With Loner, Barry Can’t Swim cements himself as a boundary-pushing voice in electronic music, one fluent in mood, movement, and meaningful reflection.

Cate Le Bon and H. Hawkline join Gwenno for the spiky, feline Y Gath, sliced between the celestial ballad Utopia and the windswept desolation of War. Finally, on airy closer Hireth, the album seems to take off out of the city streets and into an otherworldly reverie, delicately strung together with harp and flute.

There’s no sniff of second album syndrome here. moisturizer oozes confidence and Wet Leg continue to play to their strengths in style.

After an hour it can be a lot to take in. But for all the soft pads and skittering percussion, the cinematic flourishes that are begging to soundtrack a near-future dystopia (he's already done Black Mirror), there are still enough unique and surprising touches to justify the long runtime.

While it may not break entirely new ground, this album’s embrace of mordant textures and restrained warmth – weaponised on album closer and sonic bath David – cements it as consistently compelling and quietly brilliant.

Flowers is another lunch-line scoop of hearty 70s soul revivalism from music's most dependable dispensary. It's just on the underside of too pretty for its own good.

Moments of rock brilliance are scarce. Your Take On, with dissonant 60s-esque guitars and talk-singing, is a jolt from whisper-soft vocals surrounding 2022’s Inner World Peace. Later tracks see development sacrificed for quantity. Despite treading familiar territory, Different Talking’s soothing melodies are tailor-made to accompany life's quiet corners.

On I quit, HAIM are unbound. It is brilliant, then wandering, then brilliant again; an imperfect, burning, compelling work.

hopefully ! is a new sound, but the album is just as beautiful and personal, showing Loyle Carner’s progress not just as an artist but as a person.

On caroline 2, caroline have done more than just cut eight glittering art rock diamonds here; they've forged a genuinely new musical lane, one entirely their own.

Raspberry Moon brings out the best of what the Hotline TNT project can offer; it's an emo-shoegaze-indie-noise-pop melting pot that hits just right.

While some tracks like Panpsych and Eternal Return remain lost at sea – the latter's lurching tempo is a bit of an auditory mess – KGLW's experimentation with brass, strings, and woodwind definitely hits more than it misses. Drawing together calamity and fortune in a novel way, 15 years in, Phantom Island shows a band still having fun making music together.

Her voice remains gorgeous, but tracks like Banit and Elnadaha never lift beyond a plod; never seizing in the way you know her work can.

This is the group’s first album without founding member Brady Ebert, and the riffs feel less inspired across the board. There are glorious moments throughout, though.

A confessional album that owes more to belief and soul-searching rather than a sense of direction, Lotus sees Little Simz blossoming from a dark spell into new light.

Tina’s bossa nova rhythms slip awkwardly between homage and parody, its retro charms uncertainly realised. Yet even these misfires retain the warmth and sincerity that make More an inviting return. Pulp demonstrate here that revisiting the past can yield genuinely uncompromising and organic rewards.

In Limerence is a debut album that is at once confident and vulnerable.

At the centre of Shura’s third album is the rousing anthemic piano ballad I Wanna Be Loved By You, and it captures the DNA at the heart of this yearning, vulnerable record.

Overall, Black Hole Superette contains a number of fun and novel songs delivered with a remarkably detailed writing style. What really lets the project down is a lack of variety across an overly long tracklist.

Can we still say ‘wow’? The evolution in Joseph’s work is restless and searching. This release is no different as it serves us another intuitive and unexpected turn in her style, instrumentation and vocals.

As much as has been made over the years about their esoteric methods, what they've always managed to do as a band is keep clever-clever at bay. This continues on Crooked Wing. For all their hifalutin techniques, they remain at their sublime best when most heart-on-sleeve.

Even in Arcadia offers a window into the band’s psyche, while keeping audiences at arm’s length while inviting them to lose themselves in its emotional depths.

Despite being an unnerving, disorienting listen, where samples of screams or phone calls clash with blank verse lines weaving in and out of consciousness, GOLLIWOG is a hugely rewarding experience. Blending an immense array of collaborators on the mic and behind the desk, it somehow manages to string them together cohesively in impressive fashion.

