Katy Kirby: Blue Raspberry review – depth disguised by breeziness
The Texas singer-songwriter makes up for time lost to her evangelical background with a second album of impeccable craft and lyricism
Torres: What An Enormous Room review – a confident declaration of rock-star ambition
The indie musician flexes the noirish power of her commanding voice on her sixth album, and embraces grand new sonic theatrics
The Smile: Wall of Eyes review – inventive Radiohead side project risks eclipsing the real thing
Despite all the lyrical disquiet, there is a lovely sense of ease to the Smile’s second album – and some of the best music Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood have put their names to in at least a decade
The Vaccines: Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations review – high-octane sonic euphoria
The indie rockers’ sixth album offers more of the same boisterous widescreen anthems and big singable choruses – but with some subtler lyrical depths
Bill Ryder-Jones: Iechyd Da review – Coral co-founder’s songs of heartache and hope
Ryder-Jones’s recent production experience comes to the fore on this wide-reaching album, making use of Motown, 60s pop and a children’s choir to find the light in the darkness
Music: Kitty Empire’s 10 best albums of 2023
It was a year of avant-rap, sex-positive R&B, polyrhythmic jazz and hyper-punk pop – plus Lana Del Rey’s glossy meditations on death and loss
The Charlatans review – 90s faves feel the love in spiritual second home
Tim Burgess plays to a devoted crowd with a high-spirited set that includes fan-favourite album Between 10th and 11th
Raze Regal & White Denim: Raze Regal & White Denim Inc review – a warm, funky psych alliance
The Texas rockers enlist their former tourmates’ guitarist on this slick and soulful meeting of minds
Noah Kahan review – unlikely star leads a cathartic mass singalong
With his raw lyrics about mental health, shame and alcoholism, Kahan taps into the zeitgeist – yet his rousing tunes make this a reaffirming live show
Beirut: Hadsel review – joyously positive healing hymns
The ‘unfathomable beauty’ of a remote Norwegian island has inspired Zach Condon to create a triumphant celebration of life
Marnie Stern: The Comeback Kid review – guitar fireworks full of beauty and chaos
On her first new release in a decade, the idiosyncratic guitarist plucks sweet melodies and complex harmonies from cacophony
Wunderhorse review – a band galloping towards even bigger things
Jacob Slater’s songs ring with compassion for reckless youthful misadventures, getting fans’ hopes high for an as-yet unreleased second album
Billy Bragg: The Roaring Forty review – four decades of flying the flag
Austere, melodic, at times heartbreaking – the music of Britain’s foremost protest singer gets an evocative overview in this nuanced compilation
Mitski review – her dark materials
The Japanese-American auteur explores deals with the devil and future hauntings in an intimate church show that foregrounds her pure vocals
Jamila Woods: Water Made Us review – tracing a relationship’s painful arc
Blending genres restlessly, the Chicago musician and poet examines the sweet and sour of love with unflinching insight