Rolling Blackouts' essential problem is that The Go! Team has not found one meaningful way to evolve their sound past their critical-darling debut.

Fears Trending is the musical equivalent of a cross-country run on a cold, wet winter’s day: challenging, occasionally a bit of a trudge but, ultimately, rewarding.

When it’s on form, Reasonable Woman is proof that Sia can still hit those high marks like she’s always been able to. The trouble is that there’s just not enough of those high points on this record.

Overall though, this very welcome comeback from Loney Dear does feel a little too stripped back and one-paced at times, so while it’s certainly an interesting development in style, you are left wishing for a little bit more of the zip and zest of Svanängen’s earlier efforts.

Even though it has some misfires, this album is still understatedly fun, driven by a pure zest for blues music that is impossible to shy away from.

The decision to feature Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons on Lay Your Head On Me is baffling but not disastrous, as a soulful guitar lick dances around earnest vocals about honesty and intimacy. Trigger featuring Khalid is woefully boring, his low-key delivery rubbing up against sludgy chords and a weird mixed metaphor in the hook. Rave De Favela is by far the best track of the record, with hard-edged 4×4 beats, novel sound design, infectious syncopation and lively performances from MC Lan, Anitta and BEAM.

While there’s no doubt that Fire Within is a positive progression for Birdy, it is not without its faults. On occasions she does slip back into the formulaic territory that encompassed many of the covers on her debut.

Considering the album starts so strongly, Them Crooked Vultures could have delivered a classic, finely toned EP; but, as it is, it's a little flabby.

For its maker, it’s a chance to cut loose under the banner of diminished expectations; for the listener, it’s a temporary distraction at best.

There’s a lack of maturity on Soft that is at odds with the stellar showmanship that Soft so desperately seeks to demonstrate.

Shadow Temple is a very interesting album. But it's also very demanding. It's as if you need a doctorate in Brooklyn Hipster Music Studies to fully appreciate the band's ingenuity. Several tracks amble on interminably, and often they're so dramatic as to add up to a collection of music that feels more like a film score than an album.

Throughout Sonik Kicks, it somehow feels as if the Krautrock vibe is a needless intrusion, an unnecessary welding and meshing of styles.

This is basically a gang of extremely accomplished musicians in their 60s getting together, who have no need to break any new barriers. As such, it’s another worthy entry in the canon for this particular gang of heroes.

The band still have the knack with a melody, and there's always room for a winning formula melding atmospherics with a good tune, but somehow the addictive charm of the highlights of "Citrus" such as 'Thursday' and 'New Years' just aren't present on Hush, and you're left feeling underwhelmed.

With a little more focus and a natural approach, he could find himself a unique voice that sits outside of the styles he is trying to embrace.

The Voyager is less of an addition to her back catalogue than a summary of her work to date, dipping into different eras of Lewis, and not settling on any.

There is a sense of 'heard it before' on many of the songs on the album, but, nonetheless the songs still have the ability to rip your ears off.

That Lucky Old Sun is a brave but failed attempt to add a new chapter to the ongoing story of a pop legend.

There is much to recommend in Nneka's third album, though if it was slightly shorter it could be considered a great album rather than merely a good one.

Even at its loudest, there's nothing objectionable or earth shattering about To The Sea; but there doesn't really need to be.

When it gets the dynamics right, it’s undoubtedly a work of considerable skill, but it’s hard to escape the sense that what we’re hearing is essentially a well-crafted pastiche of other artists, rather something truly memorable in its own right.

Forever is a decent offering from a young band still developing their music and songwriting capabilities.

His 11th solo studio album Low in High School is a mixed bag of brilliance and dross. There are some genuinely interesting new explorations while other tracks are deeply disappointing. Disconcertingly uneven, yes, but not safely predictable.

While this is a solid effort--and a more solid one than anything they’ve put together before--it’s not likely to set the world, or the charts, on fire.

All in all though, Meteorites is a decent, if hardly vital, album from one of this country’s true national treasures.

The album is DJ-friendly, resulting in several lengthy tracks, and while this is no bad thing in itself some of these are also rather uninspired.

There’s a truly startling album lurking somewhere within Moore, but she’ll need to start taking a few more risks for that to be unleashed.

Femejism does stand up as an album, with Deap Vally’s strident attitude holding the songs together, but the quality of the material is a little patchy.