A career-best work that serves both as a tribute to and means of overcoming a life sadly gone.

This sense of being aware of our own impending death leading to a heightened sense of life sums up perfectly The Airing of Grievances, an album that bemoans the past, shrugs it's shoulders and raises a glass to the future.

With all the horror and terror of living in 2020 showing no signs of abating, we must turn to art for relief, to offer ourselves a steady stream of cathartic pleasures. This new Hinds album is just the thing you might be looking for, and it might offer you 30 of the most engaging minutes you’ve had in the past god knows how long.

Strangely enough, as short and freespirited as the tracks are, the album itself is a behemoth that takes some listening dedication to unwrap and to assign meaning to--and it's an effort that's well worth it.

Crawling Up The Stairs is a very fine follow up that sees them once again exploring the inner workings of their souls and collective psyche with often beautiful results.

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.

Things Take Time, Take Time is a tender, comforting salve of a listen, and will be one of those albums that you keep returning to when life seems a bit too much.

It’s a warm, comforting hug of a record, a friend to reassure you that things are all okay, even when it feels like it’s all falling apart. The type of soundtrack we all need in times like this.

All in, Tall Tales captures these two veterans in great form, locking into a sound that plays to their strengths while differing from anything they’ve done before – moody, enveloping, surreal in effect, but emotionally potent.

With Skyer, the Swedish trio have created their own dreamlike gossamer world where the exaltation to “take me to the clouds above” is almost realised.

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.

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

It may be her most mainstream album to date, but as ever with Bulat there’s a subversive and inventive edge lurking under the surface.

Much of Edge Of The Sun is as comfortable as an old pair of slippers.

All in all, this is a more mature, deeper developed sound for the band and will help us warm the cold depths of winter through toe-tapping riffs and clever lyrics.

Only Revolutions is just the kind of record to turn a cult following into a fair market share of the collective rock 'n' roll unconscious.

The key to this album is that whilst the original concept of Mariachi El Bronx remains in tact, things are changing slowly and given time, could easily evolve into something truly fascinating. They feel like they’re on the cusp of the something here.

Living Room Songs may not exceed 25 minutes in length but this is still an album to luxuriate in and one that fans of traditional classical composers such as Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki will find to their satisfaction.

The record is overweight with memorable tunes, epic and intimate at the same time.

When it comes to partaking in pop, MDNA has easily set itself out as 2012's go-to drug of choice.

On second LP, Résistance, Songhoy Blues feel not only like the ultimate festival draw but also the party band par excellence.

With The People's Key, he continues to solidify his place as one of the great songwriters of his generation. Here's hoping he doesn't hang it up anytime soon.

Though [A Bigger Bang] doesn't dare to place itself in the same hallowed halls as that Jimmy Miller-produced quartet of records between 1968 and 1972, it jostles justly and fairly with the best since.

Chinese Fountain really is everything that you would expect from these beach grungers, but it’s still fantastically unique and sparkles delightfully with fun and a sheer honesty.

What impresses most of all about this album, however, is the accomplishment and confidence with which it's constructed, and the economical way Merziger and Kammermeier make use of the huge array of colours and sounds at their disposal.

Homosapien at its best creates a refreshing sense of vitality in a genre often defined by its synthetic nature.

Glasvegas have managed to top their own previous efforts before we've even had the chance to get used to them properly.

This is a hyperactive but genuinely exciting listen.

Eccentric and idiosyncratic while still being enjoyably accessible, this is an album that reinstils the ideas that Warp's early releases did: that electronic music can be thought-provoking and stir emotion as well as moving people to make shapes.

It’s an intriguing album with few dips (only Kanye’s verse on Puppet sounds rather phoned in and lacklustre), and it adds up to Tyler, The Creator’s best work to date. He may not be threatening Western civilization anymore, but he is creating something far more interesting.

The more you listen to this record, the more it falls into place and traps you under its spell.

A compilation of soundtrack pieces shouldn't work on paper, but these evocative tracks stand up well after being separated from their original context.

It's far more fun, however, to sit back and appreciate the album as the dawning of a new, unique voice which, through its influences (both obvious and not-so), is blending styles and carving a niche in to the increasingly crowded canon of independent and original female artists.

Option Paralysis may be considered a side-step by some, but there are so many exuberant flourishes and cleverly thought out harmonies that it's probably better to consider it a mind-boggling step over. The Dillinger Escape Plan isn't out of tricks just yet.

This is an album that requires immersion; many of the themes and motifs are barely there and need the blanks to be filled in. It is a sonic adventure, scary, exciting and otherworldly.

There’s plenty of returning to old ground, but this is not a derivative record, and neither is it a return to form. It finds Metallica rediscovering what makes them tick.

