In lesser hands, the sheer number of collaborations on I Remember could have spelled trouble, but AlunaGeorge are no ordinary band. They are so much better than that.

As from an unspeakable event a remarkable record has come. One that sits amongst Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ best. Skeleton Tree is full of grief, but full of heart too.

The nature of the album seems to suggest added advantages in possibly listening to it at the extremes of the day, whether early in the morning or late at night, being infused with a palpable sense of recoiling and retreat.

Furfour is not an album that will change the world. Tracks come and go leaving only occasional ear worming melodies and are largely bereft of sing along moments. It is, however, quite possibly the most interesting listen you’re likely to get all year as each play will reveal something you didn’t catch before and for that reason alone, it’s one that needs to be heard over and over.

Femejism does stand up as an album, with Deap Vally’s strident attitude holding the songs together, but the quality of the material is a little patchy.

It feels like a Sheff solo album in all but name, yet the change in approach has breathed new life into his work and helped him deliver an album that is both impressively bold in scope and magically intimate.

It’s smoothly produced by veteran producer Tony Hoffer, and each track has a radio-friendly sheen to it and a catchy chorus. Which is all very nice, but it’s disappointing news for those of us who prefer Tunstall at her more experimental.

Anderson has wrapped all these songs up in a beautifully warm, enveloping sound.

It is a well constructed, fulfilling work in its own right but what remains most impressive is how, despite never quite crossing over to major popularity, Teenage Fanclub are still able to exist in these challenging times.

For all its merits AIM is a muddled record, and her divisiveness is sometimes counterproductive.

Ultimately, Bastille’s second LP is a more than worthy follow-up, one that throws up a few interesting surprises along the way.

GLA is by no means perfect and there are a few tracks that don’t quite reach the heights of the album’s brightest moments, with Missing Link and closer Mothertongue both struggling to hold their own. Yet it is hard not to be impressed by Twin Atlantic’s conviction throughout as they show what they can do with the shackles off.

While there may be a few wrong turns on Clinging To A Dream, Simeon is still creating vibrant, challenging and exciting music.

Phase Zero might not be as rough around the edges as its predecessor, but it’s still a strange and unusual beast. It is debt to its influences at times, but also idiosyncratic and mysterious enough to stand on its own two feet.

It sufficiently moves their sound on from Zaba, while also successfully capturing the multifaceted nature of man.

Foreverland is a blissful, heartfelt and often very funny paean to love and companionship. Some will no doubt dismiss it as too twee and theatrical for today’s musical landscape, but that is to misunderstand The Divine Comedy.

Trick may well be his masterpiece, combining all the elements that have made him such an enduring and much-loved musician over the years to create a genre-bending classic.

Like Britney herself, Glory is a fascinating if flawed listen--while she remains very much a singles artist, this is her most successful record in a while, and still contains glimpses of why she remains so compelling, 18 years into her career.

It’s just about impossible to live up to the hype that an album like this has been subjected to, but Ocean comes pretty close. Blonde is often a bit of a sprawling mess, but with some patience it becomes one of the most rewarding albums you’ll hear all year.

And The Anonymous Nobody is a more than worthy edition to their legacy, proving how relevant this treasure of a band is.

The Veils may be a little late to the party but Total Depravity is good enough to sit pretty at the top of their far from mediocre catalogue. It will draw you in with repeated plays, track after track gradually vying for a place as your favourite.

It’s a testament to Broderick’s talent that even on an endlessly intriguing and clever record like this, he can still play straight to the heart.

The second half of the album slows the pace somewhat and perhaps suffers after the thundering EDM and lyrical onslaught of the first few songs. ... Yet, for the most part, Innocence Reaches is a triumph of adversity and experimentation.

The soundtrack brings together the two phases of Walker, so to speak: the rich, sweeping orchestral one heard from The Walker Brothers and through the solo Scotts 1-4, before morphing into the avant-garde, claustrophobic, doom-laden one from 1995’s Tilt onwards.

Whilst there are still examples of the kind of dexterous acoustic guitar playing now closely associated with Walker’s music, there is also a greater sense of space and time here, enabling Walker to place greater emphasis on his lyrics.

While occasionally you miss the humanising influence of an analogue drum, or Void’s bowed guitar or even a voice which sounds more flesh and blood than silicon, the sheer force of will that drives 25 25 batters you into submission.

There are some tracks that don’t impress as much as others, but overall there isn’t a weak link in the engrossing narrative Harcourt has created here; it’s an utterly absorbing record, burning brightly as his boldest statement to date.

Brief moments of respite and apparent simplicity allow the more aggressive and expansive moments to really resonate.