The result is another record that provides ample room for the elaborate unfurling of Stelmanis’ talents as a vocalist, her altitudinous range the billowing banner of a call to arms.

Sure, there's no new ground broken, and no definitive answers given, but We Disappear isn't meant to be that. Instead, the album is a soundtrack of reassurance.

At its best, it’s vintage Quasi.... But at its worst, you find yourself checking the tracklist to see just how much more of the record is left.

In word and sound Little Neon Limelight is an unashamedly backward-looking record, and it's all the better for it.

Though it does wear its influences a little to clearly on its sleeve to be truly original, the end result is a wonderful homage to their heroes and full of some of the best pop to come out of Scandinavia in recent years.

Whereas many of Lost & Found’s tracks felt stripped to their bare bones, most of the tracks here feel built from the ground up.

Equal parts easygoing and eternally troubled, upbeat and melancholy, silly and profound, Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread certainly sounds like the real thing, and it’s bound to leave you feeling pretty good indeed.

What Do We Do Now has some interesting moments on its first side, but quite a bit of it does feel leaden and lacking in energy.

It’s an album that will satisfy fans of Maine’s introspection, evocative storytelling and atmospheric production, but it may not reach the same heights as his most celebrated releases. Still, for those willing to dive into its depths, Shirt offers a homespun experience that further cements Aaron Maine’s place as one of the more singular voices in contemporary indie music.

It may not be the best album this year and it certainly won’t be one of the most influential or contemporary--there are slews of reviews here for those well-deserved albums--but it may rank among the most important.

There is much joy to be found here, amidst many a question mark, but the compiling of a 49 track album with seven themes and this ratio of hit>miss is an achievement in itself - which says a lot for Cook’s skillset.

Amidst the sanded-corner tunes and taut, buffed percussion, the five-piece have a lot of valuable ruminations on being young and hopeless and helpless in modern Britain.

If Midlake seemed to have lost their sense of fun on The Courage of Others, though, they’ve certainly rediscovered it on Antiphon. Even in its flatter moments, at least the band themselves sound like they’re enjoying it.

For the majority of its running time, Crosses is a slow, steady and comforting listen, very rarely raising above anything more than a laid back ebb and flow.

The surrounding album excels when it approaches that sort of cinematics, and falters when it all but requires whatever accompaniment you might bring to it--say a good book perhaps.

The only possible complaint is that some cuts flow by a bit too smoothly; another dose of the urgency and turbulence "Älgen" and "NFB" wouldn't have gone amiss on this otherwise flawless record.

Hardly earth-shifting, there’s little to scoff at on Different Days but, most importantly, plenty to smile about.

If you aren’t into skits and novelty voice acting then you might struggle with the twenty five-high track listing. If you are though, you’re in for a treat.

Not as mourning as the drunken howls of Iceage and more biting than Shame’s riling observations, Nihilistic Glamour Shots is a disturbing and wholly invigorating release. It's a testament to a fascination with the corrupt and the abnormal.

The flow of the album makes it feel effortless, and not as if it was crafted periodically and with every detail mapped out. And as Sultana welcomes us into their very own Garden of Eden and we absorb further into the grooves, their honed craft is revealed.

Lovato’s move to heavier music is by no means a mistake, but this reimagining of her old music feels artificial. Generic pop music is turned into formulaic rock music, lacking the substance and authenticity of her previous album.

All in all, Almost Free is a FIDLAR album - brash, unhinged, wild, a tad nonsensical, but most of all, a testament to their nature.

For his fifth long player as White Fence, things have remained very much the same musically.

It at least proves that Trail of Dead are by no means a spent creative force, but they’re going to have to try harder to recapture the genuinely visceral energy of their classic records if they’re ever going to reach beyond their own fanbase again.

Whereas her blockbuster debut Invasion of Privacy used every minute of its runtime, AM I THE DRAMA? wavers and meanders around tracks that are fine at best and miserable at worst.

Leave Me Alone is flawed, but its flaws are what makes it so beguiling.

Minor refinements are enough for a group so fully formed from the start, and Dusk is Ultimate Painting’s fullest record yet.

While Tove Lo is confident in her music, she reveals a lot about how she feels and how she deals with problems. There is a level of vulnerability that leaves the listeners feeling like they are experiencing the highs and lows of a party lifestyle right along with her.