Think Belle and Sebastian or a touch of Aberfeldy and take that east over the North Sea to Sweden, adding exquisite touches of orchestration and a touch more wistfulness as you go, and you have a rough template for the sound of Loney Dear.

With its frequent emotional crescendos, then quiet dying away, Ma Fleur is more than a match for its predecessors, and will undoubtedly cement The Cinematic Orchestra’s reputation as intellectually sustaining performers of beautiful, emotive music.

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.

Those familiar with Modern Studies’ previous two albums won’t find much in the way of surprises here but overall, The Weight Of The Sun is the most developed and assured they’ve sounded to date, very much falling into the ‘rewards deep listening’ category.

More than anything it's just a relief to see this rare talent back from the brink, still, as always, one step ahead of the game

As the vocals get filthier, the beats get glitchier and it still consistently exudes class.

It is no doubt a big risk leaving behind many aspects of the sound that made her name but on Interstellar, she advances her sound so expertly and compellingly that it is a risk that was well worth taking.

Their music loves to have a good time and get a sweat on, but can’t help flashing a thought or two in the direction of life outside the club. Add a healthy sense of humour and you have a tried and tested album right up there with their best work.

Overall, New Build's debut is one of subtlety and finesse.

This release was unusual for the band in that it was accompanied with the lyrics in the liner notes, however, so the words that are sung, muttered, chanted and whispered are available if needed, on this most beguiling, dream-like and ultimately just-out-of-reach release.

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.

Although this is undoubtedly a niche record, the sound of Smith and Unthank singing together is always a spine-tingling delight.

DSVII pulls off what it sets out to accomplish with aplomb: it is a pleasant album full of lush instrumentation and suites of sound that are gently evocative. If at times the record feels a little too safe, this feeling is punctured before long by an irresistibly cute melody or a chord sequence that resolves in just the right way, and the listener is drawn back into the pastel world that M83 create here.

A dense, intelligent and rewarding album.

Now might be a homely, undemanding listen in places but it’s also rewarding, a set of songs that will certainly appeal to long term fans but one that also deserves wider appreciation. It feels like a classic case of Nash making music for himself and if others enjoy it too, well that’s a bonus.

An album with bangers like Drag [Crashed] is easily redeemed, however, and I’ve Seen A Way winds up being the most exciting debut in recent times, recommended for fans of the electronic and the industrial.

TRST is a hell of a debut. It's also a reminder that as ubiquitous as they may become, there's plenty of life in the old synth yet.

While the album does weigh heavily on its dark themes--possibly too much so at times--The Avett Brothers have never sounded better than they do on The Carpenter.

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

It's practically a soundtrack for pool parties, clubs, and makeshift living room dance sessions. The album knows exactly what it wants to do, and accomplishes it with grace.

While it may not hit the meteoric heights of It’s A Wonderful Life or Vivadixiesubmarine, Bird Machine does act as an emotional and evocative farewell to one of the most missed songwriters of our age.

This is an album that definitely deserves your interest, one of the best that New Weird America has thrown across the Atlantic in a long, long time.

An album that takes a lot of creative swings – some of which don’t always connect, but is never less than entertaining. It acts as the perfect shake-up of Haim’s formula – still comfortably familiar, but one hinting at an intriguing new direction.

Cigarettes After Sex have released an excellent album. After you’ve heard one song you might think the next one is similar, or even the same on repeat, but once you delve down a little deeper, you will categorically not be disappointed.

Overall, Veronica Electronica justifies the hype, bringing us an artist at her peak seen through the lens of well-chosen remixers. It is the ideal companion to Ray Of Light, her alter ego emerging from the darkness of the club to a moody but ultimately uplifting soundtrack.

The top hat-wearing guitar hero has gingerly handpicked a diverse palette of vocalists to accompany each of the 16 tracks and contribute to the lyrics, while he takes care of the riffs....Yet the iconoclastic guitarist is careful to never upstage his guests.

She probably remains a bit of an acquired taste for some, but What We Saw From The Cheap Seats pulls off the impressive trick of stylistically bouncing about all over the place while retaining a very identifiable vision all of its own.

Some of the songs have one too many musical ideas being thrown around, and the album is arguably too long, but the fact it doesn’t tail off in the second half shows the consistency of its inspiration, the excesses illustrating the raw creativity within. Jade understands what works in pop music

It shows him to be a musically omnivorous artist, should any proof beyond Field Music’s albums be required.

Elytral may not be an easy record, but it is strangely affirmative and rewarding.

Whether you're a long-standing fan or new to Butcher Boy, Helping Hands is well worth the investment; it leaves you warm long after it's over, and their shifting moods and sounds means there's something new to discover on each listen.

Although The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte might not be quite equal joyous recent peak Lil’ Beethoven, it’s impressive that, on their 26th album, Sparks are incorporating new sounds and concepts, whilst still sounding exactly like themselves.

