While Tres Cabrones churns with the urgency and fire of a much younger band, the collection ultimately reveals more about the group’s raw early years and the gnarled musical roots that got them here, than providing any hints as to where in the hell the Melvins might possibly be going in the future.

It is an interesting experiment, but realistically most listeners will struggle to get past the first couple of tracks before reaching for their trusty copy of Houdini.

There is promise, with the gorgeous choral addition in both “It Ain’t Wrong Loving You” and “Good Together” adding some much needed depth, but the new tracks don’t really show us a side of HONNE we haven’t seen before.

The listener is never really on terra firma when ambling through the elusive foothills of Range of Light, but every fluctuating composition and shift in mood makes for a refreshing experience spin after spin on a record that could so easily be entangled and mired in its own instrumental mastery.

Short and sweet at nine songs, a few struggle to stand alone.

It will of course satisfy long time fans, but those that have overlooked the band over the years would be wise to reunite with them for the battle ahead.

Back to Forever is a fully-realised pop album and grandiose to a fault. It’s got a fair share of cheesy moments, but they’re endearing.

Esoteric Warfare won’t be seen as Mayhem’s best album--there was never any chance of that. However, it’s as good as its predecessor, and every bit as vile and crushing as you’d expect.

The real flaw, if there is one, is that they might have strayed a little too far from their roots. The uninitiated, though, will see this as an intriguing electro-pop record, first and foremost.

Moments of personal darkness are threaded throughout Hard Love, but the clarity and strength that Showalter finds when he shrugs off the gloom gives the songs a restless optimism tempered with a belief that the sun will always come up no matter how long your night has been.

Overall, it can be said that Tea for the Tillerman² is a strong throwback that boomerangs and turns in on itself ; it’s not the perfect path to Yusuf / Cat Stevens music for new listeners, but it undeniably succeeds in touching nostalgic hearts.

The Other I is a confident collection of tunes decent enough to warrant keeping an eye on 2:54's future movements.

The Veils are specialists in a songcraft where the traditional is aided by the current in order to explore new sonic realms. The album, which took nearly two years to take shape, is delicately spun rather than cobbled together, and makes for treasured listening.

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.

Whilst Heartstrings is unlikely to break new ground in the way they have before, it’s a return to brooding form from a band many thought had rung out.

This record is a masterpiece of aural and visual pandemonium.

A work of striking, defiant abstraction that cements Braxton’s position as one of the most interesting composers of modern times, and one that’s more than worth careering off the road to.

In terms of coherence, it’s quite possibly their best LP since Imperial Wax Solvent.

Somewhere in the combination of the album’s dramatic, heavy riffs and revealing lyrics, there’s a depth to the artistry that depicts both the political criticisms that sit at its crux, as well as the band’s trademark alt-rock sound.

Picking standout moments is as difficult as finding instances where the record’s charm wears off--there’s not a stage where the latter ever happens, but such is Beach Fossils’ way of doing things there are never really any huge lifts in quality either.

In short, there’s a sad irony to the title of this album; as a body of work, it derives courage through its commitment to playing it safe.

It’s nice to hear the pair experimenting with their sound and trying to do something new, but it’s unfortunate that the quality of the song writing has seemed to suffer as a result.

Ultimately Harry Styles feels comfortable and readily worn-in.

Somewhere Else makes for an invaluable addition to any self-respecting pop-loving household.

Blur the Line is nothing like perfect, but it’s a record scored through with an impressively quick progression; not only have Those Darlins matured musically over the past couple of years, they’ve found something they’d sorely lacked to this point--bite.

Happily, the good outweighs the bad by quite a margin on Christmas Party.

24-7 Rock Shit might just be another slap in the face to those claiming the downfall of rock music. But less talking and more listening.

They’ve struck a perfect balance between pushing boundaries and making people dance.