April is usually a bit of an odd month when it comes to album releases. It seems that there's a race to either get your album out in the first couple of months of the year, or wait until the more lucrative summer market. All this usually means that April is almost always a little barren and this year isn't hugely different. There are a few very interesting, if slightly below-the-radar, albums on the horizon and here are a few which we reckon you should wrap your ears around.

The Flaming Lips - The Terror (1st April)

Though this album is scheduled to come out on April Fool's Day, we assure you - this ain't no joke. The Flaming Lips are darlings of the indie music community, with countless fans hanging off Wayne Coyne's every irreverent word. Not a great deal is known about The Terror, the band's thirteenth studio album, except to say that we expect it to be hugely original - as has been the case with almost every note the band have released over the course of their thirty years together.

Tyler, The Creator - Wolf (2nd April)

Is Tyler going soft? After two blisteringly forceful albums, the Odd Future leader is said to have mellowed for this, his third album. Said to be in a completely different direction to his prior two records, with less violent content and features more emphasis on the production and the sounds. Guest appearances from Frank Ocean, Pharell, Dave Matthews, Erykah Badu and more suggest that not only is Tyler willing to play more by the rules now, he's trying to elbow his way into the mainstream.

The Knife - Shaking The Habitual (8th April)

While not quite at Daft Punk levels of expectation, The Knife's upcoming fourth album is anticipated as much as just about any other electronic release this year. The Swedish duo have garnered rave reviews from pretty much everything they've released up until this point and we'd be very surprised if the reaction to Shaking The Habitual doesn't, at the very least, equal that.

James Blake - Overgrown (8th April)

James Blake's self-titled debut caused a little bit of a storm upon its release in 2011. The lo-fi record, and it's absolutely incredible centrepiece 'The Wilhelm Scream', signposted the young Englishman as a musician of solid repute. How will he approach the 'difficult second' record? Well, Brian Eno and RZA both make appearances on Overgrown and we think that's a pretty good sign.

Phoenix - Bankrupt! (23rd April)

Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was our favourite album of 2009 here in the entertainment.ie offices, as was the case with countless other publications, which made the somewhat lengthy wait for their follow-up somewhat more difficult to endure. You can only imagine out excitement then when word leaked that the Parisian outfit choose this April for Bankrupt! to hit the shelves. We're giddy with excitement for this one.