Whilst Miri may not have the insistence and urgency of its most recent predecessors, it has a consistently high standard of musicianship and a depth, maturity, subtlety and insight that rewards repeated listening. It is a beautiful collection of music rooted in place, culture, history and ideas.

On hand, as ever, is sister and mother to crank-up the feel good factor, and a more life-affirming live album you'll not find.

Idlewild's Post-Electric Blues is a sweeping, large-scale record, packed with big, fist-pumping barnburners that would sound at home on either a large arena stage or in a raucous roadhouse.

Snowbird have created a record to be cherished.

Though it stands up well enough on its own The Stand Ins does feel like a follow-up, rather than something completely new and fresh and forward looking, and it is not as instantly gripping as The Stage Names, it takes longer to wind your way into your mind.

As an album, it doesn’t break any new ground--it doesn’t try to. What it does do though is sweep itself up in a groundswell of beautiful, heart-tugging nostalgia so strong it’s as if 2003 lies just beyond the window again, shimmering in the haze of the morning dew.

Yet despite the occasionally black subject matter this is a fine and powerful album for lovers of red meat rock, served rare.

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.

Brief moments of respite and apparent simplicity allow the more aggressive and expansive moments to really resonate.

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.

He remains an important figure in the rock scene, even if his albums play second fiddle to The Strokes’ material – and albums like this make it still more of a shame that that’s the case, for this is a winner.

It's all very Jeffrey-Lewis-esque in fact--another entertaining album from a man determined to cling to his cult status as long as possible.

Petals Have Fallen is one of the most original hip-hop releases of the year thus far, having a solid awareness for what moves the body while retaining the introspective attributes that characterise the best of British urban music.

At first listen, it’s musically not such a close cousin of First Two Pages, but more its identical twin – the same brooding atmosphere, that bottled up tension that seems to have become Matt Berninger’s vocal trademark – yet over a few plays, it seems to slowly take a life of its own.

As a document of its time, then, Stainless Style is remarkably successful. Taken on the base level of being an enjoyable pop album, it also triumphs handsomely.

Perhaps inevitably for a first solo album, this is Mark Peters’ most personal work to date. It is the dissemination of music that has occupied his inner ear for decades, the soundtrack to countryside and habitats that have been a lasting part of his life. Because of that, Innerland has a deep set emotional significance and intimacy that carries beyond Peters and out to the listener.

Makes A King takes it up a notch: the same ingredients and patterns are there, but The Very Best now sound much more like a fully operational band, rather than a fortuitous hodgepodge of singing and sampling.

Acousmatic Sorcery won't propel Beal to Lana Del Rey levels of fame ... it's too weird, too spooky, too idiosyncratic for that. For those who do connect with Beal's gloriously skewed vision though, you're in for a treat.

There are some tracks that don’t impress as much as others, but overall there isn’t a weak link in the engrossing narrative Harcourt has created here; it’s an utterly absorbing record, burning brightly as his boldest statement to date.

We should be happy that a superstar is still committed to delivering quality LPs in an environment that frowns upon such commercially unwarranted traditions, but we should be especially grateful that that superstar is Beyoncé.

We have already seen Ladyhawke’s penchant for writing the perfect pop song and hitting the highs, but now we know a lot more about the voice behind that craft. Because of that, Time Flies is her best album yet.

Underneath all the references to rampant sex and general debauchery, there’s very often a beating heart at the centre of Merrill Nisker’s work. No Lube So Rude is yet another exhilarating, essential entry into her canon of work.

Shin Joong Hyun has long been a cornerstone figure in South Korea's rock 'n' roll history, and Light In The Attic have done a commendable job in helping cement his place in the wider scope of rock 'n' roll the world over.

It’s true that the steady pace of the album may turn some people off (there’s barely any percussion to be found on the entire record), but for folk fans especially, there’s a rich vein of history mined on Bonny Light Horseman that makes for rewarding listening. Some songs, after all, are just timeless.

What impresses most is the flowing musicality, the invention, the subtlety of many of the effects.

After this blisteringly good start, Cardinology settles down into a languid country-rock groove - beautiful at times, intensely listenable and professional, but probably not breaking any new ground.

No matter how many times you listen to Nightmare Ending, you will probably never figure out why it was given its title: sad or happy, deaths and endings are not treated on the album as nightmarish, but as natural to humanity as is emotion.

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.

FIBS is an album that shows Anna Meredith is excelling at what she does best – creating forward-thinking, engaging music that isn’t replicated elsewhere.

It’s a record that, the longer you live with it, the more its little subtleties make themselves clear. It builds on the strengths of Collapsed In Sunbeams and ends up creating an even more rounded album.