Here are our top ten pop CDs of the year, voted for by Readings’ music specialists. Displayed in no particular order.

Lost in the Dream by The War On Drugs

This album has been a staff favourite since it was released back in March. The Philadelphia group really struck gold with their third album and we have enjoyed listening to it over and over again. Sonically uplifting and spiritually nurturing, it takes inspiration from classic ’70s rock.

Warpaint by Warpaint

Warpaint is a welloiled machine. They weave intricate guitar lines, hypnotic vocals and driving post-punk rhythms into gorgeous, sprawling songs that skirt the line between psychedelia and intimacy. Both in their live and studio recordings, Warpaint sound like they’re channelling something otherworldly and mystical.

Passerby by Luluc

Melbourne (and sometimes Brooklyn) duo Luluc (pronounced Loo-Luke) took six years to release the follow up to their dreamy debut Dear Hamlyn. But when you are part of the slow-music movement rushing is not on the agenda. Luluc have once again delivered a beautiful, tender masterpiece. Zoe Randell’s dream-like voice is enough to melt the hardest of hearts.

Stay Gold by First Aid Kit

With Stay Gold, First Aid Kit – sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg – have honed their lush arrangements and blossomed as vivid storytellers in creating this ambitious 10-song collection of originals. Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as Spaghetti Westerns and Lee Hazlewood productions, Stay Gold features the duo’s most sophisticated songwriting and arrangements to date.

Benji by Sun Kil Moon

Benji is Mark Kozelek’s most autobiographical and brutally honest record to date. Spend enough time with this album and you’ll understand Kozelek’s love for his family, his interest in serial killers and his obsession with mortality. ‘Carissa’ and ‘Truck Driver’ reveal that both his uncle and second cousin died from aerosol can explosions, and each song on Benji reflects on death in one form or another. Despite this fascination with death, Benji is never a downer.

Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone by Lucinda Williams

For an eleventh album – by an artist whose career has spanned 30 years – to reach these heights is amazing. Most artists shine brilliantly in their first few albums before they then slowly fade away. Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone is a career peak and a double album, no less. From the foot-to-the-floor guitar rock of ‘Protection’ to the epic, gentle 10-minute closing (and only cover) rendition of JJ Cale’s ‘Magnolia’, this album is a masterpiece.

Atlas by Real Estate

The follow-up to their 2011 breakout release Days, New Jersey’s Real Estate hit form again on this, their third album. As Real Estate continue to grow into and define their own vision of pop they take their place in the history of classic American indie bands, falling naturally into line behind the groups that influenced them.

Last Dance by Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden

These two jazz giants of the late 20th century recorded the sessions included in Last Dance back in 2007. The first release from those sessions was the beautiful Jasmine in 2010. Thankfully, Jarrett and Haden recorded so much in those sessions that a second album followed this year, just before the sad passing of Haden. Jazz standards can be a dime a dozen, but never when they are played by these masters.

Morning Phase by Beck

Morning Phase represents the longawaited return of Beck. Armed with both voice and guitar, this is a personal, acoustic album that evokes the Nashville setting where the seeds of the songs were planted years before. The album soars with lush orchestral moments composed by Beck’s father, David Richard Campbell, as in the swell of strings over ‘Wave’, while ’70s folk classics sneak their way through echoing voices and electric guitar chords.

Single Mothers by Justin Townes Earle

After several stints in rehab, a newly sober and married Justin Townes Earle seems to have found contentment and a clarity that permeates the 10 tracks on his wonderful fifth album, Single Mothers. The album was recorded live, without overdubs or session players to accompany Earle’s four-piece touring band, in an effort to capture the moment and the honest, personal nature of this new batch of songs.