Despite the evident WTF factor, this remains a record chock-full of invention, a pursuit of the new and--most importantly--gigantic songs.

Dutch Uncles’ most direct and user-friendly album yet.

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

Singles ‘Level’ and ‘Being Around’ are given a new lick of paint, while newies ‘I Wish It Was Sunday - an invigorating thrash defined by screeching guitar solos - and closer ‘Boring’--a live favourite that sounds even more intense on record--show that Our Girl can more than hold their own across a full-length. It’s what’ll come next that we’re most excited about though.

From challenging, in your face exploration to beautifully light-as-air soulful ballads, there’s a constant idea that there’s no clue as to where the next track will swerve. There’s a feeling that Bowie is having fun too.

It may not be a career defining record but The Something Rain is crammed full of twists and turns to create an emotionally rich and thoroughly rewarding listen.

A rare collection of songs that succeeds in both evoking the ethereal and forcing you to reach for the volume button.

From start to finish, Vultures is a relentless storm of roaring rock royalty.

Best Coast will never win over the cynics who like their music to sport a more assured style of intelligence and invention, but for those who fell in love with the sunburnt stoner of old, there's plenty more to revel in, here.

By keeping enough of the old--and allowing themselves the space to go a little heart-on-sleeve--their tales of 2010s disillusionment are a resounding success.

Where The Acid surpass their peers is with the sheer emotional depth layered into each track.

It’s powerfully honest and refreshingly unfiltered, beautifully crafted and distinctive. Most importantly of all it carries the legacy of Tom Searle, and of the remaining Architects members, forward.

The singer-songwriter’s most comprehensive release to date, turns up the production slickness while sacrificing none of his affable, boyish charm.

Resisting the twin urges to oversimplify or over-complicate where inappropriate, Vessels may have succeeded in making one of the smartest and most beguiling electronic albums of the year.

Silent Earthling is far from an reinvention: it’s simply Three Trapped Tigers adapting and tinkering with everything that made ‘Route One Or Die’ such an exciting debut, to end up here with a leaner, more focused, brilliant second album.

Blame Confusion is great.... It spends its whole ten tracks threatening to break out in to full-blown epic--but remains able to stop short every time.

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.

[In Our Heads] is another joyous triumph.

What’s crucial is that ‘Let the Festivities Begin!’ never feels like a case of throwing all of these different textures at the wall to see what sticks; instead, the sounds of everywhere from Turkey to Peru to Argentina are wound carefully together on the maddeningly catchy likes of ‘FFS’ and ‘Change of Heart’, before being relayed with exhilarating gusto. There will be few debuts this year that feel like such glorious exercises in musical technicolour.

Reaching further and further afield from their early experimental niche sound, Pulled Apart By Horses are now more accessible than ever.

Each track conjures up dusty Nashville bars, from the spoken word sandwiched between a lament to love on album closer ‘Chain Of Tears’ to a knowing play on country cliches on Jenny’s exploration of happiness in her forties, ‘Puppy and a Truck’.

Deleter successfully blurs boundaries between time and space while gifting the listener with the unexpected opportunity for a total sonic catharsis.

Admittedly, her debut has been a bit of a long time coming--with last minute changes delaying until 2015--but with her songwriting already sounding accomplished and confident, it’s been time well spent.

All in all, seemingly indebted to many, this is a band equipped with new-found confidence, poise and an incredibly impressive sophomore effort.

The record’s finest moments relate to everyone’s lives, in one way or another. Whether it’s golden youth or present day regrets, there’s something to cling onto.

‘The Art Of The Lie’ won’t act as an accessible gateway into John Grant’s catalogue, but for those already sold, it’s a deeper excavation into the mind of the man.

86TVs are clearly cut from the same cloth as The Maccabees, but a newfound succinctness and dynamism make for a forward-facing project.

For the most part, though, what ‘Path of Wellness’ signifies is Sleater-Kinney pulling away from their past, towards an era likely to lean heavily not just on their pop sensibilities, but on the move beyond the old push-and-pull relationship between the now-duo - a songwriting bond once defined by their differences has given way to a seamless understanding.

SOHN's essentially written an album's worth of brilliant pop songs.

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.

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.

Energising Sleigh Bells with rocket-fuel, Jessica Rabbit stands up as the band’s most consistent record since ‘Treats’.

