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.

Robyn has assured her contemporaries that pop life does not end as a tweenie, that pop music can be for adults, and that adults can be Do It Yourself indie artists, so long as one thing is in place: talent.

This Music May Contain Hope will easily be a certain contender for many people’s end of the year lists. This is an album of rare scale and energy, and one that’s been designed to come back to time and time again.

It’s a comforting record, but one you wish was a little more abrupt in places. Even so, it’s a hugely graceful collection played out with dignity.

Of course this is a great record. Of course this is essential listening. At this point in his career he’s still getting better, and that’s a scary proposition.

serpent has crafted a spatially attentive album centred around representation and reverence, inclusivity and acceptance.

Yves Tumor has drawn inspiration from all those moody vocals, watery guitars and blown-out mixes to create their best album yet. ... The increased connection of the internet is taking an already rich musical landscape towards its very own singularity, and when we get there it may sound a lot like Yves Tumor’s raw, surreal, multilayered tunes.

It’s a work that’s beautifully single minded, but may be a little too much of an undertaking for some. What’s inescapable is that it’s the sound of a person bravely questioning her place in the world, often in inspired fashion.

It is, quite simply, one of the essential albums of the year.

The voice of Shirley Collins is blossoming again, delivering its compelling stories with the urgency of a singer who simply had to make this record. Collins is a musical key worker, her songs compelling at every turn.

She’s bringing a perspective which is often fascinating, but never less than interesting.

These songs might not be his most immediate, but House Of Sugar, it rewards repeated listening as these songs start to reveal their hidden depths with every listen. Whether its ever possibly to get right to the bottom of them is another matter, but really, it’s the mystery of them that makes them so appealing.

While it may not hit the meteoric heights of It’s A Wonderful Life or Vivadixiesubmarine, Bird Machine does act as an emotional and evocative farewell to one of the most missed songwriters of our age.

It is a key work – a significant milestone – in the grand history of not only Sanders’ career, but the whole free jazz style he helped pioneer. ... This is a truly joyous album, and a purely pleasurable experience.

This is a healthy, diverse, multi-faceted music that should be approached critically in much the same way as any other genre.

Halcyon Digest is a triumph of multilayered nuance, and repeated listens reveal its genius buried just beyond the obvious.

This is an album that sparkles with invention and surprise.

By the time we reach final track A Hollow Skeleton Lifts A Heavy Wing it’s noticeable how familiar the songs already seem to feel, a special quality that confirms the album to be significantly greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Gelb has produced his most focused work in ages.

LCD Soundsystem's many fans will want this principally for the bonus tracks but will probably already have the rest of 45:33.

With the original foursome reunited it's as well that Midlife dwells mainly on the music they made together. As a playlist of what Blur were and capable of, it suggests a band with few peers.

Fontaines DC wear their influences close to their sleeve, with nods to The Pogues, The Strokes and Joy Division, but these influences are absorbed into their identity, to create something that instantly familiar and accessible, but also thrillingly compelling. ... They’re going to be big, and one listen to Dogrel will convince you of that fact.

Of its kind, Bakesale is a classic, and well worth reappraising.

Their last studio record saw them in upbeat, energetic form, and whilst that playfulness is still present at times on Elwan, there is a conscious grounding too this time around.

Double Negative is an album that will endure for a long time. It’s a thrilling development that proves how Low continue to release music of extremely high standards, restlessly creative and never content to stand still.

So in summary if you are looking for an album that could almost double up as an engrossing series of short stories, with tales from the darker side of life and love, then you could certainly do worse than dip into this album.

Whichever stylistic avenue is being explored she successfully sculpts and shapes her music in a way that gives it a soft and organic feel.

No Name is wonderful, magical, truthful and the most consistently surprising rock album of the year by some margin. Just Jack White doing Jack White things.