With the lightweight numbers up front and the centrepiece dominating the lacklustre cast around it, the album is surely one of the most uneven and unsatisfying in recent memory from Callahan.

Like all of Hval’s work, this isn’t an album to listen to as background music, or pick and choose what tracks to listen to. It’s an album to immerse yourself in (a real ‘headphones listen’) and just surrender to for 42 minutes.

Best listened to in silence on a home stereo with cinematic projection; this is a remarkable achievement from Johannsson, and a welcome change from the string-drenched sound that has become ubiquitous in modern film scores.

It’s very far from cosy easy listening, and it’s certainly a record you have to be in the right mood to fully appreciate. Yet as an entry point into the bewitching, disquieting world of Keeley Forsyth, The Hollow is pretty special.

It’s imbued with a spirit and attitude that only the very best pop records have. Much like Dua Lipa’s incendiary second album Future Nostalgia it’s the sound of not just a step up but a whole leap to a new exalted level of pop excellence.

There are moments on Good Souls Better Angels that recall mid-’90s Neil Young in its focused fury and righteous anger – some may be put off by the rather grim tone, but if you’re seeking a soundtrack for the end of the world, you’ll find none better than this.

Having produced one of the albums of the year with just her second effort, it’s incredibly exciting to ponder where she’ll go from here.

The overwhelming impression is of a band looking forward, seizing opportunities and further boosting their reputation. The second half of the album feels like it has even more to dig into, even greater depth to explore.

Lewis has made a striking debut that delights in the most surprising of ways.

Daniel Avery has a specific set of tools in his arsenal and these are sometimes spread a bit thin, but Song For Alpha is still a worthy follow-up to 2013’s Drone Logic and an enjoyable listen.

This is an astonishing album.

Overall Wake Up The Nation is an impressive achievement which sees Weller's brand of psychedelic soul-rock revitalized. Retro has rarely sounded this fresh.

[An] understated but epic album.

Richly melodic and beautifully performed, A Piece Of What You Need deserves to be a big commercial hit.

What is most impressive about Route One Or Die is the utter sense of conviction and commitment brought to every aspect of this complex, intricate music.

Lost In The Glare is a wonderfully cohesive album of instrumental-avant-Americana.

Pop Tune is in the top handful of records that Shonen Knife have released; a slight update on the rougher sound they pedalled in the first half of their career, but it still sounds DIY-enough to please the faithfuls.

It might not be new any more, but it’s still formidably potent.

In spite of its impassioned politics and firebrand title, Statement Of Intent for the most part pursued a more mature writing style with greater depth and subtlety. Everything We Hold continues this trend, whilst also offering strong, affecting songs that might increase this band’s commercial potential.

At the grand age of 72, he’s grown into his voice and can sing with conviction and honesty, but not at the expense of youthful venom.

The music and the narrative are excellently executed by four top-rate professionals who’ve got your respect (and attention) by earning it.

This is an occasionally beautiful, often strange album that deserves a wider audience than Christinzio’s previous releases.

Fatima’s Hand is another evolution for McPhee’s singular playing style, and a characteristically immersive, absorbing experience.

This is a quietly powerful, and intensely beautiful, record whose contemplations will bed themselves in your mind and hopefully move you towards caring about the issues raised as deeply as she clearly does.

Transforming states and changing perspectives are once again the order of the day. Modern Kosmology marks another triumphant evolution.

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

Musically, Tundra’s invention is everywhere. Paint Can employs ultra high-speed chord changes and sudden tempo lurches, Golden Doldrum is an inside-out and back to front bit of burbling robot pop, and recent single Alarms is O Superman turned banger, with rhythms crossing rhythms.

On paper the sound palette on Scramblers is bracingly limited, drum machines pushed to their limits and bare-bones accompaniment, and in the hands of a lesser producer the record could well become irritating and tedious. But the sound design, sparse and abrasive though it is, is playful enough to keep energy and verve pulsating through the album’s brief run-time.

