The Cure: Alone review – majestically wreathed in misery and despair

Birds fall from the sky, broken voices call us home and youthful dreams are dashed against the transience of life in the band’s first new song in 16 years

Los Campesinos! review – a hero’s welcome for cult indie stars

Despite having only spent £190.86 on marketing their new album its songs are greeted with sweaty glee by new fans and old alongside the band’s indie disco stalwarts

The Last Dinner Party review – Victoriana pomp and bombastic baroque rock

Clearly having a whale of a time leaning into classic guitar rock it’s refreshing to see a group embracing the imaginative and unexpected

Tindersticks: Soft Tissue review – still ruling their own twilit world after 30 years

From 70s soul to glowing strings, the cult outfit continue to inhabit their own quiet space on the fringes of the musical landscape, celebrating the beauty in small things

MJ Lenderman: Manning Fireworks review – joyously weird alt-Americana

(Featuring possibly his best track yet, the North Carolina guitarist-songwriter goes to the sparse and seamy side on this worthy successor to Boat Songs

Mercury Rev: Born Horses review – a lush and serene return

With a half-new lineup, the US rock band’s first album of new material since 2015 finds them in dreamy, reflective mode

Fat Dog: Woof review – a boisterous debut with more bark than bite

Outlandish musical choices from oompah to sleaze should make the Londoners’ debut feel fresh, but they’re the latest interlopers in a crowded experimental field

End of the Road festival review – engagingly eclectic weekender never fails to surprise

A headlining Slowdive ticked the indie boxes, but Lankum’s intense folk, Paranoid London’s filthy techno and Nourished By Time’s slick R&B grooves once again prove this festival has punch and personality

Supersonic festival review – an awesome windmill of noise and connection

This festival of heavier sounds from the fringes was a blast, from chilling Gazelle Twin to Daisy Rickman’s Krautrock-folk, noise icons Melt-Banana and locals Flesh Creep

Richard Hawley review – homecoming hero is in the mood to celebrate

Playing his largest ever gig in the city, the singer tenderly croons his musical love letters to the people and places of Sheffield, while his biting political songs turn into rousing singalongs

Yo La Tengo review – indie royalty run through their beloved back catalogue

Over a two-and-a-half-hour set the trio turn over old songs and new from their 40-year career, unearthing surprises every time

Rally festival review – thrilling blend of cult DJs and indie darlings

Mount Kimbie’s electro-acoustic jams capture the ethos of this celebration of the boundary pushing that included sets from Two Shell, Nilüfer Yanya and bar italia

Fontaines DC: Romance review – their best record yet

The all-conquering Dublin five-piece hit expansive new heights on an album full of highlights

Spirit of the Beehive: You’ll Have to Lose Something review – like an arthouse horror movie in sound

Disruptive, disorienting and disturbing, the trio are still making creative leaps on their fifth album, mixing up slacker indie with strange beats and plenty of screaming

Pom Poko: Champion review – garage rockers finding joy in the everyday

The third album from the Norwegian indie group reflects on their seven years together and the dramas of normal life – it’s the victorious sound of a band ‘still having fun’