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Ravyn Lenae: Bird’s Eye review – a breathtaking R&B follow-up

The US singer-songwriter’s featherlight voice and distinctive lyrics skip easily between styles on her strikingly self-assured second album

Crack Cloud: Red Mile review – aggressively tuneful rock about life’s big questions

The Canadian indie-garage-rockers take the mickey out of pop, punk and the stories we tell ourselves, but strong feeling outweighs the cynicism

Cassandra Jenkins: My Light, My Destroyer review – a beautiful, brooding delight

​Following her breakthrough in 2021, the singer-songwriter has overcome self-doubt to deliver a diverse album where loneliness is set against cosmic wonder

Kasabian: Happenings review – newfound concision and big choruses

Minus disgraced former frontman Tom Meighan the band are tighter, but their realignment feels like a work in progress

The Breeders review – effortless pop gems from the grunge era

Undimmed by the decades, the Deal sisters mark the 30th anniversary of their classic album Last Splash with a masterclass in off-kilter melody

Kings of Leon review – mesmeric power from masters of the restrained anthem

The newly invigorated band have a rare gift for stadium-sized rock that is refreshingly understated, delivering a 27-song set of triumphs

Liam Gallagher review – Oasis frontman delivers Definitely Maybe in all its 90s glory

It’s an unashamed nostalgia fest, but what could feel business-like morphs into something more considered with strings, singalongs and even a dedication to brother Noel

Duster review – indie rockers impress amid unlikely TikTok renaissance

Now streaming in huge numbers long after their mid-90s years, the Californians’ nuanced yet forceful delivery punches in all the right places

Mitski review – unusual, enigmatic and utterly compelling

The indie artist deploys her songs like controlled explosions as she turns the stage into a cabaret, a circus, a cage

Jess Ribeiro: Summer of Love review – a balm for anxious times

With expansive, experimental instrumentation, the Melbourne musician’s fourth album records our contemporary chaos – and finds a glimmer of hope

The Black Keys: Ohio Players review – a little soul, a little lush, less magic

A diffusion of the band’s hallmark earwormy blues feels somewhat lightweight, albeit with splashes of classy experimentation

Ride: Interplay review – perpetual teenage kicks, now with added anger

Forays into psychedelia and world affairs serve the reformed British shoegaze pioneers well on their seventh album

Waxahatchee: Tigers Blood review – sprightly Americana with added poise

Katie Crutchfield’s latest album swaps the strung-out drama of its acclaimed predecessor for precision and broad relatability

Julia Holter: Something in the Room She Moves review – the best track is the simplest

Found sounds and touches of jazz enliven the American singer-songwriter’s woozy evocation of being present in changing times

Waxahatchee: Tigers Blood review – intimate Americana tackling life’s great tangle

Katie Crutchfield’s sixth album refines the breezy country of her 2020 breakthrough Saint Cloud and finds her as compelled by the complexities of life as its eases

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  • Chelsea Wolfe: The Dark review – existential reflection goes from whisper to gothic scream
  • LA Phil/Dudamel; Fantasia Orchestra / Fetherstonhaugh/Glennie reviews – high-contrast programming
  • Juilliard Orch/Royal Academy Symphony Orch / Salonen/Frang review – student players let rip, eventually
  • The Galloping Cure review – powerful new opera tackles the opioid crisis with bite and black comedy
  • Overmono review – irresistible dance duo swap club intimacy for well-earned spectacle
  • The Drover’s Wife review – operatic version of Leah Purcell’s story is powerfully emotional
  • National Youth Orchestra/Adès review – assured young musicians end their season all guns blazing
  • BBC Symphony Orchestra/Venditti review – a fervent but lithe-limbed Stabat Mater
  • Nas / The Roots review – NY rap legend is in a nostalgic state of mind
  • Olivia Rodrigo review – crushing riffs and infectious hooks at secret New York show
  • Oberon review – part panto, part grand opera, Weber’s final work has charm but doesn’t quite convince
  • Grieg Lyric Pieces album review – Feltsman brings a probing flexibility that transforms this music
  • Strange Loops: Clarinet Quintets album review – drama, imagination and sonic flair
  • Flo: Therapy at the Club review – skirting the dancefloor and overly sweating the small stuff
  • Arun Sood and Angeline Morrison: Donn/Dubh review – British folk giants startlingly transform sacred histories
  • Ravyn Lenae: Blue Island review – from Suicide to Squarepusher, grunge to Janet, a pop one-off plots her unique path
  • Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend review – long-awaited return is a thrilling, daring study in dislocation
  • Ring Cycle review – AI staging dispenses with drama to create banal bric-a-brac
  • BBCSO/Järvi/Kavakos review – virtuosic violinist makes fiendishly light work of Tchaikovsky
  • Aurora Orchestra/ Collon review – Freud analyses Mahler to decipher music from the heart
  • Parsifal review – blood, lust and goth energy fuel Wagner’s Grail quest
  • Ariana Grande: Petal review – calm, controlled anger at exes, fans and the media
  • Tao of Glass review – stage magic as McDermott meditates on the minimalist master
  • Arca: XXXXX review – a wild, brilliant album that taps into our bodies’ most feral frequencies
  • Melodies International presents Ariwa Sounds review – head-spinning classics from dub legend Mad Professor
  • John Tilbury: At Home album review – an eclectic and extraordinary treasure trove
  • BBCSSO/Wigglesworth / Booth review – Brett Dean’s song cycle is rich and strange
  • Die Fledermaus review – Strauss staging has flourish and froth, but not enough fizz
  • Shaboozey: The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales review – a striking addition to the rich canon of country concept albums
  • Giordano: Marina album review – a fascinating resurrection of an unsung early opera

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