This follow-up is more inquisitive and self-exploratory, and just a touch darker - while still building on her signature nostalgic sound.

M.I.A is a maverick writing this album only for herself and her cause, but still, Matangi is a welcome return to form.

Their magic remains as strong as ever.

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.

More a culmination of all that’s come before; a band confident in their own skin, their identity clearer than ever, their mission unchanged since those transatlantic tapes at the turn of the millennium.

As he says on opener ‘Good Morning’, Matt is here to help “you push your demons away”. And 13 beautifully-constructed ballads might just be the ticket.

It’s 28 minutes of thrashy, unadulterated skate punk and is a knockout from start to finish.

Blue Lips isn’t perfect; it has a predilection towards being over produced. Thematically, though, her honesty about her imperfections is what makes all so irresistible.

The beauty in Drinks is that there’s nothing else too close to their sound. With moments of sheer chaotic genius married with brilliant songwriting, Hippo Lite offers something new on every listen.

At no point of this record are you left hoping for another Editors anthem or new Slowdive music--yes that would be wonderful, but we now have Minor Victories to savour. Hopefully they’re here to stay.

There’s an effervescent sense of fun that fizzes throughout here on an LP heavily indebted to the work of Kathleen Hanna, both in its sound and its politics.

‘Life Is Yours’ is the sound of the band less emerging blinking into the post-pandemic light than bounding back into the saddle.

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

Sugar & Spice cements her as the modern day successor to dream pop titans Cocteau Twins from the get-go.

It’s so ludicrously colourful and loud and just the right side of ridiculous and whatever the mission may be, domination is the likely result.

Cerulean Salt represents an outstanding example of that talent blossoming into one of US indie’s most vital and compelling voices.

It's one of the best rock albums of the year and shows there's no age limit on kicking up dust and splitting ear drums.

With Fudge Sandwich, Ty breathes new life into an already solid collection of rock songs, and he is an ever-mutating musician on this album as he is in real life.

In less capable hands, this record might come across as an weighty topic checklist. Sad13, however, doesn’t just raise these discussions, she presents them as a bundle of sexy, glitter-soaked fun.

The atmosphere isn't always strictly severe, knowing right when to let up with gorgeous melodies seeping through the chiselled cracks. These moments save the record from being vociferous without a cause, allowing the more vehement moments to speak louder than they would otherwise.

There is something strangely satisfying about its consistency and confidence. Have no doubts, ‘Being Funny…’ is most certainly still The 1975; they’ve just refined their pop nous that little bit more this time around.

It's further proof that Orbital aren't content to stand still and rest on the laurels that have made them ones to watch at festivals. 'Wonky' as an album is sexy, smart, and filled with all the potential to smash the competition.

Whilst not necessarily as endearing as their previous records, Birthmarks may in fact be better.

Van Etten has gained in confidence and widened her scope, and the results are impressive.

At over an hour long, it’s a collection which could do with a slightly more ruthless approach in the cutting room but that’s a minor nit-pick when the material is this strong.

It’s a sensitive and technically more profound outing.

A resplendent wonder that’s also a showcase of excellent songwriting.

To deem ‘Forever Ends Someday’ a grower might be a little disingenuous, as if there’s nothing to grab onto on first listen. But be sure, once immersed in its many hooks, they’ll be difficult to shake off.

‘Sorry I Haven’t Called’ is yet another accomplished chapter.

Every song seems to journey through a multitude of genres and eras while remaining coherent.

Asking familiar questions in downright bizarre ways, with a musical palette that continues to revel in awkwardness, slipperiness, and experimentation, Cate Le Bon is a dab hand at holding a warped mirror up to life, and reflecting things in unexpected ways by now.

Levine has done a wonderful job of creating a work whose humble beauty easily can captivate you if you let it.

The Coral may have been at this game for nigh-on two decades but there’s scarcely a moment here that seems tired or phoned-in. Instead, the Wirral lads have added another fascinating work to their canon.

How the listener takes Death Magic defines everything, but once again, even at their most open and exposed HEALTH completely defy definition.

Too Bright is a diverse, multi-faceted and all-absorbing slice of sheer mastery.

The songs only sound sleeker, more melodic, more intensely stoned.

Utilising a considered selection of guest vocalists, it takes a keener focus on rap and afrobeats, making good on the breadcrumb trail of singles that have tided fans over in the five-year album interim.

