Old Fears provides a fascinating insight into the mind of an increasingly-indispensable pop polymath.

As passion-packed as her visceral diatribes are, they suffer through being frustratingly free of dynamics.

Not one song feels out of place or undercooked.

On ‘All of This Will End’, she lasers in on community, mortality and how where you’ve come from impacts where you’re going all with her indie pop prowess intact. ... A wonderful album.

Drahla’s melodies are gnarled and resist locking together at all costs; warped pop songs emerge out of the gloom. This is a meticulous debut that juggles razor-sharp control with barely contained chaos.

When two such spiky forms collide you can’t expect everything to click, but FFS is still a wonder of gelling idiosyncrasies.

Whether by design or evolution, The Radio Dept’s third album fits the grand scheme of all things voguish and hazy rather perfectly--though that’s not to say they’ve made a faultless record, as ‘Clinging To A Scheme’ arguably hangs from just a few songs.

The record never diverts from a tried-and-tested formula, but Crossan brings a modern touch via nifty production tricks and songwriting knacks.

Aside from an introductory impersonation of Fleetwood Mac's 'Albatross' (on the title track), they continue where their 2010 debut left off.

Love gets to indulge his sweet tooth over a whole record. That freedom turns out to be part blessing and part curse, his delicate-as-a-feather jangle and wispy vocals eventually wearing just a little thin.

Does a new generation of music lovers really need a third solo album from [Malkmus] which includes songs that house guitar wig-outs and last up to eight minutes? Not really. [28 May 2005, p.64]

But while 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' delivered an aural punch above B&S's usual weight, it wasn't quite the return to form many claimed. That return is delivered here, on 'The Life Pursuit', Belle And Sebastian's seventh album and their best since '...Sinister'.

[A] great debut record laced with melancholy and beautiful moments.

The result is a record that’s as fun as it is furious, and as confrontational as it is cool.

'Guero' represents a very clever man being clever enough to recognise what he's good at. [19 Mar 2005, p.58]

What it does do, however, is remind us that he is a copper-bottomed genius.

'Real Gone' is not by any means easy listening. It is, though, possibly a new type of music. [2 Oct 2004, p.64]

While they still sound pretty much like Neil Young if he'd heard an Aphex Twin record, the anxieties that '...Slump' articulated have been replaced by frontman Jason Lytle's desire to address more simple matters.

'Kittenz And Thee Glitz' is not a techno album, hardly even a dance record, only partially an '80s homage, and not quite pure pop either. But it is also all of these things in one, plus some kind of warped comment on celebrity culture.

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]

The eerie, mist-shrouded 'Running On Fumes' is the standout track, but really, Diamond Mine should be taken as a whole, at night, in the dark, with some Scotch and a blanket.

Melodies bristle, harmonies surge, hooks fly dense as bullets in The Raid and Joe Keefe's lush stoner vocals trace out stories of neighbour-annoying hedonism, missing home and boozing and rocking all the way to the afterlife. Fun-drenched.

Caminiti's style is uniquely desolate and delicious.

It’s mid-album epic ‘Push It’ that best showcases their dexterity, an eerie bass-drum kick blending with a beautiful crescendo of soaring violin strings and piano keys.

Otherworldly pop that’s sweetly gripping.

This excellent eighth solo album again finds him honouring tradition while taking pride in his struggle to find his own path.

Sparkling synth melodies abound on ‘Time Enough’ and ‘Shapes And Patterns’, with only the meandering Pink Floyd indulgence ‘Vapour Trails’ dragging the journey down.