Dave Faulkner

On the latest Methyl Ethel album, Triage, Jake Webb’s extraordinary songwriting is on full display in pop music of unusual complexity.

In his final review for the year, Dave Faulkner looks back at the best Australian albums of 2018 that he missed along the way.

Bleeding Knees Club’s second album, Fade the Hammer, sees songwriter Alex Wall weave some far-flung influences into his bratty pop punk, from Lightnin’ Hopkins to doo-wop.

The second albums of Empress Of and Oh Pep! see the acts moving from electronica and alt-folk respectively into poppier territory, and making good use of collaborators to assist the transition.

Liars’ new album of oblique rock, TWTWF, finds Angus Andrew lyrically exploring the departure of his long-time songwriting partner and sonically drawing on his natural surrounds.

The two young brothers, Michael and Brian D’Addario, who make up The Lemon Twigs, deliver an improbable rock opera masterpiece about an ape raised by humans.

While Gabe Gurnsey’s Physical is a slow-burn techno album that evokes the unfolding of a big night out, Rebel Yell’s Hired Muscle delivers a sharp slap of industrial primitivism.

Bravura five-piece Punch Brothers deliver a modern take on roots music, and their new album All Ashore has them setting their sights on the tumult of American politics.

An inspired project led by Brisbane songwriter Simon Munro pairs musicians with Australian poets, living and dead, to create an album of lyrical beauty

With her second album, Tell Me How You Really Feel, Courtney Barnett more than delivers on her promise, confirming her as one of the country’s finest songwriters.

William Crighton delivers the year’s best album, Australian or international, with the charged rock and heartfelt lyrics of Empire.

Confidence Man and Space Invadas both deliver refurbished R&B, but one polishes vintage grooves and the other delivers a fun-packed take on a ’90s dancefloor.

Mia Dyson and Sarah Blasko’s sixth and career-best albums suggest neither of these accomplished songwriters has yet hit their peak.

Nic Russo’s second album as ramshackle country bluesman Dick Stusso delivers melancholic wisdom found at the bottom of a bottle.

Hookworms’ third album Microshift sees the Leeds psych rockers take a krautrock turn to underpin lyrics that explore loss and trauma.

The chair of the Australian Music Prize judging panel presents his highlights of this year’s album longlist.

Teaming once more with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples has produced a powerful new album. But, says the veteran performer, her heart aches as she rails still against the racial division she’s been fighting for decades.

Electronic band Kllo draw listeners in to their downbeat soul with intricate melodies and meticulous sound design.

Annie Clark’s latest St. Vincent album, MASSEDUCTION, is an instant classic, delivering an often dark and desolate vision rendered with a glistening pop sheen.

A ‘sense of duty’ took the author to the Bigsound music festival, but it was the talent of up-and-coming artists that truly ignited his passion.

Randy Newman’s career spans decades of sharp social observations wrapped in songs drawing on the modern American songbook. His latest album suggests comparisons from Elmore Leonard to Rashomon.

That Jen Cloher’s inventive fourth album is self-titled reflects its personal themes, as she writes with candour about her relationship and her place in the world.

The lean sound of Big Thief’s second album Capacity is a stripped-back platform for songwriter Adrianne Lenker to build on the promise of their celebrated debut.

As his main muse, Glen Campbell, delivers a final album, songwriter Jimmy Webb looks back at his own career in which he delivered some of American popular music’s best-loved songs.

A collaboration between dance and dub legends Coldcut and On-U Sound delivers an impressively forward-thinking reggae album, with stellar contributions from Roots Manuva, Ce’Cile and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

On What Now, North Carolinian electronic duo Sylvan Esso successfully meld voice and instruments in a way that dissolves the distinction.

For all the bands who think they know rock’n’roll, Sydney duo Polish Club use their debut album to prove they actually do.

Composing a song for every year of Stephin Merritt’s life has resulted in The Magnetic Fields’ eclectic five-album tour de force, 50 Song Memoir.

Following his grandmother’s death and a painful divorce, Ryan Adams has worked through his losses in his music.

With a sharp and unpredictable songwriter, LA’s new wave pop trio Cherry Glazerr are walking in the footsteps of Blondie.

