Love And Compromise was written as an album for everyone; on those terms, it's an unqualified, joyous success.

The Competition proves a multi-layered offering from the two-piece, juxtaposing viscerally relevant themes with modulating, often overpowering soundscapes. It's volatile, beguiling stuff, and utterly distinctive.

She gives you everything, expecting nothing in return, lavishing you with luxurious, gothic glamour and saturnine pleasure. A modern masterpiece.

Wallop is so confident in its ecclecticism, but it really impresses when the more simplistic, unpretentious urge to move hips and raise hands takes the fore. As always, an absolute pleasure to spend some time locked in with these brilliant oddballs.

Yhe album is as allusive as the rest of Del Rey’s discography; Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath, Slim Aarons and Stephen King are just a few of the notable individuals both subtly and explicitly referenced by the singer.

She takes the woozy, sub-bass-soaked beats and splashes glittering melodics over the top, adding her own little sprinkle of icing sugar. Listening to Zdenka 2080 is a little like how it would feel to be floating through space: disorientating and fascinating, leaving you with a constant tingly feeling upon your skin as your drift ever closer to the sun.

Hoodies All Summer is an exceptional achievement, proving once again that Kano is one of the UK’s most versatile, thoughtful and talented voices.

Devour overall is a punishing, malicious force of a record, one focused entirely on the eradication of any sense of self and musical procedure, with no room for reprieve. It perfectly captures the raw, hemorrhaging nature of Chardiet’s thematic intention, and live performances and in this way it is nothing short of an unbridled success.

Pizzorno produces an album that is filled with surprises. Some pleasant, some just plain out-there, it is an album that is certain of its direction and doesn’t navigate too far from it. It's a convincing enough plea that Pizzorno is not just an indie rock mastermind - he's capable of much more besides.

While Forever… stands as a cohesive work, its last three songs stand out, containing some of Whitney’s most powerful writing to date.

This isn’t Furman’s best album, but it might be his most heartfelt, his most intense, his most candid – and that’s more than enough for now.

With most tracks comprising largely of delicate vocals and the mellow strumming of guitar, the album does not stray far from Paul’s distinct, dulcet sound. However, despite the sound not differing largely from her debut, each track on At The Party... presents a distinct purpose, yet when considered as an album as a whole each track seamlessly melts into one.

GINGER yields a sound that is more emotionally evolved than any album thus far. ... The result is BROCKHAMPTON have finally come of age.

Elliott’s latest body of work, the fittingly titled ICONOLOGY, is a taut collection of slinky, self-assured hip-hop that fuses throwback sensibilities with the rapper’s trademark futurism.

Most disarming moments occur when things quieten down: the gently swirling, beautifully troubled “Turbulence”, for example, describes the daily grind and bustle with almost Nick Drake-ian grace and reticence. The closing "Devotee" occupies similar regions, with a propulsive, creaky organ coda that hints at what might be if Modern Nature got a bit looser next time around.

Braindrops is as cerebral and gut-level as its name implies, high-minded and high volume, a grand mess that isn’t really a mess at all.

Its confident coating signals the beginning of an exciting new path for Jay Som.

For those that grew up with the band that they would even release a second post reunion record is probably enough. For those that have joined the party late however, it does nothing we haven’t heard before. And unfortunately, those moments where the album soars instead of stalls, come too infrequently to leave any lasting impression.

With buttery vocals and perfectly-paired suave jazz instrumentals, - Ugh, those feels again is slick in its depiction of enigmatic love. While it may not be breaking boundaries sonically, the album’s saving grace is Aalegra’s thoughtful lyricism in which she encapsulates fear, loss, heartbreak and self-growth with tenacity and an empathetic tone.

It is all bark, all bite and Power’s greatest and most consistent release under the Blanck Mass alias, bearing a message that is as crucial as it is necessary.

Rather than coming across as naïve, Shura has created something hopeful and delightfully light in this record, setting it apart from much of pop’s current offerings. It is the perfect soundtrack to the end of summer, and all the months after spent remembering it.

The Murder Capital’s first record is a despairingly indulgent listen, but a powerful beginning from a band that promise to bring the passion of emotion to a genre.

Stylistically, this record is a strikingly bold step for the band and it is impossible not to feel Clark’s influence.

While Chris Cohen is by no means a bad record, the combination of muddy production value and laid-back pace can make it feel like somewhat of a drag to listen to (despite it clocking in at just over half-an-hour), and, while there are gems on here, you certainly have to seek them out.

Despite its purpose, The General is a warm, intricate experience that can soundtrack whatever you need it to on each listen.

