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Hermanos Gutiérrez: Sonido Cósmico
New album: Stylish, studied twang and beautiful textures of electric guitar instrumentals marks this excellent sixth studio LP by the Ecuadorian-Swiss brothers Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez transcends eras like a classic soundtrack to a western
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Angélica Garcia: Gemelo
New album: A dynamic, colourful, passionate third LP by the Los Angeles pop artist of Mexican and Salvadoran descent here singing mainly in Spanish with operatic pop, cumbia, psychedelia, dance music, with titular translation and theme as ‘twin self’
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Bab L'Bluz: Swaken
New album: Out last month, a fabulous second LP by the French-Moroccan quartet who fuse traditional with psychedelia, blues and heavy rock with Africa's Maghreb: Gnawa, Amazigh, Hassani and Houara music
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Richard Hawley: In This City They Call You Love
New album: The veteran Sheffield singer-songwriter returns his ninth solo LP, a touching, gentle love letter to his home city, referencing that South Yorkshire universal term of address, local characters and perspectives, with a set of heartwarming, heartfelt indie, blues, and Americana-style numbers
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Beak: >>>
New album: A surprise sudden fourth LP by the Bristol trio of drummer Geoff Barrow (Portishead), bassist Billy Fuller, and Will Young (Moon Gangs) with that familiar chevron title and distinctly dark, strange but mesmeric post-rock-krautrock thrum
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La Luz: News of the Universe
New album: A fourth studio LP of dreamy, exotic, alluring psychedelia and surf rock by the California quartet fronted by Shana Cleveland, simmering and potent, but made in the dark shadow of a breast cancer ordeal
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Paul Weller: 66
New album: This 17th solo album by the restless, ever-changing stylish mod-rock veteran is one of his mellower, more reflective releases, marking his age, a classic number, and year, distinctively depicted by Peter Blake on the cover art
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of Montreal: Lady On The Cusp
New album: A new LP of extraordinary experiment and scattershot psychedelic pop kaleidoscopes and lyrical tricks from the eclectic and unpredictably inventive mind of the prolific Kevin Barnes and band from Athens, Georgia
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The Lovely Eggs: Eggsistentialism
New album: Lancaster’s loveable DIY rockers Holly Ross and David Blackwell return with another punchy collection of comedy, simplicity, profundity and creativity, psych and punk, but also some old-school synth sounds and some complex emotions
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Ibibio Sound Machine: Pull The Rope
New album: Another cracking release by the London collective fronted by London-born Nigerian singer Eno Williams, a catchy, infectious concoction of Afrobeat, funk, disco, pysch and electronica, with punchy, enticing beats and grooves
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Cindy Lee: Diamond Jubilee
New album: One of the most unusual releases of the year – 32 tracks, more than 2 hours, with the style from an indeterminate era, perhaps ghostly love song echoes of 60s girl groups – come delicate and crash-bang electric guitar, percussion and vocals from the glammed-up alter ego of Canadian songwriter, guitarist, and drag performer Patrick Flegel
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The Lemon Twigs: A Dream Is All We Know
New album: Almost exactly a year since their acclaimed Everything Harmony album, the New York all-singing multi-instrumentalist brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario return with sparkling selection of originals particularly influenced by the 60s and early 70s, echoing The Hollies to The Beach Boys to Todd Rundgren
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Fat White Family: Forgiveness Is Yours
New album: Lias Saoudi and co return with their first since 2019’s Serfs Up, one with that despite the troubled departure of founding member Saul Adamczewski during its creation, is an entertainingly sharp, ironic, aesthetic, literary release packed with stylish reference points, soundscapes and tunes
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Melts: Field Theory
New album: Following 2022’s Maelstrom, a fabulous second studio LP from the Dublin quartet of electronic psych-rock with dirty fuzzy synth lines and layered guitars, searing vocals of frontman Eoin Kenny and percussion pushing it all along like unstoppable krautrock train of wizzing, fizzing new wave energy
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Khruangbin: A LA SALA
New album: After the more energetic last LP, Mordechai, a return to slower, feathery, easy, seemingly effortless instrumental funk-jazz grooves from the super-cool American trio of bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, drummer Donald Johnson Jr and guitarist Mark Speer
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English Teacher: This Could Be Texas
New album: An outstanding debut LP – subtle, original and experimental – by the Leeds quartet of Lily Fontaine, Douglas Frost, Nicholas Eden and Lewis Whiting, packed with intelligent, tender, rich, thoughtful, observational metaphor, and broad, inventive instrumentation
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Jane Weaver: Love In Constant Spectacle
New album: A gorgeous new LP by the Merseyside artist, with her distinctive blend of tender, melancholic synth-pop, but here also some avant-garde jazz and gently surreal, newer pastures of otherworldly, vivid psychedelia, and a first guest producer in the form of the excellent John Parish
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Blue Whale: Last Immediate Images
New album: A brilliantly angular, experimental, partly instrumental prog-post-punk and jazz sophomore release by the Belfast quartet of riveting cross-rhythms, innovative guitar and bass work creating an oddball but ornate aural tapestry
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Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter
New album: A big, bold rhinestone-studded musical statement from the US megastar, delving deep into country & western territory and cross-pollinating with pop, soul, rock and R&B, with added Beatles, and guests including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Miley Cyrus on this whopping 27-track LP
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The Dandy Warhols - Rockmaker
New album: Flamboyant yet droll, swaggering, fuzzy, sizzling, meaty, dark’n’ dirty rock in this 12th studio LP from the veteran Portland band fronted by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, here joined by guests including Pixies’ Frank Black, Slash and Debbie Harry
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