While Angels & Airwaves are pretty good, don't pick up We Don't Have To Whisper expecting a revolutionary sound designed to shatter your worldview and change your life. On the other hand, if you want something to fill the gap while U2 are recording are their new album, look no further.

Due to the short duration of many of these tracks, it all feels a bit lightweight and insubstantial.

This is an album packed with promise but which tails off somewhat at the close.

It's speaker-shakingly loud yet somehow far too chilled-out to be anything but background music.

Ultimately, Bitter Rivals is a mish-mosh of songs: some good, some of high quality though tempered by and succumbing to poppiness, and some that shouldn’t have made the final cut.

Boots Electric rarely comes off as transcendent, only really succeeding with prior knowledge of Jesse Hughes' image.

The Bells is a mixed bag of accomplished piano pieces that could do with a bit more subtlety in those passages where the intensity rises. It's those softer, more intimate asides that have the greatest impact.

The dabbling with country music overall, however, is rather hit and miss and the distinct lack of variation over several tracks won’t help sell this album in large quantities. There is enough here though to satisfy those die-hard fans.

4everevolution is a multi-faceted, varied album that will not please all the people all of the time.

Casual and smartly-attired passers-by alike may find little to separate this excursion into meta-pop from the last.

Donkey is not the greatest thing since the peanut Kit-Kat, yet there's some indie-tastic fun with a hint of electro punk, a bit like The Gossip but swapping the Ditto scream for Lovefoxxx's sultry, breathily seductive whisper.

It's All True, although slightly patchy, has a generous handful of these moments of inspiration.

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.

Vision Valley doesn't really offer anything new or exciting.

25 is very much Adele playing safe.

Although there are some memorable moments here, none of them come close to tracks such as Mars or The Dozens.

All this variety and uncertainty does become a little wearing in places, and the vocals in particular often fail to live up to the music that accompanies them.

Exile is found wanting when they try too much to be the stadium band rather than allowing the drama to play out.

Pinkus Abortion Technician is another solid album from Melvins, but is nowhere near their best. It’s not strange enough to be labelled a curio, it’s not massively experimental and there are very few surprises even with the two-prong bass deployment.

Rolling Blackouts' essential problem is that The Go! Team has not found one meaningful way to evolve their sound past their critical-darling debut.

Fears Trending is the musical equivalent of a cross-country run on a cold, wet winter’s day: challenging, occasionally a bit of a trudge but, ultimately, rewarding.

When it’s on form, Reasonable Woman is proof that Sia can still hit those high marks like she’s always been able to. The trouble is that there’s just not enough of those high points on this record.

Overall though, this very welcome comeback from Loney Dear does feel a little too stripped back and one-paced at times, so while it’s certainly an interesting development in style, you are left wishing for a little bit more of the zip and zest of Svanängen’s earlier efforts.

Even though it has some misfires, this album is still understatedly fun, driven by a pure zest for blues music that is impossible to shy away from.

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.

While there’s no doubt that Fire Within is a positive progression for Birdy, it is not without its faults. On occasions she does slip back into the formulaic territory that encompassed many of the covers on her debut.

Considering the album starts so strongly, Them Crooked Vultures could have delivered a classic, finely toned EP; but, as it is, it's a little flabby.

For its maker, it’s a chance to cut loose under the banner of diminished expectations; for the listener, it’s a temporary distraction at best.

There’s a lack of maturity on Soft that is at odds with the stellar showmanship that Soft so desperately seeks to demonstrate.

Shadow Temple is a very interesting album. But it's also very demanding. It's as if you need a doctorate in Brooklyn Hipster Music Studies to fully appreciate the band's ingenuity. Several tracks amble on interminably, and often they're so dramatic as to add up to a collection of music that feels more like a film score than an album.

Throughout Sonik Kicks, it somehow feels as if the Krautrock vibe is a needless intrusion, an unnecessary welding and meshing of styles.

This is basically a gang of extremely accomplished musicians in their 60s getting together, who have no need to break any new barriers. As such, it’s another worthy entry in the canon for this particular gang of heroes.

The band still have the knack with a melody, and there's always room for a winning formula melding atmospherics with a good tune, but somehow the addictive charm of the highlights of "Citrus" such as 'Thursday' and 'New Years' just aren't present on Hush, and you're left feeling underwhelmed.