This is an album that you can feel as well as experience, perhaps the most complete Bon Iver album to date. Justin Vernon’s emotive approach to the album balances the individual and the communal with perfect precision. With a firmer grasp on reality and a new and brighter perspective, a unique mix of creativity and bewilderment remains at the core of Bon Iver.

Live at The Troxy is still a gem of a record that acts as affirmation for those who were there that the show was as spectacular as they remember, and as a legitimate teaser for those who want to catch Fever Ray live next time she’s in town.

Any Human Friend is an explosive body of work, one that isn’t afraid to discuss sex and female eroticism with a microscopic lens. Peeling away the layers to reveal an intrinsically human record.

Ultimately, First Taste exemplifies Ty Segall’s shape-shifting qualities. Here is a man who delights in trying on many a mask, restless and impulsive.

He demonstrates an effortless knack for crafting intricate and loveable pop gems, while shamelessly embracing heart-on-sleeve lyricism about love, dreams and shooting stars. ... He has managed to produce one of the year's most interesting indie records.

In many ways, Föllakzoid’s latest is the kind of album to lose yourself in, a void to fall through or a sea to sink into. In the band’s ongoing effort to depurate and cleanse their sound, they have created an album that is at once ominous and tranquil, only occasionally held back by a delay in presenting its most interesting ideas.

EHAO is about as good a compilation of modern rock songs as you’re likely to find, but one can’t help but wish they’d had the devilish urge to include some of their most adventurous cuts in the place of their already well-known and mildly overexposed tracks. ... The only new track included here is the rather wonderful “No Bullets Spent”.

Guy Walks into a Bar… is an album built on disco-dreams and broken hearts and is guaranteed to show you a good time.

Running parallel with Aster’s allegorical fetishism of interpersonal decay, Krlic's music - even at its most choking and hopeless - feels luminous, making for a perfectly-poised accompaniment to one of the most challenging genre films in recent years.

There is not as much variety on Fever Dream as “Alligator” had seemed to indicate, but there is a clear shift – it feels more open, musically, than ever before. There’s a confidence mixed with fragility, like a band born again.

On the whole, Hotel Last Resort is nothing special in the band’s career, and doesn’t feel like it, either. It’s simply another solid effort from a group that has yet to put out a bad one.

The sonic architecture crafted by Chance is both spirited and steely in its gravity.

It’s curious to hear Chris Clark join the ranks of underground British artists drawing inspiration from the essential weirdness of Northern European folk music, yet by the end of Kiri Variations, it feels like a masterstroke.

The tone of the album is almost suffocating. Just as Cuco’s vocals submerge under the cloying, bolero sensibilities of “Far Away From Home” – as do we, with this all-encompassing misery.

During its most striking moments, Weather is yet another example of Scott Hansen’s musical craftsmanship and excitingly it clearly illustrates the validity of his collaborative efforts with other musical artists. However the weighting on Weather is at times off-kilter and inconsistent, if Hansen can rectify and master this in future projects, he will likely be making the best music of his career.

Coherent despite a refusal to adhere to genre-based constraints, Emotional Education is heartbreaking yet hopeful, relatable yet precise. ... As complex and multi-faceted as any woman in her early twenties, IDER’s debut LP is an album made for people like those who wrote it, and is all the stronger for it.

This is state-of-the-art pop music with an irresistible sense of rough and tough feminine glamour. Do not miss out.

Singles “POiiSON” and “SEiiZURE” close out HiiDE on an undeniable high; a reminder that whilse BABii’s genreless electro-dance-pop hybrid may echo similarly macabre and mysterious predecessors, her high-concept, DIY approach reveals a strength of vision that’s all her own.

Bleeding between the nebulous and formulaic, King's Mouth simultaneously presents the band at their most obscure and lucid; opposing absolutes that are wrought with the band’s ineffable style. This incongruity does not, however, dent the album’s stronger moments, which can be considered the Lips’ finest material in several years.

It’d be easy for Tracing Back to follow down the paths of say, GAS, or the somber mirk of Kyle Bobby Dunn, but thoughtfully, Cantu-Ledesma never verges over that line even though he may hint at it. Instead, by staying in line, Tracing Back serves as one of this year’s most angelically-bright collections of ambient music.

Not a single moment is out of place. Everything is crafted to induce a reaction. ... Ada Lea has a musical mind that pushes so much further than just some melodies and words.

Though it needn't define them, with Until The Tide Creeps In Penelope Isles have built a strong foundation on familial dynamics and the criss-crossing of sibling perspectives with elegant and catchy songwriting, springboarding them in to the many sets of arms ready to welcome them.

