When Megan moves away from her standard lyrical fare, perpetuating her beef with Tory Lanez on opening track Shots Fired or penning the poppy tune Don’t Rock Me To Sleep, the results are some of the best moments on the album, and if these aspects of her style had been explored some more it could have made for a more diverse LP, but Good News is still chock-full of catchy hooks, stellar verses and feisty attitude.

CYR may be a good record, but even with its overblown 20-song length it leaves the listener wanting more, given the context of this band’s capabilities.

Plastic Hearts is a change in direction that works really well. With names like Billy Idol and Joan Jett guesting, there’s even a sample of a Stevie Nicks song in case you were any doubt that this is a Miley Cyrus album that your dad would feel comfortable listening to.

Following some recent setbacks in his personal life, Luke Abbott has got round to making, for all intensive purposes, his impression of a breakup record, and damn, if it isn’t a total knockout.

All in all, Shadow Of Fear is a well-rounded release.

Night Network may not be the 12 tracks which would shake the person who doesn’t like The Cribs out of their most curious position. But it is 12 more assertions of greatness from a band who you really should like.

III is not a record that makes too many demands on the listener’s attention: its instrumentation is calm, unintrusive and balearic, and the songs tend towards a slow evolution rather than a formal structure per se.

The message of the record is as faultless and as invigorating as the field recordings of raindrops and tributaries that gush over it. Ana Roxanne won’t be hampered by other people’s definition of her; her musical genius will encapsulate multiplicities and blossom of its own accord.

Third albums can be tricky, but for Fogarty, this is a challenge he grasps with both hands, coming up with an all-encompassing record that explores many musical possibilities.

Billed as the spiritual successor to 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana, sadly a lot of this new record feels like exactly that, the musical equivalent of the yellowy orange filter Hollywood tends to put on films and TV shows to indicate that it’s the Middle East. Yet as flippant as that may sound, there are still some flashes of innovation.

Molchat Doma are having a blast reclaiming their heritage and proving themselves to be a more than an entertaining chip off the old Bloc.

It’s an album that’s full of poise and confidence, which bodes well for her future.

AC/DC do their thing, and it works.

Over three tracks in under an hour, the microtonal performer traces a luminous and defiant path against the historic threat of religious tyranny, delivering a provocative expression of devotional purity.

Monument is a record that you’d wish didn’t need to exist. But its staggering, sobering beauty will linger in your mind long after its 55-minute running time elapses.

The adoption of low energy, skeletal electronic instrumentation serves to shine a light on her often brittle and vocoder cloaked vocals. A sensation of emotional fatigue circles above proceedings, as the music elicits the haunting effect that this ongoing lack of human intimacy is having on all of our psyches.

They’ve produced one of the very best albums of the year, despite the long gestation period.

This is an astonishing work, one that highlights Kanaan’s remarkable worldview, that you’ll unconsciously find yourself gravitating back to, time and time again.

Contemplative and unstable, the record is a 12-track paean to the benevolent act of taking domestic solace in retreating. ... William Basinski is back within his element, and we should take all comfort in that.

Whilst the record is without doubt clamorous, murky and often times boisterous, it’s in no way petulant or immovable.

Adulkt Life prove middle aged doesn’t mean middle of the road.

Tunng presents Dead Club may be their darkest album to date but it is arguably their finest too. ... A creative peak even for a band with more than 15 years’ experience together.

Earth To Dora finds him in a relatively peaceful place – and it will have a similarly calming effect on Eels fans too. More than 20 years on, this band are still very good at what they do.

Loftin and his colleagues have succeeded in creating a mood of joy and togetherness.

Confetti is a dependable album with recipe staples, but to keep future interest piqued, something new is now required in the mix.

Minogue more than holds her own here. The sound is largely fresh and pays genuine homage to carefree nights at the disco with gusto, charm and flair, all qualities that Minogue has in spades.

The structure of the album is beautifully crafted, with each of the tracks like pages of a calendar that detail Croll’s life, presenting a personal diary window of sorts into his world.

Generally it seems Dizzee fares better when bouncing off others’ contributions. This makes E3 AF a step in the right direction, and while it doesn’t quite display the finesse of his first three albums it’s a welcome trip down memory lane.