On Pirouette Model/Actriz continue their tightrope walk over chaos and introspection, desire and vulnerability, with camp aplomb. Another vital record from a trailblazing band.

The wordless interstitial Flutter is abstract and freeform, its processed violin combining with cranked up electronics into a great surge, but Somerville can just as easily channel that spirit of experimentation into a perfect pop song like all her forebears.

Rebecca Lucy Taylor's third album as Self Esteem sharpens what’s always been at the core of her musical identity: the tension between frank vulnerability and pop maximalism.

Viagr aboys is a return to form and pushes the band’s strengths to the forefront. Although the album perhaps lacks tracks with the earworm qualities that past songs like Sports had, the band succeeds in creating a bizarre and entertaining listening experience.

It’s noisy, it’s militant, it’s human, and it’s a time capsule for the year you’re already burning an effigy of. Get it while it’s hot.

Sometimes the influence of others brings a feeling of dilution, reducing the unadulterated Bon Iver experience, but it's hard to begrudge the sheer delight of these songs. The sexy atmosphere of Walk Home, the reflective pedal steel of There's a Rhythm and the peaceful instrumental coda Au Revoir don't match the experimental genius of previous albums, but Vernon and co have never sounded so hopeful and free from worry.

Things start promisingly on opener Special, with the equally rip-roaring Fantasy shortly after. The problems emerge in the album's latter half, starting from the latest single Tonight, which feels sadly very safe and leads to songs that wouldn't feel out of place on an early 2000s generic pop-punk album.

Bunky Becky Birthday Boy is a return to the immediacy that made Sleigh Bells’ name – but you wonder whether they had to sacrifice quite so much of the nuance of their last couple of albums in the process.

aya pushes her sound into more abrasive territory here, yet the record’s most crushing peaks come in its sparser moments, be it the haunting coda of peach, or the subterranean drone of the album’s title track.

Wide-eyed in sound and vision, three is the magic number for Sacred Paws. They haven’t just jumped into life... they’ve leaped.

Forever Howlong sees Black Country, New Road take their individualistic aura another gallant stride forward. What comes next is anyone’s guess.

Portrait of My Heart channels and exudes a wild assortment of sonic influences – an approach which results in the most honest and entrancing SPELLLING record to date.art

It's to Dacus's credit that Forever is a Feeling still feels grounded in the same raw emotions and subtle details that have rightly made her a star. That said, there is a certain amount of playing it safe.

Lonely People With Power is their most sonically-rounded record, probably their heaviest and quite possibly their best.

Hadreas toys with classic rock and Americana sounds masterfully, these canonical totems of genre upended by his tenderness and specificity of imagery. This is his most band-driven album, and all the players here are vibrating on their own collective frequency.

Blame is a pounding Faithless-esque banger; the angry, awkward Divide enlists the envious talents of Middlesborough rapper Shakk; and the static jams of Dancing On the Tables produce one of the most memorable tracks you’ll hear this year. Benefits are back, whether you like it or not.

A striking fusion of psychedelic rap and R'n'B. Peng balances otherworldly soundscapes with lyrics that bleed with vulnerability.

The dense barrage of Honey Water recalls the smoky alt-rock of Zauner’s second album Soft Sounds from Another Planet, while Picture Window is a much brighter, busier tangle of country, rock and pop. Closing track Magic Mountain paints another gorgeous cinematic soundscape, scattered with clusters of celestial chimes.

Dead Channel Sky’s brilliance is front-loaded. .... This vitality soon becomes mired in conceptual slog – testament that clipping. are capable of greatness but struggle to stay consistently great.

Alter Ego should make meteoric impact. Instead, it lands with a dull thud. The album doesn’t feel like an artistic statement so much as lab-assembled and A&R-curated; sterile and unwilling to take risks.

SASAMI can write the hell out of a love song, but something about this album's emotional side feels more generic than referential.

There are no split decisions here. Divorce have delivered a strong early contender for album of the year.

There’s no question DePlume is a remarkable saxophonist, his orchestral arrangements with International Anthem labelmate Macie Stewart are stunning, yet the appeal is a tenderness for the listener.

