Music Monthly review vomit

Phew, reviews below for a bunch of albums released last year, also check out early Music Monthly articles for views on this year's earlier albums (Rihanna, Beyonce, etc)!

AlunaGeorge / I Remember (dance)
Rating: 7
Highlights: Mean What I Mean

I Remember was never going to work out, after destroying all their previous hype with a dangerously patchy debut and tediously long wait between albums - it’s a miracle this album even exists. Still, the singles from this have been nothing but strong so it’s a shame to see the album hobble in at #71 in the UK chart. Aluna has expanded her range, the baby voice no longer her prime instrument, and George seems to have fallen off a cliff somewhere, though still around as a producer he doesn’t appear on all the writing credits. You won’t find much new with I Remember, the songs taking on more of a house vibe, the album doesn’t drag on and on, and the features really help to space the album out (there are some brilliant raps from Leikeli47 and Dreezy on Mean What I Mean). The album can come off as faceless at times, but for a strong selection of pure bops, look no further.

Angel Olsen / My Woman (rock)
Rating: 6
Highlights: Shut Up Kiss Me, Intern

My Woman is an album of two halves, unified by Olsen’s impressive emotive vocals. Intern opens the album offering a change in direction from her past, a slow burning synth ballad, and sadly an outlier on the album. My Woman’s first half focuses on Angel’s penchant for creating a catchy mix of folk and garage, peaking with the irresistible Shut Up Kiss Me. Later the album goes slightly awry, the songs feeling stretched to their limits. It works when tracks finally get into their own groove, but the results vary. Still, the hit ratio far outnumbers the duds, and if you’re after a captivating singer-songwriter that isn’t pinned to their acoustic guitar, My Woman might be up your street.

ANOHNI / HOPELESSNESS (Alt-pop)
Rating – 7
Highlights: Marrow, Crisis

HOPELESSNESS is unsettling; it blends the sounds of cold electronics and the majestic vocals of ANOHNI to form some strange beast (for nerds, think of Mother 3’s nature/robotic abominations). She knows it’s unnatural, but the sound perfectly matches the eco-warrior themes throughout, the lyrics couldn’t be any more direct focusing on drone bombs, global warming, Obama and so much more. You’ll be left either rolling your eyes or feeling, well, hopeless.

Ariana Grande / Dangerous Woman (Pop)
Rating – 7
Highlights: Everyday, Touch It

I never understood the adoration for My Everything, it was a mixed bag, dragged down by MOR tosh and out of place uptempos. Enter Dangerous Woman, which manages to fix the problems of the former while creating its own new issues. Boring ballads are out, boring midtempos are in, screechy tracks like Problem/Break Free are gone, and in their stead we have the hypnotising pulse of tracks like Into You and Touch It (both playing out like Love Me Harder on steroids). Just please make sure to buy the deluxe edition, or I’d be knocking a couple of points off.

BANKS / The Altar (pop)
Rating: 9
Highlights: Gemini Feed, This Is Not About Us

On her debut, BANKS developed a sound and ran with it; sadly I found the dark, bass heavy R&B and solemn balladry didn’t manage to spread well over 14 tracks, and they all kind of blurred together. On The Altar, we have BANKS hone that sound to perfection. The ballads manage to distinct themselves from each other, and the more up-tempo go hard. Question is, when you’ve perfected a formula, where do you go from there? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

Bastille / Wild World (indie-pop)
Rating: 4
Highlights: Send Them Off!

Going off the singles, Wild World actually seems quite compelling, Good Grief and Send Them Off! are both great, vibrant tracks. There are a handful of tracks that possess that same quality here too, Lethargy and Snakes come to mind. Still, 19 tracks? Bog off. The album is a chore to listen too, no thanks to Dan Smith’s limited vocals, and you can’t help but hope the album goes off the rails a bit. Wild might be in the title, but you definitely wouldn’t use it to describe it. Bastille seem to be obsessed with a cinematic aesthetic, well they’re in desperate need of an editor.

