Arguably the biggest album release of the year, never mind the summer, is the hugely anticipated Hail To The Thief (Parlophone), the sixth studio album from the wonderful Radiohead. Initial reports that the album is a return to their rockier roots are only kinda true: there is still enough experimentation here for an over-worked school science lab. The good news is it’s bloody great, though, as if we ever doubted them.

Fans of old-school rock are in for a treat this summer. Recorded during two concerts at the Los Angeles Forum and the Long Beach Arena in June 1972, Led Zeppelin’s 3CD set, How The West Was Won provides a telling reminder of just how good the quartet were in the live arena.

There are more than a few heavyweight rock releases this summer, including Metallica’s St Anger (Mercury) on June 9, their first studio release since 1997’s Re-Load. The album is being supported by a world tour which introduces new member Robert Trujillo on bass. Marilyn Manson’s The Golden Age Of Grotesque (Polydor) is already being bought up by the bucketload, while Alien Ant Farm’s as-yet-untitled new album is due for release on August 15. Meanwhile, Arkansas rockers Evanescence are expecting to mirror the US success of their debut album Fallen (Sony) on this side of the Atlantic.

Girls on top

Outside the Ould Sod, Stereophonics’ You Gotta Go There To Come Back (V2) looks like being a big hit all summer, as does Elephant, the magnificent new album from The White Stripes (XL). From the same label, Electric Six’s debut LP, Fire (XL), could be the surprise hit of the year: it’s released on July 4. Their ‘Danger, High Voltage!’ single literally screamed from the starting blocks and brought these Detroit natives instant acclaim and attention – and the album covers all bases thematically, from fascism to plastic surgery, sexual orientation to skin pigmentation.

Hotly tipped English indie kids British Sea Power’s The Decline Of British Sea Power (Rough Trade) comes out on June 2, while Lloyd Cole makes a welcome return with a brand new studio album, Music In A Foreign Language (Sanctuary) on June 9.

If quirky intelligence is what you’re after, well Eels release their fifth studio album, Shootenanny! (Polydor) on June 3. The ever-changing project of singer/songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Mark ‘E’ Everett, the new album has been jokingly described by its creator as being about “promiscuity and drugs”. Hmmm.

Another album of summery charm is Grandaddy’s new sun-kissed opus Sumday (V2) – arguably their finest long player yet. Highlights include first single ‘Now It’s On’ and the gorgeous ‘El Caminos In The West’. “I feel like we’ve kind of arrived, that everything I’ve ever done has led up to this,” notes Grandaddy mainman Jason Lytle. “In my mind, this is it.”

Tindersticks magnificent Waiting For The Moon album is released through Beggar's Banquet on June 6.

The Pernice Brothers’ fabulous Yours, Mine & Ours (Independent) is in stores now, while loveable Aussies, The Sleepy Jackson follow up their eponymously titled mini-album with their debut album proper, Lovers (EMI), in July.

Beyoncé Knowles is set to follow fellow Destiny’s Child Kelly Rowland into the upper reaches of the charts, with the release of Dangerously In Love (Sony) on June 23. The album features a range of fellow superstar collaborators, including Missy Elliot, OutKast’s Big Boi and Luther Vandross.

The legendary Steely Dan have a new studio album, Everything Must Go (Warner Music), set for release on June 9, their first since 2000’s Two Against Nature. The new album took roughly a year to record, relatively short given Becker and Fagen’s legendary meticulousness.

From one kind of musical event to another: Girls Aloud, the female winners of Popstars: The Rivals, featuring Derry lass Nadine Coyle, release their eponymous debut album this summer (Polydor) and it’s sure to be all over a radio station near you. In fact, this could prove to be the biggest album of the season in Britain – and if it is, we’ll be hearing lots of it here too.

Irish explosion

The summer has started well for Irish artists with The Frames blasting straight to No.1 in the charts with their live meisterwerk Set List, in its first week of release. With a gaggle of major outdoor shows on the way, they’re likely to provide the soundtrack to the summer for many fans, in more ways than one.

With Damien Dempsey also crashing into the charts at No.5 with his acclaimed Seize The Day, there’s ample evidence that Irish music is playing an increasingly important part in providing musical and spiritual sustenance for the people. And there’s more where those chart-topping album came from.

Indeed, overall, this summer also looks like being a fabulous one for Irish bands, with a slew of quality releases hitting the shelves. Former Therapy? Drummer Graham Hopkins proves himself a songwriter of note with his band Halite releasing their stunning debut album Head On (Warner Music Ireland) on June 13. Graham sings and plays most of the instruments, and fans of the former tub-thumper may well be surprised by his deftness of touch and knack of finding goose-bump inducing melodies, as evidenced by first single ‘Underneath The World’.

