Gloomy, grey but definitely not dull, The Wytches have cast another stellar spell.

Jessie continues her journey to becoming a modern, soul-pop legend with a set of songs so palpably feel-good that it’s impossible not to start shoulder-shimmying at any given moment.

The energy of this debut is tangible.

Ultimately, though, it’s Pulido’s steady hand that brings an assured, if occasionally slight, album together where there was so much potential for these heavyweights to step on each other’s toes.

Goat are making true, sludged up psychedelia that seems to come from a new, specially cultivated brain-lobe.

The eight-track collection finds its voice through an ever more personal lens, one that dials down the familiar ignitable fare in favour of intricate ambient spread. In doing so, variation on past cues and themes are offered, sonically pared down yet expansive in concept – an effort that adds new facets and angles to Lykke Li’s art.

If there’s a curveball in what is a charmingly lo-fi release, it’s the higher vocal register he settles into for most of these tracks - something that might alienate fans of his tighter, poppier work circa ‘Salad Days’. Regardless, Mac’s back - for real, this time.

Pere Ubu's first studio recording in three years is a suitably abstruse, challenging and dense record, and yet another example of how Pere Ubu remain at the very peak of experimental avant rock.

A beautiful new offering, ‘Pony’ is equal parts heart wrenching and hopeful, and shows Rex back at his very finest.

Local Natives deliver a tale of affection deeply rooted in the realism of love, not just in romance but in life.

The reality though is that your ability to get on board with this record will depend more or less entirely on how you feel about its lyrical content.

This is a seductive if not immediately obvious piece of work, her adventures into folky-jazz work well, never straying too far from pleasing familiarity into all-out experimentalism.

Beautifully constructed, surprising and brimming with invention - looking back at all the incredible music Rostam’s been a part of over the years, it feels as if he’s saved a little for himself on ‘Changephobia’.

Groove Denied captures the finer points of Stephen Malkmus’ craftsmanship in wildly esoteric and robotic form.

Uncomplicated, joyful stuff.

Willowbank is utterly charming, shimmering and another step in Yumi Zouma’s quietly fascinating evolution.

A profoundly human listen, which sees the band bow out proudly, for now at least.

A bold, brave effort that’ll continue to see them rise through the rock ranks.

What the streamlined sound of ‘Homecoming’ lacks in broad musical scope, it more than makes up for in attitude.

It’s an album that’s far less direct than her debut, and more thoughtful.

In Roses is kind of a horrible record in a sense, praying on emotional weakness so aggressively--but, it's so achingly gorgeous, that it's hard not to dive in with a complete disregard for state of mind.

It’s unlikely they’ll stay still for any prolonged period of time, but for now Nai are tighter knit than ever before.

It would be a hard heart indeed not to fall for music as lovely as this.

What could have become overly sentimental instead presents as subtle and sincere. The sincerity is elevated by their understated tones, harking back to the beauty of Elliott Smith but swept into now by crisp production and experimental flourishes.

‘WOOF.’ is brilliant, dark, and downright batshit crazy.

Fall Into the Sun is the best Swearin’ record yet; that Allison and Kyle have not just reformed the band, but actually brought the creative best out of each other in doing so, is a powerful advert for reconciliation.

This is all very Daughter (and very good).

While this second album seems genuine, and at times very good, it just doesn't excite and satisfy in quite the same way as the spontaneous creativity of the debut. 'Gossamer' is one giant juxtaposition that can't quite sit comfortably.

The album is a mismatch of styles, moods and tempos. There is little cohesion and each song feels like a thought or idea alone on the record--like a collection of B-sides or rarities.

As you’d expect, there are bleeps and bloops aplenty, but underneath it all is a sexy, if slightly bizarre, groove.

The clear direction and production of the album means that while those who enjoyed The Staves’ debut will not be disappointed, there is arguably less of a initial folk sound that was more apparent on their first record.

While single ‘Angel’ uses the simplest, scrappiest riffs and Beth’s sonorous tones to make something more than the sum of its parts. Du Blonde continues to be one of UK guitar music’s best kept secrets.

Despite an overall likeability and affable sheen--it’s a little flatter than that.

Small Mercies is not a complete success, but Pixx’s creative voice remains unique.

It’s a record you have to give the space it deserves, rather than dip in and out of. That said, there are still some tracks that are especially sumptuous (‘Healing Hurts’, ‘Out Of This World’), that call attention to the fact that this is her musical cosmos, aware of its own self-indulgences, and no worse for it.

