Low review – a hotline to paranoia, discomfort and sorrow
The Minnesotan trio blend their recent electronic experimentation into their brutally beautiful aesthetic, offsetting despair with sweetness
The Wombats review – all hail the quintessential middling indie band
When they’re good, they’re OK. When they’re bad they’re woeful. But throughout, the indie-poppers put on a jovial, energetic show
Better Oblivion Community Center: Better Oblivion Community Center review – indie power combo
Phoebe Bridgers joins with Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes for some hushed, literate songwriting and bursts of crunching guitar
The Twilight Sad: It Won’t Be Like This All the Time review – epic, impassioned post-punk
The timeless, high-quality songs on the Scottish band’s fifth album must extend their fanbase
Juliana Hatfield: Weird review – wry alt-rock storyteller shines anew
She may have been making records since the 1990s but her endearing awkwardness and forever-young voice remain ebullient
You Tell Me: You Tell Me review – eclectic delights and countless pleasures
Familiar forms bent into new shape sums up this appealingly innovative and approachable album
Sharon Van Etten: Remind Me Tomorrow review – assured, gorgeous electro-tinged progression
Van Etten’s decision to shift to electronic instruments only adds to the thrill on this arresting album
Deerhunter: Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? review – beautiful and strange desert drama
Recorded in rural Texas, this atmospheric album switches from psych-pop to alt-rock to experimental lo-fi, held together by Bradford Cox’s drawl
The Chills: Snow Bound review – a rare, joyous equal to past triumphs
Only the sixth album for New Zealand pioneers shows leader Martin Phillipps still sounds in love with the world
Bill Ryder-Jones: Yawn review – emotion, elation and effortless intimacy
The tunes seem to spill out of Bill Ryder-Jones, leavening his stark arrangements and mordant lyrics to envelop listeners
Sidney Gish: No Dogs Allowed review – mordant, charming indie pop
The young Bostonian’s funny, breezy songs tackle self-obsession with a scathing wit
The 50 best albums of 2018, No 5: Mitski – Be the Cowboy
The singer-songwriter’s remarkable fifth offering paired an arch humour with an underlying maelstrom of drama, loneliness and psychosexual dysfunction
Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert: Ghost Stories for Christmas review – the dark heart of the season
Tapping in to Christmas realities, loneliness and ageing, Moffat and Hubbert’s pensive songs are strangely uplifting