Whelm is a Herculean debut.

Making experimental music is certainly a noble calling. Sneaking the adventurous spirit of improvisation into a relatively conventional song-based record such as Eyes On The Lines, however: that's truly radical.

Their fifth album is one that doesn’t deviate away from their usual template. At the heart of the songs lies the same exuberant energy and youthful abandon found at the core of their debut Waited Up Til It Was Light.

The title track stomps and spins with strands of the Turkish music influence the ensemble collected with their 2013 album, Dalmak. The almost-finale “Northeast Kingdom” pleads for peace and respite, but Mechanics of Dominion is aware of how uncertain any meaningful resolution appears.

Thankfully, despite everybody and their dog comparing Baxter to legendary musicians and writers, he has managed to make an album that not only does justice to those comparisons, but actually warrants them.

Devour overall is a punishing, malicious force of a record, one focused entirely on the eradication of any sense of self and musical procedure, with no room for reprieve. It perfectly captures the raw, hemorrhaging nature of Chardiet’s thematic intention, and live performances and in this way it is nothing short of an unbridled success.

For those who already love the album, the remix works best when Litt’s touch is relatively light. An intriguing aspect of the remix is the renewed focus on Stipe’s vocals. ... The remix aside, this reissue should be a chance for those previously sceptical of Monster to give it another try.

The widened musical palette helps to pull you in while the songs are digging in their hooks. Pollard's production is astute enough to know when the most potent thing to do is to fade away.

After a string of EPs, Chinouriri arrives at her first full-length with confidence and ease. Devastation has never sounded so fun.

Radiosoul understandably doesn’t pretend to be radical in style. His identity remains in the mist, a potent star yet to arise, a minor upgrade from the debut as he suggested in the press.

More careful explorations of Cascade’s less instantly obvious depths suggests that Shepherd may well have found a method for seamlessly blending the widescreen, unhurried explorations and subtle variations on a theme that characterised Promises with his foundational roots and ongoing interest in the simple joys of surrendering to hypnotic repetition that drives the pummelling physicality of dancefloor-friendly electronic music, most recently sampled on 2019’s Crush.

While Margolin still leads with a raggedy blend of indignation and yearning, she also seems more resolved in facing long-standing grief and/or lingering PTSD. There’s fury here, floods of it, but also sorrow.

It’s astounding stuff from a modern master.

Crunchy, ethereal, and odd in its harsh beauty, PAINLESS is a record of contradictions that Yanya spectacularly weaves together. Allowing us to see more of Nilüfer Yanya – as a person, as a musician, as a lyricist – each part is as intriguing and rewarding to dive into as the last.

An uncommonly diverse yet still seamlessly unified album that is audibly conscious of traditions without ever becoming beholden to them, Odyssey seems destined to be counted amongst the landmarks of the ongoing creatively fertile Brit-Jazz resurgence.

Ethel Cain’s debut was a feat of artistry. This is a feat of musicianship.

Drumless and bassless, L’amour is as intimate as a late morning lie-in--bum notes (and there are an endaring few) are left completely in tact, you can hear shirt sleeves swipe against guitar strings, and the almost wordless vocals sound almost like Lewis is too scared to make his feelings known.

placeholder is the sound of Hand Habits hitting their stride, and playing to their strengths before anyone listening even realised what those strengths were. The guitar heroics of Duffy’s time in Morby’s band have yielded to an inspired flair for arrangements, piercing turns of phrase and the sound of an artist—and a person—truly finding themselves.

This album might not save the world or slow down the steady decline of our rainforests, but perhaps it will raise a little awareness, bring a bit of hope, and create a whole lot of smiles for all of those that hear it.

Their self-titled debut is one that bubbles with retro rock fuelled passion.

If this is the end of whatever this is, they’ve recorded a superlative piece of work which leaves us on one hell of a high, despite it sounding anything but high itself.

The production on the album is very lowkey, allowing for Kehlani’s extraordinary vocals and vivid lyricism to take centre stage.

By the time the record reaches it’s 12-minute close “Angel”, it feels like a great release. You’ve been put through the ringer with the abrasive “Cook A Coffee” (with plenty of shots at a certain, now former, Politics Live pundit) and “Be My Guest” and made it out the other side. Sweatier and ready to take on the world.

This is a tight, focused, powerful effort by one of the most underrated bands in the world – and certainly one of the finest bands to come from these shores in the past twenty years. Night Network is a minor masterpiece.

It’s probably fair to say that if you’re not a fan of drone or ambient music then Centralia is unlikely to change your perception of the genres. However as a document of the music of Mountains, it’s their finest work to date.

Whilst Laurel Hell doesn’t necessarily feel like a new Mitski album, her talent as a songwriter is strong enough to support these new contexts to her storytelling. Her cleverly crafted lyrics captivates listeners without ruining her enigmatic persona.

If anything, Voir Dire is a record that pulls itself apart as it continues, subtly dredging the listener in philosophical bile and pause-the-track one-liners.

The vast majority of Music In Exile features the sparse but richly nuanced sound of a supremely well-oiled band with one foot in ancient traditions and the other firmly in the here and now doing their intoxicating live thing in a room whilst a recorder's switched on.