Packed with oodles of overdrive and a dissociated, ambient feel, Sour Cherry Bell is another enjoyable release from an artist who is rapidly reaching the top of the dream-pop scene.

Both artists possess in spades the ability to make affecting, heavyweight emotional music. This emotional intensity and willingness to continuously explore the possibilities of sound (heavy or otherwise) is what May Our Chambers Be Full pivots around over the course of these seven incredible songs.

Positions is a perfectly fine light pop/RnB album by the numbers, but Grande’s relentless work ethic over the last few years means that the shine on her songs is starting to dull a bit.

As uneven as Hey Clockface can become, there are still enough reminders of Costello’s genius scattered across the album. After all these years, his aim is still mostly true.

Musically, it’s more ambitious and further reaching than any of Brun’s previous records.

The decision to feature Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons on Lay Your Head On Me is baffling but not disastrous, as a soulful guitar lick dances around earnest vocals about honesty and intimacy. Trigger featuring Khalid is woefully boring, his low-key delivery rubbing up against sludgy chords and a weird mixed metaphor in the hook. Rave De Favela is by far the best track of the record, with hard-edged 4×4 beats, novel sound design, infectious syncopation and lively performances from MC Lan, Anitta and BEAM.

For all of its strengths, the album is somewhat let down by its monstrous length – 78 minutes, to be exact. That’s not to stay that Cunningham and his collaborators can’t hold the listener’s interest for the entire running time (they can), but that the whole experience can be overwhelming and a little draining.

Love Goes wallows too much in its comfort zone to be truly memorable.

Yet another indication that Ty is going from strength to strength.

Lopatin dispenses with radio’s interchangeable verse chorus verse format, instead replicating the labyrinthine ways the internet once promised formerly unreachable music might become graspable before being commoditised.

It’s a stately and urgent reclamation of intent from all involved. If you expected a band with such a long and storied history to ever be elegiac or pedestrian that would be a grave misstep. Under Marshall Allen’s all seeing eye, they’ve untethered themselves from the oppressive gravity of their past and launched themselves head first off back into the furthest reaches of outer space from whence they first came.

It represents a substantial advance in sound and scope from Amidon’s earlier approaches to folk material.

With Getting Into Knives, The Mountain Goats provide us with a smorgasbord of robbed emotions and new, neon-backdropped friends – and we need it more now than ever.

Listening to the music in the knowledge of its back story makes for a poignant experience, a reminder of how music can be an incredibly cathartic means of expression for both listener and artist.

Off Off On captures something of how the world is right now. It has moments that encourage us to turn off and seek escape, but at the same time also provides energy to help us to re-engage with the world. In short, it’s a perfect soundtrack to help us through these pandemic-dominated times.

The Instrumentals album is naturally a looser, less magnified affair, consisting of collages of the exploratory, freeform acoustic guitar improvisations that each day of the recording sessions would begin with. They showcase a different side to her creative process, but it’s undoubtedly on Songs where the emotional impact is located.

This is an album which, although it encompasses many feelings, never seems to fully settle on one – and therefore it’s both incredibly prescient and incredibly easy to get lost in its whirlwind wonderland of bittersweet narratives.

Of all of the guest-heavy Gorillaz albums, this is by some margin the leanest, meanest and grooviest set of the lot.

This is a fantastic box that will occupy fans for the next few weeks and months, but it’s also a superb gateway into the world of Tom Petty for those who like both pretty things and great music (and have a few bob to spare).

Letter To You provides both a moving thematic adjunct to Springsteen On Broadway and a timely and welcome burst of the sheer euphoria that only the E Street Band can inject. It also, importantly, demonstrates the band’s unacknowledged flexibility.

Optimisme is more Garageland than Graceland in its approach.

Fake It Flowers is a very well-accomplished debut, featuring a consistent, enjoyable style, a fully-formed persona and catchy tunes which speak to the head and heart.

A compendious set of cinematic, soothing and poignant songs, showcasing a deeper maturity not only in Melua’s voice, but also in her songwriting.

