Styles coos canny – though perhaps not especially deep – lyrics over 70s guitar and 80s hooks on a mature third album where every song feels like a single

(Warner)
There are great moments, and some inane ones too, on the US rockers’ 11th studio album

(XL)
The debut album from Thom Yorke’s latest side project finds him in excellent voice, on tracks that veer from spiky post-punk to teasingly romantic

(Polydor)
The singer spares no details on her confessional, pared-back fifth album with nods to Madonna and the Stones

(River Lea)
Singing in English this time, and backed by Crash Ensemble, the Mac Gloinn brothers maintain their distinctive sound

From Kloetzel and Koenig to Weilerstein and Barnatan, a flurry of new Beethoven double acts each offer something new. And Palaver Strings revel in the work of women through the ages

(pgLang/TDE/Aftermath/Interscope)
After a five-year hiatus, the Pulitzer winner returns with an exhilarating epic that ties personal pain to collective trauma – and lets no one off the hook

(Daughters of Cain)
The introspective singer explores identity and religion amid a backdrop of seedy Americana on this rich, haunting debut

(Nonesuch)
The release of two contrasting albums demonstrate how far this inventive, singleminded guitarist has come, and offers a glimpse of a dazzling future

Christian Gerhaher/Juliane Banse/Philharmonia Zurich/Heinz Holliger
(ECM, two CDs)
Holliger’s 2018 opera, depicting episodes from the life of Austrian poet Nikolaus Lenau, is superbly presented in this live recording, with Gerhaher leading an impressive cast

Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood team with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner for a debut that may not be head-spinningly different, but is still exceptional

(Columbia)
Beauty, bleakness and euphoria collide on this record of two halves

(Interscope)
The happy 90s nostalgia of the British singer-songwriter’s debut yields to the tricksy rhythms and odd magic of her follow-up

(Jagjaguwar)
Holding it all together mid-pandemic, Van Etten’s sixth album of highs and lows struggles to strike a resounding chord

The German jazz drummer’s seven-piece packs a mighty and accurately delivered punch in this uplifting set

The Polish composer’s work for cello and orchestra gets the fine recording it deserves, while the ‘September 1927’ version of Janáček’s mass is a must for fans

(Rimas Entertainment)
Hopping from psychedelia to indie-pop to woozy reggaeton, this giant album flaunts the Puerto Rican’s boundless creativity

(Self-released)
A collection focused on the place of people of colour in British folklore is abundant with meaning and feeling

(BMG)
Two decades after their last album, the band return with a wryly hopeful record – and some trademark electro bangers

Bevan/Spence/Perez/Navarra String Quartet et al
(Resonus)
Every song Barber is known to have written is brought to life by 10 UK singers, including Nicky Spence and Mary Bevan