Hip-hop duo A. B. Original have delivered an incendiary album describing the experiences of Aboriginal Australia, and it’s the most exciting local release of the year.

The shifting time signatures of Syd Arthur’s latest psychedelic album, Apricity, testify to the tight musicianship and broad influences of this band of brothers from Canterbury.

Australian solo act D. D Dumbo’s debut album Utopia Defeated marries African desert blues and Captain Beefheart skronk to a darkly mysterious lyrical core.

Melbourne’s Big Scary have delivered a cycle of dark and intimate songs with a looser, live feel that makes it a masterpiece.

With flashes of The Strokes and a debt to The Rolling Stones, Active Galactic has The Delta Riggs delivering swaggering dance-floor rock’n’roll the way it’s meant to be.

The second album of twisty pop from Oxford’s Glass Animals invites deeper investigation of its themes.

A collaboration between singer-songwriters Neko Case, k. d. lang and Laura Veirs to record some covers has instead produced an original album of consummate craft.

Legendary Hard-Ons guitarist Blackie is halfway through an epic project – he’s releasing a new song every day of 2016.

The Avalanches' long-awaited second album expands their crate-digging methods to blend heavyweight guest rappers with Californian sunshine pop.

The debut album from Angus Stone’s side project Dope Lemon is the product of a tightknit band in a relaxed setting.

Car Seat Headrest’s Teens of Denial is not just the rock album of the year, but may be the emergence of a new musical genius.

New albums from PJ Harvey and Anohni address personal anguish over global political failures with unusual directness.

Summer Flake’s Stephanie Crase has made good on all the promises of her first album with a sound that is pensive and intricate.

Unbound from dance floor imperatives, techno legends Underworld’s first album in six years weaves a seductive spell.

Chair of the Australian Music Prize judging panel Dave Faulkner provides a rundown of this year’s eclectic shortlist of albums.

The iconoclastic John Cale has rerecorded his notoriously difficult LP, Music for a New Society.

Once homeless in Paris, Benjamin Clementine has taken influences from Orwell to Satie to deliver a startling blend of fitful piano and voice.

A breakdown forced Bill Ryder-Jones to quit music at 25, but he's back with a brilliantly understated new solo album.

A new compilation confirms Warumpi Band's status as one of Australia’s great rock acts, led by the volatile George Rrurrambu.

Julia Holter threads a range of literary and historic influences into her new abstract chamber pop album.

Gold Class’s post-punk debut It's You leaves space for lyrics with angry bite and a queer perspective.

Jess Ribeiro’s new album features dreamlike stories from growing up in a country town and living in the Top End.

Newcastle musician Szymon seemed to have a stellar career ahead. But tragically the sublime album Tigersapp is to be his sole recording.

The Chemical Brothers return to their block rockin’ best on Born in the Echoes.

An ill-fated move to the US left Oh Mercy's songwriter emotionally shattered, but was grist for a heartfelt album of regret and loneliness.

Normie Rowe, Australia’s undisputed king of pop in the ’60s, gets a retrospective Frenzy!.

Hot Chip set up an irresistible dance floor with influences from classic house to Daisy Age hip-hop to Prince.

Their new record sees Alabama Shakes deliver an inspirational, eclectic sound set loose from their soul roots.

Virginian son of a preacher man Matthew E. White keeps a close musical family and a sharp eye on the Lord.

With his new poetic album Gold Shadow, Asaf Avidan can be anointed the next Leonard Cohen.

C. W. Stoneking’s pursuit of old-timey music and recording techniques is the theatre applied to an original talent.

Prince triumphantly returns after four years with three eyes and two new albums.

Fuelled by Delta blues and Florida punk, Benjamin Booker’s debut album has you on the edge of your seat.

Sydney hip-hop crew One Day’s collaboration is about their days growing up together on the ‘Mainline’.

Jack White, the musical magpie and avowed Dylan obsessive, has at last made his own Blood On the Tracks.

In the tradition of the Buzzcocks and Suicide, Brisbane duo DZ Deathrays let loose some feel-good nihilism.

This Brisbane band has hit another home run with a triumphant third album full of stomping songs.