The Argument is a highly laudable effort--literary heads will enjoy its attempt at condensing the complexities of the epic poem, while many will take pleasure in the story Man’s downfall sounding so varied and tuneful.

Much of it feels like pastiche, albeit of an often very entertaining sort.

At just eight tracks long and with a half-hour running time, I Want To Start A Garden is more an introduction to Haley Heynderickx than a fully formed declaration. It’s enough to make you very excited about what’s yet to come, though--this particular garden is ready to bloom into some very special greenery.

Fifth album The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs doesn’t have the dramatic sense of change of its predecessor, but it is a fascinating album that may even ultimately prove to have more to offer. It’s one of those albums that grows with each listen.

Have We Met is one of Bejar’s most interesting so far. But the grating oh-so-indie-look-at-me lyrics bash against the beauty of the beats. Maybe, just maybe, Destroyer should focus on soundtracks from now on.

Real Life Is No Cool inhabits a place where pop, electro, house, funk and disco collide, and the results are accomplished, stylish and, above all, fun.

As ever, there's a jamming seam throughout the Malkmus landscape, with the likes of Brian Gallop descending (or ascending, more appropriately) into freeform guitar passages that, while inevitably slightly indulgent, are never less than engaging, tuneful and, above all, enjoyable.

Where its predecessor found Plant operating in a finely-tuned genre, Band Of Joy gives him an opportunity to explore his influences, and to colour a few choice odds and ends from the rock 'n' roll canon with his indelible mark.

This Thing We Call Love aims for groovy but ends up sounding like Kaytranada’s leftovers, while Great Americans is too kooky for its own good, but on the whole we have a vibrant, energetic album with generous helpings of soul, funk and technical skill.

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.

Local Natives have made a stunning debut, feeling simultaneously familiar and challenging, and presenting a sweeping collection of tracks that are at once cinematic and sonically lush, swelling and serene.

Elinor Dougall has obviously taken her time to get this album sounding just as she wants – Strange Warnings and Poison Ivy first appeared on 2013’s Future Vanishes EP – and, on the majority of these cuts, that time has been unquestionably well spent. It doesn’t all work. ... Stellular finishes strong, however.

A remarkably assured and instinctive piece of work, one that speaks of good times on the dancefloor while not being afraid to throw in more poignant and affecting emotions, all wrapped up in clothing that falls nicely on an ambient blend of disco and house.

We knew Sky Larkin had potential. It’s been more than followed up on with Motto, surely one of the best albums of the year.

It is unashamedly cerebral music, but this is a band now finding that they have a powerful beating heart as well as a head.

He has made five albums, at least three of which are very fine indeed. But concern was growing that he might have peaked creatively. Bleeds refutes that notion emphatically, within a minute of the start.

With Chapel Perilous, Gnod have managed once again to create something that is both liberating and, at times, terrifyingly oppressive. 


It may not have the immediacy of old Walkmen songs such as The Rat or Angela Surf City, but these stories of New York characters have a charm and subtlety all of their own, which is rewarded by repeated listening.

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.

The lyrics speak tellingly of life experience, but the tunes don’t quite have the pizzazz to match the singing voice. Yet their turn towards the dancefloor is expertly marshalled by Rodgers, whose production tweaks are always tasteful – and this return bodes well in the long run. If they can just add the winsome melodies, The Zutons will be right back up where they deserve to be.

Like its predecessor, Kiasmos II could be unkindly described as background coffee table music, as it is predominantly quiet and unobtrusive. But while fireworks are few and far between, those who immerse themselves fully in the sonic experience will find it utterly enchanting.

It’s a truly absorbing listen, almost effortless. For a band that have been through so much turmoil, they convey so much beauty.

Both qualities [her immense talent and charisma] are on ample display on Hairless Toys.

UGLY certainly isn’t a pleasant listen, and at various points it’s too extreme to be categorised as rap or rock, but many of these tracks are brilliantly executed and their emotional power and impact put Slowthai in a unique position.

At the end of this quite exhausting album, it is hard to ascertain whether anything has been resolved. However, if this is what Krug needs to move on, then Julia With Blue Jeans On is a testament to the healing power of creativity.

Crystal Fairy is a solid and impressive album from start to finish.

Street Worms is a fine example of how to subvert expectations, and it’s a fine example of how to do ‘punk’ in 2018.

La Vita Nouva is a deeply personal and cathartic album and is certainly one that requires more than one listen. Each time will lift you up into a higher state of consciousness. A dramatic and unbridled return to a new beginning.

The result is her most satisfying and unified album to date.

It’s an album that wanders a lot, but every now and again can hold you spellbound, much like Hersh has been doing her entire career.

Fallon's understanding of the redemptive power of music elevates American Slang from being a good record to a great one.

Music for The Age of Miracles is an excellent record and a level above Minotaur, without scaling the heights of their first four albums. More 2009’s Bonfires On The Heath than Suburban Light, perhaps.

