifying as previous works--but the atmosphere of these tracks really gets beneath you. It’s their most affecting work to date by some stretch.

Aat large, the album is a quiet predator.

Noisy, riotous, anthemic and bristling with excitement, INHEAVEN is an album to rage along with.

Omnion can feel somewhat familiar musically and while it’s unlikely to break the ground of earlier releases, nor does it need to--Andy Butler has carved out a unique space that he’s remained true to, with little desire for reinvention.

A considered evolution from first minute to last, with no real enforced show in between, it may not be immediately obvious but by the end one truth remains clearer than ever, across a whole album--Mogwai can really do scale.

Just as the record threatens to get Too Much, as ‘How Do You Sleep Tonight’ wrings out its last notes, the crowning glory that is ‘Tonite’ kicks in.

A far cry from ‘Magnolia’ and even ‘Peripheral Vision’, Good Nature is proof that experimentation can pay off. And though not so left-of-centre as to be inaccessible, it’s still a richly nuanced record that reveals more of itself with each listen.

Messages from the deepest isolation are most likely to be a SOS or the increasingly deranged words of someone losing touch with their sanity. TFCF somehow manages to be both. Alive with unease. Shorn of every accessory, everything to mask the sharp taste, the familiar duality of Liars is starker than ever.

Perhaps album 20 will take them, whatever their name is then, fully back into the light. For now, ORC's darkness suits us fine.

With Holiday Destination, Nadine puts a critical magnifying glass over why we should do just that [fight for something better than what we currently have].

PVRIS might have been to hell and back, but a new era is here, and it’s utterly brilliant.

As a whole, Villains is the Californian filthmongers’ most danceable offering yet--and all the better for it.

It’s still immersive music for thinking and reflecting. It might lack it’s ‘Red Eyes’ but this record is filled with enough to satisfy any existing fans.

It might well be his most musically bold but thoughtful album to date, yet another stage in Obaro Ejimiwe’s fascinating evolution.

An swirling, abstract painting of an album, and an eclectic slow burner, Painted Ruins serves more as a fascinating indication of where Grizzly Bear could head next than anything else.

It’s an intense, dizzy trip that takes quite some digesting, but with brilliant results.

On occasion you may feel that Trailer Trash Tracys could benefit from keeping things a little simpler, but fans of the band’s first record have plenty to enjoy here.

On this debut, Jordan and pals aren’t afraid to contrast bravado with vulnerability, and it’s in the unexpected that their debut shines brightest.

Having made records with Johnny Marr and added all manner of elements to their sound, the band’s latest is a brilliant reminder that Ryan, Gary and Ross are at their most powerful when they strip back their sound to its scrappy core.

It’s an uneven listen, although that sometimes plays in its favour; Page’s vocal delivery is consistently unpredictable.

As might be expected from a mix with such sheer diversity, there’s occasionally a jump or a straight cut that’s a little bit of a jarring leap in sound, even for a club mix. A few occasional seconds of tonal whiplash are a small price to pay to go on this roller-coaster ride with Daphni.

With an utterly flawless, heart-twisting vocal throughout, America spins tales of sorrow and betrayal and turns them into something exquisite.

The band balance loud and quiet better than ever on LP5, with the one-two of ‘The Maze’ and first single ‘The Gold’ that opens the record the perfect example. ‘The Alien’, meanwhile, is fiddly and intriguing, showing that A Black Mile To The Surface could transport the band to an entirely new world.

Their ambition is never in doubt though, and Everything Now brings some of their most sky-reaching moments yet.

In digging back through music history’s treasure trove, Childhood have forged ahead into genuinely exciting new ground. They might have broken through with a bunch of other bands, but now Childhood don’t need anyone but themselves.

While a very strong album What Do You Think About The Car? definitely is, it’s impossible to extricate it from the songwriter himself.

Eucalyptus is a dense and challenging listen, but while it might alienate post-‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ converts to Animal Collective, it might bring back those who loved ‘Campfire Songs’ but have felt disenfranchised since.

Witty, complex, and endlessly intriguing, Lust For Life is a painstakingly woven record from start to finish, with very few gripes.

Each track here, from the Argentinian horns and swaggering funk of ‘Angels / Your Love’ to the offbeat drumming and joyous vocals (courtesy of soul legend Charles Bradley) on ‘Grant Green’, it’s like a meticulously stitched patchwork of musical discovery.

