If Dirt Femme is the sound of Tove Lo finding her feet, the future seems very bright indeed.

While it inevitably doesn’t have the shattering impact of Psychocandy, it does confirm their unlikely status as elder statesmen that a whole new generation can look up to.

The highlight, however, comes at the very end. The dense and deeply hypnotic title track Goodnight Oslo could well end up on the list of class A drugs the next time the government gets round to discussing such matters.

Isn’t It Now may well be a typical Animal Collective album, but it’s full of creativity and invention that not many bands could pull off after 25 years of recording together.

Half-Light is a good introduction to the solo sound of Rostam Batmanglij. It’s likely to remain more of a cult interest than establish Rostam as a star in his own right, but even when it becomes a bit unfocused it’s clear that Batmanglij remains a major talent.

It’s an album that will make your heart swell with joy in a club or will make your lip quiver with emotion on headphones in your bedroom. There are few dance producers who possess the skills to harness both these feelings and John Maclean has managed this masterfully here.

Let's Get Out Of This Country delivers ten perfect pop tunes.

The songs in this collection serve for a timely reminder that hope and consciousness through music still contains some currency - with the added bonus that it's also a fine piece of work in its own right.

This is a mixed bag, and is – unfortunately – a bit of a momentum killer.

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.

The nine songs gathered on her third record beautifully convey heartache, loss and desolation. It’s not just in the songwriting--although, that is, of course, wonderful. It’s also in the production.

Room(s) is both evocative and threatening--a place of danger and thrill.

Surely nothing tastes as delicious as this music feels.

A more radical shift in that direction might prove fruitful, but sadly The Don Of Diamond Dreams feels like aimless indulgence from a group that are capable of much better.

Killer Mike has taken a meticulous approach to ensure MICHAEL paints a nuanced, vivid picture of him and his community, and the effect is inspiring.

Not all of the 11 tracks here strike gold, but they glitter and glow with positivity.

Forced to do something different out of circumstances, Owens searched deep within her musical soul and tapped into her deepest creative touchstones to record a remarkable record, one that’s a product of a distinct time and place in history.

Maybe not a wholly successful album then, but at its best, The Truth About Love proves that Pink can still credibly compete with the pop stars she helped to inspire.

It's Xiu Xiu's strength--as well as their weakness--to assault the listener with specificity, giving Women... a deeply voyeuristic sheen that can detract from the often thrilling musical invention at work here.

All in all Suga is a very promising work, an enjoyable snapshot of a rapper becoming a bona fide star.

So while Cuomo might be frustratingly stuck in himself, Everything Will Be Alright In The End shows that he’s taking the first trepidatious steps into an earnest reflection on what it’s taken to be the man he’s become.

This a slow-burning, intimate and accomplished disc, best enjoyed if you clear some space to let it grow.

It’s to their huge credit that they have made such an assured and immersive album on their own terms.

In terms of songwriting quality alone, Invasion Of Love knocks spots off the competition.

It shows that regardless of environment, aesthetic and personnel, Holtkamp is as capable as ever of making quietly unassumingly transporting music.

While Wild Crush is by no means perfect, it does feel like a fresh start for the band and there is a clear sense of direction from start to finish.

El Pintor is sleek, minimalist and brilliantly realised, and is the band’s best work since Antics.

We Were Promised Jetpacks have pushed the bar for these bands even higher with the release of Unravelling.

I Forget Where We Were is an album to grow into rather than one of instant satisfaction, one that blossoms upon every subsequent listen, one to clutch close to your heart and cherish forever.

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

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.

Travelling beyond the accepted norms of the swarm of post punk girl groups operating at the same time, this Technicolor tinged album somehow melds droning krautrock sections and psychedelic experimentalism into its jaunty street hoodlum doo-wop core.

This is, without cliché, a life affirming record. It is easy to share in the wonderment at such a young life when Weeks phrases his vocals as he does.

If the point of a debut album is to capture a moment, to provide a snapshot of a new, hungry band bursting at the seams with hope and abandon, then this must already be one of the debut albums of the year.

Just as André 3000 isn’t as good at singing, acting or guitar playing as he is at rapping, he also isn’t as good at playing wind instruments, going some way to justify the disappointed reaction to this record’s announcement. That being said, the fun he’s having through experimentation is undoubtedly infectious, and at various points the musical ensemble create such an otherworldly vibe that one forgets the main artist is famous for something very different.

