Whilst Central Belters has plenty of great music on it, it’s a confused marathon of a listen. There are too many obscurities for the casual fans, too many hits for the dedicated.

Forget everything you thought you knew about St. Vincent, because this is Annie Clark 2.0, beamed in from an alternate reality, ready to blow your mind. Daddy’s home, and she’s sounding better than ever.

It can range from snarky and contemptuous to comforting and reassured, but every time you listen to The Overload you notice and feel something new.

What William Tyler does is reach back into the past with complete honesty, and by doing so he’s able to create new and exciting sounds from the social, political and geographical changes of a particular period.

One of Grant’s richest & most satisfying sounding albums thus far.

Their quality of music and precision is outstanding, and while referencing so many of our favourite artists from eras been and gone, they perform and compose in a new light with such integrity that makes them a step above the rest.

The more you listen, the more intricacies you notice. The more you listen, the more you realise just how defining this record will be for the future of Brockhampton.

Drive to Goldenhammer sees the quartet plant strong roots and demonstrates that their combination of talent, originality, and introspection has the potential to journey anywhere they wish.

Gigi's Recovery is an excellent record, and The Murder Capital have laid the first real claim to Album of the Year.

Through AMHAC, JPEGMAFIA has attempted to produce something so questionable, unique and conflicted in its elements, that on first glance, it’s uninviting and dissonant. This goes for the use of his close friends giving faux unfavourable comments about the record in the PR campaign too. Yet that friction he creates and the doubt at the front of your mind makes you concentrate more, breathe in every element and realise its undeniable quality.

This isn’t The National’s finest album--for my money, that’s still High Violet, or if I’m feeling fruity, Alligator--but there’s much to cherish on Sleep Well Beast.

The atmosphere is very light and airy, in sound if not in subject, which means it requires a few listens to dial in on the lyrics and find the extra levels of depth that are certainly available.

A truly enjoyable record, a durable collection of interesting and exciting pop music that is hopefully only the first of many to come from Christine and the Queens.

While vocally she proves to be a voice as unique as punk icons such as Kathleen Hanna, or Poly Styrene, her form on Comfort to Me has her, and her band hurtling towards being 21st Century punk icons with ease.

Geist pulls off the impressive feat of nodding openly towards vintage inspirations whilst also sounding resoundingly distinctive, simultaneously timelessly classic and very now, ethereal yet intense.

Hynde sounds like she’s never left her glory days, and to assume anything less would be a disservice. Her voice is rich with age, thick with wisdom, perfect for listlessly reminiscing about smoky hotel rooms and other rockstar cliches of “her prime”.

This is a damn heavy record, but with it, there's faith and optimism of equal measure.

Their extroversion is by no means a dead-end and does show ample potential, but analogous to stepping out into the light after a period of darkness, one must become accustomed to the surrounding brilliance. At the moment, The xx’s vision is mildly blurred with sunspots.

Like the best pop stars moving far from their imperial phase, she remains uneven but always fascinating.

While Deafheaven do their best to coalesce their efforts on OCHL, it’s the bigger moments that resonate most satisfyingly. It’s not perfect, but on this evidence, the Cali-based group are still one of today’s most stimulating metal bands.

Bereft of any shine or polish, Aromanticism is a piercing debut collection of songs of remarkable intensity.

Pompeii shows Le Bon happily wandering into the obscure corners of what pop music can become, establishing a well-earned spot as one of today’s most captivating visionaries.

Bite Down, then, is a rare record. It excels both as a richly resonant, often deeply beautiful gem. It is singer-songwriter introspection and a high octane field recording from an unusually fertile and harmonious gathering of five likeminded musicians at the seam where hip country rock meets the wide-eyed extemporisations of contemporary cosmically inclined psych-rock.

On Benji, and even more particularly on some of the live versions featured on the additional disc that accompanies the first ten thousand copies, Mark Kozelek is at least as piercing and persuasive as in his best output over the last two decades.

Their debut packs a far mightier punch than the output of almost any other contemporary group with whom they may share certain influences; not bad for a fictitious band, really.