Welcome To Hard Times is his most magnificent album yet.

Quirky, idiosyncratic and unafraid to go against the grain, The Magic Gang have forged their own merry path to find success. Wide-eyed, ebullient and self assured, Death Of The Party is a welcome late summer ray of light.

It’s a bold, contemporary sounding record that is also aware of its broader lineage, something encapsulated by opening track Stranger Than Fiction.

At times Fleuves De l’Âme feels like the audio equivalent of unearthing a sunken chest of treasure and feeling the glow on your face of the iridescent colours that project from the precious stones inside. It’s also a reminder of music’s ability to transcend cultural boundaries and open up new worlds and Hedfi deserves credit for providing these positive experiences.

In short, it’s another set of beautifully crafted sound portraits, rich in detail, in which to both decompress and luxuriate.

For some the relentless artificiality of this album will make it hard going, and is likely that Walt Disco will make better records, but as a debut this is assured, individual, and liable to incite a thousand arguments about teenage clothing choices. Like all the best pop music.

There will be parts of this album’s roots that those outside Mali can never fully comprehend, but regardless of your entry level, you’ll be certain that those roots are still strong and bearing exquisite fruit.

Alpha Zulu is certainly a top-tier Phoenix record, bringing back that effortless French cool in a way that only they can.

Narratively cohesive and relatable, it is in celebration of where he comes from that ultimately makes Last Man Dancing the essential, repeatable work that it is.

Although Yawning Abyss is a tad more conventional than Mr Dynamite, it’d be fair to assume Creep Show will remain an acquired taste for some. But for those who have no qualms about stepping into their sometimes oppressive, sometimes sleazy-sounding world, you may not want to step back.

Even the less successful tracks have something interesting about them, and they never flatten the feel-good mode of the album. It’s been a while in coming, but Bunny could be a case of third time lucky for Willie J Healey.

The overall take out from I DES however is of an artist continuing to play to his strengths, delivering another slowburning set of songs full of delicate beauty and affecting warmth.

Mostly, Love In Constant Spectacles is one of Weaver’s most successful albums – it may not have the instant ‘wow factor’ of The Silver Globe or the nods to the dancefloor that her last album Flock had, but these are some beautifully intricate, thoughtful songs that deserve all of your attention.

From the opening crunch of Two For His Heels to the closing majestic sway of ‘Tis Night, it adds up to his best album since Standing At The Sky’s Edge. Those who have just discovered Hawley through the musical will be delighted, as will his legion of long-standing fans – this familiar mix of Sheffield steel and sentimentality still runs deep.

While not quite up to the standard of his finest solo works like 1991’s Rumor And Sigh, Ship to Shore is nevertheless a remarkably fresh and vital sounding record, with Thompson’s rich baritone voice undimmed by the years and a clutch of excellent songs, mostly characterised by his familiar themes of vulnerability, disappointment and loss.

[Take Care is] a darkly funny and thought provoking song on which to end on, and a prime example of the diversity and humour that makes this quite possibly the best Madeleine Peyroux record in twenty years.

A highly listenable collection which will be seen as one of her finest albums to date.

This is the most challenging yet of Hayden Thorpe’s solo oeuvre – but also the most rewarding, for you can appreciate it without knowing anything about Orford Ness. The music compels you to undertake a voyage of discovery, to travel in your mind if not your body – but if you’ve been there, you will recognise the sights, the sounds, the sea spray and the ever-constant wind.

Héritage will no doubt further boost their already strong credentials. There may be elements of familiarity here but there’s also a freshness and sense of integrated cohesion. In short, it shows them to be one of the best in their field, having lost none of their power despite on this occasion dialling down their sound.

An album that seems full of ideas and creativity. Liverpool has, of course, produced a lengthy list of bands over the last few decades. It looks like Courting can be added to that rich musical heritage as well.

The Granite Way is the perfect demonstration of how he still stands as one of the leading figures of English folk music – nobody can quite tell a story like he can.

