More confident in their own musical skins, it all adds together to make Every Open Eye a second album even better than the first.

There’s a constant feeling that instead of edging towards going one bigger, this band have embraced their calling. And if Foals didn’t already have enough songs in their arsenal to top festival bills, they’ve just added ten more.

‘LUX’ may have only just come out, but, years down the line, it might be no exaggeration to describe it as a turning point in pop music.

The anger remains palpable, the lyrics ever relatable, and ‘All That Is Over’ injects enough ingenuity to keep Sprints right at the top of the class.

‘Blue Weekend’ is an album that revels in its feelings. The dynamics are constantly shifting, often moving from tender sparsity to luxurious sonic opulence in the same song, but everything feels like the absolute peak of what it could be.

Bad Contestant is a stunning debut with two very opposing personalities.

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.

II is an advert to be a whole new generation’s Sonic Youth or Nirvana and on this performance, you’d be foolish not to buy in.

Every element is knowingly referential, cheekily self-aware, and impeccably judged, incorporating all the language - musical, visual, thematic - established by her first two albums into a fluent thesis on national identity, fame, and womanhood.

Change, escape and identity are not easy things to navigate, and ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ is the dark, unsettling, sprawling beauty that comes out of it.

Though some of their peers may have waned on their long, drawn out returns, Sleater-Kinney have only grown stronger in their time off. Ten years away has made them more essential than ever. Nostalgia be dammed.

Too is a big, dumb-smart, happy-sad, universally-specific beast of a record, then.

In its refusal to sound anything like its alt-pop predecessors, ‘With A Hammer’ is a breath of fresh air: innovative yet familiar, lackadaisically cool yet brave, a brilliant and sparkling window into the future. Its idiosyncrasies, consistently and wonderfully oxymoronic, are its greatest strength.

A record that perfectly proves how much strength is in vulnerability, it’s undeniably Hayley’s most powerful move yet.

The Horrors go several steps further. Fragments of the group's past link together and the future illuminates in unison. Luminous is the album they've been destined to make.

The trifecta of tracks which deal with drummer Roo’s experiences of addiction - ‘words fell out’, ‘tcnc’, and ‘take it away’ - are each stunningly potent in markedly different ways, ultimately highlighting the significance of resilience and mutual support as a means of refashioning ourselves in a new, better image.

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.

If Skepta’s ‘Konnichiwa’ was grime’s breakthrough, Gang Signs & Prayer is its blockbuster--an all-encompassing ride through human experience that’ll stand tall for decades.

This fourth album sees Wolf Alice fully embrace all facets of themselves, and through this newfound acceptance and confidence, they’ve produced their boldest, most striking record yet. One for the history books.

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

In short, Night Time, My Time is stunning.

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

Not just a return to form from a group whose recent catalogue has been somewhat patchy, but a true classic, ‘Saviors’ is Green Day at their musical and thematic best.

After Saturation's freewheeling spirit and an insatiable appetite for fun, Iridescence had to confront the past nine months, and make a statement as to how the band move forward. It does so emphatically.

Her sixth album is a masterpiece, showcasing her ability to meld reliable sound palettes with some audacious new tricks.

Highlight ‘By Myself’ sings of relapsing after getting sober, but is set over a simply joyous ska-tinged musical romp - musical and lyrical contradictions are all over Almost Free, but it gains its power from dancing through the hard times with a massive grin on your face. The musical experimentation of the record continues throughout.

Along with the equally exceptional St Vincent which came before it, this is the moment that St Vincent enters the fabled realm reserved for the greats.

Christopher Owens has emerged from it with potentially one of the year’s best records.

The power and ferocity with which they do so across the album--as well as its rollocking instrumentation and clear social conscience--makes it a triumph.

They’ve created a huge, rich, brilliant documentation of youth, one which will last for years.

An extraordinary debut that proves Heartworms is a force to be reckoned with.

It’s an absolute tour de force, a record full of drama and emotion and pleasure and pain.

‘This Is Why’ is a blistering melding pot of artistry.

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.

They have crafted a new geography of their own, pulling together all of their strengths and vulnerabilities.

If ‘BRAT’ will ultimately push Charli XCX into mainstream pop’s top tier still remains to be seen, but it absolutely guarantees the best night out of your life.