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.

Charistmatically stepping onto the scene with an unmistakable presence in an era of reclaiming confidence is not an easy feat but Remi Wolf has delivered a debut that is powered by a true liveliness to be fun and real.

With We Were Made Prey, Joseph finds her technical and emotional stride. Her lyrics are impressionistic, if not abstract; channeled through her expressive voice via subtle melodic movements, however, they become accessible, taking on a mystical allure.

There’s an air of mystery that surrounds Sternberg and their songs – as if you’re encountering someone who is both stronger and more fragile than they appear. It’s this elusive quality that prompts one to visit and revisit this music. As much as Sternberg reveals, that much – and more – roils beneath the surface.

At 19 tracks, Weirdo presents a potentially overwhelming spread of sound, but it’s impossible to identify any flab or superfluous moments here: musically eclectically inspired, thematically deep and profound, Weirdo is a total triumph.

Meet Me @ The Altar know what they are going for, and they do it well - showing off an undeniable songwriting talent in the process.

Rich, deep, full of wit, rapid fire lyrics and fantastically unusual production, it’s Danny Brown proving yet again that he is one of the most exciting rappers working right now.

Even though it’s a short record in terms of both duration and the number of tracks, this is very much a kaleidoscopic work, examining what it is to be a woman from a variety of cleverly-realised access points.

The infectious results deserve to elevate McCombs beyond his durable cult hero status.

Old LP is so assured and confident, it’s easy to imagine another two decades of additional back catalogue we simply never heard. ... It’s a stunning success.

She possesses a rare aptitude for packing in the same amount of emotional clarity into songs that last five minutes, as well as songs that barely meet the minute mark. It is the sign of an artist whose being is overflowing - completely bursting with life.

The songs that work best as standalone statements outside of the album’s narrative still have themes of resilience.

Seeking New Gods is a fantastic album – and certainly one of Rhys’s best. No matter how odd the concept, or how strange the inspiration, each album that Gruff Rhys releases seems to prove that he couldn’t make a bad one if he tried.

Real victory comes from delivering something cohesively independent such as MELT MY EYEZ. And as promised we do indeed see the future.

Shaw ultimately takes comfort in the idea that Joe is both an inspiration and a guiding presence for this new music resulting in the band's most creative-sounding and personal release to date.

Far from monotonous, the band’s seemingly relentless pummelling rewards a patient listener with plenty of hypnotic texture and enriching detail that is far easier to simply feel and become immersed in than do justice to with words.

Reflecting Walton and Hollingworth’s growth and maturation over a period of approximately two years, it is a creative and infectious record, which after repeat listens, moves from being intriguing to simply irresistible.

If Painless exudes the magic of an artist discovering new plateaus, My Method Actor is a refinement of those now integrated proclivities.

Skinty Fia is a rich, full-bodied third entry, with Fontaines DC proving they’re not only here to stay, but here to dominate.

His third outing feels more introspective, without losing any of that gargantuan shine or him feeling like a stranger.

At its best, Life Metal taps into our psyches and rearranges the elements. Sunn O))) have become experts in their harsh and unmerciful take on expanding sound, slowing it to a glacial pace, and finally rearranging it again until it’s unrecognizable.

It isn’t overly ambitious, but after more than two years without an official release it is still a treat to hear Pusha T, even if he stays largely in his cocaine comfort zone.

The Weather Station is a model example of expanding an act’s sound without losing sight of what made them great to begin with.

This atmospheric, rewarding gem that, despite its decidedly downbeat subject material, hops effortlessly over various woe-is-me traps is certainly worth the trouble its author’s had to go through to produce it.

All Things Under Heaven isn't perfect: after a startlingly strong first half, the quality of the material drops. As it does, it becomes increasingly difficult not to notice just how semi-endlessly long and repetitive some of these tracks are.

Two Parts Together could be used to reference both dualities present here, that of the physical/metaphysical and the loud/quiet dynamic to Big Ups’ sound. Regardless of which one you choose, the band balance both almost to perfection, presenting both a musical and thematic journey that comes together to create a singular exhilarating experience.

