It’s all intelligently arranged, but also in thrall to the energy and swing of jazz tradition--there is plenty of rhythm and blues during the improvising.

Coxon has come up with an album full of raw guitar licks, killer hooks and heartfelt lyrics.

It's a brilliant exploration of the inevitable interaction between sound, the passing of time and the active process of listening.

It is different in many ways, but never neglects the melodic, vocal and lyrical genius that has established, and will continue to establish, his status as one of the all time greats.

Yet, at its simplest and most sedate, Bookish's new work is utterly beautiful.

Ultimately, The Eternal acts as a fitting and timeless aide-memoire of everything this mighty band has ever achieved.

Gallon Drunk are now eight albums in to their storied career, and their strain of narcotic rock is getting more and more potent with age.

Is Romance their best album? Possibly. The best rock album of the year so far? Certainly.

Much like their debut, it'll take a few listens to be pulled towards Myth Takes by the force operates at its core.

If the career plan was to go to the lowest of lows before releasing an album of resurrection and real substance, he ought to be applauded for conducting the whole stunt to perfection.

It’s fair to say that long term fans will greet Nothing Lasts Forever with warmth and delight but even when assessing it with a more critical eye, it’s hard to avoid thinking they’ve rarely sounded better.

It has an astonishing level of clarity about it.

Like all the best albums, it keeps you on edge, never quite knowing what’s coming next.

Pain Is Beauty not only shows Wolfe’s penchant for atmosphere but for stylistic diversity.

Beautiful Thing works so well because it reminds us of that fact without losing its own emotional resonance.

The result is surely one of the best pop albums of 2020, and is possibly Ware’s finest to date. A sensual delight, What’s Your Pleasure? is the ultimate in post-disco gratification.

This Stupid World sees them further consolidate their position as alternative treasures.

These are truly wonderful songs that deserved to be poured over and analysed for months to come.

Half Japanese have once again smashed it out the park, this time with a bewitching assortment of rubbery love songs and caustic noise, all centred on the subjects we truly wanna hear about: celebrities, Hollywood monsters and unrequited love (often between celebrities and Hollywood monsters!).

Even though Falco, Haliechuk and their Hairpins cohorts appear to be cramming in influences from almost everywhere (acid house, new wave, funk, punk, psychedelia and more), the whole album is incredibly coherent, lucid, and most importantly it’s the of thing that might just define a summer spent outside. Assuming that’s ever going to be possible this year.

Campbell’s ideals are distilled into a tight nine-track album in which influences are evoked, grafted onto fresh numbers and cut loose to scratch insistently at the listener’s ear.

If you admire The Knife’s music for its incredible unpredictability and off-the-scale inventiveness, you are likely to consider this to be at least amongst their best work yet.

This is, therefore, a searing, no holds barred album, uncompromising in its delivery and unstinting in its musical language.

It's absorbing and enchanting without having to resort to formulaic song structures, pop thrills or radio-friendly catchiness.

It’s different enough from its predecessor to show marked progress, but with all the original essentials present and correct. The bar was set high; All Pigs Must Die have set it higher still.

The overwhelming impression is of a band looking forward, seizing opportunities and further boosting their reputation. The second half of the album feels like it has even more to dig into, even greater depth to explore.

This is a record with so much swagger, poise and confidence it could have been recorded by a band twice their age.

This is the most challenging yet of Hayden Thorpe’s solo oeuvre – but also the most rewarding, for you can appreciate it without knowing anything about Orford Ness. The music compels you to undertake a voyage of discovery, to travel in your mind if not your body – but if you’ve been there, you will recognise the sights, the sounds, the sea spray and the ever-constant wind.