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.

On this outing, greater rewards arrive from a more engaged, active approach to listening, one that helps ensure that nuances and small details are appreciated. It might not ultimately have quite the impact of their earlier work but it still has much to offer, showing them still capable of responding to new creative surroundings and edging forward with small refinements to their sound.

It may last just 25 minutes, but One Million Love Songs doesn’t feel half-sketched or incomplete. On the contrary, once it’s finished, you’ll just want to go straight back to the beginning to wallow in this strange, otherworldly gem of a record.

In such a hugely enjoyable and compelling set, the weaker moments are few and far between.

7 might have been a gamble for Beach House then, but they don’t appear to have lost anything. What remains to be seen is whether they stay on the same path of progress with their next record.

An album that laughs at you while pushing you down the stairs, that swaggers right up to the edge of oblivion and does a stupid little dance, that understands the absurdity of it all, but refuses to let that be an excuse for apathy. Who knows why they keep being booked on indie-adjacent bills when they’re one of the most interesting metal bands in the world. This is lovely stuff.

It’s heartfelt and sincere without pandering to any audience.

When you have the knack, as this band most clearly have, of infusing your music with such full and rich emotion, then it makes sense to use that as your primary method of conveying meaning.

Le Noise is the sound of a restless and prolific artist striving to deal with the burden of his great legacy.

There is a sense that perhaps Swisher is Blondes pushing their oblique take on dance culture by way of rhythmic experimentation as far as it can go, but there’s no doubt that where they have taken it is to an entirely new and sublime level.

They're bright, breezy, accomplished and catchy, indie-pop at its best.

The music drifts effortlessly between bright effervescence and dreamy, eerie moods.

Overload contains multitudes, and at times its lack of cohesion can be a bit unsettling. But it is also proof that Muldrow can excel at whatever style she touches on, and a great collection of songs.

The contributions of an impressive guest list only serve to further enhance this compelling music, which remains uniquely imbued with the spirit of the environment that shaped it.

This could be interpreted as a murky world of drug paranoia, or it could be a response to possible political disinformation and spin. Either way, it has made for one of UK bass music's most intelligent and consistent full length works.

His continually entertaining and tuneful approach should pick up many more fans over the summer, and those that found their way in through tracks such as 'Eany Meany' won't be in a hurry to up sticks either.

Overall, Power is a highly impressive body of work from a producer who continues to engage and surprise with each release.

While Street Horrrsing may never scratch the surface of the mainstream, it is going to make an indelible mark on all those interested in ground-breaking underground music

There is, thankfully, life in the old beast yet.

There are, of course, echoes of the past, but there is also something pleasingly fresh in the way DIIV take an age old sound and turn it into something magical that's at times deeply beautiful.

If this is the sound of the Apocalypse, it's the sound of a fiendishly inventive musician and his talented producer trying to squeeze in all the great ideas before armageddon hits.

Their debut LP Mutual Friends, despite getting bogged down in the middle stretch, is as an album undeniably catchy and, somewhat surprisingly, experimental.

There's an urgency and excitement to a number of these songs that elevate them beyond being pretty and delicate pop nuggets.

Overall, from the Hail To The Thief-like guitar line and giddy chorus of Ferocisimo to the undeniable Eras, Wed 21 is an album that might not change any lives but is full of surprises nonetheless.

Primitive And Deadly, in part, represents an encapsulation of Earth’s discography, but more importantly it also sees the band moving on, entering a new phase and expanding their dimensions.

Chubbed Up is a fairly relentless critique that, were it not for Williamson’s way with words, would be phenomenally depressing. Fortunately, these songs are mostly loaded with an equal share of pinsharp comedic observations and scathing invective.

Tweedy keeps up an unobtrusive presence throughout, letting Thompson play to his strengths, and it all results in another reliably consistent album.

There’s not much in the way of lax to be found here, Liberez are for the time being, geared towards building tension continuously without ever letting go.

For now, Elbow have created another record that comfortably matches up to anything they’ve released to date.

It’s not a Maccabees revival, but rather a delicate, fragile document of a life-changing event – and one that will touch the heart of both parents and non-parents.

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

What keeps you coming back to Good Woman is a sense of hope and optimism that shines through – that sense that, despite the grief and pain, there’s always better times ahead. Maybe it’s exactly the sort of record we all need in these times, and it certainly contributes towards this being the best Staves album of their career to date.

Song Of Co-Aklan is unlikely to win any fresh converts to Cathal Coughlan, despite it being more commercial than a lot of his output. For those who have fallen under Coughlan’s spell though, there are plenty of new treasures to discover in a fine summation of one of music’s true maverick characters.

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows is a lovely album, and a big step forward from Albarn’s previous solo effort, Everyday Robots.

There’s plenty of ambient music that dwells in moodiness and tonal shade, but sunlight and heat like this only comes around roughly once a year.