Purple Mountains is a project born of perspective and circumspection, not self-indulgence or score-settling. It may not be the 2019’s easiest listen, but it’s certainly its most honest, and one of the year’s most rewarding.

Stonechild isn’t as much a revelation as it is an affirmation of the truth – a truth which the singer bears out across the album in fragments, inviting her listeners to construct a full picture for themselves.

Overall, Banks has taken a step forward in her development as an artist, and you can hear this increase in maturity across each album. At times, her evolution is not as convincing as other artists on her level, though the quality of the songwriting here generally makes up for that.

The Soft Cavalry has the full-vision flow of an album like Deserter’s Songs, wherein each track has a unique character and story to tell. If the writing process behind these songs was hesitant and searching, the production that has brought them to fruition, helmed by Clarke’s fellow musician brother Michael, is striking and confident.

A further evolution and expansion of the templates honed on 2016's UK debut Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock, I Was Real features a rotating cost of eight guest musicians and tracks that are in no hurry to conclude.

This is an unusually difficult album to love, because its true beauty is obscured, deliberately so, by clouds of uninviting sonic textures, but hidden in the depths are incredible moments of clarity and intent. ... Probably Thom Yorke’s most beautiful work to date.

Incorporating a sense of scale and sounds that highlight the ingenuity and curiosity that sits are the heart of the trio, Horizon is a celebration of the trio’s vision and collective experiences. Wherever it takes them next, let’s hope it continues to be as enthralling as this.

In terms of catchy beats and somewhat meaningful lyrics, each song has one or the other, and Lil Nas X just needs a little more time to get them to match up.

It's all too easy to use adjectives such as glimmering and glacial when describing these kind of sounds but the music here is so expressive you can visualise the sights experienced by its makers.

By Night, apparently named due to the smash and grab nature of late-night studio sessions, is muscular, robust and takes no prisoners. It does its noisy thing swiftly, leaving you feeling shattered and somewhat dazed afterward. A perfect representation of punk rock in 2019, then.

Despite moments that may lull, Night Moves exude with charisma and reformed creative panache on an LP that will find favour with seasoned fans and new listeners alike.

It is an exceptional modern hip-hop album unafraid of exploring the darker sides of the modern rap persona, all whilst creating a rich, textured sonic environment within which it can be best ingested.

Sitting comfortably alongside high water marks like El Camino, it’s clear on Let’s Rock that the boys’ batteries are fully charged and ready to giddy up and hit the ground running once again.

The album just takes you to the place in your brain where everything is just fine.

The songs here beg to fall apart but are kept in tight reign by Chris Wilson's drums and R.J. Gordon’s flurrying bass while Stickles and guitarist Liam Betson slay riffs and trade licks.

Keepsake has an inexplicable familiarity even as it bursts with new ideas. It is a document capable of throwing us into our own pasts, the perfect score for the movies we make in our minds.

If bands like Can or The Residents or Public Image Ltd only existed on paper, you would imagine that they’d sound a lot like black midi (and vice versa), but it is only through direct experience with the songs that make up this exceptional album that we realise that there are some things (including track names) that are best left unsaid, virginally awaiting the experience of the listener.

She has a unique capacity to include all the world’s issues in the album just by slipping in an occasional nugget of truth that punches the listener in the gut.

For all the light-headed horns and lo-fi bedroom production, there’s this clarity and precision that ends "Cracking". Jinx is both their misadventure and their healing as intrepid explorers of the New York night.

Satis Factory is a damn fine album, made by someone who clearly loves the sounds and vibes of records old enough to be her mother. ... But you can only wish she’d do something slightly more original with them, because she only serves to undermine her own talent by shamelessly peddling music that other folks have done, and done better.

The Age of Immunology is, simply, a masterpiece.

Even rushing through the time between songs so as to maintain momentum, the endless energy and refusal to stay still is admirable of Dumb. Unfortunately, the pace results in some items ultimately being left undone.

Their ingenuity and introspection often serves as an antidote to brash, factory-made pop, making them crucial figures within the wider pop landscape. On A Bath Full of Ecstasy, Hot Chip remain as vital as ever.

Bird Songs of a Killjoy is a soft filter through which to view the world. It is a record to lean into, a brief respite from the daily grind to catch your breath and find your own peace and understanding.

Perfect Version rivals no Chastity Belt album and its nebulous delivery causes its songs to often slip through the listener’s hands. However, none of that is really the point of the album. ... A clearinghouse and a reset button, Julia Shapiro needed Perfect Version and we need the album precisely for that reason as well.

This is an album of bold, aggressive regeneration that does not fall short.

