Gaga’s sixth studio album hails the return of your Mama Monster to all her shock-horror-bop glory

There’s plenty here for die-hard completists who will marvel at owning Neil Young’s original 1977 mixes. For the rest of us, this release edges into self-indulgent territory

The album’s title nods to the psychology graduate’s determination to bypass her head and write straight from her body, heart and soul, yet the Los Angeles artist sounds oddly detached

Sensitively produced by Marta Salogni, the result is both seductive and hypnotic – it’s as though Van Etten has taken a creative stage dive and found herself held aloft by supportive bandmates

Will Oldham surrounds himself with seasoned Nashville locals on a lovely, lullsome country-pop album

The latest record from the singer and dancer is rawly explicit; at times, it does wander around in vague search of melodies

Unlike your typical bucket-scraping rattlebag of audio oddities thrown together to con extra cash from grieving fans, this record feels complete and cohesive

Listening to the alt-pop artist’s latest project feels like being trapped in a serial killer’s underground network of post-industrial tunnels

Rapper and producer team up for the first time since their 1993 album ‘Doggystyle’

The Scouse singer won the hearts of the nation and a record deal with her underdog story and soulful voice on ‘The X Factor’, but behind the scenes, she was overworked and overwhelmed. She speaks to Helen Brown about that tough time, her new Christmas song – and remembers the ‘young, innocent’ Liam Payne she met for the first time at Euston station in 2010

Bidding farewell to 2024, The Independent’s music critics Mark Beaumont and Helen Brown count down the best albums of the year

On his sixth record, the alter ego of Josh Tillman finds himself swilling around queasy questions of mortality and self-obsession