SBT: Joan of All review – heartfelt but fizzling indie rock
One-time Smog collaborator Sarabeth Tucek returns after a decade away with a double album that works best when it’s spiky
Aldous Harding review – performative strangeness can’t hide great melodies
There’s an almost David Byrneish awkwardness to the singer’s self-presentation, but the tunes are straightforwardly winning
Bartees Strange review – guitar hero tuning up for the indie rock big time
The energetic US musician injects new life into the genre with effects-laden playing and an eclectic bunch of naggingly effective tunes
Blondshell: Blondshell review – an alt-rock star is born
Sabrina Teitelbaum writes her rage in various vivid shades, resulting in a coming of age album with PJ Harvey and Hole influences
Nina Nastasia review – a mettle-testing, memorable comeback
The American alt-folk singer returns after a 12-year hiatus to worshipful cheers, in a show that condenses her trauma into jagged bursts
Boygenius: The Record review – Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus blaze with feeling
The US indie-rock supergroup skewer the male ego on this magnificent meeting of harmonies and minds
Black Country, New Road: Live at Bush Hall review – magical resurgence by this odd little chamber orchestra
The six-piece’s first new material without frontman Isaac Wood, recorded over three nights in London, proves their malleability and resilience
Shana Cleveland: Manzanita review – a perfectly woven tapestry of musical delight
Baroque psychedelia mingles with west coast pop and gothic folk in this dazzling third solo album from the La Luz frontwoman
Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy review – a joyous feast of noise
The Edinburgh band’s fourth album is an enjoyable mix of driving beats and infectious enthusiasm
The 50 best albums of 2022
In an unprecedented year of change in music, albums of all genres confounded expectations – from vulnerable rap to pop with gravitas. Listen your way to our No 1 album of the year
Sorry: Anywhere But Here review – bleary-eyed guitar afterparty with a dash of sweetness
Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen swerve from hints of the Kinks to traces of Lou Reed with lyrics of pure youthful dread in this reflective, honest album
Ethel Cain review – stirring sermons of love, God and murder
Hayden Silas Anhedönia delivers a powerful set of sprawling, gothic pop under her Preacher’s Daughter persona
The Cure review – top goths tease their bleak but beautiful new album
Robert Smith and his men in black deliver haunting headphone music on a megadome scale in a sprawling set of greatest hits and tasters of the upcoming Songs of a Lost World
Wet Leg review – 2022’s breakout indie stars on comically good form
Despite having fans in Iggy Pop and Barack Obama, the Isle of Wight duo are sticking with small venues for now – and enlivening them with joy and hilarity
Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc review – strikingly contemporary, piercingly loud live score
The mercurial composer’s brilliant score perfectly captures the raging agony and beatific ecstasy of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent movie masterpiece