Madonna is not merely returning to her origins on this fourteenth album, a regenerative fervour thrives on Madame X, traversing a gamut of disparate genres, stirring curiosity and wonder with rhapsodic intensity.

Western Stars is simply a classy record from a man growing increasingly comfortable with his status as an elder statesman of classic rock. And I absolutely cannot wait to listen to it in a car.

This feels somehow lower-key (less in-your-face) than the other two, and it feels much more cohesive as a result. ... The main problem with Doom Days: the more you put into it, the less you get out.

A truly interesting album that is sure to maintain Rakei’s notoriety amongst artists and listeners.

This is a world-class band seemingly ending a chapter, clearing the board and resetting the clocks. This is the sound of a world-class artist, with his world-class band, at once unifying and annihilating his own history, putting a concept on a fire and letting us hear it burn.

The songs here are elegantly crafted, and keenly constructed, but there is absolutely nothing on the record that you haven’t heard – done better - elsewhere. Your enjoyment of the album will depend entirely on just how much soft-focus, meandering indie music you can stomach.

Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest isn't perfect. Its sprawl lacks the tight focus of Dream River, and a few of the tracks drift in and out of focus. Give it enough time to cohere, however, and this largely successful attempt at rebooting Callahan's songwriting soon acquires a hypnotic pull.

It is an album as confident as its predecessor and just as able to deliver upon it. It is Aksnes’ finest release to date and guarantees the essentiality of her artistic duologue.

Testament to its addictive charm, Erotic Reruns leaves the listener yearning for an extension to the album’s near half an hour running time.

By leaning into their maximalist tendencies on Lust For Youth, the introspection that really marked this project out is lost among a smorgasbord of other people’s sounds.

For all the thrills that Pixx’s precocious ambition offers on Small Mercies, it’s Hannah Rodgers’ vulnerability and restless search for comfort within herself that drives it.

Overall, there is something deeply satisfying about the majority of the album, anchored by Skepta’s unique vocal delivery and a sonic playfulness that he has long perfected. Skepta has proven himself a pioneer at several points of his career, now it’s just good to him hear at the top of his game.

The album confidently moves between playfulness, tenderness, and grit – often all in one song, as with stand-out tracks “Lose Our Heads” and “Wake Up”. The combination of Jarvis’ gorgeous, versatile vocals, clever lyricism, and the killer beats provided by drummer Robert Mason creates something unwaveringly epic.

Uplifting, powerful and sincere, Pip Blom deliver a rich, ocean-inspired debut that is instantly captivating. This is the opening chapter to something very exciting.

There’s Always Glimmer isn’t perfect, but that's appropriate really: trying to sort out your feelings in trauma's wake never is.

Run Around The Sun retains much of that same flavour [of Strike A Match], continuing to base the duo’s agitated progressions at the core of their sound.

Though taken as a whole, YU is a wonderful record. Okumu and Lowe are a dream partnership, and along with the rest of London’s modern soul players present on YU and hiding amongst other projects, have way more to give us over the next few years.

Reward shows Le Bon harnessing a reinterpretation all her own--stretching her range with layers of idiosyncrasies while remaining at the helm as one of today’s most sui generis anomalies.

Doused in the kind of mysticism that drenched the original psych scene, oblique lyrics about being the sun and a cascading approach to influences, Levitation still manages to retain a lot of the expansive wonder that so much modern psych has neglected.

An album that makes for pleasant easy listening, with frequent traces of genius.

The resulting LP is a record that sonically dwarfs its predecessors, boasting a sound bigger and more fearless than ever before. ... In Plain Sight’s greatest weakness is its refusal to abandon the obvious and lean fully into the successful realisation of its more experimental moments.

It’s a collection of songs, yes, but a demonstration of excellence and restraint. ... It’s evidently, demonstrably and obviously a flawless work of genius, and may just be one of the best albums this writer has heard this decade.

As music made for the “Ah! I knew I’d heard that before” crowd, it’s successful. As a synthesis of old and new, it’s successful. As an album of dance music, it’s incredibly successful, and leaves no room for any cynical raised eyebrows as soon as it gets going.

I can't imagine there will be too many rap albums this year that better Injury Reserve's debut. This is a band who can achieve the same volatility and straight-up ingenuity of BROCKHAMPTON, on less than a quarter of the manpower.

They’ve come out the other side with a debut that rips and tears with a whole lot more force. The band hasn’t lost any of its wildness, any of its chaotic energy, though it does feel like they’ve gone through a bit of development: they’re now a full-sized, frothing rottweiler, instead of the growling pitbull pup they were just a few years ago.