I usually hate this stuff. I balk at anything released this century that has the audacity to call this alternative rock. It’s usually a catchall for self-reflective indie nonsense that is a little too shouty to use the i word but is far too pristine or self-absorbed to go anywhere near metal. 

However, and there is a massive however in play here for this album to get this far up my countdown, I found this record to be deeply affecting. There is a fragility and honesty at play here that I was not expecting. Yes, it’s still got that earnest shoutiness that makes you feel like you’re being hit on the head with a rolled-up Guardian, but it is done with such emotive power that you find yourself really being drawn into the storylines within the songs.

I cared about the tales I was being told. I cared about their protagonists, and I cared about the situations that they were in. “Recovery” is not pretty but it has a raw emotionality that speaks from the heart. It is painfully genuine and that is beauty. There is truth being told here that very few records have the emotional intelligence to go anywhere near. Probably one of my biggest surprises of the year.