The Thrills’ So Much For The City (Virgin) is one of the most eagerly anticipated records to come out of ireland in a long time. With a sound that’s more American west coast than Irish East Coast, they have been championed by the music press for sun-kissed gems like ‘Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far)’, ‘One Horse Town’ and ‘Big Sur’. The hope now is that they’ll deliver an album to match, that’ll firmly establish them in the rock frontline. Certainly, with a sound like their’s summer is the time to do it.

Turn’s Forward (Nurture) is a stunning sophomore effort from the Dublin-based three-piece, which is sure to win them legions of new fans around the country. Impeccably produced by Marc Carolan, the album includes recent Top 30 singles ‘Another Year Over’, ‘Summer Song’ and ‘In Position’, as well as live favourites like ‘Dumb As It Is’, ‘Harder’ and ‘You’ve Got Style’, and should lift Ollie Cole & Co. onto a new plateau.

BellX1 finally release their second album, Music In Mouth (Island) in July, three years after their debut Neither Am I. First single, ‘White Water Song’ displayed a harder edge to their sound, and picked up a stackload of ‘Single of the Week/Fortnight’ awards into the bargain, with the NME comparing them favourably to the great Radiohead. The album, whose name comes from an Austin Clarke poem, is a more eclectic affair, where the six-stringed fury of ‘Alphabet Soup’ and ‘Tongue’ mixes it with hair-raising balladry of ‘Eve, The Apple Of My Eye’ and ‘I’ll See Your Heart And I’ll Raise You Mine’. This is one album that should feature strongly in end-of-year Best Ofs. Expect great things from them this year.

Dublin-based Future Kings Of Spain release their eponymous debut album this July on the Red Flag label. The three-piece have been picking up rave reviews both here and in the UK over the last couple of months for their singles, so there is considerable expectation surrounding the album, which is sure to include recent hotpress Single Of The Fortnight ‘Face I Know’ and current seven-inch ‘Your Starlight’.

The new Snow Patrol album, so new in fact that it doesn’t have a name yet, is set to be released in July through Polydor. The follow-up to When It’s All Over We Still Have To Clear Up should be a welcome return for Gary Lightbody’s mob, while adopted Irishman Mike Scott returns to the fray with the new Waterboys album, Universal Hall, on his own Puck Records label.

In the folk and trad arena, the temperature is also high. There’s a fine new album from Dervish, entitled Spirit, that’s already causing a stir.

But if there’s a left-field gem that’s full of summer zest it has to be Kila’s Luna Park. Crossing musical boundaries with rich abandon, Kila have fashioned one of the great new Irish albums of the decade so far, replete with powerful and dramatic music of intelligence, ambition and furious energy.

Travel bug

Mickey Harte proves that there is life after Eurovision, with his album Sometimes Right, Sometimes Wrong (Sony) hitting the shelves in June. Produced by Jon Kelly (Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Deacon Blue, Tori Amos), the album has been described by his record company as “somewhere between the sounds of David Gray and Ryan Adams”.

Back in the folk/roots vein, Gillian Welch gets the travel bug on Soul Journey (Warner Music), on which the Grammy winner waxes lyrical with stark but powerful stories about restless wanderers, trains, highways and death. The unconverted should listen up… Meanwhile, acclaimed New York anti-folk heroes, Jeffrey Lewis and Adam Green (The Moldy Peaches) respectively release It’s the Ones Who’ve Cracked That the Light Shines Through (Rough Trade) and Friends Of Mine, both on the Rough Trade label.

Of course, there are also a series of compilations being launched during the (ahem) sunny season. Christy Moore, who headlines the event this year, features on The Definitive Lisdoonvarna (Warner Music), a collection of some of the best moments from the Clare festival, including contributions from The Frames, The Chieftains and Phil Lynnott. Missy Ellott gets the Remix treatment (Warner Music), while there are also Best Ofs from De La Soul (Warner Bros), Nina Simone (BMG), S Club (Polydor), Dolly Parton (BMG) and Morcheeba (Warner Bros), as well as a 4CD box set of Elvis Presley entitled Close-Up (BMG).

August sees eagerly anticipated, and as yet untitled albums from The Webb Brothers (Warner), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Hut) and Elbow (V2). And just when you thought it was safe to put your wallet away, Josh Ritter follows up The Golden Age Of Radio with a brand new album (untitled as yet) on September 5 (Independent) while Josh rouse, releases a solo album called 1972 (Ryko) on the same date.

Listening to that lot, the question is – will we ever find the time to make it to the beach?