Mary Gentle - Ash: A Secret History

This is one of the very few genre novels - among not many novels full stop - that actually blew my mind a bit when I first read it, however many years ago (pre-extemporanea, so probably about 20 or so years back), specifically its ending. The canny melding of 15th century historical/military/fantasy thrills with its contemporary framing device and how they interact was just something else, especially having picked it up without an inkling of where it was going. Re-read today, it's still an impressive and immersive experience, though the thin-ness of the characterisation is an issue - except, to some degree, the three central (female) characters from the main narrative.

Lydia Loveless - Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again

Lydia Loveless started strong, but I wouldn't have bet that eight years on from when I first encountered her, she'd still be releasing music that I'd be enjoying this much - but here we are. This is a muscular, chiming rock record that's exactly as concise and as expansive as it needs to be - at times positively new wave in its precision, with hooks, melodies and personality to burn. Right on!

Olivia Rodrigo - Guts

For me there are four stand-outs on Guts and they're maybe the four with the most strongly idiosyncratic personalities: "All-American Bitch" and its smashing pop-punk chorus, the topsy-turvy energy of "Bad Idea Right?", the epic that is "Vampire" and, most of all, "Get Him Back!", sung-spoken verse and classic chorus. And then a strong second tier that includes "Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl" (the most convincingly alt-rockish number on the album), "Making The Bed" (ballad), "Love Is Embarrassing" (appropriately giddy) and "Pretty Is Pretty" (riding those Wish-era Cure guitars and a melody that wouldn't have been completely out of place on that record either - shades of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart too).

There are things that they all - and the other songs on Guts - have in common: the specificity of the lyrics, the sharpness and precision of the attitude, the way the omnivorous mingling of musical influences is unified by both of the above (apart from the two I've already mentioned, artists that it's brought to mind at various points include Avril Lavigne, the Pipettes, Lily Allen, the Offspring and Sia, along with plenty of other sounds and styles). Taken all together, this is a major step up from Sour and probably my favourite pure-ish pop album for some time - though I guess with the caveat that genres are probably less and less relevant these days and maybe especially when it comes to interfaces with 'pop'.

Justin Lee Anderson - The Lost War

A good diversion with a neat twist that didn't feel like a cheat.