Redirecting the euphoric energy of the club toward creative ends, City of Clowns is a rallying call for a more humane digital future.

Nothing remains a heady listen, but there’s an embodied immediacy that’ll make it easy to return to when the sun hits our skin again.

On choke enough, Oklou's mature and assured debut album, any potential bombast is subdued, like it was recorded underwater.

These songs can be small, even womblike, but no less detailed or ambitious for it.

If you’re looking for another Bros or Good Girl / Carrots, it ain’t here. What there is, ten tracks co-produced with Animal Collective bandmate Josh Dibb, is worth celebrating. These are meticulously crafted songs performed by one of modern music’s most distinguished vocalists.

Dulcet and sensitive, high on love and open to change, Nao expresses it all in vulnerable communion on Jupiter: the collapse, the calm, and the ascension.

Every song on People Watching is carefully crafted to remain with the listener. The bittersweet lyrics intertwined with catchy heartland rock and seamless vocals make this album Fender’s best yet.

Horror is an impassioned journey, beautifully crafted and brightly euphoric.

While Biig Piig clearly knows what sticks and what doesn’t in terms of easy listening, the album does demonstrate the artist’s desire to explore new sounds, but 11:11 is careful not to rock the boat, often playing it safe with the majority of its runtime.

There's nothing raw here; this is a band settling into their status as Britain’s new rock innovators. There seems little doubt that this will be their most influential record, and it feels reasonable to place them alongside the likes of Soft Machine, XTC and Spirit of Eden-era Talk Talk.

The Attachment Theory highlight fascinating new aspects to Van Etten's craft, like the reflective prisms of precious stone. What is lost in cohesion is made up for by an exploratory freedom that the band revel in, hopping from wistful to explosive to triumphant.

It’s not groundbreaking but, like the first record, it’s a fucking good time.

Never Exhale is not for the faint of heart, and as its name suggests, is often a breathlessly intense, punishing listen, one filled with audible dynamism, sonic interest and gnarled heaviness.

From Appalachian folk song Golden Willow Tree to shape-note tunes like I'm On My Journey Home, Amidon preserves the melodic integrity of his source material while allowing foreign tones and textures to seep in.

Eusexua demands both surrender and celebration; it doesn't just embrace the thrust of commercial dance, it subsumes it into the chromatic, honed prism of twigs' artistry.

The record is an interesting proposition, and one that, while never quite hitting the nail on the head of what it could be, still offers glimpses of what both artists are capable of.

Overall, The Bad Fire proves this legendary group can still produce moving, intelligent and vital work even as they embark on their fourth decade. As their lockdown-inspired success proved, Mogwai remain a guiding light in dark, troubling times.

The record proves to be slightly more interesting in its lyrical content than its musical content, but that’s more a compliment than a dig. It plays the softer than silk, pseudo-gospel rock style of boygenius with heart and emphatically hits every pacing beat on its checklist.

Lead single Neon Signs is a vibrant, flickering song about the breakdown of trust, while Irreversible Damage considers wild landscapes that are irrevocably changed by us but still the closest thing to wilderness we have.

Full Moon is an utter joy.

There are memorable lines galore if you can keep up with Lunny's runaway train delivery.

Perverts is Hayden Anhedönia’s first big step in establishing Ethel Cain as a character, a world and an idea, not just another ephemeral popstar pseudonym.

What’s remarkable about the album is how this disquiet slips in amongst some of the most purely beautiful music they’ve ever conjured.

Access All Areas is an assertively, confidently, confoundingly surface level record that succeeds in presenting their lead singles with various wigs on for 45 minutes and change.

[Redemption Love's] use of repetition is borderline annoying, the instrumental is completely uninteresting, making this track feel like just another piece of filler on an album that otherwise features some truly captivating songwriting. The title track, for example, is the Joan Armatrading we know and love, and then some: contemplative, wise and deliciously groovy.

It may lack a real ‘big’ moment (akin to fan favourite track Big Dipper), but Warmduscher’s latest album oozes with variety, talented musicianship and their inimitably endearing weirdness.

