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.

Surely satisfying to an unknown (but tiny) demographic, this record is instantly likeable, but it’s also just as immediately forgettable.

As delicate as these songs are in terms of construction (simple guitar parts, barely-there percussion and Hayman’s vocals--it’s the first album he’s done as a truly solo artist) they really pack a punch.

It sufficiently moves their sound on from Zaba, while also successfully capturing the multifaceted nature of man.

There’s nothing new or surprising here, but that doesn’t matter. The Nothing They Need is an album that works best when it simply washes over you.

All The Things That I Did… takes a little time to truly unfurl, but over time it opens out into a wonderful, if occasionally heartbreaking gem.

It is a far more ambitious project than 2016’s Care, and the ambition pays off as Krell returns to form with an experimental, nuanced project.

If you can get past the vocal onslaught and the occasional uneventful passage, it could prove more broadly rewarding over time.

It’s a worthy successor to Beyond Skin, and could even bag the Mercury Award which its predecessor somehow missed out on.

As there is little deviation, you wonder if the band had control with the various producers largely going along with what the band wanted rather than trying to exert their own influences over the record. Whilst it does work at times, Life Is Yours will probably find itself confined to the list of also-ran albums of 2022 as a whole.

MK 3.5: Die Cuts City Planning is diverse, lively and mostly encouraging.

An album that quietly seeps into your consciousness, a collection of charming chamber pop confections that is impossible to resist.

In ramping up their scope--a laudable and understandable idea really for a second LP--Widowspeak instead often lose sight of their strengths, too often not seeing the wood for the trees. Indeed, it’s when they’re seemingly less sure of where they are that Almanac excels.

For all its innovativity and dogged determinism, the album's latter moments just can't compete with the top heavy appeal of its opening tracks.

Pretty but inessential, God Help The Girl may make more sense when the film is finally delivered next year. Up until then this is largely of interest to Belle & Sebastian completists.

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.

All considered, Minotaur is thoroughly pretty and easy to appreciate on a compositional level; the usual blend of modern-era indie pop with iconic '60s sensibilities. But it's like that particular horse has been beaten past recognition, rendering Minotaur a little too safe for its own good.

It all adds up to the sound of a band developing and maturing nicely, without ever losing sight of what made them so great in the first place.

This may be Toth's strongest and most immediately engaging work so far. As ever with an artist as untamed as Toth, it's far from a complete picture.

What Disclosure have done really well here is kept with the style that has rightly made them huge, honing their songwriting skills further in conjunction with a group of very well chosen collaborators. Caracal, then, passes the test.

Strange Weekend merits return visits, and it rewards close listening.

Ultimately, Bastille’s second LP is a more than worthy follow-up, one that throws up a few interesting surprises along the way.

This, a musical Indian summer, pushes them forward again.

The hook-filled I Seeeeee You Baby Boi plays to Carti’s more melodic instincts. .... Tracks like these are simple in the best way, complementing his loose, spontaneous rapping style, but over the course of this album’s 30 tracks the lack of vision becomes apparent and the inconsistency becomes egregious.

While Palma Violets have certainly got talent, their debut falls just short of the expectations that’s been ladled on it.

One can’t help but be impressed with how every song is critical to Essential Tremors’ progression, each song being placed in just the right spot.

Horse Thief will inevitably hit the jackpot, and Fear In Bliss is a mighty step in that direction.

It’s these minimal moments of Long Way Home that work best.