5. The Rock (Music) Of Gibraltar

It seems a matter of weeks ago since we were last talking about Beirut, which is largely because it was! None the less we couldn’t resist sharing the undeniable charms of their latest single, Gibraltar.

Gibraltar is the second track to be lifted from the upcoming album, No No No which is out next month on their new home 4AD. It’s a mix of African-tinged percussion, bold, bright piano and Zach Condon’s trademark languid vocal melodies, as well as featuring some really rather excellent handclaps! And has it got us excited for No No No? YES!

No No No is out September 11th via 4AD. Beirut have added a second London date at St John at Hackney on September 25th.

4. Deer vs. Snake

Deerhunter have always been an intriguing prospect, never settling on a single sound for very long. So it was with a sense of excitement and trepidation that we approached their brand new single Snakeskin – and luckily it’s great! Poppy, lightly funk influenced and with a slight country edge it sounds not unlike a collaboration between Beck and Kurt Vile. It’s also got a rather excellent video which see’s frontman Bradford Cox share the limelight with both a dog and skull!

As well as a single, Deerhunter also confirmed that new album Fading Frontier is on it’s way shortly, and that it features members of Stereolab and Broadcast as well as the entirety of Deerhunter’s original line up. Yet another exciting album to add to the very busy autumn release schedule.

Fading Frontier is released via 4AD on 16 October. Deerhunter tour the UK, starting at the end of October.

3. Baby Sea Lions

Sea Lion is the pseudonym of Gothenberg native Linn Osterberg, and in a weeks time she’ll be sharing her debut album Desolate Stars with the world. Written and recorded in her bedroom, the three tracks she’s shared so far suggest an intimate, stripped back and delightfully unshowy sound, as new single If My Baby ably demonstrates.

Signed to Turnstile, home to the likes of Cate Le Bon, Perfume Genius and Trust Fund, and garnering support from the likes of Lauren Laverne on 6Music it seems that pretty soon Linn’s going to be playing her songs in somewhere considerably larger than her bedroom.

Desolate Stars is out August 28th via Turnstile

2. Limber Lions In Turnstiles

Burn Your Fire For No Witness was our album of the year last year, and we laid almost all of that credit at it’s writer and singer Angel Olsen. Of course she wasn’t the only one involved, so it’s time we passed some credit onto her backing band, Stewart Bronaugh and Joshua Jaeger, or as they’re known on their latest project: Lionlimb.

Lionlimb was originally Stewart’s project, which he started in 2010. After stints as a day labourer, followed by touring the world on the back of one of the most well received albums of 2014, he’s finally getting back to it, and this week announced the release of Lionlimb’s first ever single, Turnstile. The track is an ambitious piece of songwriting, lightly jazzy drums, guitars which nod to Tame Impala and David Bowie in equal measure, and Stewart’s voice a gentle but emotive thing with shades of Elliot Smith. If all his songs are this good, we can only hope he doesn’t take five years off again.

Turnstile is out via Bayonet Records on September 18th. Lionlimb are currently on tour in America.

1. Big Cats And Their Big Sisters

Completing this accidentally largely animal themed countdown are Cheatahs. Fresh from releasing two of the best EPs this year, the London-based band are set to continue their efforts at being the hardest working band in the world by releasing an album this year as well, and their self-titled debut album only came out last year!

The album is entitled Mythologies, it’s name being lifted from the title of Roland Barthes’ collection of essays on semiotics and myth. Yes we had to look up what semiotics meant as well, but whether it’s more inspired by semantics, syntactics or pragmatics we’re certainly looking forward to hearing it.

Mythologies is set to arrive roughly when Autumn and Winter collide but to wet the appetite the band have shared its first single, Seven Sisters. Arguably the bands most accessible track to date, the expansive track has got a choral sing-along feel, the already multi-voiced band being joined by the vocal talents of Heather Perkins and Liv Willars of the excellent band, Feature. Plenty then to suggest this most ambitious of bands are just going to keep impressing at every turn.

Mythologies is out via Wichita Recordings on October 30th. Cheatahs embark on a short run of UK dates in November, before playing a hometown show at London’s XOYO in January.