The Courtneys – The Courtneys II

This Vancouver trio know the beauty of a finely crafted three minute tune. It’s pop hooks on top of garage fuzz, defiantly indie with that DIY feel, defiantly cool with those thumping drums, split vocals and scorching licks. Plus they’re signed up to NZ’s own Flying Nun Records and that’s as cool as she gets, mate.

Sampha – Process

Something of a crowning moment here for the British crooner who was already a go-to collab for Drake (and has worked with Frank Ocean and Solange). Devastatingly pretty and tragic in equal measures. Intensely vulnerable. Poignantly human. Strangely optimistic all the same. When you’ve dried the tears, check out the short film that accompanies the tunes.

Jonwayne - Rap Album Two

Fame and success come with their own demons and striving for fame and success even more so. Jonwayne's always been a killer wordsmith but here he is tackling his own personal dramas - and the lifestyle that encourages them. It's thoughtful and honest and hugely cathartic. If you're about a little wisdom you've come to the right place. Dude's a poet.

Ron Gallo – Heavy Meta

Just as the title suggests, Mr Gallo comes with heaps of jokes… but the songs are even stronger than the puns. Heavy Meta is heavy indeed. Verbose and with a glammed up tint. Gallo looks (and sorta sounds) like a young Bob Dylan trying to be a young Iggy Stooge. (In a good way).

Vagabon – Infinite Worlds

Cameroon-born Laetitia Tamko doesn’t really fit the usual indie rock mould. Good; fitting in is the first step towards being forgotten. Tamko stays busy with Vagabon playing damn near all the instruments, producing herself, singing like a songbird and writing these beautifully poetic lyrics. Infinite Worlds is entrancing. Dig the lo-fi feeling and cop to the honesty. She’s a game-changer.

Kirk Knight – Black Noise

Kirk Knight has a name – a very cool one. He’s well known as one of the Pro Era lads and his debut rap album, Late Knight Special, was an undercover highlight of 2015. But the dude is also a killer producer and here he drops an instrumental record full of lush sonics and wicked grooves. Presumably next he’ll be declaring for the NBA draft.

Meatbodies – Alice

Crank the fuzz-meter up to 11 and let the darkness settle in. Apparently this is a concept album, what with all the monsters and magic – there’s a ripper of a song called Creature Feature – but the lyrics tend to take a back seat to the nasal howl in which they’re delivered… not to mention the backdrop of forceful drumming and splintering guitar sounds. Brilliant second record from Meatbodies here, Chad and the lads more than stepping outta the Segall/Cronin/Fuzz shadows.

Julie Byrne – Not Even Happiness

Elegant seems like the appropriate word. This New York folkstress sings sweetly and poignantly, weaving pretty acoustic tunes into something almost ethereal. Reach out and try grasp it as it floats by you like smoke in the air. There is profundity in our everyday lives if you’re wide-eyed enough to spot it.

The Molochs – America’s Velvet Glory

Giving it a little of that folk-rockin’, wagon-wheelin’, foot-stompin’ jammability, with jangling guitar and the odd keyboard flourish too. Witty and sharp but undeniably catchy as well. It’s the Modern Lovers meets the Velvet Underground if you go by the label’s press team. Sounds legit.

Sleater-Kinney – Live in Paris

You already know that SK can tear it up coz they’ve been doing it since the 90s. 2015’s comeback album was a flawless resumption from where they left off and here we finally have the desperately needed live album in their oeuvre. Heaps of energy, plenty of purpose. Leans heavy on No Cities To Love but with more than enough classics in there to salve the long-time die-hards.

The Orwells – Terrible Human Beings

Famous for rolling around on the floor on Letterman one time, these blokes write songs and wreak havoc. Another album in and its title suggests they know all about the reputation but they’re also maturing. Things are slightly more… mellow. They’re that little more detached. Just call it evolution, baby, because THB proves they still know how to shred it.