IN the last 12 months we've seen extraordinary live appearances by Taylor Swift, Nick Cave, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, a bestselling album by Charli XCX - Brat - that evolved into a significant cultural moment, and major new records by Beyonce (Cowboy Carter), Fontaines D.C. (Romance), Sabrina Carpenter (Short’n’Sweet), Swift (The Tortured Poets Department) and, 16 years after their last album, a genuine return to form by The Cure with Songs Of a Lost World.