Blood Orange / Freetown Sound (R&B)
Rating – 8
Highlights: Best To You, Desiree

It’s difficult to state that Freetown Sound is a political charged album; while it covers bases like feminism, police violence and racial politics, the soft R&B sound throughout soften its impact. In the end Dev sounds exhausted, and who can blame him? Still Freetown Sound is effective in its more subtle approach; maybe love will win in the end. Shout out to the excellent feature picks too, including Nelly Furtado, Debbie Harry (of Blondie), Carly Rae Jepsen and Empress Of.

Bon Iver / 22, A Million (indie folk)
Rating: 6
Highlights: 33 “GOD”

22, A Million – I’m not sure what the title is referring; maybe it’s referencing how many layers these tracks have. At its core, Bon Iver write some hauntingly beautiful pieces, most dressed up as folk or 80s soft rock (carrying on from their previous album’s closer Beth/Rest). Still, they insist on being so damn extra about it, throwing anything in the mix. Some truly add (take the climax to 33 “GOD” that takes cues from Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto soundscapes), but others seem only there to annoy the listener, like the Lo-fi crunching effect (imagine your headphones are on their way out and you’re twisting the wire around) on 29 #Strafford APTS. This is an album everyone will come away from differently, it might need some fine-tuning but I doubt we’ll have the same propositions for what that entails.

Bright Light Bright Light / Choreography (pop)
Rating: 5
Highlights: Where is the Heartbreak

Choreography has to be nominated for the gayest album ever not released by the Drag Race alumni, right? From its title to the cover, and even the features – half the album’s songs feature a guest appearance from either a member of Scissor Sisters or Elton bloody John. Sadly for the most part I’m left yearning for a song to land a punch. Rod Thomas isn’t the most charismatic singer, a forgivable trait if the instrumentals weren’t so limp. I count three tracks I really enjoyed, but the rest blend together in a boring rainbow of beige. There’s nothing to hate on Choreography, but it might give the album some character if there was.

Britney Spears / Glory (pop)
Rating: 7

Highlights: Man On The Moon, Liar
You can come out of hiding now, will.i.am is nowhere to be found on Glory. Instead we have an album filled with interesting songwriters, producers and a handful of tracks written with the current pop dream team, Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter (over the past year they’ve written singles for Justin Bieber, Fifth Harmony, Nick Jonas, DNCE and Gwen Stefani). I don’t think Britney has sounded so alive in the last 10 years, especially her diva vocals on What You Need. At 17 tracks it’s got a couple of duds (Private Show is especially awful), and I don’t hear any potential hit singles; yet that’s where its charm lies. Glory is catchy, unconventional electropop and for an artist so far in her career (with plenty of stumbles), the fact we got Glory is nothing short of a triumph.

Carly Rae Jepsen / Emotion Side B (pop)
Rating: 8
Highlights: Cry, First Time

We don’t deserve Carly, and seems she doesn’t think we deserve her too, managing to avoid the UK (outside of London) through her yearlong E-MO-TION promo tour. For many, E-MO-TION was the pop album of 2015; at least in the critic’s eyes (it was 2nd for me, behind Tove Styrke’s Kiddo). Side B offers outtakes from that album, and against the odds, they manage to be just as good as its parent album’s offerings. The tracks here take the saccharine 80s pop from E-MO-TION and push it up to 11, Carly delivers throughout, be the infectious melodies from First Time and Higher, to the actually kind of heartbreaking Cry. Queen of pop.

Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book (rap)
Rating – 6
Highlights: All Night

I should like Coloring Book more than I do, it’s use of gospel and generally colourful instrumentation are things I’ve praised Kanye and Macklemore’s latest for. Thankfully Coloring Book doesn’t suffer the same bloated body that dragged Pablo and Views down, but it doesn’t switch things up either. The tracks never properly blow me away either, only the groove of All Night and blinding sunshine of No Problem grab my attention for the most part. Still, it’s a cohesive album to a fault and recommended for anyone who thinks of rap as only thug beats and negative thoughts.

