There’s not an ounce of fat, not a wasted moment, not a single beat that doesn’t suit its purpose to the letter. It’s a monolithic testament to a rapper tired of being treated as both the victor and the underdog at once. It’s undeniably clear just which one he is here. King’s Disease II is a victory lap that nonetheless never lets up its pace.

What makes Pageant a great record, and a convincing document of queer life, is the balance between earnestness and droll humour, a push and pull that can be traced back through the work of Rufus Wainwright, Pet Shop Boys and The Smiths, right back to Susan Sontag's definition of camp as an expression of this duality in 1964.

Manic revels in the explorative genre-pop bombast, letting the delicates twinkle, and the snarls bare their teeth; yet it's the soul that shines dominantly. It's her most complete work to date.

Renaissance is one of Beyoncé’s best albums to date: it doesn’t walk in the footsteps of its predecessors but instead makes its own path, going to places we didn’t think Beyoncé would go. The six years since her last effort have well and truly been worth the wait.

From their dream-pop origins, through their psychedelic sophomore, they have arrived at a spiritual revolution with Emerald Classics. It's a development to be proud of, to feel good about.

Even with the online version trimmed to his ex-label's liking, LP! is a riveting display of hip-hop steeped in its future while also embracing all the music Peggy has consumed up until this point.

On album number two, instead of writing out a cheat sheet, they have created an enigma for you to unravel. One of dark beauty and twisting longing.

Wolf is both a departure and a refinement for Tyler, combining his best traits in such a way as to nearly eliminate his weaknesses.

All in all, it is one of the most exceptionally realised albums to enter the world since her last release, and confirms that both as an artist and a role-model Monáe really ought to be celebrated as Electric Lady number one.

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.

If you’ve heard a previous Moctar record and pieced together the best bits, you’ll have an imitation of Funeral for Justice’s righteous glory, but if you haven’t, use this record as a roadmap in discovering the previous odd-decade of Moctar’s talent.

Marriage is an impressively balanced album with highs and lows, and songs to make your adrenaline rush while others make you feel perfectly submerged in pensive emotion. The evidence is clear, Deap Vally have really come into their own here, encompassing everything you could ask for from a rock album - ego and bravado diluted by cold hard self-reflection.

Chaos Angel stays inherently pure, expertly produced in a way that Hawke’s airy vocals are free to dance over a gathering of enchanting instrumentation. Still, her poetic writing achievements rest at the foreground of the record, demonstrating a detailed surveillance of her life, in order to acquire some valuable closure in the face of chaos.

A record [that] gleefully skips through genres without ever missing a beat, Jamie T’s fourth effort is a genuinely magnificent album that surpasses anything else in his discography with consummate ease. He simply hasn’t missed a trick.

Super Monster’s songs are each a self-contained story, but it’s unclear whether each song relates to a different person in Claud’s life or if they all revolve around the same person. Regardless, the unique identity in each one of the 13 tracks is what makes it such a terrific and arresting listen. Claud’s dreamlike quality of writing makes breakups sound nostalgic, unrequited love enchanting, and rejection a worthwhile pursuit.

Chromatica is not Lady Gaga returning to form, that would imply she’s ever had a dull moment - even Joanne held its own in a world of expectation - what is however, is an embellishment of who she is, both inward and outward, in a moment where the world needs beating, pulsating music to get lost in.

Pang is a remarkable debut album assured of its legitimacy and brilliance, one that should be celebrated for its shimmering beauty and the success of its authorial intent.

Eschewing the sleek production of Electric Lady Studios, which must have been mere blocks away, gives the album the raucous feeling of a bar-room jam. ... When the backing instrumentation drops out to leave Leithauser booming those words into an empty room, the album is at its most powerful.

He nails some sassy jazzy tunes mixed with poetic melancholia. There are still some lines that sound initially amusing in their absurdity.

Overall, it’s clear that King Gizz’s tireless effort over the past 8 years still has no end in sight as they release yet another radical and innovative album which doesn’t fall short of the endless inspiration that King Gizzard continue to shine.

Just as Cruickshank has put her body and soul into the writing of her debut, the boys’ production perfectly complements its dynamics and sentiment.

The Australian duo's first full-length feels whole and complete, and with a distinctive sound.

If there’s any justice at all, the future ahead after the release of this deeply moving, often mesmerising, sparse yet still richly nuanced album will see Chapman conclude his much-overdue journey to wider renown from the shadows he’s operated in for far too long.

This is properly heavy fare, a sound utterly bereft of light yet still richly, intensely, rewardingly musical that makes the evil posturing of the extreme metal posse seem even more daft.

While the album may have been crafted during a two-year tsunami of struggle, Isaiah Rashad still manages to sound as calm as an ocean’s gentle waves; sounding so effortless has never taken so much effort.

As the tracks ebb and flow, the record provides the perfect accompaniment to the current heatwave we're all struggling to survive. Santigold has dropped this full-length artefact at exactly the right time, and she deserves all the recognition she gets.

There is nothing better than hearing an artist reaching the apex of his power. Trentemøller arrives at that point with this album taking its rightful place amongst the best electronic albums released this year with comparative e

The Future’s Void is an album that, rather than plead with us to disconnect from the online, asks us to face up to a world with where internet, surveillance, selfies, the NSA aren’t going to go away, and to find a way to continue to interact with this technology in a constructive and positive fashion.