Ringo Deathstarr: Pure Mood review – luxuriously heavy shoegazing
Feathery whimsy meets gunmetal guitars as the Ringos nail their thoughtful approach
Anna von Hausswolff: The Miraculous review – bone-crushing folk metal
Anna von Hausswolff pulls out all the stops on her compelling third album
The Drink: Capital review – infectious, intricate guitar pop
Reverberating harmonies, airy melodies and girl-group atmos characterise this London indie trio’s fine new album
Tame Impala review – 12,000 dreamers transported to a gentler dimension
Kevin Parker and co deliver wistfulness, stoner churn and laidback psychedelia to a sold-out stadium
Sarah Blasko: Eternal Return review – swathed in melancholia, cast in desire
The Australian singer-songwriter’s fifth album is filled with memorable melodies, effortless pop goodness, and in places is totally heart-wrenching
Joanna Newsom review – genius at work
In these stripped-back live renditions, Newsom’s songs and her astonishing voice command rapt attention and gasps of wonder
Deerhunter review – soaring songs, muted into an indistinct buzz
Bradford Cox performs beneath a vaulted roof as though pootling around a tiny studio
Destroyer review – demented, intoxicating, enigmatic art rock
The mountains crack and clouds catch fire as Vancouver’s Dan Bejar croaks poetry like Piaf – or revs his engine like Springsteen
Guy Garvey: Courting the Squall review – Elbow frontman’s gently experimental solo debut
Guy Garvey’s first solo album doesn’t fall too far from the Elbow tree, but there is something distinct about it
The Chills: Silver Bullets review – Kiwi indie-pop heroes return with melodic gifts intact
Nineteen years after the last Chills album, Martin Phillipps can still pen a beautiful tune, as this excellent comeback album proves
Martin Courtney: Many Moons review – lush but with space to breathe
Later to the side-project than his Real Estate bandmates, Courtney knows how to write a tune as well as make a mood without over-arranging things
El Vy: Return to the Moon review – no-pressure side project from members of the National and Menomena
Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf of the National and Menomena team up for an off-duty experiment in booze-soaked alt-rock
British Sea Power: Sea of Brass review – indie-rockers go orchestral
The brass lends warmth and the orchestra occasionally adds a Beatles-like charm, but the two parties make for uncomfortable bedfellows
US Girls review – memorable, cinematic off-kilter pop
Meghan Remy’s distinctive voice perfectly links the musical melange of funk, electropop and warped beats, creating a captivating theatrical psychodrama
Beach House review – sonic adventures against a starlit sky
The Virginia duo deliver their echo-laden, Wurlitzer-whirling noise to a heaving venue in a slow-building dreampop spectacle