Christine and the Queens / Chaleur Humaine (alternative pop)
Rating – 7
Highlights: Tilted, Narcissus Is Back

Christine is cool. She hangs out with drag queens, comes from France and just makes cool music. Seeing her blow up in the UK has been incredible, and restores faith in me that the UK can actually take to a talented leftfield popstar. Chaleur Humaine takes a minimal approach similar to Lorde’s Pure Heroine, but each track has a baroque twist, be it plucking of strings or a gentle piano. It gives a warm layer to what could be a cold album, and combined with Christine’s soft vocals leave a good impression.

Classixx / Faraway Reach (dance)
Rating – 6
Highlights: Safe Inside, Just Let Go

A blogger’s wet dream. Faraway Reach is a dance album, with features from indie darlings such as Passion Pit, How To Dress Well and Holy Ghost! – It’s actually quite consistent too, unlike my view on the recent Flume album. Sadly its consistency is its undoing, it never quite goes the extra mile, and so you probably won’t hear any of these taking over the dance floor.

Crystal Castles / Amnesty I (dance)
Rating: 5
Highlights: Char

With the departure of Alice Glass, Crystal Castles’ future seemed uncertain. Giving Amnesty a listen, I’m surprised with how many similarities there are with their past. The vocals are still there, though they seem even lighter in the mix and have lost quite a bit of character. Their sound is still a mix of abrasive electronics and ambiance, though one of the biggest stylistic changes is the use of euphoric 90s dance on tracks like Ornament and the closing tack Their Kindness Is Charade. There is nothing on here I’d call essential listening (Fleece and Char come close), but it’s nice to see Crystal Castles are willing to adapt than be left behind.

Dawn Richard / Infrared (R&B)
Rating – 6
Highlights: Baptize

Dawn can certainly be frustrating. The implosion of Danity Kane, the name change, the continuous pushbacks. Still, I always forgive her because I genuinely think she is the future of female R&B along with acts like Nao and Kelela. Infrared follows on from Blackheart, but taking things a slightly darker route. Infrared left me rather cold though, the tracks are pleasant enough but only Baptize really left a mark, with Dawn’s irresistible cooing driving the song further. Keep an eye on her if you haven’t already, just start somewhere else (like the amazing Dance).

Drake / Views (Rap)
Rating – 5

Views clocks in at an obnoxious 81 minutes, now I’m not going to pretend I’m some hip-hop expert, so really my reference points won’t go further than Kanye. Still, comparisons don’t do either justice when one relies on bombast, and one is a bit more of a downbeat affair. Views is the latter, and his style of rap suits the sound to a tee. While some of the beats here and brilliant, when Drake tries to pick up the pace he sounds far too weary to leave a bite mark. Still, there is a good 12 song album here, somewhere.

Empire of the Sun / Two Vines (pop)
Rating: 6
Highlights: Friends, ZZZ

They emerged from MGMT’s shadows, and while MGMT went on a mission to lose as many fans as possible, Empire of the Sun seem to get poppier and poppier after each album. Two Vines plays out similarly to their previous album, minus the Bowie aping closing tracks. It’s consistent to a fault, there are plenty of great tracks here, but nothing as gripping as Alive or Walking On A Dream. They’re in desperate need of a reinvention, but while they’re still pumping out tracks like Friends I can’t complain too much.

Factory Floor / 25 25 (dance)
Rating: 3
Highlights: Ya

What a chore. 25 25 takes their debut and stretches it’s songs to an almost punishing level. It might work at 3am in one of the more pretentious nightclubs, but right now I’m sober and most of the tracks don’t even make it to the halfway point before I’m willing for it to end. I like the sound they’re going for, sort of early LCD Soundsystem minus their blatant rock/punk influence, and it really shines on tracks like Ya. Maybe the pulsing beats need more time to unravel themselves to me, but right now all I want to do is turn it off.