This is never going to replace your favourite Kevin Morby album, and it’s unlikely that it will make him new fans, but it feels like the kind of private delight that great artists bestow on their fans for their loyalty from time to time. Sundowner is Morby’s Harvest Moon, his Nebraska, his Hejira – a statement of intent made in the quietest way possible.

Simply put, no one does electronic music quite like Autechre.

Dark Hearts is a mixed bag: it has many well-crafted moments and some stellar production choices, and there aren’t any outright bad songs; the likelihood is that some of the less obviously pop moments have the potential to grow over time.

For a first solo work, Serpentine Prison is an excellent sidestep from Berninger’s vitally important and highly respected day job.

It may not be a record that grabs you by the scruff of the neck, but its quiet, understated nature demonstrates an artist confidently setting off on a new chapter in her career.

There’s little time to get bored, and there’s a distinct feeling that too much of this would be overkill. But for half an hour, it’s perfect. It may have had a painful journey with hellish events at every turn but Moveys is, for the most part, heavenly.

They’re constantly trying to better themselves, and provide their listeners with new ways of looking at old feelings. As Long As You Are is an endlessly rewarding listen, and it’s certainly worth the wait.

So much of the delight of listening to music comes from the lyrical, our tacit affiliation with the rage, wit or pathos an artist wishes to project. This record goes some way to appropriate the perception of being wordless, hushed by the beauty of the world we inhabit.

It’s considerably better than it has any right to be, made up of a surprisingly satisfying mix of bright modern pop, standard club bangers and Billie Eilish-esque miserablism.

Under The Spell Of Joy didn’t quite achieve the transcendent ritualistic occurrence Death Valley Girls pointed to, but it should still win them a few zealous new converts.

Shiver may be a step out of Jónsi’s comfort zone, but it’s a step that seems to have reinvigorated him.

All Thoughts Fly is undoubtedly a peculiar album, but absolutely one well worth investigation.

Blue Hearts finds him upping the ante yet again.

While some fans will always have their favourite Deftones album (White Pony being the most popular), it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish what their best album is, especially when they’re in form as hot as this.

Róisín Machine sees the singer charismatic, confident and in control, and Barratt’s beats accompany that mood perfectly. Accept no imitations, this album has some of the best electronic music you’ll hear all year.

The Pineapple Thief’s latest work is a positive reflection of prog rock in the 21st century asserting, after all this time, how underrated they are. Let them be a mystery no more: on Versions Of The Truth, this band bear the torch of prog rock, and it burns still.

With Apple A. G. Cook shows plenty of potential, but ultimately more consistency is needed with his songwriting if he is to really make his mark.

It’s better than some actual Sonic Youth albums, and that alone makes it an essential listen. A thriller from the first second to the last.

It’s unsubtle and it’s inconsistent, but Ultra Mono has an awkward frankness to it that isn’t entirely without charm.

A heady amalgam of Ibiza chill-out anthems and Carnival bangers, with poignant choruses and repeated minor chords, ACR Loco is a stomping reminder to celebrate the eccentric pleasures of life in multicultural cities and the liberating night life they offer.

The Ascension is a far superior and more ambitious album [than 2010 album The Age Of Adz].

Shore is a glorious, life-affirming collection of songs, a move to the centreground that shows his absorbing of musical influences is paying rich dividends. It has ‘future classic’ written all over it.

Epworth packs some interesting sonic tricks into this record, particularly the chaotic crescendo of interlude The Eternal Now, but overall Voyager doesn’t have the memorability or consistency to justify stepping into the limelight when semi-anonymity has served him so well.

Keys has pitched this album as genreless and, although the sonics are manifold – reggae, R&B, funk and even country – you get the sense that Keys has her eyes more on the narrative. There is genuine hope, despair, frustration and even ambivalence. In a world more in need of a key change than ever, we need this Alicia.

If you can get past the vocal onslaught and the occasional uneventful passage, it could prove more broadly rewarding over time.

Gunn’s perfectly snarling vocals amplified in intensity by the punchy production, it is a electric opener which sounds unmistakably PVRIS, just with a fresh energy.

