Melanie McGovern

An immaculate and heartfelt construction from the dreampop two-piece that moves seamlessly through the gauzy and dexterous to the clinical and clean.

A piano-heavy Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis-inspired album from the bluesy garage rock five-piece.

Tempered and subtle stories of longing, passion and portent.

Firefly Burning certainly have a capable vocalist and set of players at the fore, but there is an uncertainty which flickers at the edges of these ambitious compositions.

At one moment restrained in lo-fi campfire folk, ruminating on love, life, death, at others surging anthemic tones, the band expertly couple ambition with precision, on this contemplative recording. No wonder Springsteen is singing their praises… and I guess no surprise either.

An album of deft instrumentation and layered textures, By The Horns’ heart is found in its quieter moments.

Carey takes a step away from his work with Justin Vernon; trading in the vast array of instrumentation for a stripped-back palette, finding sounds in anything close at hand, contrasting the glitchy generated beats of the laptop and the more earthy, naturalistic tones of his homemade woodblocks.

With burrowing earworm delights and clapalong singalongs, it is nearly impossible to not fall under the spell of M Ward’s calmingly sedantary spin on retro pop.

A distillation of break up songs harbouring a great deal of warmth and assurance in amongst its heartbreak.