With a little more focus and a natural approach, he could find himself a unique voice that sits outside of the styles he is trying to embrace.

The Voyager is less of an addition to her back catalogue than a summary of her work to date, dipping into different eras of Lewis, and not settling on any.

There is a sense of 'heard it before' on many of the songs on the album, but, nonetheless the songs still have the ability to rip your ears off.

That Lucky Old Sun is a brave but failed attempt to add a new chapter to the ongoing story of a pop legend.

There is much to recommend in Nneka's third album, though if it was slightly shorter it could be considered a great album rather than merely a good one.

Even at its loudest, there's nothing objectionable or earth shattering about To The Sea; but there doesn't really need to be.

When it gets the dynamics right, it’s undoubtedly a work of considerable skill, but it’s hard to escape the sense that what we’re hearing is essentially a well-crafted pastiche of other artists, rather something truly memorable in its own right.

Forever is a decent offering from a young band still developing their music and songwriting capabilities.

His 11th solo studio album Low in High School is a mixed bag of brilliance and dross. There are some genuinely interesting new explorations while other tracks are deeply disappointing. Disconcertingly uneven, yes, but not safely predictable.

While this is a solid effort--and a more solid one than anything they’ve put together before--it’s not likely to set the world, or the charts, on fire.

All in all though, Meteorites is a decent, if hardly vital, album from one of this country’s true national treasures.

The album is DJ-friendly, resulting in several lengthy tracks, and while this is no bad thing in itself some of these are also rather uninspired.

There’s a truly startling album lurking somewhere within Moore, but she’ll need to start taking a few more risks for that to be unleashed.

Femejism does stand up as an album, with Deap Vally’s strident attitude holding the songs together, but the quality of the material is a little patchy.

There is more of interest on Sixteen Oceans than on 2017’s New Energy, and there is certainly nothing here that’s outright bad, but Four Tet is still stuck in something of an artistic rut.

This is a solid, enjoyable solo debut that’s certainly worth investigation if you’re a long-term Marr watcher.

All told it's a slightly patchy album, but one which is nonetheless saved by a couple of pop gems.

There’s a lot to love about The Art Of The Lie, but it also feels a bit like hard work at times: the pair of songs that close the album, Laura Lou and Zeitgeist are both heavy on the vocoder which you feel you’ve heard far too much of over the past hour.

Apparitions is merely a debut album from a young band who know their way around electronics and textures a hell of a lot better than most other young bands. And although at times it seems like they're copying right off of Merriwether Post Pavilion's paper, they muster just enough creative vision to avoid lawsuit-level infringement.

When so many performers are trying to push the boundaries, sometimes it's nice to have something so plain and straightforward.

The album may revive the band's career in North America, but for many of their loyal fans it will come as a major disappointment.

The album is no attempted revisiting of past glories but shows The View exploring a more varied sound with a mellower vibe.

A Billion Little Lights is a good album when heard in isolation, but it pales in comparison to those albums that inspired its creation.

Unfortunately Sonic Highways only delivers occasionally.

Nelly's latest offering is hopefully the beginning of the renaissance of an artist who most definitely was starting to look guilty of selling out.

It is odd that something so standard provides the denouement to this album, trying to span over a decade of fan loyalty. Will they buy it? Undoubtedly. Will they like it? Who knows.

The only issue with My First Album is that it sometimes feels a bit unfocused, and the tonal shifts the record takes can become a bit jarring.

While Art Of Doubt doesn’t quite touch their previous high points, there’s still more than enough to keep many a Metric fan happy.

Like 99% of all other Christmas albums, this will be mostly redundant come 27th December, but if you’re looking for a rather glum festive alternative to the usual Christmas fare, it’s worth checking out.

Most of the songs have plenty to give in these spheres, so for fans this can be viewed as a qualified success, if never quite approaching previous highs.

It's maybe a little older and a little wiser than Junior but it just isn't anywhere near as much fun.

The sheer brevity of the record means that it doesn’t really feel like a ‘proper’ record as such, but it’s still a lovely listen.

It may lack the standout hits of the band’s earlier material, but the record does at least have the direction and purpose that has previously been missing.

X&Y is far from experimental, but it nonetheless showcases a band demonstrating distinctive signs of evolution.

At best, it sounds like an honest re-fashioning of comfortable old sounds. At worst, it sounds like a forgotten Christine McVie solo album.

