Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend review – long-awaited return is a thrilling, daring study in dislocation

After sweeping the Grammys and being scrutinised by the press, Bridgers deploys electronics and unsettling sound design to brilliantly evoke emotional turmoil

The Strokes: Reality Awaits review – a perfect marriage of mayhem and melody on their best album in years

Allying the crackpot strangeness of Julian Casablancas’ side projects with his band’s gift for pop minimalism, the New Yorkers are on playful, joyous form

Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Boys review – ghosts, guns and guileless youth on generational songwriter’s return

The US singer took years away from public life after her silvery balladry reshaped pop. Her return is an ornate reinvention

Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter review – Danish punks ace sixth stellar album on the trot

The quintet add shoegaze, country and 50s rock’n’roll to their core indie-punk sound, resulting in songs that offset lyrical bleakness with gleeful, uplifting music

Sugar review – Bob Mould’s reunited band still in a sweet spot between noise and melody

After three unlikely Top 10 albums in the 90s, the trio are back – and on the basis of this rapid-fire set, you hope they’ll stick around

Kurt Vile: Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me review – indie rock’s most easygoing dude gets existential

Sounding characteristically virtuosic but unbothered, Vile is more forward-thinking than ever on a record that surveys the bliss and bumps of life in his mid-40s

Genesis Owusu: Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge review – political fury and propulsive fun

Seething with righteous anger and moshpit-ready tracks, the Australian artist’s genre-hopping but cohesive LP makes a case for the durability of the form

Super Furry Animals review – stirring reunion showcases immaculate songcraft

The Welsh band with a weird edge mostly let their formidable music speak for itself, lent a transcendent power by frontman Gruff Rhys’s rich voice

Aldous Harding: Train on the Island review – even whimsy-resistant listeners will love these lucid, luminous songs

Lyrics about naked owls and eating rocks might be irksome to some – but there’s no denying that the alt-rocker’s fifth album is beguiling, tightly written and richly melodic

Carla dal Forno: Confession review – spartan, sunlit post-punk strikingly contrasts the desperation of desire

The Australian songwriter’s fourth album exists in the captivating chasm between the coolness of her music and the unrepentant obsession of the crush it explores

My New Band Believe review – beautiful ideas burst from ex-Black Midi man’s lovable debut album

Smoothing out the jump-cut chaos of his previous band, Cameron Picton brings entirely acoustic instrumentation to bear on these lovely, beguiling songs

Belle and Sebastian review – joyful anniversary tour makes debut album brighter than ever

On a tour playing Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister in full on alternate nights, Stuart Murdoch and co wittily reanimate their world of aesthetes and misfits

Echo and the Bunnymen review – Ian McCulloch leaves it to the crowd to sing these timelessly great songs

The frontman struggled to get through most of the band’s choruses but that left space for Will Sergeant’s glorious psychedelic shapes and a supportive sing along

Waterbaby: Memory Be a Blade review – stellar singer-songwriter pieces post-breakup life back together

The Stockholm musician’s debut album is a fascinating character study with improvised lyrics and a light, pretty sound that belies its emotional depth

Cruz Beckham review – son of David and Victoria transcends nepo-baby tag with intriguing psych-pop

His music is still all over the place, lurching from landfill indie to solipsistic ballads, but the youngest Beckham son can certainly play guitar