Atomos is an outstanding, thoughtful piece of work which should see their reputation rise to a new high.

With lyrics in the languages of Turkey, Kurdistan and Iraq all included, with the express aim of engaging listeners throughout the region, Souleyman’s mission to bring a more positive view of his country, and its thrilling musical forms, to a wider audience continues unabated.

The Myth Of The Happily Ever After doesn’t just stand out, it soars, inadvertently becoming not only Biffy Clyro’s best album to date but one that will undoubtedly stun their critics.

Hamish Hawk’s best album to date, a big, bold lesson in taking risks and letting the mask drop when things threaten to get too arch. It’s the sort of record that already sounds timeless.

So put aside your disappointment at the lack of squealing guitar solos and take Get Behind Me Satan for what it is - another massive step forward in the evolution of a truly great band.

Bailey Rae sounds like an artist reborn. It may not be what you expect, but it’s all the better for that. Without a doubt, it is the best album of Bailey Rae’s career, and quite probably one of the albums of 2023 as well.

These singles show that Manic Street Preachers have stayed true to one at least one of their ideals – which is to write the best songs they possibly could.

There are bound to be some people that just don't get it. For those that do, you are looking at a sure contender for your album of the year.

While occasionally you miss the humanising influence of an analogue drum, or Void’s bowed guitar or even a voice which sounds more flesh and blood than silicon, the sheer force of will that drives 25 25 batters you into submission.

These songs are her most heartfelt to date, reaching into the depths of her character. The influence of Björk is occasionally audible, but so are inflections from as far afield as Enya and composer Karl Jenkins. Yet Aurora is very much herself, one of the most exciting female singers around – and The Gods We Can’t Touch adds another set of strings to her generously filled bow.

One moment I feel like I am listening to Underworld's frantic blast combined with the Blue Nile's slowly evolving elegance, the next it could be The Pet Shop Boys' sailing in the slip stream of Depeche Mode. I can't nail down the sound beyond the fact that it's breathtaking.

An album of the year contender.

Just like a balloon the music soars to ever greater heights, until finally the listener stands transfixed, observing until they can see no more.

Taken on its own merits, this is life-enriching stuff.

It turns out to be the best thing they've ever done--yes, even better than Silent Alarm.

A beautiful album from a talent very much on the rise.

It’s a record that’s testament to going through hell and coming out the other side. It’s also an album that confirms Angel Olsen as one of the foremost singer-songwriters of her generation.

Holy Fire is the sound of a band utterly on form and completely on top of their game.

Ably coaxed on and assembled by Ward--whose input ought not to be overlooked--Volume Two is an outstanding collection of tracks worthy of any discerning listener's undivided attention.

Sex Dreams And Denim Jeans is catchy, fresh-sounding and brilliantly self-referential, with an attitude a million miles removed from a major label star pretending to be like, totally, OMG, mental.

When it hits, as on the wistful Fionn Regan sample on the closing 00000 Million or the breathtaking piano introduction to 33 “GOD” you know that this strange, beautiful, willfully obtuse album is one that you’ll want to live with for a very long time.

This is an album that stands next to Fear Fun or I Love You, Honeybear as one of his finest, and if he intends Mahashmashana to be his own personal cremation ground for his persona, then it’s a hell of a way to go. An inspiring return from one of the most creative, interesting artists out there.

Augustines has always been capable of creating rousing songs, but this is an album full of them, and it never once feels too much or overstated.

Dirty Projectors may be a breakup record, and one with its fair share of petty sniping (Keep Your Name’s pointed “What I want from art is truth, what you want is fame” is fairly hard to swallow without the suggestions elsewhere that Longstreth is playing characters) but, cathartic and redemptive, it’s one worth getting to know.

For a dance music album, Swim sounds not only refreshingly organic, but also remarkably downbeat. Most remarkable of all, perhaps, is the way that Caribou have succeeded in marrying up these two things and still managed to make an album that is infused with a rhythm, a groove and a watery loveliness all of its own.

Six albums in and Everything Everything continue to find new ways of developing their art, and yet the feeling remains they still have an enormous amount of potential to fulfil. Raw Data Feel, one of their very best achievements, gives a strong indication they are getting there.

He is now firmly established as one of the UK’s finest songwriters, making an album that should be treasured through the dark winter months. Sadness Sets Me Free offers hope and light for what’s ahead, in spite of the political slurry we find ourselves wading through.

A Common Turn is a questing and provocative record that’s both remarkably dynamic and audaciously exposing.