Nobody Loves You More has both the versatility and reflective quality of a ‘best of’ compilation, but one that simultaneously hints at there being plenty more highlights to come.

Small Changes seems to reach the listener’s ear with its patina built-in. A boundless effort that, while revelling in its musical referents – Sade, Gaye, Withers – stands tall, ceaselessly, beside them.

What sets Every Inch of Earth Pulsates apart from its predecessors, though, is the sheer urgency of the piece; it crackles with a nervous energy that will surely propel them to new heights.

These are the most maximalist songs he has put to tape in years, stretching from sub-one minute sound collages to 12-plus minute prose poems. Melodic indie sits close to a black metal scream by Elverum’s daughter, which a minute later segue’s into louche lounge rock. The intensely personal blends with the political and existential.

Songs of a Lost World is a true return to the desolate beauty of their 80s heyday.

Allison paints a full emotional landscape of this chapter of her life that’s as complexly nuanced as it is brilliantly captivating.

There’s plenty of the usual Amyl fare here, with some absolute stompers right out of the gate.

While it is enormous fun, there should be no expectation of a 'shock of the new'; it can feel, somewhat, like ConMan are treading water.

At times though, the album’s dreamy nature lacks the variety and depth exuded on Owens’ previous works like Inner Song. Its reverb-soaked aura may be lovely, but it rarely drifts course.

Is Clouds In the Sky... better than Waterslide...? They both reward repeated listens so time will tell. Does it matter? No. Fans will love it, and new listeners, who fall in love on the strength of this album, have a stellar back catalogue to devour.

Familiarity – and earnestness – is, however, what Japandroids do expertly at their most locked in. It’s also been the heaviest load for their music to bear, the easiest way to knock them down.

With a clearly defined sound and unapologetic enthusiasm, The Linda Lindas are absolutely a group to watch.

Williams may be known for her inventive approach to the guitar – inspired as much by the spiritual blues of Elizabeth Cotten and American primitive guitarist John Fahey as it is Guitar Hero II – but it’s her egalitarian approach to collaboration that makes Acadia so alluring.

While certainly not a work for casual listening, NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD is, in all of its warped, noisy instrumentation, the embodiment of music as art. Removed from corporate influence, conventional song segmentation, and algorithmically tuned track lengths, Godspeed You! Black Emperor are free to convey a message uncompromised.

Ultimately Honey is one of the more interesting experiments in the use of AI, but in this case it feels like a watering down of emotional impact from an artist who has never had an issue when it comes to capturing hearts and moving bodies.

Teenaged at heart, but adult in mind and execution, Smitten combines sounds, moods and eras to present arguably Pale Waves' most complete album.

The vulnerable romance of Falling In Love Again and tactile tenderness of Don’t Drown Me Out make for welcome detours in a collection of songs that is led so intensely by strut-worthy rhythms and that raw bad-boy edge.

While the slippery compressed horns and strings snaking through a few tracks feel a little over-sanitised, they do match the sense of unease in Pearson’s lyrics reflecting on loss and pain, like shadows subtly bleeding into her kaleidoscopic soundscape.

The production is pristine, while none of her lo-fi charm has been lost. My Method Actor is a triumph on all counts.

WOOF. is an intense joy, and absolute in establishing Fat Dog. It can, however, hit the same notes throughout.

By the time Continuum 10 closes the album with a flash of rapture, and a gentle piano progression that signals the closeness of the next rebirth, it feels like your soul has been thoroughly cleansed.

Overall, the album expands on the iconic Trippy Gum and Bamboo, showcasing how Cosials' drawl and Perrote’s wailing blend into a beautiful melody you want to sing along to.

Sonic debauchery laced with moments of introspection, The Dare’s debut is worth the hype.

Manning Fireworks is polished and lean, and it’s not unfair to wonder if the record is an attempt to capitalise on Lenderman’s sudden popularity. It’s front-loaded with his best work – funny songs about sad acts and disappointment.

Home In Another Life keeps you coming back for more.

The merry, danceable energy never lets up, from the meandering guitar work of Hi! to the album’s rousing finale, Let Me Cook You. Talkie Talkie sees Los Bitchos return with more polished, vivid and delightfully camp soundscapes.