An album that makes for pleasant easy listening, with frequent traces of genius.

Acetone may have preferred to follow the silent way, but they were the strong, silent types, which makes the contents of 1992 – 2001 resonate so strongly now.

Loose Future embraces uncertainty and jumps headfirst into big emotions, but with acute self-awareness.

By the time it’s over, you’re wondering how a record so precise, so considered, can sound so gloriously laid-back, and quite how they’ve managed to convey so many different ideas so efficiently.

Shelley’s on Zenn-La is renewed proof of Coates’ gift for flexing considerable technological and musical muscle without ever becoming alienating. For all talk of its complexity and Coates’ varied background this is, simply, a generous and fascinating album that’s difficult to stay away from.

The difficult second album never sounded so effortlessly good.

Kidal is first and foremost a kick-ass, spirited rock 'n' roll album that demands to be heard far beyond any 'World Music' specialist interest circles.

Strange’s open attitude towards collaboration benefits his music while he maintains a unique sound, an amalgamation of clear references into an entirely new shape. Horror seems to ask the listener to face themselves in the way Strange has on this record, and not everyone will be ready.

Cut Worms, now Clarke’s third record under this moniker, arrives as handsomely as the tidal waves that ramble onto the shore: high-spirited yet uncompromising in their force.

With this record, he’s laid to down a marker, not just for 2019, but for the future of UK rap. It’s hard to think of a debut so confident in every musical aspect since J Hus’ Common Sense. Advice: consume daily for effective mood enhancement.

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

Acting as both sultry invitation and empowered self-confession, the song is a clarion call for all those who deign to diminish the duo’s talents – talents that blaze through on Ungodly Hour with a full and unrelenting force.

Lovegaze treks further into the shadows to present a murkier, more mysterious sound, full of fog and strange potions, while still remaining rooted in substantial songwriting. The end results are often disarmingly beautiful.

It is music capable of helping us to navigate the world around us, and within us, with greater clarity and depth of meaning.

An album both more mature and more realised than anything Hop Along have realised previously, Bark Your Head Off, Dog is a deft balance of quiet, folky meanderings and rousing slabs of indie rock, the two combining in to an amalgam that on paper, shouldn’t really work, but in practice cements Hop Along as far more than another quirky indie pop band, and elevates them in to another realm entirely.

Textured, emotionally rich, and transportive, it’s a soothing balm for uncertain times. If you’re looking for an opportunity to get away from the noise, you could do a lot worse than Panda Bear’s latest escape into the ethereal.

While it might not be the masterpiece some people are looking for from this band, it is nevertheless a more than worthy addition to their canon.

Settle is a soulful, accomplished and versatile record.

What makes Manipulator one of Segall’s strongest releases to date is less to do with the energy he brings to proceedings, though, and more about just how evident his keenness to experiment is, from start to finish.

Like all great Country records, Romano’s is cathartic--your heart aches for him and with him--and it is this emotive sway that makes the record a success.

With this record, Frahm reminds us that music--whatever it's genre, origin, form or status--holds a power like no other medium to represent our shared, human emotional experiences.

We can certainly add this gorgeous new album to the list of things that we take warmly to our hearts during these trouble times to help us make some brief sense out of it all.

IV is not all fuzzy skull-rattling stoner jams. Repeated listens (especially those at high volume) reveal a clever use of melody and a clever structural awareness.

Never content with, or intent on, being one thing for too long, Play What They Want thrives on anarchy without chaos.

It is characteristic of the Brewis’ distinct methods that Open Here can feel so cumulative yet still reinventive.

Romantically confused, Wasser has drawn strength, inspiration and guidance from people through music to better understand relationships on this album. Damned Devotion is a brilliant self-help resource.

Liberated from certain commercial expectations of their primary bands, MIEN have made an album that experiments freely without sacrificing broader appeal.

Sticking to their core tenets, This Behavior is perhaps the record where ADULT. get the weirdest and the most lost, taking their aggressive electronic soundscapes to a plain more immersive and menacing than they’ve ever been before.