Brendan Telford, Journalist

"In order to grow as a group, we had to know what each other’s strengths and weaknesses were," says Charge Group's Matt Blackman.

The same two-week stricture remained, thus keeping things as raw and improvisational as possible, gleaning some stellar responses as a result.

Maybe it’s that everything on Lucifer – whether it is bold, verbose, propulsive or hypnotic – is measured in pop music sensibility.

Banga is her eleventh album, and it’s one steeped in nostalgia, remorse, reflection and that twinkling spark of anger that has always bubbled under the surface of her poetic lyrics.

Synthetica may annoy some indie “purists”, but by embracing personal turmoil and New Wave euphoric, Metric has never sounded better.

The true genius of Pasted Youth isn’t to highlight how stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb these kids were, but how energetic, fucked up and altogether fun Clag still are today.

The perennial Hugo Race speaks about how his lengthy, expansive career has led him to musings on love.

Youth, dexterity, looks, raw energy and ability – the Findlay sisters have it all.

Sigur Rós have created their own universe that no one will ever be able to emulate, and Valtari is an elegiac entry into that world, one that will stand the test of time.