With only the intriguingly named Snake Oil providing somewhat of an average, doomy, Kasabian type entry in an otherwise exemplary set of songs, Foals have produced yet another outstanding must-have album.

As it develops, it shows off a new side to them once again, one which wants to make records which draw on their experience rather than trying to do something completely new, and that in itself puts More Light up their with their best.

It’s a consistent and, at times, deeply thoughtful record that is pleasantly familiar while offering occasional surprises. This easily stands up with the better end of Pollard’s work.

It would appear that every step he takes is another step in the right direction; his is a remarkable talent worthy of wider recognition.

WU LYF are a band to celebrate, a DIY tour de force, and their first album deserves a place of reverence in the modern indie-rock canon.

At times doubts can surface as to whether it can fully work but against not inconsiderable odds he ultimately manages to pull it off, delivering on the whole an impressively irregular album of Latin-inflected laptop folk.

It's to Diplo and Switch's enormous credit that the style is fully authentic, the party in full swing the whole way through.

Jurado is still ultimately concerned with tales of transience and woe, but he and Swift temper Saint Bartlett with such rich benevolence--from the generous, autumnal arrangements to its thoughtful, crafted lyrics--it is impossible not to be heartened by the whole affair.

Seven years after their first release, they've gone from being That Band Who Did The Kate Bush Cover to a genre of their very own, with a thousand identikit wannabes, and The Chaos is the cherry on top of their spiky, raucous, post punk cake.

Even when they're singing about a relatively maudlin subject, the group sound positive and energetic, their brand of pop given a healthy, summery twist.

Water On Mars is a very impressive rock LP that easily takes Polizze and Purling Hiss to another level and bears comparison to the best of the nation’s numerous indie rock luminaries.

Sigrid has delivered a suite of tracks that explore a theme without becoming tiresome, with slick songwriting and polished production to help the message hit home.

Tomboy once again sees Lennox creating a distinctive, hypnotic sound-world - but it sometimes feels too much like a world from which there is a strong desire to escape.

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

Frankly, Say Yes To Love is absolutely stunning--a blistering mission statement from a band with undoubtable promise and inextinguishable fire.

Last Place is anachronistically introverted, and its tech references don’t quite make sense in the context of 2017. If it’s understood as a more human album then it works, but it is held back a little by the vestiges of the earlier, broken down and burnt out, Grandaddy.

Overall, Postcards finds Manic Street Preachers at the top of their game, even 22 years after their first single. It's not for everyone--though pop radio will undoubtedly spin several of these tracks hourly for the foreseeable future--but longtime Manics fans will likely find plenty to love in this polished, grandiose "last attempt at mass communication" from an enigmatic rock 'n' roll institution.

Its gentleness is affecting and transporting and the whole album is carefully constructed and beautifully performed. It is also brilliantly sequenced--a work that very much needs to be digested as a whole.

Shelter has plenty of moments of understated genius, and it’s fun to watch a producer find what works for him or her as their game just begins.

This album is a pleasing, mature release, though a little more freakout wouldn’t have gone amiss.

His invention for beats and riffs is remarkably fertile throughout, and he applies careful and often striking shading.

Holding the eclectic mix together is Tabor's characteristic raw yet tender voice, which carries the weight of the world while looking out from a rugged and brutal shore across a bleak, grey but ultimately beautiful ocean.

He's well able to marry insightful lyrics and memorable melody to a genre not always associated with such qualities.

For him, music is all about expression and collaboration. On The Visitor, he has crystallised those principles into a richly beguiling and inventive work that crosses musical boundaries effortlessly.

It is perhaps the most immediate and musically diverse album they’ve recorded.

If anyone was intrigued but underwhelmed by Chairlift's debut then they will find much to be impressed with on a second album that is focused, coherent and, more importantly, absolutely chock full of excellent pop songs.

Elly Jackson firmly takes control of her career and delivers a tremendously confident second album, one that repositions La Roux and has a whole lot of fun while doing so.

It may put people off who were more attracted to Adams' more tortured side, but Ashes & Fire makes for a compelling reboot for a man who could, once more, become a contender.

That he has bared his soul without revealing his identity is perhaps the hallmark of the modern singer-songwriter, but don't expect him to remain hidden for too long. With emotions this strong, the mask is bound to slip some time.