The idea behind Quazarz is indeed fascinating, and could have been a unique way of talking about the modern social and political climate. Unfortunately, sometimes it feels like the quest for a particular vibe has sometimes been prioritised over the underlying message.

There’s a deep hip hop pulse to many of the tracks, which sometimes transform themselves into jungle beats, usually accompanied by galactic synth stabs and waves of sound that transport the listener to a cosmic plane.

An album that’s ultimately OK with not being OK, it’s for that reason alone that it may just be perfect.

The elements needed to make Katie Crutchfield one of the greatest songwriters in indie rock have always been present, just not slotted together perfectly. When they do so on large amounts of Out In The Storm, the record provides of the most satisfying pinnacles of the year.

By weaponising his introspection and pushing his impeccably high standards outwards, Vince Staples delivers an incredible State of the Union address on rap today.

It’s not light-hearted or easy to stomach, but for placing themselves into the shoes of others and broadcasting from the inside, there’s no real match for Public Service Broadcasting.

Something’s Changing isn’t without flaws--‘Soak It Up’’s shuffling tempo jars, whilst the orchestral leanings of closer ‘I Can’t Change It All’ are at odds with the rest of the record--but it sees Lucy Rose easing into the next stage of her career.

It’s as if Haim are pulling apart the production strands of their debut, and pitting them against one another. For majority of the time it works, on a surprisingly low-key second album that’s worth spending some time (or rather, Haim?) with.

The more spacious, reflective nature of some of the tracks means that each member of the band gets a chance to shine in the spotlight. But there’s also a great amount of pleasure to be had simply from searching out all of the tiny details that add even more dynamism and intrigue than usual to the album.

Need to Feel Your Love is an album that not only shreds, but feels prescient, too.

Often, it’s an insightful and engaging look into what it feels like to be of everywhere and nowhere simultaneously, without alienating anyone simply looking for a catchy pop song. It’s simply a shame that Baio didn’t alienate some of his own desires to wander through genres.

Inventive, rough-edged, and darkly witty at times, Ratboys’ second record isn’t just a well-crafted listen; it’s thoughtful, tender, and incisive at every turn.

The Beautiful Stories is their liveliest effort to date.

An ambitious project, King Gizzard succeed into enticing you into fully absorbing yourself into their wild, bizarre universe.

The Underside Of Power is heavy going, but completely, necessarily so.

Melodrama's acceptance of taking what you can get while never failing to reach for the stars makes it one of the smartest pop records of the decade.

Whether they’re railing against the establishment or helping us escape, LIFE’s debut provides comfort and support for us all.

Abysmal Thoughts is still a frenetic blend of surf rock and new wave, but it also feels daring, languid at some moments and breakneck at others.

Fake Sugar paints Ditto as a more diverse, often even restrained artist than the larynx-shredding punk aggressor of the mid-00s. That said, the more familiar nocturnal stomps of ‘Go Baby Go’ and ‘Do You Want Me To?’ are still the record’s angular highlights but even so--Fake Sugar remains, at times, a surprisingly sweet listen.

While their first outing had as much subtlety as a whack around the face, this time they’ve born a more considered--but sinister--creature.

City living might sometimes feel like a constant high-intensity assault course, but City Music and its creator make it sound like an enlightening, emboldening adventure.

The same but different, more polished yet more heartfelt, forceful yet calm.

Though Weather Diaries is a solid effort from a band trying to balance their mastery of shoegaze with other, outside elements, the strongest tracks on Weather Diaries are when the band fully embrace the skeleton of the songwriting formula they’d perfected over two decades ago.

They cast a loving spell over the listener with their optimistic, almost carefree attitude, providing a cosmic, upbeat antidote to chaotic times.

There’s undeniably magical moments here, and taken in small doses it can be a cosmic voyage. All in one go though, its sheer scale can be as daunting as the vastness of what lies beyond the stratosphere.

Though a long time coming, it seems that not rushing a follow-up has allowed London Grammar to craft a record that’s hauntingly stark, yet staggeringly beautiful, possessing a rich musicality that even now, is mature beyond the band’s young years.

Sunny Hills is at its best when it keeps things simple, with the taut ‘Dreamer’ the clear standout; perhaps next time, All We Are won’t throw quite so many ideas at the wall, because few of them stick here.

