Anagrams is not nearly as watery as, say, Vetiver, but it's some distance from the righteous majesty of The Shins.

Girl at the End of the World is, on one level, more of the same: bulging arrangements; hefty half-hooks; Tim Booth's screwy commentary connecting somewhere to the left of immediately comprehensible. But it's also intelligent, accomplished and likeable.

The House is an album of rare balance and beauty, managing to evoke hefty emotions and ideas while still feeling slight and ephemeral, never forgetting that this could all slip through your fingers at any moment.

While Peggy Sue never quite reached the dizzy heights of Mumford and Sons’ stadium-sized tours, their artfully woven narratives are more than double-tap worthy of it.

Age of Indignation is a convincing and credible advance, and September Girls return with their songcraft finely honed.

[Bundick’s] in his element here, embracing the improvisational jazz of The Mattson 2 as together they pry open your third eye and flood your mind with their cosmic apparitions.

Warzone is as much about her individual experiences as it is about the world we all inhabit. The album is not without flaws, the sentimentality of certain songs occasionally threatening to spill into the maudlin, but the overriding sense is one of deep and critical reflection, offering a sensitivity that is needed in our world now as much as ever.

While half of the tracks here would make for decent singles, the hodgepodge of styles ultimately results in an unbalanced and disjointed album.

Letherette manage the notoriously tricky second album by delivering a reworked and revitalised version of the style with which they have made their name.

The band’s third full-length outing Darkness Rains marches onward down their trodden path and it’s a shame that the stance they take at this crossroads of rock isn’t bold enough to establish a demonic bazaar or make significant strides in any given direction.

The charm of Bleached's earlier, scattier records (Ride Your Heart, Welcome to the Worms) are nowhere to be seen, replaced by a glossy pop-rock sound that would have been fashionable a few years ago, but has surely passed its prime.

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.

Animal Collective still lay down a challenge. It's the sound of a band refreshed.

While the project makes more sense if you’ve seen the movie, there’s plenty of warmth and intelligence alongside the tits and willies.

Although Cogan delivers engaging and empathetic lyrics on growing up, changing relationships and even environmentalism, the album has a rather homogenous pace. Despite this, it’s hard not to at least be momentarily charmed by Tallies' nostalgic trip.

His vocal runs and melodies at times provide an almost soul feel--everything is smooth with very few edges, however there’s still enough raw elements to sustain your interest.

Ultimately while graves is a perfectly fine EP, it's also a mostly safe one.

Chaos often ensues within oneself following heartbreak, and Maine captures that devastating chaos beautifully on Ricky Music, sometimes too accurately. It’s not always an easy listen, but it’s certainly a very relatable one.

The results are a timeless, genre-smashing work with a psychedelic soul.

Ever the musical misfits, Blood Red Shoes’ righteous spirit remains even if their sound is a shape-shifting entity.

Featuring guest stars such as Joey Santiago, Teri Gender Bender and Anna Waronker, A Walk With Love and Death is like a one-stop shop of everything to love, hate and feel infuriated by about Melvins.

A masterpiece that puts MØ firmly on her own pedestal as an individual artist rather than a recurring feature.

While nothing on Woman is quite as bombastic as when † was first unleashed on an unsuspecting public, there's plenty of intriguing stuff to chew on here with deep cuts such as Chorus and Heavy Metal, resulting in a terrific return from the French duo.

Ok, some of their sillier excesses may jar ever so slightly (unicorns, faeries, witches, wizards and frogs with demon eyes can all be found here, so some strapping yourself in may be required) and fans may well feel the absence of a true pop banger à la Race For The Prize or She Don’t Use Jelly. In every other aspect, however, this is The Flaming Lips on top of their game: refracting the weirdness of the world through a youthful sense of awe and wonder.

It's often said that love is better the second time around; whilst this remains to be seen, Cry is a grower and we look forward to love’s next incarnation.

It’s soft, woozy, melodically loose. Further investigation reveals that this approach seems to have spread to every aspect of Lorde's songwriting. Where Melodrama was razor-sharp in the universally relatable picture it painted of late adolescence, Solar Power drifts to a place altogether more impressionistic.

Interview Music contains a sense of maturity and introspection, infusing the record with a quality that can only come from artists with a defined sense of who they are at their core.

Wavves are no stranger to this smooth-to-rugged combination, and on Hideaway, the mix feels like a familiar cocktail recipe that mostly hits all the right notes.