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

This month…

From Laurel Canyon to Chiswick High Road, from Rancho De La Luna to a warehouse in Tottenham, many of your favourite artists have been hard at work crafting the soundtrack of 2026. Over the next 10 pages, we bring you the inside track on forthcoming albums by STEVIE NICKS , COURTNEY BARNETT , ALABAMA SHAKES , THE ROLLING STONES , BILL CALLAHAN , BUZZCOCKS , LANA DEL REY , SUNN O))) , ROBERT PLANT , IRON & WINE and many more. “It’s a really special time for music…”

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

My Focus – Live Under The Rainbow

SPARKS AND SUEDE KEEP IT SPIKY, BRYAN FERRY RELAXES INTO A NEW ERA AND ANDY BELL SERVES UP A MASTERCLASS IN HOOK-LADEN POP 01 SPARKS MAD! (TRANSGRESSIVE) Sparks may have landed on a new record label i