They're making music for people who love dance music, which makes them part of their own audience. If you fit the demographic, you'll feel right at home.

Jens sticks to what he knows, combining his spry guitar playing and razor sharp pop sensibility.

Yes, Heaton’s Rolls Royce analogy is a good and accurate one. The engine purrs again.

Lanois and Snares are an unorthodox pairing, and the former’s fans may have mixed reactions to the latter’s noisy beats, but they complement each other well, and what could have been just a niche curiosity is instead a real treat.

Ultimately, this isn’t a classic Alice Cooper record by any means; it has a few good songs here and there, but nothing canonical. But, if the point is to document a bunch of old friends getting together and doing the thing that gave their lives meaning, and sounding like they’re having a blast, then it’s mission accomplished.

This is just another good First Aid Kit album, one that suggests their peak hasn’t yet been reached.

Most of Body Talk Pt 2 is more of the same, but Robyn does occasionally take some significant risks.

Behold, here arrives the first "star" from a productive lo-fi music scene. That's because she's the first out of the bunch of heavily-blogged artists to display her personality, to prove to the world that she's got something to say. And boy has she said it.

DFA are back on track with this chilled, intriguing record. As a compedium of two previous records, this is a sign of where Harte was.

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

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

Moondust For My Diamond makes a great late night listen – and at the same time offers plenty of evidence that Hayden Thorpe is growing apace. He has without doubt made one of the albums of the year.

This is another instalment of quietly intriguing music, ornate and intricate, but also organic and alive. It’s good to inhabit her world once again.

The result is an eclectic mix of psychedelia, electronica, dance beats and space jazz as well as rock which moves along the scale from The Beatles towards erstwhile collaborators The Chemical Brothers. The tempo is upped, while Gallagher’s vocals are in a higher register than usual and the guitars are much further back in a musical mix that is highly textured.

It is refreshing to hear Sandoval’s stunning vocals once again coupled with Roback’s guitars. The world is a better place for it.

This isn't an album of standout moments though per se; rather it's a record to be enjoyed as a whole. The true worth of each track is found in listening to them in order start to finish.

Tobin's music is so full on, so conspicuously lacking in any sense of holding back, that the proper thing to do is just leave any preconceptions at the door and lose control.

There may not be anything new or massively revolutionary to attract new disciples to the Vega cause, but Tales From The Realm Of The Queen Of Pentacles is another reliably excellent Suzanne Vega album.

While it’s accessible, it’s never flat-out commercial pop thankfully--but it’s certainly the sound of a band recharged and ready to recapture what made them so special in the first place.

Heavy Love is a fine, if ultimately inessential, summation of what Garwood does best.

It’s difficult to see too many glimmers of light on We Are Millionaires, but once again the duo have delivered a collection that is stunning in its simplicity.

The album reaches something of a climax with On Each Of The Six Fives Of The Moon, which features thick, metallic tones encircling over bleak and unforgiving terrain. Its Deathprod-like heaviness is sustaining and compelling in equal measure and, like much of the album, there’s little option but to submit to its force and embrace the imposing mass face-on.

Reprise offers a pleasant, even graceful but ultimately insubstantial retrospective of an artist who can be fascinating when he’s not overly focused on his pleasant, insubstantial brand.

Time Skiffs is a vibrant album, suggesting Animal Collective have well and truly rekindled their collective fire – and because of that, the pleasure is all ours. Gather round and enjoy its heartening warmth.

The music can be deadpan and serious at times, but Magazine 1 gives the running impression that it was a huge amount of fun in the making.

Go is a phenomenal record with almost every bar bursting with beauty. It is soulful, fun, naive and sad in its own fantastical world; if only life really were this good.

It is a near masterpiece, elastic, eccentric and eclectic.

Brash, poetic, and romantically obtuse, even from the grave Alan Vega is as challenging as he is charming.

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

From this irrepressible debut, we can deduce that Katy B is a genuinely exciting UK urban vocal talent, the like of which we haven't seen in some time.

The world of CEO remains an intriguing, if frustrating, place.

While the debut was clouded in hazy and understated dreamy melodies, Confess is far more direct and intense.

This is an album to be enjoyed whilst snuggled up in the arms of the love of your life.

A Certain Ratio’s 2024 model is a lean, mean, fighting machine that delivers one of their very finest albums to date – and for a band who have been in existence for more than 45 years, that really is saying something.