Our Girl - Stranger Today

Haze-inducing trio Our Girl have an unparalleled ability to bring ebbs and flows to a track to send you into a blissed-out fantasy while hitting hard with real, human emotions rather than simply throwing lyrics into the swelling void over experimental instrumentals. If you're into feeling fuzzy and putting your head in an oh so hazy place, you're unlikely to come across an album this year that'll leave you feeling so utterly hypnotised and out of your mind. Settle in for an emotional journey that you'll never want to end.

Soph Nathan shows off her distinguished songwriting abilities throughout the album - with singles 'I Really Like It' and 'In My Head' marking the real pinnacles of brilliance in a consistently enrapturing album. The restraint and patience of the rhythm section keeps you so firmly on the edge of your seat that you're essentially crouching while Nathan's vocals so often feel undeniably direct as if she's reciting then to you mere inches from the tip of your nose.

This is old school psychedelic goodness given a modern revamp by three insanely talented musicians who have such a strong bond you could easily mistake them for being one over-riding hive mind. It feels a world away from Nathan's work with The Big Moon, but in both bands, she's able to provide sustained guitar mastery with fuzzed up sounds that feel full of life and creativity.

'Stranger Today''s real strengths come in the tender moments when Nathan lets her feeling show plainly and the way this is mirrored across the trio - never more so than in the a cappella ending to 'I Wish It Was Sunday' which'll send so many shivers it might be time to get a blanket or two out. A very honest album that deserves your undivided attention from start to finish.

Ciaran Steward