Life Metal resonates in the surrounding air particles long after the last track concludes, and will reverberate in the minds of listeners longer still. A truly magnificent, very real, and ultimately restorative record.

Every track is dripping with smooth chords, funk-influenced rhythms and a retro quality to the production, and is all the better for it.

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.

There are moments of brilliance and experimentation, but these are too often outweighed by pedestrian tunes and indistinct vocals.

A fairly straight-up radio friendly rock album.

No Geography is a great Chemicals album, for it balances the hedonistic big numbers with sentiments of real substance, fighting its corner with vigour in the face of chaos. ... It ranks as one of the Chemical Brothers’ finest achievements.

Loops, beats and synths unite to create a beautiful and serene experience on Ambitions, one worth returning to again and again for fans of instrumental electronica.

Free Spirit is a patchy album from an artist who is perfectly capable of delivering nifty falsetto lines and smooth come-ons, but who is also far too predisposed to sloppy downtempo numbers.

Badbea, then, is a spirited and triumphant addition to the discography. It puts a smile on the listener’s face, will make their feet twitch and will on occasion bring an affectionate tear to the eye.

Gibbons and Penderecki deserve enormous credit for their approach, which is at once determinedly studied but also gloriously instinctive, Gibbons getting to the very heart of the music and the way it is made with her whole heart.

It’s another fine addition to a canon of work that has, over the last 20 years, been consistently excellent.

This is an absolute delight for a fan, but hard to recommend for anyone else. Of the entire back catalogue, Side Effects seems like the slightest of their albums, but at least its hottest moments go some way to countering how underdone the whole thing seems.

My Finest Work Yet an album that will immediately appeal to Andrew Bird’s long-term fans, and may well attract a few new ones as well.

The State Between Us has some brilliant moments, but those moments are too stretched out: many of the tracks could have been half their length and been equally effective, and some could have been cut altogether for not holding together as pieces of music. However, even at its lowest ebbs it retains some intrigue from its novelty, and the sheer ambition of the album is not to be faulted.

It is a very human experience, and if you can work past the occasional awkwardness of the vocal by spending more time with it then listening treasures await.

For now, this is an album that establishes Foals as one of the most exciting and driven bands of the generation.

It’s rare to hear a debut album so confident and accomplished, especially when the artist himself has just turned 20 years old. Yet Psychodrama is pretty close to a masterpiece and raises the bar for a new standard in British rap.

She [Louise Wener] sounds more at ease in her delivery, and the knowhow is natural. On occasion with their less successful single releases you felt Sleeper were trying a bit too hard, but here it is refreshingly instinctive. The addition of more power to the lower end is very welcome too.

You will have gathered from this that Happy In The Hollow makes a positive impact, its occasional loss of focus an asset rather than a fault as the music runs free. TOY make music notable for its mood, groove and texture, if not always finding a killer melody.

They’re looking forward, stepping outside of their comfort zone and creating some of the most interesting, ambitious music of their long career.

Gathered is very much an album that needs time and attention to allow its strengths be isolated and to surface. Long term Gelb fans will appreciate his continued work rate, the extension of musical themes and hints at his past but overall it may be too slight and unprepossessing for the casual, passing listener.

For a debut it’s a remarkably confident and assured album, while hinting at even greater things to come in future years.

A beautiful, dramatic, idiosyncratic album from a beautiful, dramatic, idiosyncratic band.

What this record does, yet again, is show that Danger Mouse has bulletproof, unassailable taste in music and collaborators. Karen is exactly the right fit for these songs, and she is absolutely the star of the set, thanks in no small part to the incredible production. This isn’t the best record that either of these mercurial artists have made, but it’s undoubtedly the finest collaboration you’ll hear this year. Guaranteed.

Plastic Anniversary is yet another masterwork by a duo that have been on the top of their game for longer than some producers have been alive, and long may their reign over sample-driven electronica continue.

Even though there are moments that skirt close to self-indulgence--there’s an entire song dedicated to celebrated author Judy Blume which still somehow works, while Bigger On The Inside stops being a heartfelt defence after a while and just turns into a bit of a whine--and you’re left with the impression that a sympathetic editor would do wonders for Palmer, there are still some heart-stopping moments of beauty on this third album.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre is exactly what you expect, and selfishly want, The Brian Jonestown Massacre to sound like.

This is an album to sit with, to take in, and to fully appreciate its subtle and quiet beauty. It may not be her commercial breakthrough--someone as esoteric as Pratt could be waiting a while for that--but it’s certainly her best album to date.