Picking favourites out of Segall’s catalogue is purely a matter of taste but Manipulator settles right in with his finest work, and will serve as an excellent entry point for newcomers to the weird world of Ty Segall.

Circling around Eva’s sharp, twangy vocals, the band’s second album is a gargantuan step forward, and one packed full of iron-clad mantras.

Orla Gartland’s debut is an intricate, carefully-constructed collection, blending together indie-pop, folk and alternative rock. She masterfully layers sounds so not even a hand-clap feels out of place and even empty space is used well.

A luscious, rich selection of otherworldly tracks, disparate in nature but still oddly cohesive. And it’s as timeless as that dreamy world JK Rowlin

Both lyrically and musically it looks backwards to move forwards, in tone adding to Evan’s beautiful and delicate melodies, and although he doesn’t quite find the light at the end of the tunnel, he certainly knows it’s been switched on.

It’s a very special record that offers more with every listen.

‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ is an excellent character study, of both Arlo herself and the people who orbit around her.

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

Lyrically precise, and musically enriched with radical keyboard flourishes and arresting song-structures, what is most impressive about ‘Civilisation II’ is how KKB manage to tackle such worldly themes without ever sounding contrived. It’s a testament to a band continuously looking to innovate.

Like punk Doogie Howsers, MOURN use intellect and talent beyond their years to muscle their way in amongst the grown-ups and blow them all out of the water.

Afraid Of Heights is a far stronger and much more accomplished effort, sounding more like an apposite album than any of Wavves' back catalogue.

Sisyphus is easily the boldest project to come from any three of its members, and that’s saying a lot.

Oasis bled into mediocrity faster than you can say 'Blur were better', but just occasionally on Spacehopper in Tripwires you can see the same ambition and pop nous that made their early tracks such a thrill to the mainstream.

Like always, Little Mix shine best when they are deep in their millennial sass. Never shy about breaking a fourth wall in the name of female empowerment.

Sundara Karma might have set their sights high by naming their record for a man whose ambition spread to creating a whole system of writing, but Ulfilas’ Alphabet matches every lofty idea the band set themselves and then some.

A sense of an increasingly assured outfit emerges, shifting tempo with offbeat irregularity, their earlier inclination towards indie-leaning jangle-pop falling by the wayside, substituted with a definition that sets the band on an ever more consistent path.

This opening statement from a band emerging as one of Britain’s most inspired and uncompromising, could just be a strong starting step in a vivid and unconventional journey.

Granted, at some points it does feel a little unrelenting, but the sheer ferocity of this record illustrates a band intently focused on the future, and breaking through to the next level.

Coloring Book is exactly the kind of record necessary to elevate an artist from viable to visionary.

It’s really mature songwriting, and makes for a lovely, reflective listen.

The Savage Heart couldn't be more vital. What The Jim Jones Revue do is good. The way they do it is nothing short of brilliant.

There’s still plenty of room for Fear of Men to grow, but without outside influence, they’re already masters of a unique craft.

Exploring all that we give up about ourselves to make others feel comfortable, Shamir’s new take on pop songwriting is one that finally suits. Leaving enough scuffs around the edges to mark it out as his own, this is more than just album seven - it’s the start of a whole new era.

He combines whispering brush patterns and flecks of industrial glitch in the cerebral ‘Foreplay’ yet writes the perfect neo-soul pop song in ‘The Loop’, exemplifying his cross-disciplinary skill, and ability to marry fluid performance with tonal nuance.

A rollercoaster ride of diverse influences, the album takes us everywhere from nods to the freewheeling indie rock of ‘90s Jesus and Mary Chain (‘Dear Saint Cecilia’) to glossy, sixties-inflected love letters (‘Drink Rain’), via handsome, string-backed introspection (‘Love Kills Slowly’) and, on the standout ‘High & Hurt’, there’s a thrilling rework at the midpoint of the classic hymn ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken?’ that imbues it with moody menace.

'Time Team' is a hugely rewarding album that delivers rich emotional laden electronic music with a human heart and an impressive debut.

Tempest has delivered a compelling, thought-provoking insight into our troubled times.

A bewitching, and surprisingly diverse debut, it looks like Jillian Banks more than lives up to the hype.

Delicate, enchanting, and altogether intangible, Memory Of A Cut Off Head is a venture into the unexpected.