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

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