Where the songs were once floaty-light, 'The Enemy Chorus' is anchored in electronic menace and murky krautrock undercurrents that make it throb as much as shimmer. [20 Jan 2007, p.31]

It showcases Solange's experimentation at its best, but is only a prelude to a full album in 2013.

This is a colourful, energised collection of work from an artist who could comfortably stay in her own lane, but chooses not to.

That's what they do with pop--layer incongruous harmonies and bastardised riffs to make us look at it anew. If that sounds like too much effort, then Man... isn't for you. If however, the thought of it as a brilliantly unsolvable puzzle appeals, then bow at the feet of pop's new Picassos.

Foreign Body crawls under the skin and stubbornly lodges itself there.

Produced by the band, with help from Pink and former member of Test Icicles Sam Mehran, its follow-up is cleaner and more conventional. But there’s a tease of their old sound before the murk lifts completely.

A brazen, heartwarming, classic '70s bardic rock album, spirited enough to compete with and instruct the Ashcrofts and Gallaghers.

True to title ‘Things Take Time, Time Time’s unshowy songs take hold more slowly, but Barnett’s small snatches of happiness grip you all the same.

Massive in pretension, slightly too long and gothic, but when all the pieces fit, you can't deny its unstoppable power.

It's what The Velvet Underground would've sounded like if they'd been psychopaths. With a heart.

Whatever gear they have at their disposal, WITTR remain almost unbeatable for swelling, atmospheric excellence.

Here, on their seventh album and two decades down the line, Enter Shikari sound perhaps the most joyful they’ve ever been, and even when they become characteristically philosophical, it still comes from a place of positivity.

‘Good Lies’ puts the pair on the edge of a major breakthrough. Its pop-leaning moments are also its most exciting, and the creativity and skill with which they bridge these worlds is thrilling.

‘Venom’ is a consistent album that builds on last year’s teaser project ‘EXPLICIT: The MiXXXtape’, but this time with a significantly raw feel.

Texans Explosions In The Sky have not only stuck faithfully to their roots, they've made the defining album of their career.

There are many marvellous things about Orville Peck’s new six track EP, ‘Show Pony’, which shimmers as brightly as a cowboy’s pair of freshly polished spurs.

So Much Fun is a free-spirited record that comes with heavy doses of ridiculousness, but it’s lovably silly, and is a welcome dose of light relief.

AURORA has often been plagued with this patronising image of being another “ethereal” Nordic witch. This, though, is a fiery record dealing in reality – dancing with the imps rather than away with the fairies. Album highlight ‘My Name’ pulses with a Trent Reznor groove – a flash of evil but all guts, balls and intent.

This is a left-field masterpiece and Brown's best work for a decade.

Ultimately, this is a more mature Rocky: suited, settled and self-assured. The bachelor’s grown up – and somehow, that hasn’t dulled his shine at all.

A great record. A great work.

This is a powerful, memorable collection. Accessible from the get-go, ‘Life Under The Gun’ carries a universal message while staying true to its hardcore roots.

With ‘The Million Masks Of God’, they’ve written something that feels similar to one – a record that traverses every corner of their sound, from beefy rock songs to string-assisted grandeur and acoustic bliss, further cementing their place as an under appreciated band to treasure.

By eschewing the feel-good fakery of some of their peers, they’ve cracked something far more unifying than meaningless, posi-punk platitudes.

It is by all means a stimulating body of work with ample substance, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Less focused on his innate individuality, it’s a John Mayer passion project that toasts to the good old days, when musicians were more inclined to follow instincts and feelings than clicks and likes.

With so much honesty packed into the 11 tracks, the album is an invitation and a challenge to go after what you want – without apologising for it.

Positive but with some very real weight behind it, the album’s closing track sees the self-proclaimed God of Partying emerge with a renewed desire to show the whole world a good time.

Malawi’s Esau Mwamwaya, however, is proof that even the West’s slickest and sickliest can be used well by inventive minds.