Full Upon Her Burning Lips requires patience from the listener as its contemplative pace offers multiple rewards on repeat plays. There is a depth to the album which is more evident with an enhanced investment from the audience as layers are revealed in the aural panoramic panacea that are hidden within the subtext of the songs.

Beneath their gilded surface, everything here has been explored numerous times by the man himself before, far more memorably.

Overall, On Your Own Love Again is a mesmerising, bewitching listen.

Every element that made Neon Indian such a joy through the first two albums has been polished and improved upon to make a record that truly must be heard.

It's really worth putting aside 12 minutes to sit and decide what side of the fence you want to sit on. Or an hour, because the chances are that you will probably have it on repeat.

In an album where everything seems to be allowed, at first it may feel uneasy to understand but dissecting the elements is the key to understanding Physical.

By removing its circumstantial baggage entirely, The Wild Heart Of Life is satisfying and uplifting, and continuously so. But it feels in every way--sans the band’s personal serenity--a regression after Celebration Rock.

The world it creates is in many ways richer, more affecting and bolder than the ones that came before.

An already impressive album that both solidifies their reputation as one of the more compelling bands to come out of the 90s alternative landscape, and cements their reunion as one of the few necessary ones that are currently happening.

Even if they might not be able to quite recreate the same magic that they did on their early albums, The New Pornographers still behold a wealth of talent, and when it comes together just right--as it does a fair number of times on Brill Bruisers--the result is truly triumphant.

Karen O and Danger Mouse have a story to tell on Lux Prima; though not a traditional concept album, it does create a luscious portrayal of a small blinding light in the seemingly infinite dark.

Deerhoof show that pushing boundaries can yield fantastic results.

It’s A Myth an easily enjoyable release that doesn’t waste any of its brief and surprising burst.

With Grievances, Rolo Tomassi seem ready to take their first step onto the stage in front of a wider audience.

It's fun, it's queer and your straight friends will like it too because, ultimately, it's about being less alone. Everyone can relate to that. And the world genuinely feels like a brighter place with PWR BTTM in it.

The use of live and programmed beats, a dozen or so models of synthesizers and controllers, and zither gives the music proper depth and moments of beauty, as does Jahnsen's voice. But even for all of the lush and layered arrangements, what Pure-O lacks above all are the kind of nuances needed to help it stand apart from its obvious influences past and present.

The music is now lush where once it was loud, layered and thoughtful where it was immediate.

At times, it’s painful, and others, it’s cathartic. The fun, party-filled days of Never Hungover Again may be over, but by the end of Cody, Joyce Manor reminds us that it’s ok to get older.

Ultimately, despite its broodier and moodier efforts, Cage Tropical never really hits the heights of Interstellar. However, Rose continues to prove that she doesn’t need to dive into anything so sophisticated as Greek mythology or abstract philosophy to communicate her emotions.

Steve Gunn’s music is not showy and it doesn’t attempt to attract attention, despite the expansive and expert playing involved throughout. Like Gunn himself, The Unseen In Between is happy to wait for you to come to it, and if you happen to pass on by, then that’s your loss.

Although Lotta Sea Lice didn’t exactly live up to it’s potential and hype, the end result is still something to be reckoned with; a fascinating and balanced attempt at perfecting the concept of the collaboration album.

These aren’t bad songs. They’re very good songs that narrowly miss being great, mainly because they rush or nix the endings.

No More Normal is uplifting and wholesome, packaging a definite homage to UK music through the variety of artists included.

Uniform pull their weight but it feels like they’re (smartly) saving their strongest material for their upcoming third LP. As for The Body, they’ve shown they can play well with others, but here they feel like they’re indifferently inserting themselves into Uniform’s world, and Uniform was fine with it. It’s an album that aims to make you uncomfortable, but it feels too comfortable with itself.

While it was a throwaway reference earlier, the contrast between Girlpool and LCD Soundsystem exhibits why Before The World Was Big is such a refreshing listen.

