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Biig Piig  11:11

It’s electronic pop, so naturally Smyth devotes several tracks to blossoming love. But as someone with sonic similarities to and who has been endorsed by Billie Eilish, sadness and confusion also take their places Beats Per Minute

Sharon Van Etten  Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory

It’s fitting that an album so steeped in the themes of loss and transience also feels like a rebirth. By relinquishing control and embracing creative spontaneity, Van Etten has delivered a record that is personal yet communal Northern Transmissions

DITZ  Never Exhale

Listening to Never Exhale was almost cathartic in a way Sputnik Music (staff)

The Weeknd  Hurry Up Tomorrow

Hurry Up Tomorrow feels like Tesfaye’s attempt at summing up everything that was great about the Weeknd as a project, but unfortunately, it’s clear that no one ever brought a knife to the recording sessions Spectrum Culture

Squid  Cowards

It's intricate, ambitious music that your next-door-neighbour would undoubtedly label 'difficult' The Arts Desk

Biig Piig  11:11

Reflecting on her past, present, and future, Biig Piig delivers catchy dance tunes as well as softer, laid-back and introspective tracks on her debut album The Skinny

Heartworms  Glutton For Punishment

Glutton For Punishment—meticulously produced by Dan Carey—is a breath of fresh air that plays like a walk through a haunted woodland, where shadows dance and strange creatures lurk and has potential to be a classic for years to come Under The Radar

Sharon Van Etten  Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory

The indie singer-songwriter's new album Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory is her first fronting a band and her most groove-oriented record yet Rolling Stone

Sharon Van Etten  Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory

In the afterlife, through a fresh gothic sound, and even in her new band, Sharon Van Etten stays true to herself and who she might have become PopMatters

Benjamin Booker  Lower

Benjamin Booker’s new album LOWER asks how to live in an awful world. His only answer is to keep stepping forward into the darkness PopMatters

Manic Street Preachers  Critical Thinking

There seems to be some tension at the heart of the band’s dynamic right now, but it has inspired a meticulous, strident and euphoric sounding record Clash

Olly Alexander  Polari

There’s a sense that he still has much more to give as a solo artist, but ‘Polari’ is an assured and ambitious start from one of our brightest pop personalities Dork

Olly Alexander  Polari

Polari is brash and bold on the surface, but Alexander flails when searching for something truly profound to say The Independent

Olly Alexander  Polari

The actor-singer’s solo debut proper looks to 1980s gay clubland for inspiration, but plays it too safe under all the retro synths and stammered-vocal effects The Guardian

Olly Alexander  Polari

Unsurprisingly, another queer tour-de-force DIY