‘SongBook’ is a debut that suggests The Lazy Eyes have the guile to forge their own roads in a genre not currently experiencing a dearth of talent.

‘Abomination’ is a singular debut and quintessential cultural capsule - of both post-post-punk and gay modernity - from one of the UK’s most fearless off-piste queer acts.

It doesn’t rest on what has come before, landing somewhere between the ‘80s new wave of their debut and mainstream pop, now with the self-expression of a far more confident songwriter.

An album that only even begins to click after about the tenth listen, Arctic Monkeys’ sixth is the kind of eyebrow-raising curveball that could still yet lead to brilliance.

Ruminations feels like a comedown as such. His first solo album since 2014 ‘Upside Down Mountain’ features only Oberst, a piano, an acoustic guitar and the occasional flash of harmonica. It’s possibly his most reflective, nostalgic work yet.

In an age where any era of music is within a second’s grasp, The Lemon Twigs’ reliance on nostalgia is at best dated; at worst, pure laziness.

Gone the mangled Nuggets riffs and LSD infected yelps, replaced instead by slide guitars and deranged yee-haws. It shouldn’t really work, but it does.

While ‘V’ has the tendency to revisit some familiar ground, it achieves what the best double albums do - plants solid gems along the road, envelops the listener with clever sequencing tricks and builds a whole world to roam.

Fine Line is a compelling document of an artist coming to life.

“How many years are we gonna last?”, she asks on standout ‘Stop Me Now’, over glitchy guitars and drums that suggest the breakdown of a machine: a pleasing synchronicity between form and content.

With ‘Blindness’, The Murder Capital have crafted an album that feels both urgent and timeless. Simply put, it’s nothing short of a triumph.

Love Songs for Robots is a thoroughly accomplished album that oozes musicality from every reverb-soaked pore.

One of the consistently brilliant musicians working today hasn't let us down yet.

There are a couple of sweet spots on ‘Ice Melt’ in the form of the shimmering ‘Balloon’ and the creamy ending title-track, but not enough to warrant a whole album’s worth of material from what could have easily been shaved down to an EP.

Nevertheless for all the mature restraint and consummate mastery it can be hard not to miss the sheer energy and fury of previous albums, the restless experimentation.

In astrology, Jupiter is usually said to represent growth, healing and good fortune, and here, Nao’s fourth more than lives up to its moniker.

2019 has a pleasing feel no doubt, there are some gems nestled in the 7-track run that are well worth a look, but it feels like a release that is there to keep the wheels turning ahead of a new album.

Anyone hoping for 'The Eraser' to fledge further results will be similarly dumbfounded. But taken at token value, Amok is a very fine work indeed.

Echo Lake have managed to take a slew of barely-original touch points and make something genuinely intriguing about them.

They don’t often get the time to build a song from nothingness to explosion quite as well as they mastered on their debut. It’s a powerplay that largely works, yet still takes enough rests to showcase a frantically beating heart and a definite intelligence underneath.

Backed up by powerful guitars and soaring vocals, their brand of intense but atmospheric rock feels rejuvenating - and is perhaps even a tonic.

‘Found Heaven’ does, at times, feel a bit like you could play ‘iconic ‘80s songs’ bingo. .... But, when his influences are worn as heart-on-sleeve as they are here – and, crucially, are executed as well – the overall effect is one of knowing homage rather than tribute act.

For the most part, Honeyblood’s second outing is a delicious face-punch of a record, running amok in the best way possible with everything they’ve learned since first time around.

She has the ability to carve out some gorgeous pop songs, but seems to be trying to cover too many bases.

Basic rhythms, simple synth melodies and the occasional burst of fuzz guitar provide a primitive vehicle for Cameron’s idiosyncratic lyrics, where the record’s real pleasures reside.

In a similar context many other bands might have run dry by now. Not Calexico though, and 'Algiers' serves as a fitting reminder why they haven't.

It’s all washed over with a layer of fuzz, the distorted sound making it impossible to discern precisely what’s going on - which is, one would imagine, precisely the point.

Move in Spectrums is a deeply controlled sea of melancholic ambience, loaded front-heavy with infinitely more engaging moments than its murkier second half.

ISM have stepped away from the traditional Ibibio folk tales that formed the lyrics for much of their debut album, instead relying more on English lyrics and universal themes. Only ‘She Work Very Hard’ displays the kind of storytelling that made those songs so intriguing, and it’s here where the boundaries between tradition and future are most blurred.

