Arresting, uncompromising and urgent, you made me / skin on linen is a triumph of a debut and arguably the most essential work of art released this year

A record of sprawling and elegant songs that invoke a sense of loss, confusion and hard goodbyes

Considering that Tony Iommi is one of, if not the, most significant heavy metal figure in the current landscape, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t believe From The Dark to be a deeply significant moment in his career

A wrecking ball of innovation that proves the band are a power unto themselves, and each new challenge posed by the release of a new album continues to draw out their undeniable genius

It’s masterful because it feels like the last party before the end times

Teenage Fanclub reveal they still have a knack for fashioning intriguing songcraft from unlikely places on Do Not Dare to Dream, offering a no-thrills but restorative LP warding off the busyness of the modern age

Marr isn’t releasing The Age of Everything as a grand statement of career intent; he has afforded himself the right to comfortably write tunes within his wheelhouse and release them to a dedicated audience

A strong contender for the year’s Album of the Year list, full of brazen idiosyncrasies, kinetic explosions, and fortitudinous lyricism that captures one of America’s most talented songwriters on his glorious ascent to the top

Guitars continue to drive her forward, forceful and reflective as she centres her lyrical focus not on romance, but on a spectrum of relationships: ones shared with friends, social norms, femininity and herself

All the ingredients are here musically, in the writing, playing, singing and production, but in feeling, it’s an album of soul music in name only. An album which feels like it has no heart, and, worst of all, has no soul, either

Every beat pounds from their hearts like a life force

All in all, the familiarity of The Gem works in the album’s favour

The classic chaos and noise that they’ve championed on previous records is in full flow but dialled up to 11. The meaning is abstract, the sound is loud, but every single second is a work of art

It’s a bleak listen, sure, but Protomartyr haven’t ever been the comforting types. In fact, they’ve chosen the perfect time to double down on their righteous anger and despair, and if everything were to come to a catastrophic end right now, you’ve got the perfect soundtrack for it

A glorious record reflecting on life’s roads travelled

Unfortunately, Melodie doesn’t quite contain the charisma of Slow Pulp’s previous discography, and two or three indie-pop gems can’t quite save the album from its own repetitive drawl

By the time you softly float out of Hosono’s world on the fairground closer ‘Anemo Wheel’ you’ll find yourself desperately flicking back to the first track, to play the album again and get a better understanding of the textural approach

Beabadoobee’s latest offering has appeal, but that’s only if you prefer to take your rock music highly manufactured

Hurt and hope prevail on an intimate outing

While it might be missing the high stakes and dramatic flourishes of nomadic drug-fuelled hysteria, this album is most certainly a tapestry of earthy tones, lush melodies, and the feeling that, in the words of Jack Kerouac, “dreaming ties all mankind together”