The albums that will make the perfect gifts for all the family 

FOR MUM 

Thea Gilmore 

Small World Turning

The polls suggest that women, even more than men, are dismayed at the state we’re in. Gilmore addresses this, and has some fun too, with her uplifting folk-pop.

Joe Rose 

Class  

Rose, a 61-year-old accountant, met Folkstock record boss Helen Meissner on a dating site and wooed her by singing old love songs. She was so impressed that she put him in the studio. And the story has the perfect ending: reader, she married him.

FOR DAD 

Article 54 

The Hustle

If your dad is apt to bang on about Brexit, make him laugh about it instead, with the funniest disco album ever devoted to a political shemozzle.

The Police

Every Move You Make

What Dad really wants is for you to spend very little on him, so he’ll be dead impressed with this find: all the original albums by a quirkily magnetic band, for £17.

FOR YOUNG ADULTS 

Dave

Psychodrama

Today’s 20-somethings have grown up steeped in two things: hip-hop and introspection. The twain meet in the Mercury Prize-winning debut by a 21- year-old from Streatham, a beguiling blend of unflinching rap and easy-going tunes.

The Divine Comedy

Office Politics

Most pop stars, if they went to an office, would struggle to make the tea, let alone decode the nuances. Neil Hannon captures it all with a wit and warmth.

FOR TEENS 

Sam Fender

Hypersonic Missiles

Today’s pop can feel like a foreign country, but this lad from North Shields bridges the generation gap with impassioned and fearless songs that bring to mind Bruce Springsteen.

The Clash

London Calling 

Now turning 40, which may make you feel old – but the songs, all fire and finesse, will soon make you feel young again.

FOR THE FAMILY 

Holly Palmer 

A Family Album

America’s most under-rated singer is now the mother of Maceo, a music-loving ten-year-old with cerebral palsy. This beautiful pop-soul record captures the highs and lows of living with disability.

The Beatles

The Singles Collection

A handsome box containing the greatest sequence of hits ever made by one act.

FOR A LOVER 

Leonard Cohen

Thanks For The Dance

His posthumous album, elegantly finished by his son Adam, is piercingly soulful and deeply romantic.

Camille O’Sullivan

Camille Sings Cave Live

Nick Cave’s new album, Ghosteen, is formidable but bleak. For a more enjoyable brush with his brilliance, try this set of his best songs, performed with loving theatricality.

FOR ANYONE THAT LIKES GOOD MUSIC 

Billie Eilish

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Eilish is a kid from Los Angeles who doesn’t so much sing a song as whisper it in your ear. Her album is the one by which we’ll remember this year. And she is still – just – 17.

The Lilac Time

Return To Us

Stephen Duffy has come a long way since he co-founded Duran Duran. The tenth album from his folk-pop band is a string of pearls, mixing comfy melodies with tart observations about the world in 2019. 

He may be the only living songwriter who could produce a Christmas song called The Needles.