Fifth Harmony / 7/27 (Pop)
Rating – 9
Highlights: Dope, I Lied

THIS is how you do a pop album in 2016. 27/7 takes every great pop song from the last couple of years, 5 great vocalists (that shine when solo or harmonising) and creates a full throttle, all killer, no filler, cohesive album. It’s an impressive feat that leaves me grinning throughout. Yes, the lyrics are banal as hell, but as shown on album highlight Dope, some of the album’s brightest moments come from their simplicity.

Flume / Skin (Dance)
Rating – 5
Highlights: Say It

Skin is the new album from almost-high-profile EDM artist Flume, and it’s pretty good evidence as to why he deserves to be big. Skin is feature heavy, though he makes sure his beats are the talking point, the list of features are sure to get the blogosphere creaming (the general public not so) – Tove Lo, AlunaGeorge, Beck and Vince Staples to name a few. It’s impressive on paper, but the features feel quite disconnected to the beats, only a couple of tracks (Smoke & Retribution, Take A Chance) greatly benefit from having them. There is a lot to love in Skin, it’s a euphoric combination of EDM, Arca-style glitch and touches of J-Pop. Fingers crossed for album 3, let’s hope his sound hasn’t come and gone by then.

How To Dress Well / Care (alternative pop)
Rating: 8
Highlights: What’s Up, Salt Song

During 2014, How To Dress Well AKA Tom Krell released my personal favourite album of that year. Needless to say I was pumped when Care was announced, especially when Jack Antonoff was said to be involved – you might recognise him from his work with Taylor Swift, Troye Sivan or Sia. Care continues HTDW’s poppier transition; far away from the bedroom R&B he started out with. The sounds are contemporary, the tropical-tinge of What’s Up and the synth-y R&B Lost Youth/Lost You, but what really sticks out is how many unashamedly cheesy moments there are; the whistling and outro to Salt Song, the guitar solo on LY/LY and the pure pop of Anxious. In the same vein as Gaga’s Born This Way album or (at a stretch) The 1975’s latest; a lot of these shouldn’t work, but it does, and bless him for it.

James Arthur / Back From The Edge (singer-songwriter)
Rating: 3
Highlights: None

For an artist protesting about “the music machine” a couple of years ago, it’s a shock to hear just how safe Back From The Edge sounds, I guess bills still need to be paid. Musically, the results are totally beige, which is a shame for James’ emotive vocals. The album picks up on the few uptempo tracks, and he even brings out his falsetto on Sober. You’ve heard every track here before, but don’t let it stop you, the only offensive thing about this album is just how inoffensive it actually is.

James Blake / The Colour In Everything (Electronic)
Rating – 3
Highlight: Radio Silence

And I thought Drake’s album was a slog, bloody hell. James Blake melds minimalist beats with his singer-songwriter abilities to craft 17 songs of delicate soul and R&B. I’ve always admired James’ sound, and on this album I won’t deny he does try and switch it up a bit, with some startling orchestration. However in the end we’re still listening to 17 tracks of shrill vocals and recycled beats. It’s like watching the most beautiful paint dry.

Johnny Foreigner / Mono No Aware (rock)
Rating – 7
Highlights: Our Lifestyles Incandescent, Into The Veldt

Against all odds, good ol’ JoFo are still kicking. It’s hard to imagine them taking off anymore but I’ve always had a soft spot for them. Their last album was a slow burner for me, the riffs took a while to stick, and the songs began to develop their own identities. Mono No Aware shares many similarities, the pace doesn’t let up and there are riffs aplenty. If you’re into pop-punk, emo or more rock oriented indie I’d always recommend this act; and the dynamics between dual-singers Alexei and Kelly make them one of the more interesting rock bands. It’ll be a sad day when we lose them.

JoJo / Mad Love. (pop)
Rating: 6
Highlights: FAB

The fact Mad Love. exists is relieving. After being stuck in label-limbo for what seems like centuries I’m surprised JoJo is still fighting, but one track in you can hear the passion she has for the people around her and the music she makes. There’s power in the vocals but the majority of tracks are cookie cutter pop, and the genres touched vary so much it’s difficult to pinpoint what JoJo is actually trying to achieve. It’s nice to see JoJo able to adapt to the current musical landscape and produce some corkers, but I can’t help hoping she’d be one to push the trends instead of following them.

