To Be Kind is a unique and wonderful achievement from a unique and wonderful band.

Without close inspection, without consistent rotation it does every bit as good a job at sounding fast and heavy as anyone could be expected to. It’s just hard to know what makes it Creative Adult and what, despite shouting so very loud, it wants to actually say.

Inevitably, in this bursting collection of high energy rock, the album loses its bite towards the end.

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.

Because despite the weight that this album carries, the overall feel is of a celebration of life itself.

Ultimately Someday World is undeniably disappointing. For something that promised so much and to deliver so woefully little is an injustice to each respective side of the partnership.

Pure X have emerged from a dark abyss into beatific splendour.

Just like love itself, it’s an album you will fall for despite (or even because of) its flaws and imperfections as much as the real moments of truth and beauty it provides.

Just like humanity’s primordial obsession with fire, Sky Swimming is difficult to disengage with.

It's good--but not great.

It doesn’t so much as show them in a new light, more picks up where ‘Trompe le Monde’ left off all those years ago. But, as the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don’t fix it.

Distinctly shying away from the commercial, Chad VanGaalen is an explorative soul and although his frightening world is separate from ours, he makes a peaceful journey of it.

Shriek is certainly a considerable statement that opens up endless vistas of possibility for a reinvigorated band.

Like most things, it’s worth the wait.

The firebrand guitarist has teamed up with a veritable gang of pals to create an album that's pulls no less punches than her earlier work--if a little more thoughtful.

Anybody arriving at this album expecting 13 ‘Milkshake’s will be sorely disappointed, but everyone else will hear Kelis at her most effortless.

Slight emptiness aside, this is one of the most confident, self-assured debuts of the year--striking, exciting, and intimidating to Little Dragon fans everywhere.

What we have is quite ironically, a record lacking both direction and colour.

With Loom, Fear of Men have created something more than mere fragments; a record which could engulf you if you give it chance; where sounds and textures merge together to create a beautifully bleak story.

Rented World might not be quite the landmark that it’s predecessor was-- it’s unlikely to be a fixture of too many album of the year lists outside of the punk scene--but regardless of the accolades it may or may not win, it is evidence of a band who know exactly what they want to do, and have little trouble in achieving it.

A gorgeous, luscious Eels record, sounding every bit as familiar as any of that suggests, the country-tinged guitars, the organs, piano, sprinkling of xylophone and those comfortingly gravelly vocals in which the world's in love.

The result is a largely mixed bag of lyrically intelligent but sometimes slightly weak songs, all with a distinct air of the celestial.

Ultimately, this is the sound of a group looking back at what they’ve achieved individually in order to get that chemistry churning again.

Sure, it loses its way about two-thirds through via the meandering ‘Every Guy Wants To Be Her Baby’ and ‘Memories’, but there’s always the suggestion that it’s sort of the point.

If Japanther focused more on their punk rock sensibilities and honed in on their talent for hook-infested pop songs, rather than trying to clean up their act, then they’d be far better off for it.

The delightfully obtuse and sometimes anxious sketches on Arcadia are what make it both enjoyable, and frustrating.

What With Light And With Love lacks in surprises, it more than makes up for with quality.

All things considered Chuck Inglish hasn’t offered enough that’s new or high quality enough to truly make a mark.