It’s remarkable the album sounds so cohesive and richly defined.

Some may find the relentlessly downbeat tone a bit hard to wade through, but it’s done with such a lightness of touch that it becomes almost uplifting. The journey to Leslie Feist’s sixth album may have been a long, eventful and sometimes troubled one, but the destination is as rewarding as ever.

Fay consistently finds beauty in the world and is not afraid to express such sentiments. There are also moments of very real sadness--but a hard-won wisdom and acceptance cuts through.

This is more than just a collection of blackened tectonic riffs however; Doyle’s deft songwriting ensures that there’s considerable subtlety and hidden depths to these songs.

It’s a strong start to the record, which becomes even stronger when Wandering Eye is taken into consideration.

It’s true that General Dome won’t be for everyone, but Dyer and Sanchez have certainly assembled an interesting creation.

For most of its lengthy running time, though, Easy Come, Easy Go is terrific.

There's nothing here that's going to surprise anyone in the slightest, but this is sleekly produced, brilliantly written and expertly executed radio fodder.

While not a reinvention, Joyland does an excellent job of sharpening and streamlining Trust’s sound into something even better than that displayed on the debut.

PINS give the impression of enjoying themselves while not taking this whole rock ‘n’ roll thing entirely seriously. Just seriously enough to make something really fine.

None of this will come as any surprise to seasoned Costello watchers – indeed, it could be argued he’s been on a creative purple patch since 2018’s Look Now. For those who thought that age may have dimmed the fire that’s always been Costello’s trademark, A Boy Named If is proof positive that the opposite is true.

It’s fair to say that there is not a piece of music in the GY!BE canon that sounds anything like as optimistic as the compositions here.

The simplicity of the music here makes it a perfect entry-point for ambient fans who got into the genre through Max Richter‘s Sleep playlist. But it also makes it a perfect moving-on moment in the band’s career.

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.

This is a fine second volume... serving further notice of DFA's production talent.

This is just simple, honest-to-goodness, feel-good rock ‘n’ roll, and the world is better for it being out there. More like this, please.

Arm's Way is a masterful and intricate offering progressing from their debut to create a new vision mixing a banquet of sounds and tempos to create an accomplished peace of musical craftsmanship.

With little in the way of instrumentation and production tricks there's a rich atmosphere of intimacy running through the album and it's difficult not to take a shine to this no-nonsense approach.

It’s a beautifully produced album with a consistent sound which they can finally call shot gun on.

This is a diverse collection of quality melancholia by two intuitive veterans with nothing to prove except their ability to create music to invest your soul into.

It is a work that will continue to surprise and delight over time. It is all about the small details.

Too big in their influences and scope to fit in even the biggest pigeonhole imaginable, The Besnard Lakes thankfully produce music chock-full of tunes and spine-tingly loveliness not seen since The Beach Boys or more recently the sheer joy and ridiculous grandeur of The Polyphonic Spree.

The songs aren't in a hurry to stray beyond mid-tempo and occasionally the production is stodgy... Ultimately though it is a beautiful melancholic album.

The fact that neither side needs the other is why Tromatic Reflexxions works so obscenely well.

Fans of Jones's solo work may find For The Good Times a bit too country for their taste, but anyone who was won over by their debut will find a lot more to love about this new outing.

This ought to keep fans going for a while, and does at least confirm that The Chemical Brothers remain at the top of their game even now, fourteen years after their inception as the Dust Brothers.

There’s enough variety and sheer pop power here to merit the hype, and more.

This is not retro. This is not homage. This is borderline heresy. The past is there, yes, but only so it can be restructured, reprogrammed, reversed. They remember the old rites – Silver Apples, United States of America, Amon Düül II – but not to copy them.

Barn Owl are adept at handling their equipment though, and have crafted a sound world in which the effects are essentially instruments themselves. It's an impressively broad palette too--whilst this music is undoubtedly slow to unfold and demands considerable patience from the listener, it does not feel one-dimensional or short on ideas.

The music has a thoughtful, reflective quality in spite of its brevity. Popp claims he is not an "anti-musician", and given the lush, enveloping atmosphere of much of O, his claim seems fair. He is, however, very much anti-convention.

It’s the subtlest yet most powerful record of their career to date, and while it does reach far into the past, while it nods to jazz, funk and electronic music, it also feels consistent and controlled.

