Thom Yorke - Suspira (OST): So, you’ve been the lead singer in a successful band for a number of years, played big venues, sold the t-shirts, and you decide it’s time for a challenge. [***READ MORE***]

George Ezra - Staying at Tamara's: One single was all it took to take singer songwriter George Ezra from being a nobody with a guitar to becoming an international star. The song was, of course, the humdinger ‘Budapest’. Due to its success, Ezra also managed a number one album, which wasn’t too shabby for his debut. [***READ MORE***]

Justin Timberlake - Man of the Woods: It’s been five long years since we last heard from the man who single-handidly brought sexy back, but the JT has finally returned. But what do you do to announce you’re back on the scene? Well, if you’re Justin, you perform at a small event that attracts a global audience of 103 million, AKA the Super Bowl. [***READ MORE***]

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Wrong Creatures: When you’re a band once described as ‘the band that broke the floor’ (referring to a gig they did at Leeds Town Hall that was cut short halfway through when officials panicked that the floor was going to give way) that’s some rock ‘n’ roll legacy you have to uphold. [***READ MORE***]

Royal Blood - How Did We Get So Dark?: Have you ever had that feeling where you like something so much, it scares you? not like 'boo!', but like a pit in your stomach that could swallow you whole. The fear is increased however, whenever there is an announcement of a sequel/prequel/reboot in the worlds of cinema, or even gaming, of the thing you love. The same goes for music. [***READ MORE***]

Coldplay - Ghost Stories: It's never easy when couples break up. It can be awkward who to side with for starters, and you have to really concentrate on trying to give two hoots about the pain, the hurt, the blah, blah, blah. But it's not just the couple that have to struggle with the wreckage left behind. When news broke that Chris Martin split with his Yoko Ono wife Gwyneth Paltrow, the whole world seemingly gasped in unison at the horror. It wasn't so much about the 'conscious uncoupling', it was more to do with the fact that the release of Coldplay's sixth studio album was bound to be the break-up album everyone feared. You will definitely need your rain mac to get you through this as there's one hell of a downpour ahead. [***READ MORE***]

Royal Blood - Royal Blood: Listening to the radio is usually an audio wallpaper experience; music wafts in and out without registering any interest whatsoever. Every so often though, one track can tap your ear drums into submission, causing you to pay attention. This is exactly what happened to us when we heard 'Out of the Black' for the first time from Brighton duo Royal Blood. Since then we've been nervously waiting for the debut album. It's been an odd twilight period, riddled with anxiety that the album just won't be able to live up to the majesty of this single. We needn't have worried. [***READ MORE***]

Lady Gaga - Artpop: It's not clear how, but the artist known as Lady Gaga has become not only a huge star – particularly amongst her followers knows as 'little monsters', but somewhat of a pop icon. Not bad going in only five years. What's more, Artpop is only her third studio album. But is there any substance behind this unstoppable hype machine? [***READ MORE***]

Arctic Monkeys - AM: It's only been a two year hiatus for Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys, as they return with their fifth studio album AM. There's a comforting familiarity from the off, as the first track is 'Do I Wanna Know?', which was the first single to be released. It's a laid back little number, laced with guitar played with attitude. It doesn't kind of get under your skin as much as you would like though, which is a shame. 'RU Mine' is more like it. It's a raw, tidal wave of noise that's a joy to wash over you. And yes, it was a single too. It's classic Arctic Monkeys, which, let's face it, is all we want to hear. [***READ MORE***]

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork: Just when you thought that rock was dead – not officially, of course, but certainly without much of a pulse where the charts are concerned – Black Sabbath release their latest album 13 that goes straight to number one in the UK album charts. It's an indication that there's still an appetite for loud guitars and drums and that. This latest album from Josh Homme and his fellow Queens of the Stone Age also did well in the UK charts, reaching number two; they did one better in their native home stateside however by claiming their first number one in the US album charts. Although they're bound to be chuffed by the news, you get the impression that the band aren't exactly spurred on by success. [***READ MORE***]

Riz Ahmed - The Long Goodbye: It’s not unusual for an established actor to have a foray into other mediums, with music often being the preferred choice. Everyone from William Shatner to Robert Downey Jr., Steven Seagal to Ryan Gosling, have released albums. [***READ MORE***]

