Cigarettes After Sex have released an excellent album. After you’ve heard one song you might think the next one is similar, or even the same on repeat, but once you delve down a little deeper, you will categorically not be disappointed.

Binary is an album which is shot through with the sort of confidence that only an artist nearly 30 years into her career can bring.

It shows Alison Moyet as a vocalist of immense sensitivity, feeling and lasting power. She is right at the top of her game musically and lyrically, delivering pop music that is more relevant now than at any point in her illustrious career.

Melodrama delivers everything pop music should, but yet it manages to find more. As an album it is unlikely to be bettered in 2017.

It adds up to a disjointed, uneasy compilation of songs, with the band seemingly refusing to conform to expectation.

It would be apt as the soundtrack of a credit scene in The Inbetweeners, or to accompany an advert taking place on a summery day full of good times and beer. That is the image evoked by the album, which blends effectively into a complete piece instead of a compilation of singles.

It’s almost inevitable that an urban record made by an American rock classicist--especially one who moved to New York as a teenager like Morby did--will evoke Lou Reed. ... Shooting for a rawer, more stripped-back sound has left certain songs on City Music feeling under-powered and –developed, however.

On second LP, Résistance, Songhoy Blues feel not only like the ultimate festival draw but also the party band par excellence.

How Did We Get So Dark? has plenty of appeal, possibly just edging the debut, and is the sound of a band enjoying their niche, but how long that can last has to be the concern here.

The music of London Grammar continues to bewitch, soothe and inspire in equal measure, and when Truth Is A Beautiful Thing is at its best, it fully lives up to the title.

It lacks that sprinkling of stardust to make it special, but after the valedictory bitter taste of Tarantula, it’s good to have Ride back and evidently enjoying themselves again.

There is nothing of great surprise here, which while reassuring to fans does also lead to the criticism that McVie and Buckingham are just that bit too predictable through the course of an album. There is however no lack of emotional input to songs like Feel About You.

There are numerous disparate elements at play, reflecting the different backgrounds of the contributors, and while sometimes it all comes together beautifully, at others it feels either strangely flat or rather a chaotic, over-egged mess, with the clash of influences jarring rather than blooming.

Essentially, there’s enough good stuff here to suggest Pixx--cool, intelligent, subversive--remains a talent worth watching. And you can’t learn that anywhere.

It’s not a world beater of an album by any means, but Auerbach’s ability to continue to branch out into things other than what he’s expected to produce can only be admired.

As a tribute to Molly Drake and an effective realisation of her music’s full potential for the listener, it’s a resounding success.

The Heliocentrics, then, are in a good place. They continue to build on their obvious ability as musical chameleons, evading capture as they flit from one musical style and approach to another, with hip hop and psychedelia as their common ground.

You’ll gather from this that Shake The Shudder is very much business as usual from !!!, though there is extra spice to their modern disco this time around, an all-inclusive party that gives the middle finger to those who dare to stand in its way. It is a wholly affirmative illustration of music’s unifying power.

Reservations regarding vocals and mannered performances aside, this is an impressive second outing that cements Ulrika Spacek’s position as one of Britain’s most intriguing, painterly guitar bands.

Lyrically the album is an intriguing cocktail of emotions, veering from insecurity and vulnerability to assertiveness and outright feminine power.

This record feels produced, whereas her first release had the feeling of a bedroom recording. She may have lost the kooky melodrama and charm that she enveloped earlier on, but I’m Not Your Man feels strangely right, if quite startling in its shift in direction.

Home Counties is Saint Etienne at their very best, blending breezy observations and harmonies with a deep seated emotion, centred around the need for a place to call home. In these uncertain times, a blast of hot sunshine and a listen to this record certainly make the world a better place to be.

Transforming states and changing perspectives are once again the order of the day. Modern Kosmology marks another triumphant evolution.

Full credit should be given for bringing an extra dimension to the Erasure legacy, but World Be Gone makes for far from easy listening.

Shifting moods and voices effortlessly, Harding is an often technically astonishing performer, and Party is a work of quiet power. An inviting, captivating darkness.

Alex G’s skill is in tackling difficult subjects and squeezing them into the most wonderful kernels of pop, and once again, he’s succeeded here.

Lush and atmospheric, with shades of the paisley funk of Shuggie Otis, the laid-back, freewheeling early ‘70s Marvin Gaye and Todd Rundgren’s cosmic mishmash (with centrepiece soul medley)--A Wizard, A True Star, Green Twins demands your attention, in a subtle but compelling way.

The Weather is packed with ambitious moments, and many of them go over really well.