New releases last four weeks: All genres

Review: It has been some five-plus years since the last full Bon Iver album but the wait has been well worth it. This one follows the introspective SABLE, a sparse, vulnerable EP born from isolation and inner turmoil. Where that was shadow, this is light-a lush, radiant celebration of love, connection and emotional rebirth. Written at April Base in Wisconsin with collaborators like Jim-E Stack and Danielle Haim, the album leans into clarity and intimacy and gets rid of the signature dense abstraction for more honest and heartfelt pop. The vocals are delivered with openness and purpose as they explore desire, hope and devotion. While still acknowledging lingering shadows, this full-length is a story of growth that isn't about fairytale endings, but about the lessons love teaches.

Review: While not one of David Bowie's best-known achievements, masterminding the world's biggest-ever 'non-TV' satellite broadcast is undoubtedly an impressive one. It took place at London's Riverside Studios in 2003, with the Thin White Duke - accompanied by his regular backing band - performing then new album Reality in its entirety, live to 86 cinemas in 26 countries. This Record Store Day release presents the concert in its entirety (the encore was not broadcast at the time), delivering a superb document of a unique event. Of course, Bowie was in fine form, with the immersive sound mix by regular collaborator Tony Visconti capturing the legendary artist at the peak of his powers.

Review: Ezekiel Honig is a New York City-based artist who founded two vital labels, Anticipate Recordings and Microcosm, and now he is back with a new album on 12K. Unmapping The Distance Keeps Getting Closer is a tender and honest work of art that wears its heart on its sleeve with piano, horns and broken rhythms all characterising the palette. Field recordings are also worked into the arrangements to add a real narrative and to really evoke a sense of place. Add in plenty of textural and tactile motives and you have a journeying album full of melancholy but also a sense of hope.

Review: Hyldipi's impressive and immersive debut album Heilun distils Iceland's stark natural grandeur into 90 minutes of superb ambient soundscapes. Every piece is a spontaneous expression improvised through meditative states using only guitar and basic hardware. Textured and emotionally rich, the album invites you into an internal voyage of discovery. 'Vor' opens with solemn warmth, while 'Sorg' embraces imperfection in the form of tape hiss, fretboard creaks and subtle dissonance, which all lend it a human touch. Hyldipi's approach treats sound as something to be channelled, not owned. Heilun is one of those albums that is not just heard-it's felt, like mist hanging over a quiet fjord, gently shifting with each breath.

Review: J Nile is the son of reggae legend Gregory Isaacs and his vocal work is almost as powerful as that of his great father. To prove it once more he presents his powerful new album Tired which manages another sound both fresh and new but also a descendant of roots greats who have gone before, not least his dad. The authentic tunes feature collaborations with some of reggae's finest musicians including Sly Dunbar, Vin Gordon, Michael "Megahbass" Fletcher and Alan Weekes, With deep roots and a modern production edge in things like the shiny synth work, Tired blends conscious lyrics and soulful rhythms that capture the spirit of classic reggae. There are plenty of sunny horns and swaggering low ends with substance, soul and timeless grooves never far away.

Review: French twosome Polo & Pan spent the first part of their career giddily fusing tropical house and synth-pop into attractive new shapes, before exploring the world of chillwave on 2021 sophomore album Cyclorama. Four years later, and now signed to major label Virgin, they've once again upped their game, delivering a set of accessible, attractive and sun-drenched fusions of synth-pop and dance-pop that draw inspiration from a variety of musical cultures around the world. For proof, check highlights including the effortlessly dreamy 'Pareidolies', the immersive nu-disco chug of Beth Ditto collaboration 'Petitle Etoile', steamy, Air-esque Balearic shuffler '22:23' (with Vico and Antonin) and string-drenched, Gainsbourg-influenced closing cut 'La Nuit' (with Arthur Teboul).

Review: .Six years after their acclaimed Ten Thousand Lions, roots artist Ras Teo and Spanish producer Roberto Sanchez reunite for Soul Rebel, a bold new project blending Teo's conscious lyrics with vintage rocksteady riddims. Originally sparked in 2018 during sessions at A-Lone Ark Muzik Studio, the album grew from two standout tracks into a full-length record which is unexpected yet seamless. Between them, the pair evoke classic Jamaican duos with buttery smooth harmonies and persuade drums and guitars that mesh perfectly with the bass. It's a case of all killer and no filler here wherever you listen.

Review: Hadley Roe is a UK-based artist whose debut album on peerless ambient label Past Inside The Present adds up to a healing sonic journey crafted with electric guitar, synths and software trickery. Themes are drawn from Roe's personal struggles with mental health, trauma and isolation so make for sounds that blend melancholy, bliss and moments of calm and comfort. Take the serene 'The First Day' or the evolving 'No One Ever Touched Me Before You' - both are hugely emotive and absorbing for the way they patiently unfurl. Roe's ability to express herself through intuitive, wordless music is truly standout.

Review: Deep Valley is a new collaborative work by Australian artists Seaworthy aka Cameron Webb and Matt Rosner and they came together for it during a week-long residency at Bundanon Art Museum in New South Wales. The property which was gifted to the Australian public by artists Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in the 1990s offers a unique landscape along the Shoalhaven River and is surrounded by sandstone cliffs and diverse wildlife. Drawing inspiration from Boyd's belief that "you can't own a landscape," Deep Valley combines the inspiration of that setting with environmental recordings, guitars, piano, and electronic processing all of which aim to highlight the transient nature of ecosystems and encourage you to reconnect with the sounds of nature.

Review: Rebecca Taylor arrives at third album A Complicated Woman in a very different place to where she was before the release of her previous full-length, the Mercury Prize-nominated Prioritise Pleasure. Now a bona-fide pop star, the South Yorkshire chanteuse now has to deal with heightened expectations and her own experience of fame. By the sound of A Complicated Woman, she's handling both with aplomb. That's not to say that the lyrics avoid difficult subjects - her own worries remain front and centre - but the delightfully grandiose production, extensive use of choirs and orchestras, and Taylor's own penchant for penning stadium-sized sing-alongs deliver a maximal pop gem fitting her genuine star status. Rotherham's finest has never sounded so good (or, it should be added, explicit - there are some genuinely adult themes on display).

Review: .This essential album from Doctor Bird highlights the great Phil Pratt's remarkable work during a pivotal era in Jamaican music. Feel Good All Over: The Sunshot Singles 1972-1973 digs into his work during that golden time and turns out both many well-known hits and some rarer gems, a total of 30 of which appear on CD for the first time. This collection captures the energy of a time when Pratt, alongside a new wave of equally bold and ambitious producers, pushed against the established norms of the island's music scene and brought in new influences. The result is a treasure trove of some of the finest and most influential reggae recordings from the pre-roots period including deep-cut gems like Delroy Wilson's aching 'Heart Made Of Stone', the romantic harmonies of The Soul Syndicate and swagger of 'Phil Pratt Thing'.

Review: There's a good reason that the Viagra Boys' latest album is self-titled. Unlike their previous album, 2022's satirical, politically-charged Cave World, the Swedish post-punkers' latest set is lyrically far more introspective, with frontman Sebastian Murphy offering (in the band's own words), a "self-deprecating exploration of his own absurdity" (or, in the case of opener 'Made of Meat', "your mom's Only Fans"). Musically sitting between energetic, horn-heavy early 80s post-punk and grunge-fired US alt-rock - with occasional nods to more tropical and melody-driven flavours - the album is heaps of fun with strong songs aplenty, not least the jaunty 'Pyramid of Health', the low-slung, synth-sporting 'Waterboy' and the surprisingly pastoral 'River King'.