This is actually a great record, because Black Lips are the sort of band that can pull off preening and rambunctious in the same album (sometimes even in the same song).

The album spans TikTok pop to grunge and lots in between. De Souza commits to them all.

What remains from their early work is their command of atmosphere. What’s new is a real prestige in the instrumentation, felt in the soaring interlude on Mr Cold Embrace, the restrained build of Something’s Broken and in the scuzzy layered guitars on the thrillingly furious Roobosh.

While Deportation Blues may have come from that place of great turmoil, it also further magnifies the dynamism and creativity that underpins BC Camplight’s work.

The album doesn’t make for a grand departure from Let’s Eat Grandma’s sound, though fans of the band will have no problem hearing about what Hollingworth got up to on her holiday.

In lesser hands, it might come off as an overwrought and incongruous addendum, but the piccolo and flugelhorn, rolling funk and string quartet that have peppered the album demonstrate that the band aren't simply flirting with new directions, but wholeheartedly embracing them.

In Spades is all Whigs. Dulli has never sounded better. If you ever loved the Whigs you will love this.

ears to Burn establishes itself as something more than just two different artists working together – neither Iron & Wine nor Calexico needs to win the crown. It’s just a great album of great songs that is bound to bring new fans to the work of both.

Rozi Plain is miles away from the sedate folk of her early career, though the subtle interpolation of additional elements is so masterfully done that she makes it look easy.

There’s not much depth to the lyrics. But when it sounds this good, who cares?

The obliqueness is only a challenge if you allow it to be; the depth of Hersh’s music has always revealed itself over time rather than through simple earworms (although they're present on the mighty Killing Two Birds).

Her voice is excellent throughout – defiant and unwavering over Littmann's production – and sonically it is patient, cinematic and hopeful. A refuge, perhaps, for anyone who has been on the receiving end of the confounding and cosmic world of grief.

This is James standing alongside the people who inspire her and made her feel like she belongs. That confidence pays off on closing track See Through, where James strips everything back. She stands alone, finally at ease with herself.

The result is intimate and arresting.

There’s a buoyant urgency to proceedings, the kind of detail in the lyrics that let you know here is a person telling you stories of the world as they see them in a way that is fiercely meant.

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

Orquídeas is a display of bravura. Between Kali Uchis’ plurality of sound, empowered directives, and dance-inducing hypnosis – this is an entire album of sweet spots.

Not everything here works; the album’s middle section gets a little too bogged down in the weeds to the point of distraction. However, the final stretch sees a thrilling switch to route one, such as the climax of Third Double or the excellent Favoured Over The Ride.

One of his greatest talents is his ability to craft an album that takes the listener places. Health is no exception; like all greats it grows on you the more you listen.

It never feels like an escapist project. It becomes an expression of the bleed between the unconscious and the world around us, through often beautiful, always unsettling music.

III is a record for getting lost in your thoughts, rather than losing your mind on the floor.

As ever, the potent gallows humour of The Peace And Truce... derives not from flaneur-ish observation, but from direct experience.

Unlike He’s Got the Whole...--and indeed much of the Joan of Arc discography--it’s a stylistically cohesive effort too, primarily consisting of Ausikaitis delivering lilting, honeyed to the point of saccharine vocals over undulating, ambient backdrops.

Downey has captured something that you’d perhaps have to call 'Caledoniana' – Scottish country with a pure heart.

The cut-deep lyrics throughout the record paired with well-crafted sounds are sad, yet comforting. Cassyette has created an album that lyrically feels like a shoulder to cry on while sonically is an empowering outburst of rock.

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.

A compilation of 13 new recordings of past songs and covers, Mayonnaise--and its Hellmann’s inspired cover art--are as buttery smooth as the well-known dressing. The recording is as clear and intimate as a living room concert, which is a treat, as Deer Tick is one group whose touring has made them terrific showmen.

Through it all, Let’s Eat Grandma encapsulate the agony and ecstasy of youth--and even more besides--in constantly dynamic ways that demand your attention. You’ll be all ears.