A suave album full of competently executed ideas imbued throughout with a distinctive mood.

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.

While there may not be anything startingly original on the album, as a collection of cool, stylish floor-fillers, you can’t go far wrong with Perimenopop.

As the subtle, off-tonic final note puts to bed the album closer The Empty Nest, and with every aspect of the record exceeding expectations, Two Dancers makes a strong case to be named album of the year.

That an album that sounds this vibrant and thrilling came out of such dark circumstance is a testament to the songwriting skills of Showalter. Pain never sounded so good.

Small Changes may not be as accessible or immediate as Kiwanuka’s previous albums, but it’s another wonderful record from one of our most talented singer-songwriters.

Harsh electronic soundscapes are matched with more ambient pieces, and Anamesis Part 1 is a much gentler proposition creating the illusion of calming wind chimes, with Part 2 adding pastoral flourishes. Whereas Annotation pairs club beats with gentle electronic inflections, and Kundalini recalls the thrilling experimentalism of her last record in its use of exotic sounds.

There is enough control behind all the madness to ensure that the result remains just the right side of uncompromising.

Senjutsu is Iron Maiden’s strongest offering in some time, looking forward whilst occasionally peering back over its shoulder. In tone it’s the band’s darkest album, but the sheer coherence and confidence of the playing, writing and production makes it feel filled with light and positivity. There’s conflict all over the album, but this is the sound of a band firing on all cylinders.

The message of the record is as faultless and as invigorating as the field recordings of raindrops and tributaries that gush over it. Ana Roxanne won’t be hampered by other people’s definition of her; her musical genius will encapsulate multiplicities and blossom of its own accord.

The Tipping Point manages to straddle the band’s past (the very early days aside) and stride on into present times, and that in itself should be enough to please more than one generation of Tears For Fears fans.

If nothing on Everything Was Beautiful feels truly essential to anyone with the Spiritualized back catalogue, it’s also a glowing example of their aesthetic.

FLOTUS is most successful when it marries the influences from hip-hop productions with the pop-rock template that has essentially underpinned most of Lambchop’s previous work.

Seventeen Going Under is powerful, essential stuff, a coming of age album that speaks to the human experience in the here and now. Its creator is absolutely the real deal.

Holter is arguably at her best when exploring texture.

A truly superb comeback.

Utterly everyday yet utterly recognisable and distinctive, Celebration Rock is pounding, lithe and youthful.

It’s better than some actual Sonic Youth albums, and that alone makes it an essential listen. A thriller from the first second to the last.

Furling is a collection that rewards repeat listens to allow it to fully embed into the consciousness but once it does its soft, rarefied treasure has much to offer.

Badu remains a singular, refreshingly unpolished talent.

Athena announces a major talent in Sudan Archives. It’s original, exhilarating and unafraid to defy genre.

At times it relies too heavily on retro stylings, with a resulting sometimes rather one-dimensional sheen, meaning that the more serious messages the band are expressing can get lost in the mix. But as far as ’70s tailored rousing rock in 2017 goes, Sheer Mag’s work is best in class.

Highway To Heavenly is a triumphant return for a band whose values of tolerance, empathy and quiet determination, in the uncertain political landscape of 2026, seem more important and vital than ever.

It’s not depressing in the slightest – in fact, these beautifully austere, tender songs are life-affirming if anything – but like the final albums by Glenn Campbell and Warren Zevon, the knowledge that mortality is drawing close gives the album an extra weight.

Appreciate the storytelling of Strawberry Hotel without shuffling. It’s nearly a five-star experience, too, its facilities and furnishings impressing greatly – along with the conviction that Underworld are as good and as vital as ever.

Aviary is not a great album--it’s too much of an ordeal for that accolade, requiring multiple listens to even start to engage with meaningfully. But it is, in its own idiosyncratic way, a towering artistic accomplishment. Just be prepared for a hard slog scaling the summit.

Possibly Lekman’s best work to date here. The Swede’s unlikely side-hustle has inspired an album that looks at love in all its myriad forms, and does so quite brilliantly.