JONES / New Skin (singer-songwriter/R&B)
Rating: 7
Highlights: New Skin, Out Of This World

New Skin covers all bases. You have traces of the xx on Hoops, big anthemic moments on songs like Out Of This World, and alt-R&B on the title track. Kudos to JONES for crafting an album that touches on many different influences and manages to still pull them off. My main issue is how soft the album sounds. It’s very MOR, and wouldn’t sound out of place on Radio 2, but if you can look past its lack of punch and focus on the strength of the songs then you’re in for a treat.

Kero Kero Bonito / Bonito Generation (pop)
Rating: 3
Highlight: Break

You know when cartoons like Adventure Time sometimes do some sort of ironic electro song? This is an album of them. I smiled at the phone call in Break though.

Kings of Leon / WALLS (rock)
Rating: 5
Highlights: Around The World

WALLS finds Kings of Leon toning down, on the album’s first half they sound reinvigorated, sounding more like a yuppie indie band from 10 years prior, especially on the jangly Around The World. Once the track Over comes around, we get a glimpse of KoL going back to their garage rock comfort zone. Props to them for trying to expand their sound, and for not relying on the louder means better motif. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s Kings of Leon at their most polished and concise. You won’t find a killer single here, but I wouldn’t count them out just yet.

Kristin Kontrol / X-Communicate (Alt-Pop)
Rating – 5
Highlights: X-Comunicate

Kristin Kontrol is the synth-pop attempt from Dum Dum Girls’ mastermind Kristin Gundred, X-Communicate is a classic case of jack of all trades, master of none. Kristin attempts to juggle around grungey guitars with shimmering synths, letting neither take the spotlight, and it just comes off a bit flat. There are moments of urgency here with its catchy title track, and (Don’t) Wannabe has a brilliant driving beat to it, but there are a lot of dull moments here, and that is your worst enemy when crafting a pop record. Despite the record not always paying off, it has left me excited for whatever she puts her name to next.

Lady Gaga / Joanne (pop)
Rating: 7
Highlights: Joanne, Dancing In Circles

If you’re after a non-bias review for this, you’re on the wrong site. I’ve been a little monster for a while and I can’t help but gush on and on when it comes to Gaga. Country is the new costume, and it actually seems to work with her, it isn’t as harsh an image as the 80s glam-metal of Born This Way but there are plenty of tracks here that deviate from the cowgirl getup such as the psychedelic R&B of Hey Girl, or the Beatles indebted Just Another Day. Also kudos to Gaga for finally perfecting a ballad, I’d be lying if the heart wrenching title track doesn’t get me choked up each time. In the end it’s just another Gaga album, one that’ll be mistreated for bad single choices but still filled to the brink with brilliant deep cuts. Here’s waiting for the next one.

Laura Mvula / Phenomenal Woman (R&B/baroque)
Rating – 6
Highlights: Show Me Love

Imagine you’re in one of those hippie crystal shops, they’ll probably be playing some sort of ‘rainforest mix’. The Dreaming Room is one of those mixes, except with some much needed funk loads of drama. The range of instrumentation here is mind blowing, and Laura is a force herself, commanding an orchestra on tracks like Show Me Love, then commanding the dancefloor on closing track Phenomenal Woman.

Lauren Aquilina / Isn’t It Strange? (singer-songwriter/pop)
Rating: 7
Highlights: Wicked Game, Hurt Any Less

Strange isn’t a word I’d use to describe this album, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel – but not every album needs to. Isn’t It Strange showcases Lauren’s singer-songwriter skills and dresses them up in a propulsive, addicting 80s pop sheen, similar to Amanda Mair or how Ella Henderson draped her tunes with crashing drums. The production is crisp, and while the songs all share a similar structure, there are distinct touches with each, be a vein of tropical-house on opening track Midnight Mouths or funk with the guitars on Hurt Any Less. There’ll be something for everyone here, and with the right marketing this should’ve been huge.