A record that uses choral, electronic and orchestral features to embellish Stromae’s creativity, Multitude is crafted to be enjoyed again and again.

This debut shows a woman free to make the music she wants to, and boy does she do it well.

It's a no-frills sound, but dynamically expressive enough to make a potent virtue of the live feel ethos that characterises Total Dive.

Stumpwork is an essential album, and one of the very best of 2022.

I don’t know who needs to hear this… finds Tomberlin firmly stood in the language of her own making. She redefines song structure, alluding to the intrinsically mirrored fashion in which life pans out; like life, far beyond the close, these songs continue to spin.

You don’t have to be a fan of punk music or emo to be a fan of The Hotelier, you simply have to appreciate genuine, earnest emotion.

If Cape God felt like Hughes beginning to create her own universe, Girl with No Face marks her apotheosis as her deity. Still sleeping on Allie X? It’s time to wake up: her spaceship has truly landed.

The Price of Life’s relentless delivery of its agenda is a tiring but invigorating shot in the arm. Will time show this to be their best album? Maybe not, is this an album by an act quickly becoming one of the most important acts in the UK whose message demands to be heard? Absolutely.

AI could never replicate the unique balance between deranged imagination and supreme sanity that is the mark of a great Sparks record like this.

Of all albums this year, Elaenia is one that could be--probably will be--discussed for some time. It’s as impressive and rewarding as you want to be.

Apart from a few exceptions, Yeule had yet to offer a multitude of songs as successful as on this opus. The whole of The Glitch Princess is a continuous demonstration, while being rich and varied.

Between analyzing her own recent past with the empathy and allowances of an emotional anthropologist and the lazy precision of the grooves, Woods pairs harmony with righteousness like the inextricable twins they are.

Hell-On is one of Case's moodiest solo records to date.

For now Pure Comedy is another elongated and extensive example of Misty’s intense outlook on cliché, contradictory and conceived contemporary life. If misunderstood, it’s easy to believe that the signified still signifies the signifier, but call Pure Comedy boring at your peril.

Two Hands is a great record, and a stunning artistic accomplishment – a reminder if you needed one that this is Lenker’s THIRD album in twelve months – but it’s also devilishly clever in that it isn’t a perfect album. If it was, they’d have nowhere to go on the next one.

Indeed for the most part, the sparser these tracks are, the more enjoyable. The album hits a real stride after the halfway mark with perhaps its three best songs, “Cura”, “Fácil”, and “Sucia”.

The music on Big Inner is so wondrous that it seems entirely obvious that we’ll always find that peace, joy and contentment in music rather than anywhere else.

Its grief is visceral, and most disconcerting of all, most listeners will find themselves identifying with some ogre held within these tracks. Listening hangs you upside-down, bat-like, to cling to the darkness with them, which is in turns deeply uncomfortable and oddly cathartic. A brilliant and awful trip.

Overall, that combination of conversational, vulnerable lyricism mixed with impeccable baroque pop arrangements makes Older as unique for the pop world as it is beautiful. All in all, it’s a deeply honest album, both in its exploration of aging and in its rejection of pop cliches.

It’s a very buoyant creation - perhaps her most levitous release since Debut - that concerns itself with ancestry and legacy.

This is an album that has developed from careful study of, and attention to, how sacred music could define time and enrapture the spirit in past ages; and how it still offers up its potential to a twenty-first century sensibility when treated with technology and with reverential respect.

With Multitudes Feist has entered a new era in her artistry, one in which she makes space for reverie. Her grand realizations are beautifully stated.

Beautifully-measured collaboration between two venerable avant garde artists.

Imaginal Disk is a testament to good old-fashioned artistry – it’s the product of a band intensely honing what they want to sound like and ending up with a style so unique that it’s barely possible to describe. It’s dorky and strange and dramatic, like the duo themselves. And it sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard.