Liam Gallagher - Why me? Why Not: They had worked together for so long, entertaining the masses. And then one of them behaved so badly, forcing the other to go it alone. Everyone said that it wouldn’t be the same with them apart... [***READ MORE***]

Cat Power - Wanderer: There must be an indescribable sense of pride as a musician to release your first album. So imagine how Cat Power feels, with the release of Wanderer, her tenth studio album. The achievement is also amplified when you consider that she hasn’t exactly done it the easy way. [***READ MORE***]

Moby - Everything Was beautiful, and Nothing Hurt: For readers of a certain age – at the rear end of forty, say – you can guarantee that they will have a copy of Moby’s 1999 album Play. Everyone had to have a copy, whether they wanted it or not. The reason? You just couldn’t escape the thing.

Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending: After the surprising team up with Sparks, to create the super-group FFS, Franz Ferdinand have morphed back to their usual selves to release their fifth studio album. It is the first featuring new guitarist Julian Corrie, after the departure of founding band member Nick McCarthy. [***READ MORE***]

The Go! Team - Semicircle: Some people just aren’t team players. To us, the idea of being part of a gang and indulging in some communal exercise makes us want to break every single bone in our bodies, just to make sure it physically can’t happen. [***READ MORE***]

Queens of the Stone Age - Villains: Rock is dead. Certainly if you listen to the charts (and does anyone actually do that anymore?) that literally sounds the case. Thankfully there are some dedicate rockers willing to give the genre mouth to mouth, in an attempt to revive this deceased genre and keep it ticking over that little bit longer. Enter stage left: QotSA. [***READ MORE***]

U2 - Songs of Innocence: It appears that the adage 'everyone loves a freebie' isn't exactly true. Although U2 found it in their hearts to literally give away their latest album (their thirteenth) on iTunes, available to over 500 million iTunes customers, not everyone was chuffed. Many were put off by the fact that the album automatically turned up in their accounts, whether they liked it or not. So as not to upset the haters further, Apple soon released a removal tool just to delete the album. Now it's not necessarily an indictment of the band's decision to sign an extremely lucrative deal with the fruited one that has wound users up, but it probably didn't help any. It's just further proof that the selling of music moves in the most mysterious of ways, unlike ever before. Clearly this whole event has completely overshadowed the album itself, but what can you really expect from an album given away for free? [***READ MORE***]

Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence: So 'Video Games' has been and gone and Ms Lana Del Rey returns with her follow-up to her successful Born to Diealbum. It's with this latest work that she will have to prove to the world that she isn't a one hit wonder – either in terms of the single, or indeed, the album it came from – and that she's here to stay, for this album at least. [***READ MORE***]

Lily Allen - Sheezus: It was back in 2009 that LDN's own Lily Allen decided to call it a day musically. It seems a little strange to halt such a promising career, particularly so short into it – after all, she had only released two albums at this point – but Allen seems the type that when she's made her mind up, that's it. Besides, she had more important things she wanted to get on with. Like becoming a mum. Five years on and job's done in that department, having spawned two daughters. And as any parent can relate to, there's nothing like becoming a parent to make you want to get back to work again. So here it is then, album number three: Sheezus, and the resurrection of Ms Lily Allen's pop career. [***READ MORE***]

Pharrell Williams - G I R L: Fingers. Pies. Pharrell Williams is currently all about these two things, in what appears to be a fairly surreptitious attempt to take over the world. Solo artist, producer, member of rock group N.E.R.D, member of musical producers The Neptunes, and co-founder of clothing brand Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream footwear. It's probably the fact that Williams' career path is so diverse, with so many fingers in so many pies, that he's only now gotten around to producing this effort, only his second album as a solo artist. [***READ MORE***]

Goldfrapp - Tales of Us: In 2000 Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory released their debut album Felt Mountain as Goldfrapp. It was an impressive start for the band, with a sumptuous, wall of sound kind of feel, which was bold as it was cinematic. Since then however, the pair have been unable to reproduce anything anywhere near on that scale, and sadly, nowhere near as impressive. This, their sixth album, has echoes of their first release at least, that makes it a welcome to return to form. [***READ MORE***]