There's really nothing to criticise on Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son; it's Damien Jurado's strongest album to date.

This is a world to become truly lost within. Fair warning, you may not want to come out.

It is a record that keeps listeners in mind, attempting to make sense of all of these painful feelings and moments in order to offer all-encompassing advice on life’s fleeting nature and on whether or not it’s still worth investing in love.

Inji is an erratic debut album, an invitation to go forward into weirder territories with Dust in the future. As invitations go, however, it's intriguing enough to take up.

The result is an album that pays proper respect to some of the classic duets Beam grew up loving while also hinting at a promising partnership between he and Hoop.

Lowly make it clear throughout that they look upon life and all of its intricacies as a gift, and they have translated that wonderment and thankfulness into a beautiful ode to the world on their debut album.

It has interesting moments and one cannot really fault Kozelek for looking to present a different narrative than his previous record. But there is no denying that Benji set a high bar and this record borrows elements from it, but does so with disappointing results.

Earl Grey is a strikingly mature and confident debut album, which acknowledges and consolidates Girl Ray’s influences in a way that doesn’t obscure their own puckish style.

Wanderer is a worthy listen, that keeps us chasing her, slowly, over the next ridgeline.

With his charisma and creativity at the core of these songs, and an incredible group of collaborators around him, Ty Segall has created an album that will appeal to both long-term listeners and first timers – just like pretty much every one of the other studio albums in his increasingly legendary discography

It's another tour de force for Wales' musical explorer-in-chief, packed with the fine tunecraft, psychedelic references and experimental instrumentation we've come to expect from him.

Ultimate Painting is a charming start point for a band who show enough charm to suggest they can turn out any number of superior follow-ups. On one or two tracks, they might one day prove essential.

Through Girlpool's seven tracks, the band grow into their make-up as a two-piece with aplomb, complementing each other with both voice and instruments.

Sadly, the songs on the back half would sound much better as instrumentals. I miss the incoherent wailing of their 00s output. The Guillotine remains a somewhat worthy listen via its front four tracks.

This album feels like the training wheels have come off, and Speedy Ortiz can really show what they’re capable of. For one, this is Speedy Ortiz’s poppiest album yet, with plenty of synths, hooks, and an overall brighter sheen. However, it’s not like Lazar infected their grunginess with an overwhelming flavour of the top 40.

On Last Building Burning, Cloud Nothings provide their take on a stripped back album. Belts were loosed, fingers bled, and there was probably some howling at the moon. But in a world so interconnected, you can’t forget the primal that’s in you still trying to make sense of it all- knowing a starry sky is the back drop to honeymooners and prisoners.

As pretty as much of the album is, it can lack the immediacy to really grab the listener and pull them into a different world.

He’s gone as far as he can go, done all he can. He’s lost in a bursting world of endless storefronts, in an America he no longer recognizes. He hasn’t a clue what he needs, only that he needs it. Songs as easy to imbibe to as to heave a sigh to, these are fogged, fading portraits for the ages. We all need a new war.

In the face of so much uncertainty, it’s tempting to think that armageddon is the only answer. Whilst not standing toe-to-toe with the very best of McComb’s discography, Tip of the Sphere is as good a soundtrack to The End Times as anything he’s done.

DeMarco has shifted his musical style in a way that does not feel forced or as though he lost anything in the process. In fact, he feels though he is more refined than ever, offering beautiful and heartbreaking sentiments with a remarkable economy of language, all the while delivering another sonic masterpiece that will undoubtedly soundtrack all too many summer soirees this year.

It’s full of layers and little emotions, rather than just being a slave to the bigger issues and emotions, and that’s what makes it authentic.

Real High is a considered, mature statement for Nite Jewel.

Despite the underlying melancholy throughout, Bonny Doon is by no means a downer of an album, and it’s due to the winning and classic songwriting tropes Bonny Doon have adhered to.

The Moon Rang Like A Bell starts off with captivating momentum, a potential to take you on a whimsical, emotional journey. But along the way it seems to have sacrificed that sense of purity first apparent in its experimentation.

