There might be more anger, darkness and politics on this album but Giants Of All Sizes shows they are still fundamentally one of the best bands around at offering consolation and comfort when the surrounding turbulence threatens to get too much.

Her music is always so distinctly hers, and she remains one of the most distinctive and thrilling voices we have.

Melodically, too, To Be Still is both more sophisticated, more confident, and, above all, more convincing (if encountered in a less than fan-like frame of mind, the previous album could appear more than a little monotonous).

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.

More restless than Solan Goose, Sule Skerry is always on the move, constantly changing but all the more exciting and compelling for it.

There is little doubt they will be soundtrack composers in the years to come, but this is their bread and butter, and makes for an extremely impressive addition to an already formidable canon.

While the album is unmistakably Hecker’s vision, it’s the listener’s experience.

It is an album by a band at the very peak of their powers--one that will make you want to throw your hands up and surrender to its magnificent beauty.

It combines such a variety of disparate styles that it really should not work, but Yeah Yeah Yeahs manage to tie everything together seamlessly into what is possibly their most assured and unique record to date.

Out Of Nothing is a wonderfully affecting album that is the band's best to date.

Absolutely essential listening.

For a debut album it's brilliantly realised and contains not an inch of flab across its 11 songs. Debut album of the year? It's beyond doubt.

The album does not disappoint; on the contrary, it’s unbelievably good. Sporting sharp vocals, compelling riffs and potent lyrics, this is a stellar release.

An album almost bursting with ideas and one that, given the time, you’ll want to live with for months to come. The best album from Darkside to date.

Beck proves once again here that he’s a tremendously versatile artist, capable of excelling throughout the musical spectrum.

Yes is a super-concentrated hit of everything there is to enjoy about the Pet Shop Boys: danceable yet everyday pop, with irony behind the warmth and warmth behind the irony. One of their best.

Whilst the debut got tongues wagging, the follow up is sure to get hearts pounding--a superb collection of tracks that points to a band that knows where it’s going.

What this record does, yet again, is show that Danger Mouse has bulletproof, unassailable taste in music and collaborators. Karen is exactly the right fit for these songs, and she is absolutely the star of the set, thanks in no small part to the incredible production. This isn’t the best record that either of these mercurial artists have made, but it’s undoubtedly the finest collaboration you’ll hear this year. Guaranteed.

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

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

Nothing ever feels glued or grafted on for some empty featured artist action; Halo, Beck and the samples collage together into the voyage as a whole, and combined with the ever-dazzling visuals that have rightly earned them their place in live music history as one of the most spectacular attractions on the circuit, it’s a testament to their never-ending quest of excellence.

Although the year may only be a matter of a couple of weeks old, You Are The Morning is already one of 2025’s best albums.

Whichever stylistic avenue is being explored she successfully sculpts and shapes her music in a way that gives it a soft and organic feel.

As its title suggests, Accelerando provides plenty of speed and also a very real adrenaline rush.

ChangesNowBowie has absolutely no right to be as good as it is, especially with the daring song selection and languid arrangements. But much like the Bowie at Glastonbury 2000 collection, ChangesNowBowie is proof (if any were needed) that when he was committed to a project – and having fun – David Bowie was the greatest musical artist that Earth has ever seen.

All in, Overgrown is a triumph. It is evidence of James Blake forging his own singular musical path, free from hype and expectation, and blossoming into both a producer of real compositional skill and a songwriter of great depth.

There's no reason why this can't nestle snugly alongside Norah Jones in record collections around the world, and it certainly deserves to.

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 an incredibly well fused and structured album that taps into a wide range of emotions.

It’s a fine showcase for Tunng’s strongest set of songs in many years--happily, this seems to be one reunion that’s working out just fine.

The contributions of an impressive guest list only serve to further enhance this compelling music, which remains uniquely imbued with the spirit of the environment that shaped it.

It's not what you'd call pretty, exactly, but there's a hell of a lot of charm and admirable grit to Young's decision to say bollocks to politeness and tell it like it is.

An album that consolidates and enhances Billie Eilish’s reputation as one of the stellar figures of her generation.

There are some quite beautiful and pop-infused moments to be found sprinkled across the album despite the best efforts of EMA and her co-producer Leif Shackleford to keep away from the ears of the commercial fraternity.