This album is an artistic triumph. It blends the strongest elements of a “metal” album like New Bermuda with the strongest elements of a “shoegaze” album like Infinite Granite, and features the band playing both metal and shoegaze better than they did on either album.

On This Stupid World, Yo La Tengo proves they are still relevant arbiters of rock.

Though very few of the songs themselves outstay their welcome, Tomorrow’s Harvest as a whole can feel overly long, and it’s the short songs that are the problem--they feel like unnecessary padding in a record whose triumphs should have been allowed to stand tall and proud by themselves.

Much like an architect, C Duncan is an artist of creative design, and what he's produced is positively palatial.

It is an overall cohesive and grand statement of an album which opens with familiar sounds, and explores jutting, pointed off-shoots, before crescendoing with “Thick Skull”’s cataclysmic pop, all the while holding a relative level of self-involvement and privilege.

Samson’s nasal, quietly reflective voice, exposed and unadorned, paints a deeply sympathetic picture of one Winnipegian’s contemplative mid-life, and its supporting cast. The world depicted may be his and his alone, but plenty of it will appear familiar to the rest of us.

The now-classic title track to Born In The USA features twice on the uncommonly strong extras included on this five-disc deluxe reissue of Nebraska. ....The set of Springsteen's solo demos from the Nebraska sessions is startlingly strong, especially the four previously unreleased songs. .... Then there's the original album. Brought into sharper focus via remastering without losing any of its essential murkiness, Nebraska remains the gold standard for modern solo troubadour records.

Ecstatic Arrow is frank in its representation of the struggles of women creators, but balances its anger with miraculous joy.

Cale’s ability to do so many things so well is what makes him a true artist amongst amateurs, but it's also a clear disregard of the need to encourage people to like him that feels refreshing in an age where there seems to be a desperate stampede in the opposite direction.

All the shifts lend the album an odd pop sensibility, the tracks flowing like a bizarre dance amongst the scraps of modernity. Despite these developments, singer Valentine Caufield remains as incensed, vicious, and powerful as ever.

Scott could have easily made another distorted, debaucherous project like his previous two albums, but by emphasizing his vocal performances and finding the best middle ground he ever has with his bevy of superstar collaborators, he’s made Astroworld a theme park worth revisiting whether you came in as a stan or a skeptic.

It is nothing short of iconic.

The five-piece side-stepped the easy option of giving the listener Sunbather II, refused to pander to the metal community by compromising their experimental tendencies and instead made a record that's not necessarily better than Sunbather but one that could end up being more important or influential.

Lazerbeak’s imaginative, propulsive beats continually push things to the next level, with Olson’s refined recording and edits (along with hypeman Cliff Rhymes lyrical flourishes) giving these tracks an inspired pulse. But Lizzo still has more than enough room to eloquently and intensely express herself.

Their best work yet--there isn’t a weak track among the 11.

There’s a slew of modern classics to be cherished on Chorus, which makes it a must have for the completist and a treasure trove of gems for anyone entranced by the combination guitars, pop music and songs about love.

This is difficult, obstinate music that grows in potency with every listen--it should just come with some kind of health warning.

Nothing here seems out of place, which is a stark contrast to their last record A Deeper Understanding. ... The highlights and key tracks are in plentiful supply.

Green’s debut foray into a full-length project highlights and accentuates her brilliant ability of penning narratives and churning out infectious alt-pop cuts.

For Yanya, this is a masterful debut that, like a tasting menu, looks jarring on paper but, in practice, is tantalising, surprising and undoubtedly impressive.

Bloom is an exceptional pop album, but maybe more importantly it’s a beacon for queer people who struggle to reconcile our neuroses--societal and personal--with our potential for joy and love.

Littered with a variety of appearances from A-listers like Cardi B, SZA and Ciara over the course of its twenty tracks, it still finds Walker front and centre, with her characteristically introspective lyrics feeling more gripping than ever.

As well as sounding incredible as a whole (not all of Swift’s previous albums have hung together as well as this one) these songs also have the air of a victory lap about them, as though Taylor’s basking in the glow of this new cottagecore indie-pop hybrid she’s found(ed).