It’s a real skill to make what is essentially pop music that also manages to combine depth in lyrics and cheerful tunes, and on this album Frankie Cosmos absolutely excel.

Although there’s a lot to enjoy here, with the band on something like the crisp, playful form of TNT, the best moments seem out of place and the rest a bit meandering; while previous releases have always felt thematically strong, even while jumping stylistically from Ennio Morricone soundtrack-isms and cool jazz to downtempo grooves and minimal drum and bass, it’s hard to pin down exactly where this is aimed.

Tinged with jazz and various world music, this is aware and absorbing music, conscious in a broad sense, sometimes circuitous, but mostly questioning and satisfying.

The band are far from fans of modern pop and their twisted take on the genre continues to beguile and enchant in equal measure, but the ideas never overwhelm their fourth album. As a result, their return sees them get back to something like their captivating best.

Overall, this is arguably the most consistent album Flowers has ever been involved with.

Pledge is also somewhat uninspired, as MES sets his sights on crowdsourcing and the band scampers around aimlessly. These moments aside, Sub-Lingual Tablet is this incarnation of The Fall’s most impressive addition to the band’s canon.

The occasional overlong segment of a song (The Battle Of Hampton Roads) and self-pitying tone and vocal that skate a little close to "emo" (No Future Part Three...) are really the only complaints that can be levelled. This very American, sometimes Irish-American sounding album, funny, occasionally scabrous, occasionally angry but most often simply passionate, is one of the smartest and most intelligent punk releases in a while, and one of the most enjoyable too.

Could very well be one of the soundtracks to the summer, with their heavy use of percussion setting them apart from other similar Brooklyn acts. Unfortunately, there are times when Manifest! feels muddled.

For the first six songs, the whole thing is as exhilarating as Is This It?, it's in a different way, undoubtedly, but there's the same giddy rush of excitement.

In general, you want McCartney, the least experimental Beatle (yes, including Ringo), to stick to what he does best. And on New, he mostly obliges, making it one of his better recent efforts.

A couple of flaws prevent O Shudder from surpassing Out Of Touch In The Wild.... But this is still an impressive album by a band who possess intelligence, originality and personality.

We have an album that diversifies Jepsen’s sound in intriguing ways, while sounding a bit rough around the edges at times.

Peter Broderick has clearly been in some dark places since we last heard from him, but here he is back on track--and for that we are abundantly grateful.

By the time the vocal ensemble brings Bank On It to a close, it’s clear that Twice As Tall is a novel but worthwhile fusion of disparate artists and styles.

As the mainstream of club music continues to seek out bigger and more energetic sounds, Logic1000’s relatively mellow approach is intriguing, and Mother certainly shows potential – it just needs some fine-tuning to become the full package.

And Then Life Was Beautiful shimmers in the heat of the summer just gone, and strikes a good balance between exhortation and introspection.

The largest problem with Coexist is something shared with the debut. A lot of it just washes over you without leaving a trace. It's always high quality, assembled with a craftsman's eye for gorgeously unfussy detail, but it can leave you unengaged. It's soporific, far from unpleasantly, but in a way that means you can come out the other side unmoved.

It's good to see Belle and Sebastian back, but let's hope their next album sees a positive progression as opposed to more of the same.

The slower songs do have the effect of balancing the album. Even some of the upbeat tunes, usually The Little Ones' strength, are sometimes in danger of veering from endearing into cloying.

Despite wavering towards the second half, there is no doubt that this is Weezer’s best album in years.

There are some fine moments here, but all too often Dumb Flesh seems like a diluted version of Fuck Buttons.

In trying to make himself standout as an individual, he may have gone too far on his album GOB and scared off any potential mainstream listeners with his far-out style.

Both Ways Open Jaws is an album that is best when taken as a whole and wholly intriguing trip into that most treacherous and elusive of terrains: the happy marriage of eccentricity and pop song craft.

Magic Pony Ride might not be the most ambitious record in the world, or in Paradinas’ discography, but the music accomplishes its stated goals and is enjoyable in the process.

Hegarty's fourth album strictly follows the template laid down by his previous records: fragile, sombre and wistful, always dominated by that extraordinary tremulous voice, seemingly forever on the brink of bursting into tears.

A Swedish Love Story is, from one end to the other, a completely enjoyable slice of violin-driven pop perfection. But its brevity means that the listener is slapped in the face with reality all too quickly, like being awoken from a dream just as you were getting to the really good part.

It's the finest of Fink's songwriting albums to date, building on the promise shown in Biscuits For Breakfast with a confident assurance of his talent and in what he has to say.

Sega’s production is consistently impressive, whether it’s the seasick bass on Elk Skin’s glitchy hook, True’s baroque chord sequence or the pumping trancey arrangement of Dirt. He is a better producer than a songwriter however, and some of the less musically eventful .tracks test the patience.