Unfortunately, although that slight detachment feels pretty good in the midst of listening, much like tucking into an ice cream cone with more than a few sprinkles, you might get brain freeze trying to recall some of the tunes afterwards.

A lot of it, like album closer ‘Homesick’ featuring none--other than Coldplay’s Chris Martin, feels overthought and calculated. It’s a shame because those moments where Dua Lipa truly shines are those moments where she was allowed to just be herself.

Pixx has created a debut record that shows her to be a fascinating prospect, and though significant turmoil informed the record, the pay-off is equally as great.

Witty, sexy, confident, and charged with live energy, I’m Not Your Man is the sound of Marika Hackman making the album she always needed to make.

It’s a perfectly pleasant ride to go along with him on, too, and given that ‘Turn Blue’ sounded a tired effort pretty much from the get go, this return to his roots will hopefully bode well for the band when they eventually reconvene.

Somersault raises the bar on 2013’s ‘Clash The Truth’.

On Relaxer, alt-J sound utterly, wonderfully like no one but themselves.

Overall, it’s hard to escape the sense that the concept behind the record has played to its favour in some parts and gone against it in others; this is, therefore, not even close to being the most balanced Sweet Baboo effort to date.

I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone isn’t as callow as previous Chastity Belt records, and intentionally so, fully digging up the sadness that always lay ever-dormant beneath their tinny-swigging chaos, and leaving behind biting mockery for something that feels vaguer, and also more universal.

Drop your expectations of freak pop from another dimension, and there’s plenty to like.

Packed full of genius--with a few dips that promised more--for the most part, this does play a little like a Greatest Hits. An impressive achievement from such a new band.

For all its adventures into the weird and wonderful, You’re Welcome retains the hallmarks of Wavves at their most recognisable and best.

Falling somewhere between Poliça with an Americana tinge and a less naff Fiona Apple, the likes of ‘Inner Lover’ and ‘This Time’ are cerebral cornerstones that hold up a record characterised by evident catharsis. One for when you’re feeling reflective.

For the most part though, this is a party for one, best enjoyed curled up with few distractions in the twilight hours. Sit, contemplate, and be absorbed into Aldous Harding’s spellbinding realm.

Slowing down and refining his output has allowed Alex the time to make Rocket a brilliantly considered next step. It’s also his catchiest record yet.

With songs that have long ago morphed into brutal initiations, if you can somehow defend yourself long enough Ho99o9 almost invite you to see their world through their hazed-over eyes. In a shadowy landscape of startling binary logic, it becomes easy to draw the line through through Converge, The Prodigy, Death Grips, Pantera, The Stooges, Danny Brown and DMX if you’re only here with that one goal--to start the fire. Ho99o9’s particular arson is burning bright.

It might not be perfect and it might be reductive in parts, but it’s not contrived or calculated.

The beefing up of Girlpool’s sound on Powerplant works marvellously in parts, but at points serves to dilute the individuality the pair presented on their debut.

Routines isn’t an album that’s going to change the world, but it is a pretty good reminder to stop, slow down and take things in once in a while.

Reinvigorated after a so-so initial comeback in 2012, and with their notorious fire burning once again, ‘in•ter a•li•a’ sees At The Drive In returning with an album that’s worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder alongside their revered back catalogue.

It’s at times heart-stopping and at others movingly barren, but is always thoroughly arresting.

15 years in and with no sign of slowing or calming down, Kasabian don’t have to prove anything anymore. If you’re not on board, it’s frankly your loss.

Iit goes deeper and sees our protagonist at his most mellow and introspective.

Flexing their muscles as they stretch their creativity, on Pollinator Blondie might not be testing any limits or redefining any capabilities, but they make thinking inside the box sound pretty damn fun.

The Weather still has their fundamentals at its core - out-there psych-rock, Nicholas Allbrook’s urgent wails, mind-boggling lyrics that take several listens to comprehend--but it’s given them a polish and an upgrade into something new and improved.

The band’s new, self-titled album sees them ageing gracefully, but not without tweaks, even if reinvention is too strong a word.

Mike Hadreas takes a scalpel to the inner-workings of his creative brain, and the love that feeds it. An absolutely flooring record from once-in-a-generation talent.