Listening to Meshes Of Voice is somewhere between a terrifying hallucination and a relaxing daydream. It makes it a memorable, and strangely enjoyable, experience.

As the title of the opening song goes, Parquet Courts are swiftly becoming masters of their craft on an assured debut album brimming with unimpeachably great songs.

For the most part, though, Morby is refashioning his admiration for canonical songwriters through a closer attention to mood, atmosphere and the evocative potential of sound.

Chaos For The Fly is a captivating debut that showcases his artistic evolution outside of the post-punk bombast of Fontaines DC. These songs bleed through in their honesty and lack of over-thinking to demand active engagement, to explore their intricacies and contemplate their themes.

It’s a record that follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, offering up melodic psyche-pop numbers in which walls of sound are daubed with deceptively dark lyrics.

Listening to the music in the knowledge of its back story makes for a poignant experience, a reminder of how music can be an incredibly cathartic means of expression for both listener and artist.

These intense, dramatic songs are the perfect companion to these times – at long last, The Anchoress is stepping out of the shadow of her famous friends to show that she’s an almighty talent in her own right.

Soft Tissue shows Tindersticks at their masterful best, a band that is crystal clear on where they want to go creatively and how they want to get there. They may never truly get the wider attention they deserve but for those already invested the emotional rewards only continue to grow and deepen.

On Love’s Crushing Diamond, Lee offers seven immaculately composed tracks, all of which feature his refreshingly optimistic ruminations on love and life in today’s world.

With this record Teebs continues his reputation for immersive, sophisticated instrumentals.

The friends have created something memorable here – not just to bring attention to serious causes, but to captivate and delight all those who stop to listen.

Overall, The Ballad of Darren is a captivating sonic journey that goes to great lengths to ignore much of Blur’s rich legacy, but it shows that bands – even those long in the tooth – can still continue their musical growth without sacrificing quality.

Stars is simply a wonderful work by a wonderful artist, which can be enjoyed with or without the contextual groundwork of its sister album. Enjoy liberally and often.

Cancer For Cure is a dependably bold, powerful statement, perhaps not quite as masterful as its predecessors, but still overflowing with ideas and innovation.

Despite the album’s central concept and expansive nature, it is in fact a tight and cohesive work. There’s rarely any self-indulgence, making these songs in total Ufomammut’s most direct and accessible work to date.

Vynehall’s potential has always been apparent, but Rare, Forever is a truly beguiling record – equal parts poignant and hedonistic – which allows his vast array of talents to shine.

This is an album that demands to be properly listened to though, not reduced to background music – properly immerse yourself in Villagers’ Fever Dreams and it’s an experience you won’t want to wake up from.

Horace Andy is clearly an artist not content to rest on his laurels, and with this album he strengthens his position as a bona fide reggae legend.

In short, it’s classic Eluvium and caps another special album, one that sparkles, soothes, and confirms him to be at the height of his creative powers.

Archangel Hill is another life-affirming encounter with a remarkable artist. Shirley Collins may be British folk music royalty, but this record once again shows her ability to communicate with her listeners as though they are the only people in the room.

The upshot is an album that is one of the year’s most significant and polished pop performances. There’s not a wasted moment on Something To Give Each Other.

It’s a collection of 11 instantly likeable songs that, from the title onwards (a twist on a motto of the BBC) seem to touch on communication issues, growing old and lessons that life can teach you. Collins’ voice, despite his health issues over the years, is still as rich and distinctive as ever and suits these songs like the comfiest of jumpers.

This Is Happening suffers no shortage of really great songs. Each track is a well-executed study in the finer points of the long form, each thumping and building, wavering and shifting in the haze of its own self-contained ecosystem.

Bejar has relaxed his vocal delivery a little here, perhaps to better blend with the rich, shiny detail of his music.

Final track Modern Love Stories plays out with acoustic guitar and strings in tandem, emphasising the new textures that Once Twice Melody has introduced, perhaps not with universal success, but nevertheless there are moments here that rank alongside Beach House’s finest work.

At their best, they’re untouchably brilliant but on this outing they haven’t quite been able to maintain the elevated standard established early on over the course of the full album. Still, for fans of melodically charged guitar-pop there’s much to enjoy here.

The cover of In Waves may be black and white, but the music within proves every bit as colourful as his debut, with the added bonus of frequent dancefloor highs. What a thrill it all is.

In short, it’s no puzzle to see that there’s no revolution here, and little is opposite to what you’d expect. It does, however, prove their sky remains far from blackened.