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.

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.

A solid first LP that aims for dive bars and festival fields alike.

If he’s trying things on for size still, then most of ‘Wishbone’ fits Conan Gray rather well, his not-quite-angst meeting its musical equivalent in its not-quite-alternative sound.

At times, the overly-clean production does the songs themselves a disservice, but otherwise everything about ‘Panic Shack’ feels in its right place. Book-ended by two tracks about friendship, this is a debut that presents its protagonists as a gang everyone’s going to want to join.

The rapid rate of return that the band have embraced in recent years has sometimes resulted in less-than-airtight quality control, but at least, on this evidence, they’re having fun.

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

Yes, years in the industry can teach you a lot, but ‘Metal Forth’ feels like pure, instinctual exploration.

It’s perhaps more cohesive than 2023’s shamefully underrated ‘Good Luck’.

From rich biblical imagery and warped pastoral scenes (‘Cow Song’) to screeching, string-led tension (‘Highway Man’) and howling invocations (‘Circles’; ‘Mary’), its nine tracks somehow encode a considerable might without ever feeling heavy.

With its clean, bright production, Frankie Cosmos have found a fitting sound on ‘Different Talking’, via their new era of lush, happier pop-rock.

An LP which brightly but undramatically shines with a fresh confidence - a proficient collection of songs, elevated by myriad guest musicians and a seemingly freed spirit.

Their fireside intimacy remains consistent throughout, despite candid storytelling, as they ask for respite in response to an intrusive sex dream on ‘Hotel TV’, and endure cyclical break-up-make-up tension on ‘The Actor’. And even in their more minimal arrangements - see ‘Moth Song’ and ‘I’ll Find A Way’ - the group transmute emotion through their harmonic unison.

It’s jarring, unhinged and idiosyncratic, in part akin to a musical at its most weird (not least on closer, ‘To Know Her’). Yet, for a performer and creative as unchained to convention as Jessica Winter, it was never going to be anything less.

‘moisturizer’ is a wonderfully crafted piece of work that cements Wet Leg’s staying power, an album to soundtrack hugging loved ones and spending the day with them doing nothing at all.

In short, ‘Self Titled’ is a glorious piece of work, easily Tempest’s best and most unforgettable work to date.

In all, ‘Loner’ is a worthy follow-up to his debut that’s suited to soundtrack dancefloors to come - and more crucially, other places too.

It’s clear that ‘Headlights’ is Alex G’s most streamlined body of work yet – the culmination of fifteen years of exploration, refined.

‘Who Wants To Talk About Love?’ arrives as a collective and deeply-charged record of human experience.

The songs here are destined to linger on Lorde’s setlists for a long time, from the triumphant ‘If She Could See Me Now’ through to the addictive, restless groove of ‘Favourite Daughter’. A thrilling comeback that puts Lorde’s trajectory to the stars back on track.

Clashing, cluttered, chaotic, challenging, ‘McCartney, It’ll Be OK’ is a venture beyond the conventional consideration of ‘progressive’, one to simultaneously blow eardrums and provoke minds.

It seems Loyle has started listening to himself more, with ‘hopefully!’ artfully demonstrating his progression through musical influence, as well as through life.

While ultimately a step forward - most notably, in its introduction of greater lyrical vulnerability and richer sounds most notable - a little more cohesion wouldn’t have gone amiss.

‘I quit’ doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel and most of, if not all, the HAIM staples are here: biting satire, tongue-in-cheek takedowns, and Southern-style guitars over a Los Angeles sunshine haze. But in parting with longtime producer and Danielle Haim’s former partner Ariel Rechtshaid (another addition to the list of many things that have been ‘quit’), the sisters have opened up new doors.

There’s something pleasingly straightforward about this self-titled debut record from Goddess.

A stellar example of an artist pushing their collective boundaries while retaining full control over their artistic identity.

It’s another reinvention from the prolific outfit, a joyous ten-track delight, just in time for (our) summer.

Ultimately, ‘Ripped And Torn’ is a little disappointing - its sounds are solid, refined and rehearsed, but feel relatively misguided, with the band seemingly unable to determine exactly where they’re going.