Map of the Soul: Persona is a bold, if tempered, call to Western media.

Where some of the cuts, like 'Gitter', 'Pro Model', or 'Many Descriptions' evoke vibrant feelings, others ignite a giant pile of 'meh' inside your brain.

Gone By The Dawn is, at many turns, a lovely record. But it also seems to be a transitional record, as the group tries to find a more distinctive place for itself beyond '50s and '60s nostalgia.

This is a solid, fun-loving post-punk record that definitely leans heavy on the punk.

No dead sharks here, then; just the sound of a once-cult band confounding their perceived limitations and joining the top tier of Britain's pop purveyors in the process.

There’s a balance to be struck between playing it safe and playing it smart, and Lindstrøm leans more towards the latter. If he occasionally veers the wrong way, he recovers handsomely.

As a cohesive album, Beauty Behind The Madness showcases artistic growth and sonic progression through danceable pop deliveries like 'In The Night' and grand acoustics like 'Shameless'.

While Kazuashita might not be a completely perfect album, it is as close as you can get to perfect when it comes to fulfilling the potential of the album as an artistic concept. Every piece fits together, it has a message without pontificating, and it’s absolutely crucial to experience it all at once.

Perhaps the reason for the feeling of emptiness at the well-meaning heart of No One is Lost is in its striking over-familiarity.

Operator is a very strong and interesting record, mixing glittery platforms with darker horizons. It is also a very "safe" one, for it sounds very calculated and lacking in risk.

Some may miss the more rock-influenced days of the group's debut, but Pharrell's more recent taste rules here. It's for the better. NO_ONE EVER REALLY DIES plays like an album length party, with no groove that won't make you want to get off the couch and dance.

Though there are hints of doubt and yearnful ambiguity associated with detachment and abandonment, littered throughout, Us is a project album radiating with friendship and the comfort of simply being next to someone.

Ultimately, The Spark presents a baffling listening experience. Almost every song on the album poses as an unremarkable backdrop onto which the band fiddles with elements of everything from grime to orchestral arrangements with virtually no successful results.

It's an assured album that utilises everything Katy B has going for her, from her love of clubbing to her BRIT School trained voice which is both bewitching and relatable.

Regardless of its leanings towards the descents into gloom, Go Dig My Grave retains a gorgeous edge, Susanna’s vocals are alluring as ever, on one of her most unique projects to date.

Leaving aside their Chicago/Detroit-house inspired beats and diving into gloomier topics and luscious sounds, the power of Stelmanis’ lyrics is what makes this new release stronger than its predecessor.

In her grand tradition of coining absurd descriptive phrases, Del Rey and Auerbach have christened all this "narco swing", an apt characterisation if only one assumes it's short for narcoleptic; it takes some doing to make sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll sound boring, but in her hands, the vices of hedonism scan as crushingly monotonous.

They've managed to do themselves justice, and that should be enough not only to please their existing fans, but to win a few new ones too.

I can't work out what the bloody hell he's on about half the time but there's some kind of of authenticity dripping from every verbal bark and echoey guitar jangle, every driving bassline and intelligent whack of the drums.

Despite a couple of assorted shortcomings, Crosses is a solid album. Moreno, Lopez and Doom draw from a vast palette of tones to create some legitimately interesting tunes.

It pains me to overly criticise an album that may be quite enjoyable if you were born in the '70s and have only ever looked forward for your music, but there's no avoiding this particular White Fence could have done with a second coat to better hide what's beneath.

Hinds have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with on Leave Me Alone.

On what could very well be the band’s breakthrough record, they continue to trade on the values that have won them so many fans up until now--deeply unfashionable concepts such as patience, simplicity and reliability.

Even if one may argue that stylistically there's not a massive divide in the progression between the two albums, a thin yet omnipresent veil of inquiétude covers most of Hypnophobia's tracks, turning the ensemble of the LP into an almost visual exercise of self-induced trance.

Mount remains an exceptional musical craftsman, who continues to shift and change and toy with his formula, which is proven to result in fun listens like Summer 08.

All in all, When The Night Comes is unsettlingly monitored and controlled--but that kind of discomfort makes for a pleasantly digestible experience.

It can be a little exhausting having to process so many conflicting and volatile emotions welling to the surface at once, but, like The Sunday Gift, Darker Than Blue isn't without its beauty either. Those moments can feel hard won though, especially considering all of the turmoil surrounding them.

There's nothing bold or groundbreaking about Let's Wrestle but it plays to its strengths. It's almost what you expect it to be, but not quite.