At a time when mainstream house music is becoming more connected with both its past and the underground scene, ‘alternative’ interpretations like this are quickly becoming stale, and Articulation too often sounds as if it’s merely going through the motions.

There is no doubt that Prism will do exactly what it’s been created to do (sell millions, provide the backdrop for a lucrative tour and make a lot of money for a lot of people) but it’s safe and cold where it should have been daring and involving.

Inevitably there are moments when you wished they’d rein it in a little and take a breather from the very many sonic tricks they’re painting with. And you often can’t help but lament the lack of human compassion: the affecting and crafted songwriting of Merriweather Post Pavillion is somewhat lost. But there are glimpses of that capacity on Burglars which has some lovely Beach Boys-esque backing vocals, and many of the tracks are far more intoxicating than their previous record ever offered.

Unfortunately, while on Dunes’ better songs Gardens & Villa have succeeded at claiming their own sound, the issue that they currently face is that their sound simply isn’t very memorable.

It's certainly nothing unfriendly, and none of it would sound out of place on the duo's traditional weekend slot at Lovebox.

Ultimately, it is a decent return from a band who continue to show promise.

Ultimately, this is a nice, pleasant debut album which will make the perfect accompaniment to a fair few summer barbecues this year, but which may not be listened to much once the grey skies and dark nights of October are upon us.

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

The album hits more often than it misses. Longstanding fans will either love or loathe the more prominently electronic direction, but it’s clear that Embrace have succeeded in keeping up with the times while continuing to sound like the same band.

Digital Native is an album that is fragile and elusive. Its main weakness is that are too few moments to really catch onto amid fleeting moments of beauty and invention.

As long as you don't mind working for your alt rock fixes, however, Farm is certainly worth the effort.

Buzz’s riffing and attack give the songs enough personality to sound individual and prevent the album becoming an analogous mess.

On the whole, it’s business as usual; a collection of brilliantly composed melodies that just lack the gravitas to lift them higher.

It's certainly not a bad album, but for those of us who have followed Truille's career from the start, and have been waiting for this album for so long, it's a disappointing one.

On paper these might sound like mad genius, but Daft Punk somehow misplace the wit and the light touch that’s pretty much their trademark. Instead, these long epics become somewhat tedious and there is a strong whiff of egoism and self-indulgence.

The summery feel and gloriously messy pop sensibility are at times great fun, but with something that is so derivative, it is hard to get too carried away without getting an urge to switch this album off and dig out the originals.

As ever with Marshall’s covers project, it’s a mixed bag, but there’s more than enough here to keep Cat Power fans satisfied until her next album of original material comes along.

The idea that synthetic beats only serve to sterilise is ridiculous and passé – but while they show potential for something really interesting here, they do have the effect of cooling and sterilising an otherwise warm and welcoming record.

While this makes for pleasant enough listening, we know that Damon Gough can do a lot better than pleasant.

The problem here is that all these competing styles result in a bit of a lack in a distinctive voice for the band.

Lissie’s third album is perhaps a patchy affair, but when it hits its high points it works beautifully. Next time round, a bit less of the FM radio sheen could see her step forward with a truly great record.

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.

This album shows that Times New Viking seem more likely to be comfortable in front of a crowd rather than a mixing desk; it is worth an enquiry but with a little more application it could have been much better.

There's an exciting and engaging mini-album here but, across the album as a whole, PVT seem to be straining for a gravitas that their music does not entirely justify.

Instead of recycling the catchy tunes of his '80s heydays, Lewis has gone back to his roots, delving straight into the Stax Records catalogue. Welcome to Soulsville.

Mostly this is just a bit Bastille by numbers. If you’re looking for a photocopy of their previous albums, faded and off-colour, Doom Days will satisfy.

Even with an unfocused album like The Colourful Life as a debut, Cajun Dance Party are doing much, much better than some of their young contemporaries (Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers Band, for staters) in terms of crafting genuine, soulful art.

Unfortunately there are too many moments where the pace flags, however, and Lavelle, while not exactly running out of ideas, falls back on the familiar ones.

If you’re new to Pixies, try this one first, then let the magic of their previous records blow your mind. If you’re already in love with their best work, a dalliance with Indie Cindy can’t hurt.

As it stands, Dub Egg is merely promising.