Lala Lala: Heaven 2 review – brooding alt-popper fights the urge to run
Lillie West’s fourth album is a hazy, mid-tempo meditation on escape that gets stuck in a numbing mid-tempo mode – though there is a gorgeous moment of release
Hen Ogledd: Discombobulated review – a manifesto for collective action from Richard Dawson’s folk-rockers
Featuring taunts in Welsh, ‘bard rap’ and spirited jigs, the British quartet’s ragged, rich music underpins their vision for change
Mitski: Nothing’s About to Happen to Me review – mordant, melodic melancholy from the best songwriter of her generation
The US singer-songwriter’s latest album flits deftly from horror to humour, with threads of melancholy and desperate unhappiness binding the tracks
Mandy, Indiana: Urgh review – grimy, thrashing, purgative attack on injustice is the year’s first great album
The Manchester/Berlin band’s second album refines their industrial-club sound, as physical and hyper-detailed as being dragged under by a wave and admiring the flotsam
Yumi Zouma: No Love Lost to Kindness review – New Zealand dream-poppers’ reinvention doesn’t go far enough
The quartet edge away from their trademark sound with louder guitars and bolder intentions – but their reinvention is more gradual than radical
Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X review – vulnerability and versatility widen potty-mouthed appeal
The duo’s 13th album finds Jason Williamson as baffled and infuriated as ever at the state of the world, with help from some unexpected collaborators
The Cribs: Selling a Vibe review – songs of lost innocence and bitter experience strike a perfect, punchy balance
The Jarman brothers’ ninth album adds a little 80s pop sheen to their distorted guitars and confident songwriting, while always sounding exactly like the indie stalwarts
Dry Cleaning: Secret Love review – the south London band double down on their haunting, peculiar brilliance
The standout act in the sprechgesang wave, the four-piece’s newly expansive sound carries singer Florence Shaw’s distinctive tales of mundane lives spiralling out of control
This Is Lorelei: Holo Boy review – sweet-sad songs from a new pearl of the US alt scene
One half of Water From Your Eyes re-records songs from the back catalogue of his other band, resulting in acoustic fare touched with regret and darkness
Dove Ellis: Blizzard review – Irish indie enigma’s glorious debut justifies the buzz
With shades of Jeff and Tim Buckley, the Galway-born artist writes tunes so strong they seem as familiar as old friends
Life in One Chord review – the Dunedin sound through the eyes of a music maverick
Based on a memoir by Straitjacket Fits frontman Shayne Carter, this documentary maps out the New Zealand town that birthed an indie movement
Cameron Winter review – Geese wunderkind whittles confident rearrangements in an intimate show
With two of the most-feted albums of the past 12 months under his belt, the New York singer-songwriter puts fresh spins on songs from his solo debut
Wolf Alice review – indie chameleons sparkle on a glam-rock bender
With 70s rock references, tinselly backdrop and some full-on cabaret-theatre vibes, the four-piece have undergone their most fun and complete reinvention yet
The Durutti Column: The Return of the Durutti Column review – fragile classic that echoes far beyond its time
The delicate experimentation of the band’s debut may not have chimed with the post-punk 1980s, but its durability makes this deluxe reissue thoroughly deserved
The Mountain Goats: Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan review – shipwreck songs from a master storyteller
The latest themed album from John Darnielle’s band – with some help from Lin-Manuel Miranda – takes them on a sumptuously crafted and surprisingly upbeat voyage to a desert island