Local Natives / Sunlit Youth (indie)
Rating: 6
Highlights: Dark Days, Coins

If their previous album was dark, this is Local Natives letting the light back in. Sunlit Youth feels freeing, the songs are given space to breath and are stronger for it. The album’s first half is all killer, great pacing and hooks that will stick with you for days, sadly the latter half isn’t able to keep up that standard. Nothing on here will urge a skip but you might forget you left it on. If you’re a fan of catchy indie-rock, give it a go.

LUH / Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing (Indie)
Rating - 8
Highlights: I&I, Here Our Moment Ends

LUH vocalist Ellery Roberts has a thing for the huge, the sound of LUH isn’t too far from his previous band WU LYF’s, but now he’s dragging his girlfriend along for the ride. Ebony’s vocals here are a pleasant change from Ellery’s indecipherable shouts, and compliment the more electronic palette brought by producer and Bjork collaborator The Haxan Cloak. It’s a solid indie rock album, never sticking to one note, and the heady mix of reverb and yearning vocals do make it sound whatever they’re saying has an important message, even when they attempt to sound like 3OH!3 on $ORO.

Magik*Magik / Magik*Magik (baroque)
Rating: 8
Highlights: Circuitry, Now Or Never

Minna Choi is the brains behind Magik*Magik, a solo project born from the Magik*Magik Orchestra, who you might recognise from touring with Death Cab For Cutie. For years the group would assist other artists, but now Minna is crafting her own songs. The results are expectedly gorgeous, lush compositions backed by electronic beats not unlike Owen Pallett, or even The Postal Service on tracks like Circuitry. It’s a triumph of an album and one that deserves to be heard.

Meghan Trainor / Thank You (Pop)
Rating – 2
Highlights: No

Barely over a year since the release of Title; are Meghan and her label feeling the pressure? Thank You isn’t the sound of an act bursting with creativity to release an album; it’s a cash grab, squeezing the last few dollars out before Meghan loses all relevancy. I actually enjoyed No for its attempt at 90s pop music, but almost every other track here is a dated self-empowerment anthem backed by cringe doo-wop. To be honest, I was expecting worse, and this album isn’t really a 2, but taking a quote from track 3, I deserve better. P.S. Listen to Mom at your own peril.

Metronomy / Summer 08 (electropop)
Rating: 8
Highlights: Night Owl, Love Is An Obstacle

I do hope when we look back Joseph Mount goes down in UK music as one of the more applauded figures from the 00s, his solo project Metronomy can always be relied upon for catchy, quirky electro-pop (think a less dance-y Hot Chip), and he’s helped write and produce brilliant songs with Nicola Roberts, Kate Nash and Sophie Ellis Bextor to name a few. Summer 08 looks back towards the underrated Nights Out, tales of night time parties and breakups. If you don’t get wrapped up in the infectious Night Owl or Hang Me Out To Dry, then this probably isn’t for you, and you’re wrong.

Modern Baseball / Holy Ghost (Emo)
Rating – 8
Highlights: Note to Self, Just Another Face

I never knew, but apparently emo existed before the mid-00s movement. Modern Baseball are supposedly part of this 90s emo revivalism, alongside acts like The World Is A Beautiful Place… and I dig it. Holy Ghost only lasts just over 25 minutes, but they don’t hold back any punches. Catchy riffs and choruses a plenty, the lyrics are cheesy but endearing (like all good emo), it might not go hard enough for some rock fans, but if you’re after an great, accessible rock record, Holy Ghost is a good shout.

