Mike Patton and the Avett Brothers join forces to create a work of immense beauty.

Black And Blue UMC/POLYDOR

Tobias Forge spent another year converting the masses. His next ambition? Scuba diving!

Featuring tributes to curry and fantasy battles involving… rats?! here are all the records our critics loved this year

Squeeze ’s songwriting duo are back in harness, toting a rock opera they wrote in the ’70s with an all-new album to come. Given their near-constant strife, it’s a miracle. But as they insist, “the thing that always brings us together is the songs…”

At the dawn of the new millennium, Matt Johnson was in a dark place. Over the previous two decades, the creative engine and sole permanent member of The The had built a devoted following for his inten