Glory is a welcome comeback for a true pop visionary nobody expected to stick around long enough for a third album, much less a ninth. Has any star pulled off as many comebacks as Britney? 

Nearly 20 years after “Baby One More Time,” people still act shocked when Britney  refuses to fade away like the disposable pop trinket they desperately hoped she’d be, which keeps raising the question of how many great hits she needs to score before she finally gets credit as one of the all-time brilliant hitmakers. 

Every time she jumps back in the game, the world gives her that look like Kim Cattrall in the Crossroads scene where Britney shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her daughter. But she’s still going because nobody else can do what she does. No singer has ever captured the needy party-girl blues like Britney.

Maroon 5 may not be known for creating unique tracks or exploring outside of their comfort zone, but we all have to admit that when songs like 'She Will Be Loved' and 'Payphone' come on the radio, we can’t help but sing along. Maroon 5 is reliable with their sugary lyrics and use of mainstream pop trends. But that’s why we listen to their music. We turn on Maroon 5 when we want a sugar high.

OneRepublic have delivered once again, giving us an album that is completely true to their instantly recognisable style without the risk of sounding outdated. Having drip-fed us a handful of singles over the last two years, the full album is finally here: innovative and mostly memorable with some standout tunes. The opening track and fifth single Run is worth a mention even if it has been out for a few months now. By far the most ‘OneRepublic’ song on the record, it’s impossible not to love from the very beginning, with the whistled motif and the rhythmic guitar throughout the intro. The catchy motifs continue in the single Someday, released at the same time as the album itself, whilst lead vocalist Ryan Tedder showcases his impeccable range and powerful falsetto in Distance.

Maggie Rogers offers an album full of melancholia and beauty.

Blood Ballet’s tracks are more mellow than the ones that precede them and showcase a period of experimentation in both the structure and production of her tracks. “Symmetry” features a haunting piano track that backs Rogers’s airy falsetto vocal line. “New Song” — a sprawling six-and-a-half-minute track featuring her college bandmate Holden Jaffe (known professionally as Del Water Gap) — starts as a seemingly modest duet but builds into a gut-wrenching ballad backed by acoustic guitars. 

Their vocals on the track blend together seamlessly, and the melodies are so powerful and all-consuming that they almost leave you feeling empty when the song ends. The final part of Notes features work from Rogers’s first EP, The Echo, which was released just as she was graduating from high school. Her folk roots take center stage on these tracks, featuring banjo-focused production and the type of nostalgic storytelling lyrics that define the genre. “Kids Like Us” might be the best example. Featuring just Rogers’ vocals and a banjo, she laments: “And on the eve of my fifth birthday / When my father found me in tears / And I’ve always been fearless / But scared of oncoming years.”

Ultimately, an album like this one feels refreshing. The rise to pop stardom often appears easy, instantaneous and predestined. Notes is a direct rebuttal to that narrative, and it showcases the years of hard work and creative growth that go into building a career as an artist.

There’s a considerable sonic shift to Lookout Low. Parts of it feel a lot more sombre than their past offerings, but it’s a welcome change from the 100-miles-an-hour anthems they have churned out on the likes of Wild Onion and Sunken. This album is raw, honest and clearly showcases the best of their talents as a well-oiled live unit.

Despite all these textbook Weekndisms, Tesfaye wants us to know he’s struggling to reconcile the sinner he once was with the man he’s trying to become. He may not be the dysfunctional addict of the Trilogy years, but he’s also not willing to be the partner a woman might need him to be. What more can you expect out of pop music’s antihero? 

There is not a single song on the album that colors outside the lines he established nine years ago, but his narrow focus has paid off: He’s finally found harmony between the enigmatic noir-pop that broke him to the blogs and the arena-worthy ambition that launched him into the mainstream. It’s hard to tell where the universe of listeners fixated on filling spiritual voids through sex, drugs, and romance ends and the universe of the Weeknd’s tortured, empty melancholy and drunken, devastating love begins. That’s the beautiful blur of After Hours.

The record is at its best when the tone becomes more reflective and Khaled behaves less like an overexcited puppy, allowing his guest stars to slow things down a notch or two. Jamaican singer Buju Banton talks about young black men finding holiness despite a life filled with obstacles on Holy Ground, and the acoustic guitar sample taken from Lauryn Hill’s ‘To Zion’ is just as soothing as you remember. The atmospheric ‘Holy Mountain’, an ode to smoking a spliff a day to keep the evil away, is also brilliant, with DJ Khaled and trap reggae an unlikely winning combination. In conclusion, it's "another one" from Khaled - but the DJ/producer/hype man's latest star-studded effort is by far his most accomplished album yet.

 

Having successfully avoided one-hit wonder status, Scissor Sisters tread confidently throughout Ta-Dah, perhaps due to the guiding hand of Elton John’s mentorship, but more likely because the band realizes that no amount of cavity-inducing hooks will capture Stateside attentions, so why not go for broke? The irrepressible lead single “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” is a gleeful ode to being miserable at home on a Friday night while “I Can’t Decide,” Ta-Dah’s best cut, might be the jauntiest track ever recorded about homicide.

Bursting at the seams with sounds that fell out of favour around the same time as slap bracelets, Ta-Dah is a futuristic glance back, an album that seamlessly fuses swaggering discotheque beats with exuberant 21st-century sexuality.