This is not your average industrial metal album folks – this is a slab of repugnant, malignant noise made with evil intent. For all the hype and bluster surrounding the most popular metal acts, Uniform deserve recognition as one of finest purveyors of heavy metal (of any kind) anywhere in the world. They’re now six albums into their career, and they’ve never been stronger.

The album also reflects the rebellious nature of Haiku Hands, throwing two fingers to the male establishment through a sound which is provocative and tantalising, one which sets about establishing them as a new powerful female voice in the era of explicit pop.

It’s when the pop sheen is dropped and they head in a twitchy, darker direction that Hurts are at their most effective.

As with each album in the quartet’s canon, Re-Animator requires (and deserves) repeated listening. Once that is achieved then the dividends start to pay, and this darkly shaded album is revealed as a very different string to be added to the Everything Everything bow. The band continue to sound like nothing else around.

Manson has given his audience a collection of tracks that are stronger, tougher and better than they have any right to be. His ascendance led to the death of the original rock era, but his music is more vital and creative than ever. A stunning work.

Cafe Carlyle is the perfect venue for Vega, a small, bohemian and glamorous venue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and this fitting tribute to New York praising its riches, uncovering its faults and exploring its tragedy is as beguiling and incredible as Vega herself.

For the most part The Universal Want lives up to that triumphant return presaged in Carousels. Calling back to various touch points from Doves’ career to date, it’s a fitting summation even if not a culmination or a career peak.

Whilst it’s not quite in the same league as many of The Flaming Lips’ albums – not just The Soft Bulletin – it has plenty of worthy moments that can blossom in time.

The songs are generally short, befitting a short release, and sometimes the structural choices feel a little eccentric because of it, for example the abrupt end of Chills Me To The Bone. At times like this there’s a feeling that more could be done with the songs to make them feel complete, but as it stands Fall To Pieces is an intriguing sampler for Tricky’s present-day sound.

There’s no real new ground being broken on Agora, but it does make a good entry point if you’ve not been acquainted with Gilberto’s music before.

The album is brief, almost EP length, and doesn’t end nearly as well as it begins, but Spell My Name still features some great tunes and is proof that Toni Braxton’s smooth alto can grace a trap instrumental just as well as a Darkchild production or a slow jam.

Overall, it adds up to form an accomplished album that manages to be both outward-looking while also proud of its heritage.

Nothing As The Ideal never fails to entertain and covers much ground in doing so. It’s a case of which aspect do you like about the band at times, though: the metal side or the stoner rock side. You probably won’t be disappointed if you sit in either camp; equally, however, you may feel disappointed that you haven’t had enough of your preferred All Them Witches fix.

Another album imbued with wisdom and sharpness of mind, undoubtedly music for the slow lane. As a writer of quasi-autobiographical songs that offer uniquely considered observations on human relationships and general life detail, Gold Record proves he’s moving into a realm of his own.

Disclosure have always had an attention to detail in their production that gives the songs that much more depth, be it the irresistible breakdown one minute from the end of Douha (Mali Mali) or the fluttering arpeggios that populate closing track Reverie. And in this respect, as well as songwriting, structure and guest selection, they’re back like they never left.

Plum does little to rock an established boat. Going forward, consistency is the key Widowspeak must aim for, because if you took their top moments from across all five albums then you would have an absolute classic on your hands. Plum needed a larger smattering of their best capabilities to warrant repeated listens.

Musical diversity has been embraced to better reflect his character, whilst a positive tone remains, even when he’s examining negatives. No longer is McKenna a teenager emerging at Glastonbury, he is someone for the generation he speaks for to listen to.

Sometimes the music allows itself to just be childlike and wonderful, such as on the closing moments of final track Sue’s, but for much of Sun Racket, there’s a constant tension that makes these songs worth revisiting over and over again.

It’s atmospheric, after a fashion, but it feels overproduced and it’s often physically difficult to listen to.

The Baby is an album that, the longer you live with it, the more you grow to love it. It’s a debut that slowly winds itself into your heart, and promises even better things to come.

Flowers Of Evil is awash with religious imagery and allusions, snatches of mythology, and nature. The band is looking at the state of humanity and how progress doesn’t necessarily get us very far at all.