Ratworld is that rarest of beasts--a debut album that’s got a backstory running deeper than all six seasons of Lost, but still sounds like it’s delivered without any requirement for effort whatsoever.

The quartet’s ability to instrumentally weave among each other has always been one of their great strengths, and here (with the addition of new bassist Holly Mullineaux) the band sound more unified than ever, able to spin strange sonic tales all the better as a result. A triumph.

A dizzying journey through genre, era, and Jekyll and Hyde dynamic shifts that more than lives up to the vitality of its previews.

‘CrazyMad, For Me’ is a triumphant whirlwind of pain and self-preservation, which reveals more of itself with every listen.

On ‘Britpop’, a record that exists at the cusp of a portal between medieval England and a spritely electronic future, Cook’s mastery of the esoteric is singular – and a strong argument for the term to retain this new, additional meaning.

There’s no difficult second album syndrome here. Visions Of A Life is a gorgeously twisted beast that keeps Wolf Alice on the path to being Britain’s best band.

‘The Overload’ lives up to its hype with flying colours. Brilliantly constructed to unfurl like some sordid soap opera of Brexit Britain, it brims with vignettes populated by instantly-recognisable caricatures of the now.

An album packed with heart and creativity, still committed and connected to their roots, here, they continue to prove their stake as pioneers of hardcore’s evolution, and it’s truly thrilling to witness.

Undeniably ‘WEEDKILLER’ is a funneling of rage - a quest to rediscover autonomy and cement identity - but despite the darkness is ridiculously fun, too. It’s a triumphant debut - one that changes the game like a live wire in water.

‘Prioritise Pleasure’ manages to challenge accepted norms and help to exorcise long-buried demons; it’s powerful to the last drop.

The drought may be over, but SZA left no crumbs.

As Ethel stands broken, forlorn and alone, Hayden rises stronger as one of the very best in storytelling and atmosphere.

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

With such a consistently adept and fresh discography, it’s impossible to call this album St Vincent’s best, yet it’s quite easily her fullest, building on everything she’s already achieved while also treading new ground. If she is to be known by one record, let it be ‘All Born Screaming’.

Musically tying everything that’s come before together in a comprehensive showcase of the band’s continued prowess, and lyrically providing an ominous but defiant voice for 2019, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost is Foals’ definitive statement. And that’s only part one!

‘Jubilee’ finds its creator older and wiser with melody, lyrics and storytelling pulling focus in a fashion that cements Michelle Zauner as a true creative force to be reckoned with. From here on out, Japanese Breakfast can go anywhere and we’ll follow.

With Alas Salvation, they’ve set a marker for every borderline-insane newcomer emerging in the next decade.

In making louder and trendier her monolithic artistry, ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’ sees her hitting somehow even higher highs. It’s her best yet, and an affecting sign of the times.

An album that dreams not just big but huge. It begins with a literal orchestral overture - 96 seconds of world-building that removes you from boring old reality and plants you into their version of Fantasia. Then, 11 tracks of similarly sky-high, grandiose ambition, that tie together lofty literary sentiment, cinematic sweeping theatricality and killer melodic indie hooks with an equal affinity for each.

A far way away from debut ‘Chaleur humaine’, yet just as unafraid, ’PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE’ is like no other exploration of grief - a new magnum opus.

Equal parts elegant and antagonistic, it comes together to be every part the listening experience that he wanted it to be - complex, unconventional and ultimately, essential.

The band put their flag in the ground as the most intriguing musical voice we have, creating a bombastic, immaculately put together portrait of modern life.

‘Screen Violence’ marries visceral anger and empowerment. The result is their most euphoric rallying cry to date.

An album that will follow you for hours, if not days.

A near-perfect album if there ever was one.

Not to Disappear is intentionally difficult to stomach. It finds a dark pit to nestle in and then digs deeper. But few acts could deliver these unceasingly grim details with such majesty.

This is a record that stands up well against the high bar set by her debut in both scope and ambition.

This is a sonically rich, musically accomplished record - and it truly is - it’s Holly’s enviably dextrous voice that can’t help but take centre stage. They can belt with the best of them.

‘Fine Art’ should be viewed much like any great work: as a whole. And as a whole, it’s totally unique, totally committed and totally thrilling – just don’t tell the government.