All in all, this is a long overdue return from one of Britain’s most underrated performers, who has matured gracefully from the life-affirming exuberance of his teens into a more reflective but no less compelling voice. Read more at http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/roddy-frame-seven-dials#mgY2PWI5W0BoSmam.99

A very accomplished second album, and you can almost see the band outgrowing their DIY roots in the most subtle of ways.

For all its ’80s and ’90s pop influence, nothing here sounds dated.

The mixture of mournfulness, savagery, lo-fi spirit and noise should appeal to psych fans and college rockers, metalheads and hardcore punks alike.

With their second album The Drums are more absorbing than ever, and have created a record that will last far longer than their first.

This is certainly an album of progression that is likely to win the band plenty of new fans, but it shouldn't alienate their fanbase either.

In lesser hands this mélange of vocalists and styles would be an unholy mess, but with experienced mood masters Raymonde and Thomas at the tiller In Quiet Moments is holistic audio balm to soothe, hug and give hope in these ‘unprecedented times’ and beyond.

An album of searching grace and innocence, this is the voice of ancient souls portrayed through the medium of a true indie heroine.

Version is destined to become one of the great party albums of the summer - just playing it once is guaranteed to cheer you up.

Framed by the presence of two vehemently liberated and reflective originators, its modernist physicality and spatially paralleled forms will continue to position Lewis and Milton as noteworthy musical institutions, and its insidious observations of contemporary traditions will forever alter those who come in direct contact with it.

As far as exploration goes, U2 seem to have finally found what they were looking for.

First Love is a promising, and at times deeply impressive, debut album.

It's a second album that builds on the success of the debut, expanding the sound without losing any of what made Jamie T so interesting in the first place.

Keeping the intensity and power of their previous work, but much more agile and versatile in its approach, The People In Your Neighbourhood feels comfortably like Led Bib’s best work to date.

It may not be leaps and bounds ahead of previous St Vincent releases, but this is a rich and multi-faceted album to pay close attention to.

Although this album is at times a difficult listen, you can’t help but admire Busdriver for his innovation and general wackiness.

Gallows may have been floundering during the last days of Frank Carter's time with the band but this very impressive comeback is the sound of a band reinvigorated.

Master is perhaps less dense than their previous offering, but still possesses the ability to invoke terror and occasionally, irritate. Despite these occasional forays, Master is a powerful album.

Like Dylan, Born To Sing will probably be an acquired taste for some (the jazzy backing may put some off, as may Morrison's tendency to incessantly repeat lines and start scatting every so often), but it's yet another example of his sometimes erratic genius.

No alarms, no surprises (unless you count a few surprising moves into bossa nova), but it does make for a lovely listen.

Mythomania is overdriven, with sparks flying from the bolts in its neck and fruit machine cherries lining up in its vacant eye sockets. But it sounds perfect somehow.

Refreshingly free of pretensions and convolutions it's full of well-written songs with melody and fun at its big heart.

While it's unlikely that Neptune will have quite the sort of chart success Adele's 21 has enjoyed, it's a fine example of Eliza Carthy's huge talent.

It’s done in quite a straightforward and simplistic way, which Mould has acknowledged himself. Nevertheless, it’s very effective and poignant.

Flying Dream 1 is, in many respects, a typical Elbow album – warm, comforting and sincere. It’s also a record that many of us need after the last two years.

The result is an record of rare beauty, like catching a glimpse of an uncommonly beautiful sunset or a finely crafted ice sculpture.

The whole album is delivered with great assurance and feels instinctive, Moderat effortlessly rediscovering their mojo as a band. They may have had a break of half a decade from releasing music, but MORE D4TA proves they have never really been away.

The fact that they've managed to record an album so strong, consistent and downright impressive is proof positive that, after much promise, The Subways have come of age.

Send A Prayer My Way is an album that confidently plays to its strengths and one that’s very much built on the undeniable chemistry between the two leads. Hopefully, it’s a collaboration that will be revisited in the not too distant future.

Social Cues is Cage The Elephant’s darkest and most personal album yet.

There are hooks and tunes galore, and whether you’re looking for destructive enormity or a quaint Sunday morning soundtrack, you’ll find it in this album somewhere.

