Dave’s lament for the Grenfell atrocity, Dua Lipa’s bedroom disco for a locked-down nation, Kneecap’s Badenoch-riling rap, Elbow’s hymn for asylum seekers … here are the tracks that defined 14 years of Conservative rule

The band’s 10th album incorporates African and South American rhythms and instrumentation alongside Guy Garvey’s darkest, funniest lyrics for years

For Valentine’s Day, Guardian writers picked their favourite breakup songs and here are some of your picks, all the way from sadness to fury

The northern romanticists’ lockdown album opens out into gentle, restrained songs of warmth and empathy

The Elbow singer on TV monsters, a ballet version of Peter and the Wolf on YouTube, and Seamus Heaney on sofas

Following the announcement of this year’s nominees, we run the rule over the 26 albums that have earned the crown, from Klaxons and James Blake to M People and Talvin Singh