The tempos are brisk, the mood is chirpy. No, make that chirpy chirpy cheek cheek. Keep it at, though, and much, much more compelling depths soon emerge.

Access All Areas is a place where retro influences merge with contemporary thematics, additionally bestriding the border between nostalgia-evoking sampling and entirely fresh production techniques. From top to bottom, this record exhibits toned melodies, striking harmonies, and impressive vocal chemistry.

As a whole, Anti might not be as provocative of a statement as Rihanna hopes for it to be, but it’s still fascinating to see an artist in the midst of a metamorphosis.

Toujours reminisces to an age of simple love songs, and Sabina encapsulates a more elegant, Breton-wearing, subtle popstar in the milieu of Serge Gainsbourg’s Paris.

Fratti’s voice is honest, almost deadpan, in its delivery of plain and modest phrases – and scoops up to notes like she’s a radio starlet. But that familiarity is constantly unsettled by its instrumental landscape, where scratching strings recall the compositions of Tony Conrad, and song structure is thoroughly disjointed and unpredictable, recalling the arrangements of Marina Herlop and Meredith Monk.

This is a wonderfully assured comeback record, but it’s also precisely more of the same.

The album does well as a high-octane rock record, so much so it makes you wonder why some tracks feel ever so slightly diluted.

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

It’s a little difficult to get a handle on his subject matter, although there’s an engaging quality to his delivery that makes him worth sticking with. The rest of the band work more cohesively, applying mob shouts and sunny pop ‘oohs’ to the ADD-riddled backing.

This is another lo-fi gem, and most encouraging is the fact that there’s apparently plenty more he can wring out of this particular sonic platform; he might not need slick studio production to genuinely capitalise on his potential.

At times, it can feel slightly rushed - with the band seeming understandably eager to quickly follow-up on early hype. ... At it’s best, however, Growing Up is a fantastically multi-dimensional record that presents a shining showcase of four preternaturally talented stars.

The popsmith has never seemed to win over hearts in a big way, for whatever reason. It's A Pleasure is unlikely to change that, sadly. However, those that have stumbled across his ma-a-assive talent will fall deeper in love.

It’s by no means perfect, but that’s not what the Rolling Stones are about. These troubadour, raconteurs set the blueprint and this is them laminating it for good measure, refusing to ever let the moss grow fat.

SABLE, fABLE’s slog in the middle wouldn’t have been as hollow had that seeped into the central concept more. For now, the record shows signs that Bon Iver’s discography runs in duologies, much like Mitski’s.

In experimenting with various sonic tapestries paired with a conceptual thematic essence, she ends up hitting effective compositions in some moments and awkwardly stumbling on others. It’s a dream that might gradually fade in and out of the mind, but when it does clear out the misty blur, some moments end up potent.

It feels like a debut record in the sense that they’re trying to do so many new things without 100% confidence, but also like a good debut record, it makes you massively excited for the future.

A Common Turn serves as an excellent commentary on modern life, with some intensely personal struggles that others might be wary of sharing, lined up and forensically examined.

Nubiyan Twist and their cast of collaborators are so adept at what they do. Bouncing off each other, and melding genres while still always feeling like a Nubiyan Twist record. Creating an album that’s satisfying in it’s playful and oh so funky breadth, if not it’s depth.

The ambition is staggering and for Fatima Al Qadiri to have made Asiatisch both a coherent listen and a sensible comment on western perception it means we’ve not only got a talented musician on our hands but also an extremely wise cultural commentator.

There’s no denying the technical ability and songcraft is there, and unpicking the layers is the most enjoyable part of listening, but it’s emotional tugging ultimately strikes as hollow, not through insincerity but in being too obfuscated or overbearing for me to really love these songs.

This time round, despite still being pretty transparent with their influences, they are not totally overcome by them, and it results in The Voyeurs making a collection of songs more than worthy of a surreptitious peek.

Everything explores anguish from loss but consequently finds gaiety within it. One thing that’s certain about Bnny’s progressive project is that its one to balance a surge of emotions,

A welcome comeback.

If there’s a critique, it’d be on density, the album feels super compressed with a hectoring pressure that barely lets up despite some smart sequencing choices chopping up the pacing as well as it can to ride the turbulence. More moments of atmospheric space could have given the emotional catharsis room to breathe.

Colourgrade can be something of a challenge, and certainly an intentional one. Tirzah seems to wonder just how far we’re willing to follow her into the maw. There’s nothing else quite like this available, yet this doesn’t make it a particularly pleasant listen.

Crooked Calypso never sounds outdated or like a couple of crooners growing old, but it certainly sounds graceful.

It’s a throwback to 90s aesthetics, but it’s equally a modern dance pop record, almost a reclamation moment like New Order’s late-career return to form, Music Complete. Saint Etienne similarly tap into everything they do best, but it’s by no means groundbreaking.

Where Domestica broke your heart, Vitriola only manages to get you half riled at the world around you. Kasher and co. continue to produce records that hit the nail on the head in terms of topic. This time, however, the hammer blows aren’t what they’ve been before.