There’s no sudden rush or instantaneous hit, but that’s not the point. Its hazy, dreamlike and enveloping charms unfold anew with further layers of melancholic woozy, summery beauty each time, as you contemplate about contemplation. As it all forms into focus, and the dots connect, you’ll find that I’ve Been Trying To Tell You is yet another fine addition to Saint Etienne’s soundworld.

Patch The Sky is certainly a difficult listen but it’s not without a odd kind of sweetness--it’s full of grief and bleakness to be sure, but there’s also an exhilarating sense of catharsis to be had.

The Bible, like a lot of Lambchop albums, probably won’t be to everyone’s taste – some may find the constant electronic treatment of Wagner’s perfectly decent singing voice to be a bit grating, for example. Yet it’s the sound of a man ploughing his own furrow, and producing yet another unvarnished gem of a record.

It’s not a pretty world to live in all the time, but for a while the twilight tones are the perfect place to rest a broken or bruised heart, or just take some comfort from Marissa Nadler’s exquisite craft.

Despite the heavy topics, Gwenno brings a lightness of touch to everything on the album--her vocals are both light and breezy, and sometimes sound full of wonder, as if she can’t wait to explore this weird dysoptian future that she’s singing about.

The results as diverse as one would expect from such a multi-faceted pairing: chaotic, withdrawn, subtle, bombastic, promising and ominous all at the same time.

Whilst this may be its chief difficulty, and one that will undoubtedly deter and daunt some listeners, it is nevertheless good to have a band and an artist with this darkly poetic a vision back recording and performing once again.

Campbell’s ideals are distilled into a tight nine-track album in which influences are evoked, grafted onto fresh numbers and cut loose to scratch insistently at the listener’s ear.

Fast forward to 2011, and third album Looping State Of Mind is a markedly more complex development of his sound.

Harry’s House is a heavyweight pop release that feels understated and lightweight. It threatens to give everything about Styles away and strip back his starkest emotions, but leaves it still ever so slightly cloaked in mystery. We’re closer than ever before to truly understanding Styles the person, but he still keeps us ever so slightly at arm’s length. Styles, the artist, the pop auteur, though is far more clear.

This new musical approach has left Van Etten sounding refreshed. Whether this album marks the start of The Attachment Theory’s career or just a one-off, it’s a demonstration just how the camaraderie of a band can revitalize your sound.

Fucked Up have created a masterpiece that pushes boundaries, takes risks and delivers huge rewards.

El Mirador is up there with their strongest albums, certainly rivalling the likes of 2003’s acclaimed Feast Of Wire as possibly their best.

Falling down, getting up, and persevering through music is something Superchunk have done time and time again. On I Hate Music, they’ve bested even themselves.

Hospice succeeds by conveying deeply personal traumas as universally appreciable truths, until one man's lonely, painful catharsis transmogrifies into something panoramic and shared by all.

Skepta and UK grime’s resurrection has been one of the most exciting musical sounds of the past few years, and rather than being the climax, you get the feeling that Konnichiwa is just the start of something special.

This compilation, the fourth and possibly final in their Switched On series, collects some of the various EPs, compilation tracks and tour 7″s they made between 2000 and 2005, along with some deep cuts that stretch back to the Mars Audiac Quintet era and proves the critics wrong.

Tempest is a flawed but mostly fascinating album.

Whole New Mess has a lot to carry on its shoulders – and carry it, it does. This is a superb album, and a more than worthy companion to its sister.

Lovelorn, honest, poignant and emotional in the best way imaginable.

Love could only have been made by someone who knew this music inside out, who has nurtured, cherished and polished it since the day it was composed, who saw its potential in an era when pushing rock'n'roll past it boundaries was a new art form.

Until The Quiet Comes is at once iridescent and ambiguous, luminous and impenetrable: an elegantly conceived and executed album which may well come to be seen as Flying Lotus' finest work to date.