‘People Watching’ is a bleak but astonishing rumination on our current times, viewed through the lens of Sam’s whirlwind past few years - an album that undoubtedly firms up his position as one of the great songwriters of our time.

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.

On all fronts, with ‘Daddy’s Home’, St Vincent has delivered spectacularly.

A record that’s as skilled in pop immediacy as it is emotional expression; a lyrical gaze that looks as deeply inside as out; an artist who, on this debut album, can seemingly do just about anything.

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.

Everything across Lux Prima feels completely right; familiar yet new, revealing more of two beloved figures without losing what made them great all these years.

Little Simz has long been one of the most consistently interesting, innovative, and important artists out there - and with the arrival of ‘Lotus’, her legacy as an all-time great has never been more assured.

Through the redirection of their sound, lyrics, and indeed, vocalists, ‘Forever Howlong’ redefines who BCNR are. But if one thing remains constant, it’s their unwavering desire to reinvent what their music can be.

It embraces the unconventional with resounding ease, finding its voice in the skilled hands of two of pop’s most forward-thinking pioneers, both busy rethinking just what it can be.

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.

Throughout, ‘American Noir’ delivers a vibrant and fitting homage to the recently departed Jim Steinman; the eight tracks harking to his musical opus.

‘RTJ4’ is by far Killer Mike and El-P’s most accomplished chapter, wrought with rage but injected with a humour and wisdom that offers razor-sharp clarity and, with that, an unapologetically raw and sobering take on our times.

Across ‘Cool It Down’, Yeah Yeah Yeahs remain true to their roots without making it sound like a nostalgic grab for previous glory. ... It turns out Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2.0 is exactly what 2022 needs.

[‘Everything and Nothing’] feels like the perfect, emotive closer for a band who’ve come a long way to get here, but have made easily their best album yet by simply being themselves.

A decade on from the pained remoteness of For Emma, Forever Ago, i,i holds the same intimacy and urgency, elevated by years of groundbreaking experimentation.

Chris is a second album that thrives in the realm of the uncertain, throws perceptions on gender, sexuality and expression comprehensively out of the window, and cements the status of Héloïse Letissier as a true star.

It’s easy to see how ‘EUSEXUA’ is already being adopted by fans as something far more than an album, the hazy underground equivalent of BRAT summer with a massive injection of purified sex.

If ‘GREY Area’ saw Simz come-of-age as a rapper, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ is Simz making her first long-lasting artistic stamp on the zeitgeist.

By the time closer ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ hits, Dua’s already smashed it out the park, and the euphoric ballad cutting down inequality with her impassioned chorus of “boys will be boys but girls will be women” only further cements what this album has proved: Dua will be going down in pop history as one of the best.

There’s enough originality pumped throughout each track that ‘Tension’ will undoubtedly stand as one of the most favoured contemporary Kylie eras. There’s no pretension to its greatness, just our Kylie, once again, humbly proving how easily she can forge gold and transform into pop culture phenomenon.

The sound of an artist coming home to themselves, ‘The Theory Of Whatever’ is proof that you can grow up gracefully with every inch of your vibrancy still intact.

A timeless portrayal of both the physical and emotional connection to people and place; fundamentally British yet beautifully universal.

It’s impossible to resist the instant, limb-grabbing appeal of the pop music Grimes is making here, and dizzyingly big, this is a record about shaking off every constraint, and wrenching hold of reality with both fists.

over again. A snarling, twisted, mischievous creation, Foil Deer is a leaping, high-spirited joy of a record.

This is music in its purest, most experimental form. This is a record which doesn’t make sense, because it doesn’t have to.

Throughout, ‘For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)’ feels like both a leap in musical maturity and a callback to vintage Japanese Breakfast.

It’s clear all three are being pushed beyond their usual creative comfort zones.

Streamlined and minimal but bursting with intelligence, humour and ideas, BODEGA are the real deal.

An overwhelmingly intimate record that makes you wonder just what Years & Years could be capable of next.

ENSWBL, Part 2 picks up the baton of its predecessor and sends it surging to the finish line, leaving Foals legions ahead of their competitors.

Unique, raw and totally joyous.

All in all, The Last Dinner Party have done it again - ‘From The Pyre’ is set to be on repeat well into the new year.


You wonder whether this might have been the record to elevate Sharon Van Etten to arena status in another era; it is that stylish, that confident.