Nao / For All We Know (R&B/dance)
Rating: 7
Highlights: Bad Blood, Perfume

Remember AlunaGeorge? Imagine Aluna had a better range and the tunes weren’t so one dimensional and you’d arrive at For All We Know. The songs here aren’t weird per se, but their melodies take a while to unravel, and at 14 tracks long (18 if you count the intros and interludes!) that is a lot of unravelling. Thankfully there are a handful of tracks that will keep you coming back with its appealing mix of R&B and electro. I’ll always go to AlunaGeorge for the bops, but when you’re after something a little less superficial, this isn’t a bad start.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Skeleton Key (alternative)
Rating: 8
Highlights: Distant Sky, Skeleton Key

A dark cloud looms over Skeleton Key, Nick is certainly adept at writing some miserable cuts, but (at least recently) they’ve had some upbeat or aggressive tones to keep things lively. However, after the recent tragic death of Nick’s son you can’t blame him for releasing something along the lines of Skeleton Tree. While the lyrics never confront the topic head on, they do paint a picture of his turmoil, and eventual acceptance. The sparse production along with Nick’s expressive vocals makes for an emotional listen, especially the desperate yearning on I Need You. While the dark clouds don’t go, towards the end of the album you can start to see shimmers of sunshine; Else Torp makes a beautiful appearance on Distant Sky, and you can hear Nick pick himself up on the closing title track. Skeleton Tree will take you on a journey and its best to go prepared, take some tissues.

Nick Jonas / Last Year Was Complicated (pop)
Rating – 4
Highlights: Bacon

Manipulating the gays will only get you so far. Despite his gay right speeches and posing for OUT magazine I find it hard to get excited for Nick outside of a couple of singles. Last Year Was Complicated is harmless, a 2016 copy of FutureSexLoveSounds. It might have worked 10 years ago, but not anymore. I think he has potential, but I don’t think the world of pop is forgiving enough to give him a third chance.

Niki & The Dove / Everybody’s Heart Is Broken Now (electropop)
Rating: 8
Highlights: Ode To Dance Floor, Scar For Love

Even if lead singer Malin Dahlstrom was singing happier songs, her tone would make you think you just killed her puppy, so it’s a good job most of the songs here revolve around heartbreak. The album is pure 70s without the cheese; disco and funk take prominence, but even the ballads, like showstopper Everybody Wants To Be You, don’t succumb to sounding dated thanks to the edge in Malin’s vocals. You’ll cry beforehand, but if you aren’t grinning ear to ear by the end of the 7 minutes of pure joy that is Ode To Dance Floor then you might want to check your pulse.

Petite Meller / Lil Empire (pop)
Rating: 5
Highlights: Argentina

Petite Meller is a traveller, and she wants you to know this. Lil Empire is filled with foreign influences, the lazy beach setting on Argentina, the Lion King-esque chanting on Milk Bath – it makes the album feel alive. There’s an unrelenting positive attitude throughout thanks to Petite’s cutesy vocals and with most of the tracks relying on a piano hook you might think you’re listening to Jess Glynn’s kookier sister. It’s good fun, but the shtick can wear thin.

Radiohead / A Moon Shaped Pool (Indie)
Rating – 7
Highlights: Glass Eyes, True Love Waits

It’s been a worrying few years to be a Radiohead fan, after the bland ‘The King Of Limbs’ and the blander ‘Atoms For Peace’, were the band going to keep becoming victim to Thom Yorke’s ego? Well, if it took a divorce from Thom’s partner to get his head out of his arse, then so be it. A Moon Shaped Pool isn’t the big innovation that fans have come to expect, it takes In Rainbows’ lush instrumentation and TKOL’s sombre song writing with an oversaturation of strings. The band still sound slightly tired, but who cares when it sounds so beautiful.

Shura / Nothing’s Real (pop)
Rating – 9
Highlights: Kids N Stuff, What Happened To Us?

