“Josh Tillman has slowly turned into one of the most talented songwriters of our age.”

“This record plays like a triumphant middle finger salute, coolly showing everyone how its done… and writing the first line on a thousand ‘album of the year’ lists before January’s even out.”

“An introspective, deeply thoughtful album but it deftly avoids self-indulgence. It feels like a healing process, not just for its creator, but for its audience too.”

“Newsom’s greatest strength is her ability to transport her listeners into a unique sonic world that only she is capable of creating.”

“This is an album in which to find solace, healing, empathy and understanding. Björk is a great artist – but she’s also a human being.”

“Despite expectation of the album putting pressure on the band to deliver, they have done so tenfold. It’s as good a debut as you could hope to hear, a fresh injection of pure brilliance and beauty to a genre that is creaking under the weight of mediocrity and a lack of adventurous inventiveness.”

“This may well be Holter’s most accessible album to date, but it’s this very approachability that renders it all the more intriguing, drawing you in with open arms. Stately and serene, it’s a wilderness that begs to be inhabited for some time, a country you’ll be reluctant to leave.”

“That the band neither rushed into recording significant new material, nor spent too much time on recording once they reached that place, was wise. The Magic Whip succeeds splendidly in coming across as a comeback album that hasn’t been overthought, flashing a nonchalant dare to any prospective Oasis reunion project.”

“While it might be preferable to discuss ’80s-inflected pop as canny as this without mentioning the indomitable Taylor Swift, 1989 is the elephant in the room here, and it’s wearing legwarmers. But Emotion succeeds on its own terms, arguably remaining truer to the spirit of the era, not to mention Jepsen’s stated aim of taking the time to craft an album rather than rushing to cash in on a YouTube sensation.”

“That they are still here, making consistently excellent albums 20 years into their career, is a major triumph.”