This is another very good, solid album from the Swedish siblings with a fair bit of typical brilliance scattered throughout.

While it’s sometimes a bit too unassuming for its own good, King Of A Land does well to remind the world of just what a legendary songwriter Yusuf/Cat Stevens is.

This might sound like hard work, but in Hackman’s hands, dark and troubling scenarios are anything but. It’s testament to the sheer brilliance of her songwriting that can address difficult issues and still manage to make them sound positive and hopeful.

Yummy adds itself to the James canon as an album both for fans and newcomers, a triumph over prejudice and anxiety. Everyone is welcome here.

Move On With The Year is an album that manages to be both intensely personal and also universally relatable.

For anyone seeking a new sound, in this case a vibrant take on Balkan folk through the eyes of a Westerner, there will be no disappointment.

Perhaps not a headphone masterpiece, but a generous slice of frank and thought-provoking tracks regardless.

There are some songs, such as Deadly Valentine, that just seem to fall a bit flat, and considering that’s there’s only 10 tracks, it seems to be an oddly lengthy record. Yet, like most of Gainsbourg’s work, it oozes class and, at times, it becomes startlingly beautiful.

It doesn't have any pretenses about being great and achieves in the most basic way possible: by being impeccably organized, well-sung, and well-written, with not an ounce of filler in sight.

It’s a slightly uneven collection with some weaker tracks, but nevertheless its creators remain artists whose ability to construct slinky, agile grooves with a dark underbelly is still well worth seeking out.

X is their 10th album, and although some of the youthful bombast contained in the likes of Richter Scale Madness or Perfectly Natural might have been toned down somewhat, the band has managed to retain the essence of what made them such an exciting proposition back at the end of the 1990s.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is a wonderfully curated record, which manages to be both cynical and whimsical at the same time. The depth of musical ambition and of poetic expression deserve a suitably large audience’s attention.

It’s immensely, moreishly listenable. Gillespie and Beth work well as narrators and protagonists. She spritely and unbowed; he simultaneously vengeful and regretful.

It’s an intriguing mixture of pure punk, post punk, and first-wave emo--think Fugazi or Rites Of Spring--though the moments of deliberate discordance are as frequent as the buried melodic gems.

If there is a critique to be made it is that the bass is sometimes a bit muddy, as the production can contain bass notes that clash with the lower notes of Lattimore’s harp. This is not an overwhelming flaw, however, as the mix is on the whole clear and pristine, and as the final piano and harp notes fade out at the end of On The Day You Saw The Dead Whale the lasting effect is one of calm contentment.

Americana is consistently melodic and witty, even if its mellowness sometimes verges on the sedate so that you fancy a burst of garage-guitar power chords from “baby brother” Dave to fire things up a bit. It’s an impressive comeback.

Thankfully though, less worthy moments are heavily outnumbered by their more interesting peers and, for a first full collection, Bedroom is a resounding success. bdrmm have chosen a well-worn path, but there’s a freshness here nevertheless.

If you've never even considered owning a Tom Jones record before, give Praise & Blame a try. It may well surprise you.

The album sees a succession of warm, hushed acoustic guitar textures provide an accommodating bed in which Nadler's flawless vocals can rest. The hazy sound and crepuscular feel to parts of the album recall fellow vocalist Hope Sandoval, or occasionally a more fragile and more gothic Cat Power.

Even Spoon's nice sounding (albeit always obtuse) lyrics can't make up for the generally flat music here, and with Transference, Spoon's undeniable swagger has taken a considerable hit.

The album sags in a way that his previous work never did (much like Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, which inspires its artwork). He remains an inventive and interesting producer, however, and there are significant patches of brilliance on Flamagra that make it a worthwhile listen.

It's the musical equivalent of the death of Bambi's mother: exquisitely rendered, but, once experienced for the first time, you need to steel yourself for subsequent visits.

Thundercat has, by skirting around the edges of darkness, created a moody, magnificent, endlessly replayable record that also makes sense in late February.

It's a challenging but ultimately very rewarding listening experience.

The occasional deployment of distortion maybe hints at a lingering anger or resentment, whilst the presence of detached, ghostly human voices shows Willner is a master controller of his music’s constituent elements.

The Golden Age is a bewitching and thoroughly addictive record that proves that even when they push themselves out of their comfort zone, American Music Club can still come up with a classic.

My Finest Work Yet an album that will immediately appeal to Andrew Bird’s long-term fans, and may well attract a few new ones as well.

Those looking to capture a mood, to dive in to something soothing for just over half an hour, would be well advised to kick back and let the music wash over them

Chants For Socialists is full of beautifully written and well-crafted tunes.

The addition of electronic elements to her sound here suggests Godmother to almost be like a set of vintage photographs that have been digitally restored. It might not be enough to move her out of the musical shadows (a place she may well feel content to stay) but it shows her capable of pursuing idiosyncratic alternative paths while consolidating her position as a distinctive, singular artist.