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Yazmin Lacey: Voice Notes
Debut album: A magically smooth, beautiful fusion of jazz, soul, funk and reggae in this debut by the superb London-born, Nottingham-based singer, whose fluid, dreamy voice captures the emotions in the intonations and nuances in her eloquent delivery
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Fujiya & Miyagi
New album: Crisp, clean, refined, witty, cleverly pared-back electro-pop by the Brighton band of two decades and fronted by David Best with this very fine LP released in late September
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Santigold: Spirituals
New album: Inspired by African-American folk and gospel, this powerful, feverishly intense, emotional fourth LP released in September by the singer-songwriter brings an electric mix of punk, hip-hop, funk, afrobeat, electro-pop, and reggae wrapped in rage, anxiety and reflection
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Makaya McCraven: In These Times
New album: An intricately beautiful and mesmeric fusion of polyrhythm and melody by the Paris-born, Chicago-based percussionist and composer, bringing together cosmic jazz, hip-hop breakbeats, funk, classical and African influences on this sublime fourth album, released back in September
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Perú Selvático - Sonic Expedition into the Peruvian Amazon 1972-1986
New album: An excellently colourful 36th compilation release by the Samy Ben Redjeb’s label Analog Africa features a wonderful sprinking of Amazonian cumbia - timbale rhythms, driven by spidery, treble-damaged guitar lines, and drenched in bright splashes of organ
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Little Simz: No Thank You
New album: Released without fanfare like those of the collective Sault’s recent five (with producer also Inflo involved here), a fierce, sharp, set songs, particularly about mental health issues, race and music industry evils by the brilliant London rapper
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And the band plays on … Ezra Collective: Where I'm Meant To Be
New album: Energetic, infectiously positive new album by the outstanding five London jazz musicians, infusing also funk and African influences, and including guests rappers Kojey Radical and Sampa the Great, and singers Emeli Sandé and Nao
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Perfectly situated: Melby’s new album, Looks Like A Map
New album: Serene, textured, mellow and beautifully moody LP by the four-piece from Stockholm, whose eclectic indie, at the surface, runs deep with elements of prog, jazz, electronica and dreamy pop, lightly dusted with shivery soul, folk, sadness and sugar
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Rubblebucket hit the ground lying down with Earth Worship
New album: A playful, inventive, witty, often humorous and highly original new LP by the Vermont-formed, New York City-based group fronted by Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth “dissolve the imaginary lines between the natural world and its human inhabitants”
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Nick Hakm returns with COMETA
New album: Another sublime, soft, tender soul-funk-jazz fusion by the New York musician who has an unparalleled ability to create new, gentle musical textures decorated with his dreamy falsetto vocals
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Louis Cole’s sixth album always has priorities …
New album: Brilliantly clever, agile and innovative sixth new solo funk album by the American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and Knower co-founder, mixing fast, perky beats and falsetto with the slower, more tender love songs, often with a twist
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The Orielles’ fourth LP, Tableau
New album: This fourth, sprawling, ambitious, cinematic, genre-spanning double LP by the Halifax trio of singer/bassist Esmé Hand-Halford and co is an enthralling, constantly morphing mix of psychedelia, prog, jazz, funk, R&B, indie, space pop, electronica, house and disco
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Lambchop’s 16th studio album, The Bible
New album: Tender, strange, eclectic, Kurt Wagner returns with a 16th album a long way from those earlier heady day releases of of Americana and alt-country, but one filled with fascinating oddities, reflections on mortality, with fusions of jazz, electronica, soul, classical and modulated sounds and voices
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Gabriels’ debut album, including the extraordinary voice of Jacob Lusk
New album: Since their breakthrough Love and Hate In A Different Time EP in 2020, the trio of Ari Balouzian, Ryan Hope and most especially the voice of Jacob Lusk continue to soar, now with this new, short debut LP of transcendent, timeless soul and gospel
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Sudan Archives returns with her expansive, innovative second album
New album: The scintillating second album by Ohio’s LA-based multi-instrumentalist and singer Brittney Parks showcases her innovation across hip hop, R&B, electronica, jazz and beyond with looping ingenuity, improvisation, and sharp feminist, dark lyrics about life as a black woman
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Hot Chip return to reach out with Freakout/Release
New album: This eighth LP by the London synth-pop band of Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard and co is filled packed with Prince-inspired funk, and catchy melodies, and though not as wild as the title suggests, is still a slick, liquidly fun release that ticks the Hot Chip boxes
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AHudson Mohawke: Cry Sugar
New album: A vibrantly energised otherworld, an innovative concoction of experimental electronica, trash-pop to classical, gospel, 70s soul, house and more by the prolific LA-based Glaswegian DJ and producer Ross Birchard in his fourth LP and first for seven years
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Cheat Codes by Danger Mouse and Black Thought
New album: A superb collaboration between two hugely influential innovators – producer Brian Burton and rapper and co-founder of The Roots, Tarik Luqmaan Trotter – packed with fabulously sharp hip hop, soul and funk samples and guests, including a lost verse from the much missed MF DOOM
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Kokoroko: Could We Be More
New album: Variously mesmeric, chilled, smooth, staccato, slow then pacy, after many gigs and smaller releases the eight-piece London jazz and Afrobeat band finally have an LP of stirring (mostly) instrumentals that mix a variety of influences from Lagos to London
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Max Pope: Counting Sheep
Debut album: Smooth, finely crafted, lyrically thoughtful fusions of funk, pop, bossa nova, blues, jazz and rock with a cleverly summer, lazy understated feel by the 27-year-old singer-songwriter from south London and Brighton
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