Smote Reverser has a strange sense of uncertainty. While Dwyer hasn’t veered away from his band’s unmistakable proggy garage rock sound, he doesn’t feel as invigorated as usual. The multiple flavors of Oh Sees are swirled together, and it ends up a bit diluted.

There are glorious moments of reflection to be found throughout The Last Panthers too. Circuitous, sweeping pad interludes that, more often than not, come in the form of unusual and unsettling chord progressions to jolt the beauty that's frequently on offer.

It may not be perfect but it's another solid release from a project that even after all these years still has plenty of promise coming from all sides.

The music as a whole isn't as immersive as you would expect it to feel at first. Instead it works on a more subconscious level, gradually drawing you in with a subtle pull. That seeming lack of immediacy does nothing to take away from how enjoyable many of the highlights here are, and the album is well-paced in such a way that it never lingers longer than it needs to.

The slow pacing of the tracks, particularly the likes of 'Feet of Clay', 'Mister Skeleton' and 'Secrets of the Earth', are almost meditative. Richly detailed, so you're constantly finding new sounds and curiosities, but not so busy as to draw too much attention away from the trip.

There’s an incredible amount of space at play on Compassion; the instrumentation and samples inhale and exhale, breathing life into the tracks.

While Jepsen has once again delivered a stunning hook-filled record that frankly gets catchier every time you hear it, Dedicated may not quite satisfy our lust for connection.

There is song crafting of an exceptional variety as Sermanni delivers ten solid songs, the longest just a touch under five minutes, that all have an important story to tell.

It feels like a tightly wound, meticulously crafted gem of an album. When you tack on the album's intense emotional resonance, Strange Diary has vaulted itself into the conversation for the year's most powerful albums.

Individually, many of his tracks are great. But the album itself can feel like a concept that has been too thought out. Despite this, Mick's message is what still makes The Healing Component worth a listen.

Orc is another immensely satisfying offering from one of underground rock’s modern heroes.

Ohmme deliver on magnificently over 9 fully realised tracks that demand attention.

While infested by hooks, yet Life Without Sound bears itself with moral clarity and resolve while rocking damn hard.

As we're thrown directly and unmercifully into 'Curtain Twitcher', we're already heavily bruised from the first half of the album, and will have to wait until 'Take It' to finally take a breath.

Dedicated to Bobby Jameson picks up where the late Bobby Jameson left off, solidifying his name as an inspiration for one of the most impressive indie-rock records of the past decade.

One cannot help but feel as though, if White Lung had let themselves get a little messier on Paradise, it might have yielded an even more compelling result.

Migos see no need for a limit to the fun, and invite you in with familiarity, guiding you right into the consistency that follows throughout the album.

Their third album, Until Silence, is a pleasant listen, but falls at a couple of key moments.

And, on the whole, Clinic’s paean to the 70s is a satisfying reinforcement of the current, clichéd view of that decade. It is lovingly put together. It yearns to experience an age that is tantalisingly close, but entirely out of reach.

Sirens runs swimmingly from track to track, and it’s ideal to consume it without a tracklist; listening as its samples, beats, and voices travel without a map or a compass. It’s clear Jaar wanted to do something similar to what the average listener considers to be an “album”, but making a strong case for his intentions takes patience. Contrary to pop music and accessibility at large, it works well in his favor.

Preoccupations is a tough, black and resilient modern rock album.

There may be simple logic behind the phrase quality over quantity yet here there is clear cohesion and thought.

Sonically the album is engaging and intriguing, but that's only the first layer. The lyrics are poetry, each word there on purpose, just like each note and beat.

They can be packed to the brim with the thoughts and feelings of a whole collection of people. For Algiers, it is this ability to connect with hearts and minds that ultimately makes their record among 2015's strongest thus far.

Mystère is a long, cohesive, and magnificent work of art, full of vivid soundscapes and synesthetic tableaux.

