Breezy pop structures are undercut by experimental sound design, a playful spirit buoying up the record throughout.

Much like some of their aforementioned peers, you might wonder what all the fuss is about, but it shouldn’t take too long before you see that there’s a lot to like.

High Road appears to have bridged the gap between then and now with flair. Although we heart Kesha the party girl, we love the heart and soul she always pours into her music. A nonchalant and welcome return.

Concrete And Glass is a fine piece of architecture, typically classy and emotive while providing some very necessary warmth and light for the January darkness. We may well pine for something new from Air, but in their absence this will do very nicely indeed.

UR Fun is one of those albums which will delight their fans, and probably not make too much of an impression outside the fanbase. What this album shows is that Barnes and his band are still capable of providing a soundtrack to the best party you’ll never be invited to.

Amazones Power is a frequently thrilling call for change, a demand for action. It’s also a successful album on multiple levels that hopefully will help bring improvements to the lives of those in need.

There are still more than enough highlights on Hotspot to make the record worthwhile, and when they put their mind to it Tennant and Lowe’s wordsmithery is still as sharp as ever.

There’s a danger throughout Marigold of looking too deeply into every lyric, and of searching for meaning in each song. Those who come to Pinegrove without knowing the backstory will find an album of pleasant alt-country that may not hit the heights of their back catalogue, but feels like a tentative step back to normality.

Music To Be Murdered By succumbs to temptation a few times, with a pop concession here and a lacklustre verse there, but it’s the clearest sign yet that there’s a future for Eminem as well as a legacy.

The album sees Crossan as a distinctive producer once again, after the events of the past few years threatened to leave him faceless.

The band’s second coming arrives with some added grit, mostly to the guitar and bass sounds, with more distortion in evidence than previously, even if it stops well short of out and out rock. Present once again are their appealing syncopated rhythms and riffs, above which the slight husk of Jack Steadman’s lead vocal offers shots of warmth and positivity.

Countless Branches is just 27 minutes long, but it’s majestic. Its brevity allows the listener the chance to become immersed in Fay’s lyrical world of love, time and hope.

It all adds up to a very enjoyable record, one that fits in well with the current pop landscape while also working beyond it.

Frequently thrilling and never boring, There Is No Year reveals subtleties amidst the powerful energy with each play, and in so doing shines a light on Algiers, a band who stride defiantly forth, urgent counterpoints vital for facing down the injustices of our times.

At only eight tracks long, Debris never overstays its welcome – in fact, you immediately want to go back and experience it again, which is a pretty impressive feat for a record so steeped in melancholy and fragility.

The band have assembled a great selection of tunes that showcase a wide variety of styles, and Deleter is highly recommended for those on the intersection between electronica and rock.

X is their 10th album, and although some of the youthful bombast contained in the likes of Richter Scale Madness or Perfectly Natural might have been toned down somewhat, the band has managed to retain the essence of what made them such an exciting proposition back at the end of the 1990s.

I Disagree is surreal, genre bending, heavy, light, childish and mature all at once.

The record she has delivered to kickstart a new decade is a career defining release, and from a pop star who is firmly back on top of her game.

The middle of the album is weaker, with Cupola Smelt Mill’s coda being far more interesting than the rest of the track and Slack Sley & Temple’s arrangement so bare that it starts to feel like a mind-numbing endurance test.

Despite these occasional moments of divergence and experimentation, fans will be pleased to hear that the album is still peppered with quintessential Field Music bangers.

The first great album of a new decade is one that promises to inspire a new generation of clubbers and hedonists with the joy of some of the most perfect pop you could ever hope to hear.

With strong tunes, great vocals and a spring in their step, The Big Moon are not struggling for a creative spark – far from it.

Everything is ordered, nothing is left to chance, and with a clear path of progression. For the chilly yet soothing soundworld it conjures, it is endlessly replayable. Medicine never tasted this good.

The fondness for schmaltz gets a bit overwhelming, and the album is only great in patches.

[Midsection] is a rare bum note in a record that’s packed with goodies and effortlessly cool.

Anyone interested in music of whatever form, the work of any of the contributors who are present here, film scores, or Tiersen’s early work specifically, will surely find Portrait to be quite the perfect picture.

It’s an expression of what we should all do with our trauma, which is open up, share, and react to each other with the greatest of support. And that is so unbelievably beautiful, we’re left at the end with a single phrase. Thanks, Keaton. Thanks.