Shura lives in her own world, you only need to look at the artwork for Nothing’s Real to notice. It’s a beautiful place full of innocence and wonder, and it seems to have seeped its way into Shura’s recording. Over the album you can hear little details spread throughout, children shouting, scattered conversations, it really adds to the introverted feel the album has. It could come off as quirky, but when Shura yearns “Thought we’d get married, and have kids and stuff” and question “How can I not be everything that you need?” during Kids ‘N’ Stuff, you can’t help but feel moved. Sound wise the album is immaculately produced 80s fetishism at its finest, seemingly taking influence from 80s Madonna and Ladyhawke’s debut. Despite being an up and comer for what feels like years, she took her time with this and it shows.

Slow Club / One Day All Of This Won’t Matter Any More (folk/blues)
Rating: 8
Highlights: Come On Poet, Rebecca Casanova

After Slow Club’s last album Complete Surrender didn’t set the world on fire (It should’ve), Slow Club are back with their original label, Moshi Moshi, who’ve launched the careers of acts like Florence and the Machine, Kate Nash and Disclosure to name a few. Moving away from the shimmering arrangements of Complete Surrender, Charles and Rebecca headed abroad to Virginia’s Spacebomb Studios to craft an intoxicating mix of country and soul. It’s a good job they’re so charming or the instrumentation might come off one-note. Thankfully the song writing remains strong, and the alternating vocals keep things from getting stale. It won’t be the album that’ll launch their 10 year old career to the limelight, but One Day… is further evidence that they should be revered.

Solange / A Seat At The Table (R&B)
Rating: 7
Highlights: Mad, Don’t Touch My Hair

The last release from Solange was her collaboration with Blood Orange, and wouldn’t you know it – both return this year with solid, slick R&B albums focusing on racial and gender politics. While Blood Orange’s latest has a more contemporary feel, A Seat At The Table relies on the an old school R&B approach, low-key beats, brass and a touch of gospel. It’s a nice combination, and while Solange is a much stronger vocalist than Dev Hynes the album does have sequencing issues at 21 tracks (9 of which are interludes). It deviates from the norm in the final act, but the damage is done by then. Despite this, the songs are strong and the narrative is even stronger.

Tegan and Sara / Love You To Death (Pop)
Rating – 6
Highlights: Boyfriend, Stop Desire

Love You To Death continues where Heartthrob left off, smooth 80s style synth-pop. It’s disappointing that this is almost an exact copy; the songs are nice, unashamedly pop with a couple being incredibly catchy, but in the end it’s still another toothless album without bite. I come out enjoying the experience but a little variety helps, ladies.

Tove Lo / Lady Wood (pop)
Rating: 7
Highlights: Flashes, Imaginary Friend

I have nothing to criticise Queen of the Clouds for, as a pop album it was consistent and catchy as hell. Lady Wood is more of the same, so why do I feel kinda disappointed? The dark, edgy tones can get exhausting, but the songs still retain the same quality as her earlier work. Highlights are the enrapturing pulsing beat of True Disaster that sparks similarities to Ariana’s Into You. The album ends on a high too with Flashes and WTF Love Is. I don’t know what my hangup with the album is, the songs are great, maybe it’s because I’ve been getting my dark synth-pop fill from BANKS instead.

Two Door Cinema Club / Gameshow (indie)
Rating: 4
Highlights: None

The problem with acts relying solely on infectious melodies is what do they have to fall back on when they’re unable to keep up that standard? TDCC’s debut is a modern indie classic, and since then they haven’t been able to replicate the same magic. Gameshow is TDCC attempting to escape their debut’s shadow by following the tried and testing indie band going electro route but the results are mixed. They can wrap it up in glittery synths, but it won’t hide the flaws in the songwriting.

Wild Beasts / Boy King (indie)
Rating: 7
Highlights: 2BU, He The Collosus

Masculinity plays a vital role on Boy King, look at the titles - Big Cat, Tough Guy, Alpha Female; and that’s just the first three tracks. From a band that had such tenderness starting out, it makes you wonder if this is all a façade; you wouldn’t bat your eyes if you heard Bastille use the synths on Get My Bang, and the guttural guitar on He The Collosus comes straight out of the Muse handbook. It can get a bit much, but closing track Dreamliner shows they can still tug on your heartstrings.