‘After Hours’ stands as The Weeknd’s strongest record in some time.

At only seven songs, it’s a lot shorter than most sprawling albums put out by their Western counterparts these days, but its concise tracklist leaves no room for filler, no space for even a note to be wasted.

The album’s slower tempo won’t be for everyone: if you’re all thrills, no substance, then maybe this album is not for you. But you have to respect ScHoolboy Q’s dedication to showing us a different outlook on life, and exploring many emotions. Introspective--yes, but these are songs for the summer.

Rossen is a master craftsman--and one of the best songwriters in modern rock--and with Silent Hour/Golden Mile he's set the bar tantalisingly high for Grizzly Bear's return.

Dando’s at it again, with a whole album full of mix-and-match covers which comfortably sit just on the right side of bizarre.

There are plenty of familiar garage-y thrills to be found here, but a new sense of menace too.

This is an album of thoughtful and considered dissent rather than the righteous rage of old.

Suggests even more urgently that that landmark album that's so patently within their grasp is tantalisingly close. This, however, is not it. Not quite. It is still, nevertheless, a quite dazzling album.

Marrying the street level to the grandiose was always the Pet Shop Boys’ MO from the start, and over forty years into the career, ‘Nonetheless’ is the sublime sound of pop’s standard-bearers continuing to hone their craft.

Here, on her most consistent work to date, she’s still dramatic, seductive and theatrical, but fully cut loose. This is Khan’s own heroic moment.

‘Strange Timez’ is yet another worthwhile endeavour, the band keen not just to match the skill and pace of modern pop outlets, but to outlast the competitors. Whether your consumption method was more traditional, or you’re perhaps tempted to binge every episode in this album format, there’s joy aplenty here.

It's the sound of people having fun. [4 Dec 2004, p.55]

Given that it documents a romantic life that’s apparently hurtling out of control, My Mind Makes Noises makes for a remarkably trim and measured collection of songs. Both hands are on the wheel, and this album will crank things up a gear for Pale Waves.

Laid-back and controlled, yet at times almost obsessively moody... [Collisions] hits all the peaks and troughs at just the right frequency. [4 Feb 2006, p.29]

There are only two major mis-steps – ‘Beads On One String’ is the kind of amorphous soft rock balladry that Sting used to make in the ‘90s and Townshend’s easy listening ‘I’ll be Back’ descends into a plain awful vocodered rant. ... But otherwise ‘WHO’ either recaptures the band’s root ferocity or explores new territory with style.

With Here, it feels as though she’s dug deep to produce a set of genuine, heartfelt and relevant anthems.

This record shows that Vile isn’t about to abandon the formula that’s served him so well since he left The War On Drugs over a decade ago. It packs that wholesome, easy charm he’s always held, almost as if the songs fell out of his brain while he was strumming away on his back porch.

A little bit new, but mostly the same, then. The Best Day is the refreshing sound of Moore addressing familiar musical themes with renewed energy.

"Both Ways Open Jaws" is tribal, prickly and wickedly playful.

They imbed stories (thought-provoking, moving or entirely made up) into future-pop bops that are bright and, most importantly, fun.

Interspersed throughout are dark, ambient instrumentals ‘Machine Room’, ‘Aluminum’, ‘Waiting Room’ and ‘Voltage’. This adds an extra layer of claustrophobia and menace, but also feels like the band are padding out a very good eight-track album into 12 songs. Still that’s a minor quibble – as ‘Container’ is a masterful statement of intent destined straight for the top of your lock-down dance party playlist.

Throughout she offers up rich, swirling instrumentals and intricate musical landscapes, crunchy chord progressions and twinkling chromaticism complemented by her confident, warm vocals.

'Masquerade' is a mighty, ego-free album that doesn't need to shout to be heard.

Nailed to the dancefloor by Flea-like bassist Pat Nature, and dragged up to date by hip-hop beats and random electronica, musically Liars are taut as a tightrope.

‘iii’ goes in hardest, taking its cues from the harshest strains of club music, and beckoning in pure, confrontational chaos almost immediately.

It’s an album brimming with audacious leaps, and they land most of them.

The diversity of guest musicians, expertly woven music and compositional strength of the tracks on offer here add up to a journey well worth taking. ‘We Will Always Love You’ completes The Avalanches’ 20-year triptych on a hopeful note.

A sullen and graceful record that brings out the very best of the gruff veteran.