For those with the stamina, it's tremendous.

Amongst the other songs of Spring Tides it only serves to pull you further under the hypnotic spell of Jeniferever.

Rather than make-up/break-up album, this here is a glacial evolution of sentiment, reflective of his maturity of mind and songwriting.

Negrito creates a musical gallery in which each song is a well-crafted piece of folk art, bringing together fragments of genres to create something from the great unknown, something deeply provocative and enchanting. The answer to whether we’ve lost our minds yet is simple; at the end of this album, yes we have.

Pe’ahi may well have arrived softly, but you can’t criticise the size of its stick, nor its ability to do different and interesting things with that stick.

Some earlier fans of Obel may miss the more minimal sound of her early albums, and there’s certainly no big crossover track that will propel Obel to the mainstream. This is a haunting listen though, and one that will provide suitable company as the long winter nights start to draw in.

The Land Of Hell is always interesting and always moving in many directions at once. Of the artists who can pull off that kind of randomness, Ono remains pre-eminent.

It's likely that the first couple of times you hear it, it may just wash over you completely. Yet give it a few plays and Mayer's unique ability to reflect on the human condition cannot fail to charm.

This duo is an increasingly masterful unit. Even with just voice and drums, it would appear that the possibilities are endless.

It seems likely that those who discovered I Break Horses back in 2011 will initially be disappointed with Chiaroscuro, but it takes time for expectations to be put to one side and for it to unfurl properly. Yet when it does, it is truly wonderful.

While Atoms For Peace inevitably doesn’t display that unique chemistry which is evident in spades when Mssrs Selway, Greenwood et al join the party, it remains an intriguing, if at times uneasy listen.

There's a party to be had and Dizzee's in charge, but don't forget to engage your brain for at least some of it.

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.

All Days Are Nights is the sound of the man doing what he does best: bruised, tender, emotional and, at times, quite brilliant music.

It makes for a good entry point for anyone who hasn’t heard any Nils Frahm before, and is also an extra treat for any long-term fans desperate for some new material.

It’s a poised, carefully executed balance that captures Ikonika in an intriguing period of transition.

While the dynamics may be a little different, her wonderfully expressive, kaleidoscopic guitar playing and that voice, capable of alternating within the space of a few notes from a barely audible whisper to a wailing banshee, both remain as compelling as ever.

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

Enter Now Brightness may not be a full musical rebirth but it does feel like a step up, the sound of Reid operating at a higher level to before.

Hugely enjoyable and wonderfully disposable pop for the listener, who will turn round and return for more, no question. An auspicious debut.

Years Of Refusal is Morrissey on top form.

The album may not be as majestic, but it's certainly a lot more real.

It’s a heart that’s filled to bursting on Babelsberg: you can’t really imagine a better soundtrack for the end of the world.

While it's not a classic album, Ukulele Songs is a lively and enjoyable LP that easily warms the cockles.

A priceless archival exercise: these eight sides of vinyl represent both the holy grail of New Zealand indie rock and proof of its insidious journey to a wide world. [Aug 2014, p.100]

It makes for a poignant, gentle album in the singer/songwriter tradition, with production that’s more elaborate than that of his former alias but not much more. The stories are genuinely endearing, the production creates an intimate feel, and with this album Ashworth has consolidated his reputation as a bedroom pop veteran.

Chapman is an eloquent lyricist with a strong social conscience, but she's also a superb songwriter and musician and Where You Live contains several instances of low key beauty.

[Midsection] is a rare bum note in a record that’s packed with goodies and effortlessly cool.

A surprisingly intimate, thought provoking and occasionally startling listen.

In a scene saturated with predictable guitar bands Clinic are a refreshing alternative, pleasingly unhinged and resolutely refusing to conform to type.

On Accelerate R.E.M. sound like men less than half their age, ripping through 11 songs in a mere 35 minutes that contains great chunks of just about everything that made them the biggest band in world back in the 1990s.

Who knows what direction they may go in the future but it would have to be very special indeed to top this hugely impressive comeback.

The result is immersive, experimental, bubble-gum, intense and deep with stunning layers – and echoes the lockdown zeitgeist.