The Papercuts project seems destined for bigger and brighter stages on the back of Fading Parade; a fine testament to Quever, jack of all trades, master of some.

Stars is simply a wonderful work by a wonderful artist, which can be enjoyed with or without the contextual groundwork of its sister album. Enjoy liberally and often.

It demonstrates his considerable talent as a producer, for he has crafted a cutting edge album that is extremely engaging and enjoyable.

Proof Of Youth does lack the immediacy that Thunder Lightning Strike possessed in spades, but that is not to its detriment. Ian Parton has done it again and made an addictive, memorable second album.

This is a superlative third album, which builds on its predecessors while looking to the future.

It's remarkable that what started as a drunken joke between two musicians in their early 20s can sound so polished and professional.

Rooks is a hugely self-assured and often compelling album, which looks outside of the world of modern man for inspiration, and in most cases, finds it in spades.

Formentera II is an album that can easily work as a stand-alone record, but it makes an equal amount of sense when paired with i

Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis (a husband and wife duo from Madison, Wisconsin, the latter formerly a member of Numbers) have toned down the noisier elements of their sound without sacrificing interest or depth to create this, the most successful of their two full lengths so far.

There are no secrets, just affecting music. Paper Airplanes is another breath of fresh air from a now legendary band.

Cope as a whole is a valuable addition to Manchester Orchestra’s ongoing canon.

It's a joyful, undeniably positive album but more significantly Electric Cables has the potential to grow into one of those cult records that may not make a sizeable impact on the musical landscape but becomes cherished by a devoted group of listeners.

Tired Of Tomorrow presents with a clearer, crisper sound than its predecessor. To call it clean would be neatening it up too much, but for better or worse it does feel sleeker.

On the whole, the double-album is an impressive and engaging aural expedition.

It may not be as, well, iconic as Portishead’s Dummy, but there are moments on Lives Outgrown that certainly stand shoulder to shoulder with Beth Gibbons’ glory days.

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

AC/DC do their thing, and it works.

It’s true to say that Chris seems to run out of steam a bit at the end, with only the beautifully reflective Make Some Sense really standing out during the album’s last few tracks. Nevertheless, this doesn’t stop Héloïse Letissier’s second record being one of the year’s most intelligent, enjoyable albums, and cements her position as one of our most intriguing, interesting pop stars.

What’s perhaps most impressive on Carrier is that the traditional (by The Dodos’ standards) rock songs, like the restrained Family, work just as well as the comparatively experimental tracks like Confidence.

There's no African or South American experimentation on display here, just a return to what Paul Simon does best - wonderfully wordy, literate songs wedded to some of the most lovely melodies you're likely to hear all year.

Eclectic, calming and yet strangely energetic, his music is well worth getting acquainted with.

This is exhilarating from start to finish, and it makes Hyetal stand out from what is an overcrowded market.

Hopefully, Sam Morton won’t just be a one-off collaboration, as chemistry like this is rare to find: a second instalment would be most welcome.

Well, in many ways it follows the same tried and trusted formula of their previous three albums - dramatic, emotive and melodic, with guitars very much the centre of attention. Yet this time around the band have progressed to produce a more varied collection of tracks.

It manages to avoid the pitfalls of creative redundancy and combines a classic sound with a contemporary twist to perfect effect.

Treefight For Sunlight have a genuine ability to create instantly arresting melodies.

Compared to the low-key and at times melancholic Nocturne, Life Of Pause is a rich and expansive step up that balances the old and the new perfectly to create Wild Nothing’s best album yet.

A band who, three decades into their career, still sounds as fresh and exciting as they did when they first began.

It is harsh, unflinching and, at times, pretty hard to listen to. But it’s an album that had to be made, in order that, as the title suggests, demons can be exorcised. It’s this quality which makes Exorcism such a compelling, and ultimately uplifting, experience.

The result is a staggeringly impressive and confident third album from an artist who has reached the very peak of his powers.

Recommended Record may flit between styles but it’s a cohesive and polished third effort from the band.

They're heading back to form in time to conquer a festival or two - but the nature of that song does leave you wondering if Franks will just be happy to be back at all.

Don’t Weigh Down The Light certainly rewards repeated listening.

If you need a soundtrack to your 90 in 90, this is it. The pitfalls, the purity, the piousness of recovery. Just promise you’ll listen to it at least three times. It’s worth it.