As Bazan embraces his current self by looking at his former, we learn the story of his life, and by the time the 14 tracks of Phoenix are over the picture is clear.

Diet Cig’s debut album Swear I’m Good At This is a reclamation of female sexual agency, a physical mandate for equality, a gauntlet-throwing promise for world domination, and the most fun I’ve had with a punk album this year.

As her music shows, Kelly Lee Owens is honest, fluid and meaningful. Her rise to success is owed to her own creative mind and assuring that taking time to create a solid product can be a virtue.

Though it can eventually make for numerous and intricate readings both technically and conceptually, it's the album's undeniable quality that emerges as solid and everlasting, embodying a timelessness very rarely found.

Dark Days + Canapés is quite simply Ghostpoet’s most accomplished record to date. As lyrically smart as his debut, and building on three albums’ worth of musical experimentation, it feels like Ejimiwe has finally found his niche.

As a careening, breakneck listen, this will be up there as one of the best of the year.

Slugger is a no-holds-barred art-pop surge of iron-clad beats, and acute lyricism that goes beyond post-breakup reflections and confronts the listener to actually think about the state of being a biological, self-identifying, or perceived female in today’s world and the ardent misogyny they face.

As this year's laid-back, folk-tinged efforts go so far, Woods haven't quite packed the sort of emotional punch that, say, Beck did on Morning Phase, but they have provided further evidence that they're slowly emerging as masters of their mellow-pop craft.

The end result is a clean, seriously impressive hour and seventeen minutes of restless, good old-fashioned hip-hop. Zombies' are here to stay, whether you like it or not.

His fifth album is the most grown and mature.

If you can convince yourself of TMLT being a novel, a musical, or five EPs crammed into one record, the experience becomes more immersive and rich.

Although it seems reductionist to place the album so closely with Ellery's other work, it does seem fitting. He writes in a certain style, produces in a certain style and sings in a certain style. LUH keeps everything that made his previous projects captivating and channels them into areas where they shouldn't really work. But that's why this album works.

The highlights come when the songs are underscored by punchy percussion, giving the tracks a slightly sultry groove.

Ultimately, Abyss is like a nightmare. It consumes you, shows you a darkness you'd tried to keep away from, but in the cold of night, wide awake and heart-pumping you can't deny you enjoy the thrill of it.

It is a wholly singular and groundbreaking release that, while adhering to many past and present genre trends, seems prepared to go further in collating and collaging influences than most other electronic releases dare to go.

Though their influences are neatly displayed almost in the same way band posters are hung neatly on a bedroom wall: Cheap Trick, Kiss, Thin Lizzy, The Cars, The Ramones, just about any great power-pop or classic rock band, White Reaper effortlessly make their influences solely their own.

On The Echoing Green is an experiential album, but not in the way of something like The Wall. This is an album that seduces you to come and spend some time with it; sit in the shade with it, stroll in the hot summer sun with it, take a dip in the lake with it.

It absolutely is [worthwhile]--engrossing you from first hammer blow to last squeak.

Many of the tracks vary to such a degree that those not acquainted with Olsen would be forgiven for thinking they were not by the same artist, yet to those who appreciate her work, the artist’s strong narrative ties the collection together.

Are We There is one of the finest folk-ish albums of this decade, but this timely reissue illustrates that Van Etten’s remarkable talent has always been omnipresent. Eight years on, her incoming anxious queries and lovelorn passages are as pertinent as they’ve ever been.

Love Is Magic is his most consistent and enjoyable work yet.

This album is perhaps even more ambitious than its predecessor and, unlike East India Youth's debut, finds the artist stepping out from the shadows to produce a stunning, transformative electronic record.

As with all instrumental rock, Forgetting The Present is hugely evocative and powerful.

In some of its explorations of dance music’s sub-genres it is less successful, and can come off as a bit too cheesy for its own good, but it’s all produced, performed and sequenced with such careful consideration and bountiful charm, that its few shortcomings in pure songwriting terms can be overlooked.