Quite frankly, it’s a towering edifice of electronic brilliance.

By wrestling with the implications of their carefree early years on this final release, Japandroids have ensured they’ll be remembered not just as party starters, but as thoughtful songwriters, too.

Like most things, it’s worth the wait.

It’s not the most cohesive album--it darts around from one idea to the next quicker than you can bat an eyelid--but it is without a doubt exciting and enthralling.

In Mind is classic laid-back Real Estate, and while there is comfort in the familiar, at times it can feel a little lax.

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

Granted, three of the tracks from the rather aptly-named ‘This Place Sucks Ass’ may be taken from their 2019 ‘Morbid Stuff’ sessions, but their fiery spirit of fighting back is still very much relevant.

Her detached, precise narration leaves little to hold onto, and over 15 tracks, you begin to long for a little more emotion. Still, these productions are dark, atmospheric - she knows exactly how to conjure up a mood. It’s just that it’s slightly too forbidding to ever fully feel at home.

As such a unique style of music in their field, there is no reference point to compare Mariachi El Bronx to, but if you’ve enjoyed ‘I’ and ‘II’, or you want to hear something a bit different then Mariachi El Bronx III is well worth a listen.

It’s rough around the edges, but that’s part of its charm - a testament to the energy and ideas thrown about in such a short space of time, and the vibrancy of collaboration.

Broadcast's soundtrack for Berberian Sound Studio is a triumph not just because it is inescapably aware of itself as a soundtrack but also serves as a fitting epitaph for the band's singularity and vision throughout their all-too-brief career.

Super is confirmation of their position at the head of the pop pantheon with an album brimming with excitement and fizzing with energy.

We Come From The Same Place, then, is a delightful record, catchy enough to keep the listener’s attention, and with enough substance for them to return to it time and time again.

Barry Johnson’s vocals remain huge, and riffs are still catchy, but in trying to expand their palate, their identity might just be starting to slip.

It's an extremely fine album that is without doubt her best work yet.

These songs might be the result of time spent in-between projects, but they are no b-sides, and they show a bigger, more cinematic side to Courtney’s songwriting that not only provides solitude in its glistening nostalgia, but conjures excitement for his projects to come.

'I Was A Cat From A Book' is a good album with top-class musicianship and production, that deserves your ear at least once even if folk is not your thing.

Theatrical, over-blown, and just a little contrived, any promise of real substance sadly seems to fade after the first four tracks, and never quite returns.

Till Midnight might not be the most groundbreaking album, largely treading a path that has been well worn over the years, but few people do impassioned, rustic folk rock as well as Chuck.

Atari Teenage Riot have made this their most accessible album yet.

On all the evidence here, The Big Moon have succeeded in unearthing the secret to a fire debut.

A potent mix of influences, it manages to sound equally focused and effortless - the work of a true performer.

‘Food For Worms’ bulges with high-octane surprise. This is the sound of a band performing at the peak of their powers.

It’s everything you wouldn’t expect and more.

Experimental, psychedelic, mad, and oddly, very listenable pop music.

Despite coming from the same body that houses a personality so unbelievably erratic and off-the-wall in the best possible way, 25 is as straight-down-the-line ‘Adele album’ as it gets.

All those who lapped up ‘Tracey Denim’ will be satisfied here. ‘The Twits’ may yet charm a few more besides.

IV is a wondrous beast.

Now, the scuzz and rough edges of their younger selves is swapped out for the fizz and crackle of these vital reworkings, which take in some of their most varied sounds to date; in amongst the usual post-punk vigour are hints of shoegaze, psychedelia and - on the standout ‘Major Amberson’ - melodic pop.

The Inevitable End accepts its own strengths and faults in one fatal blow, just like any last gasp should.

CocoRosie certainly revel in their unorthodoxy but this doesn’t always make for enjoyable listening; perhaps if their Tales Of A Grasswidow knew how to breathe, their macabre hymns might pack a little more pluck.

The in-demand singer-songwriter-producer primes himself for new heights here - tapping into the hedonistic spirit of Studio 54, while applying a gloss that is very much of today.

The album was entirely performed, engineered and produced by Noel Heroux; perhaps the input of a full band and a producer would have brought these songs to life and produced a rather more coherent and fully formed debut.

As coherent and arresting as everything is, it is true that some of the hooks are not particularly immediate. A few of the tracks seem to steam ahead but never really find an end destination, with any hooks getting lost in the mists of fuzz.