The creative synthesis between her and producer Dre Skull means there isn’t a dull moment on the record. I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions is a gem, an energetic and hook-filled album that leaves the listener wanting more.

Occasionally sections of Ten Fold feel too effortless, such as the off-beat delivery of carl thomas sliding down the wall, but generally the affect works as a stream-of-consciousness-style insight into Bey’s attitude and thoughts.

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

An album that quietly seeps into your consciousness, a collection of charming chamber pop confections that is impossible to resist.

His music is inventive and intriguing and has that special quality where you’re never quite certain what will happen next. Shelley’s On Zenn-La only adds to his increasingly impressive reputation.

It's a self-assured and very cohesive piece of work. Lisa Hannigan's journey as a solo artist continues to trundle along without any bumps in the road.

A cracking album that holds its own for almost the entire duration.

The Nightwatchman is a Molotov cocktail as volatile as any he’s thrown at the barricade of injustice in the past 15 years.

This lack of ego lends a refreshing air to an album which is self-assured, charismatic and quite simply brilliant.

You can’t help but feel that given better production this could well have been the album of the year that some over-enthusiastic sorts claim. One of the surprises of the year, however? Definitely.

Ultimately, Wild Things is her most consistent and coherent effort to date, surpassing even her debut. It may have taken four years, but the end result has more than justified the wait.

For them, you feel, everything else is incidental--by-products of an already winning formula. For at the heart of each of the songs here is a touch of resonance--the kind that all the best pop records have.

Having done so with great assurance, he has made an album of lasting appeal which responds well to repeated listening.

Transparency is the sound of a band restlessly searching for a new direction and pulling it off very well.

Whilst Star Treatment might funnel a lot of influences into its carefully woven songs, it is still a fiercely idiosyncratic work.

From a songwriter of this calibre, a maven of the lyrical barb, it might seem odd that an almost wholly instrumental album should stand among his most compelling, entertaining solo work, but British Nuclear Bunkers is exactly that.

Not once does a song sound ripped off or unoriginal. What Hot Chip have done is to create a new landscape of electronica.

It’s the sort of album that can provide a soothing balm to a bruised soul – by the time the theatrical, fuzz-drenched melodies of Werewolf Ending bring Life Slime to a close, you may well be converted to the healing properties of goo and gunge yourself.

Whether he has been re-invigorated by love, his new band or just from old-fashioned growing up, Mark Everett and Eels re-define themselves here with exhilarating success, putting all associations with misery out of mind with a compelling finality.

Exotic Creatures of the Deep is a substantial, if inconsistent treat. Even when they're treading water Sparks still cut it better than most bands half their age.

A stunningly gorgeous-sounding album which should see the three talented sisters move up to a whole new level.

The album's overriding impression is that it is an album cut from the same cloth as The Strokes' This Is It - bright, clean melodies with just a touch of gain, song structures you're hard pressed to forget - and an effort that marks Darwin Deez as one of the foremost exhibitors of compelling lo-fi.

This is an album that confirms Alvvays’ massive potential and makes the perfect soundtrack for those nights indoors as the summer begins to fade.

Despite minor niggles, such as the slight lack of scope in sound, Shrines is a confident debut that justifies the hype.

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

While there are other occasions--notably All The Wild Places’ excessively grandiose orchestration and the ridiculous gothic chanting on Chalk Circles--where it all feels just a bit much, all in all The Blue Hour is a bold, accomplished effort from a band who still have plenty of ideas more than a quarter of century after they first emerged.

Let There Be Morning may be all too familiar to some, but with its driving guitars, catchy choruses and infectious melodies, this solid effort ensures that the band is set to become a household name.

An immaculately told doomed love story with such an evocative quality that you can almost smell the rain on the logs, The High Country is an album in which to immerse yourself.

A long delayed follow up, it has emerged in its own time as a gentle triumph.

An intriguing album that considers fundamental questions about how music is inspired, interpreted and created.

If only The Last Flight could have been longer – both initially and on this record – for it is a gripping page turner, the heart of the listener captured as we soar with Amelia Earhart through her last adventure. Returning to earth is momentarily distracting – but only heightens the desire for more.

He could be a genius or he could be a lunatic; either way, one of modern filmdom's most debated and alluring figures has made an arresting album that successfully translates his visual surrealism to a new medium.

An instant classic for some, a slow-burner for others; this is what we've come to expect of Stars.