A collection of authentic songs about self-discovery and understanding.

The ex-Coral songwriter is unafraid to experiment on Yawn, and--aside from a few songs that lose a little of their immediacy due to similar tempos and an abundance of shoegaze guitar--the likes of Mither ('Is that your key in the door / Nothing else would mean more') showcase Ryder-Jones as one of the most distinctive, comforting and essential voices we have.

The only downside to the album is that it is so easy to listen to, we are carried almost unaware to The End, the final track in a collection of well-thought-out and well-curated tunes.

His [guitarist Stephen Carpenter's] fleeting interplay with Jerry Cantrell's sprawling guest solo reaches past minor curiosity to become an essential encounter on a record with countless unfurling highlights.

Somersault takes a bolder leap forward, taking tropes and palettes from 60s pop, grunge, and even country, and making bold play with strings and horns, piano and harpsichord, surprising effects, freer guitar and more assertive bass.

The only weak portion of the album (relatively) is two consecutive rockers towards the end (Today, I Will), because you've come to expect something more experimental. But this is a minor quibble in what's otherwise one of the most exciting albums to come out this year, regardless of genre.

There Is No Other is a similar, gentle masterpiece [to Beck's Morning Phase], but there's leather located behind the silk and the record packs an emotional punch.

Keep Moving is the closest that Loving in Stereo gets to its own calling card, but too often the album gets mired in mid-tempo fare that allows the adrenaline to wane.

Mostly, though, this is everything a debut should be: fascinating, confused and a little bit terrified.

The results are certainly a departure for an artist who seems to relish the chance to collaborate and while each of these ten songs is a Roberts original, the lush song craft recalls the golden age of electric folksters like Fairport Convention and Trees, ensuring Roberts' ongoing connection with the past.

Brickbat is never less than a delight: a sparky and genre-spanning showcase of songcraft and ambition. Lovingly rendered, a clean mix allows its often lavish arrangements to soar.

Sleaford Mods are already one of the oddest British bands in this fraught political era. With English Tapas, they continue to push the case that they’re also the most necessary.

While stylistically The War on Drugs have never released anything revolutionary, A Deeper Understanding lacks that spark that their previous releases had, which could well be due in part to their move to a new major label home.

Taking cues from her early mixtapes, its songs function as sketches that reinforce each other to create a heavy and rewarding listen.

He can still shred with the best of them (Wait, Hi Dee Dee, Watcher), but across this hour-plus album he revels in upending expectations, whether through abrupt tonal shifts (To You's new age synth excursions, Void's trippy synth hits), fried-metal no-wave (The Bell), or even a regular rocker that could pass for early Radiohead (Reflections).

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.

Nestled among the more turbulent pieces are some truly infectious melodies, with euphoric lead single Lose It Again closely followed by the effervescent Part That Bleeds, while frothy, loved-up closer Stuck might just be the record’s most endearing moment.

I Am Easy to Find is littered with these ambitious flourishes, all of which add up to make a much broader and more pointed statement of offbeat intent.

Just when it all seems familiar, you're struck by a specific detail and realise you’ve started to smile.

Gazelle Twin has crafted a masterpiece that feels timeless, her most deft blend of punishing and melodic yet as well as a fearless examination of both then and now.

He maintains his voice, his melodic instinct and knack for presenting raw emotional landscapes without ever slipping into self-pity or losing his sense of humour. However, in throwing himself into the garage rock mould he loses the loose relationship with genre that allowed the twitchy dynamism of his best work.

Much like Ocean’s Blonde, Devotion unfolds and unravels in different ways upon each listen, giving you everything but never too soon. With it, Tirzah and Levi have created something fiercely unique, relatable and of the moment; one of the most crucial pop records of the year.

The Weather is Pond at their most daring--and most sardonic.

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

A beautiful record; you just wish the vocabulary existed to do it justice.

With the release of PLAY ME, Kim Gordon has mastered a modern mixture of distorted guitar and intense trip-hop beats. Gordon’s lyricism throughout the album is more politically confrontational than her past two solo records.

To listen to Photay, meanwhile, is to be continually taken aback by new sounds and sensations, and to marvel at how artfully Shornstein dissolves them together.

Playing with a mix of spoken word and sung lyrics in both English and French, powerful techno beats and fear-inducing soundscapes, New Path is a beautifully balanced and flowing record.