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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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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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Stomzy returns with his most mellow and candid album yet
New album: Smooth, mellow, self-healing, candid, with many nods to his faith, the third album by the south London rapper is far from his edgier grime origins, and particularly mixes soul, R&B and spoken word alongside gospel choir and keyboards
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Five more fabulous albums by Sault
New albums: An unprecedented five albums landing simultaneously without warning, and with a temporary free download period on the mysterious London collective’s website, producer Inflo (Dean Josiah Cover) and co have again brought untold riches in soul, funk, gospel, jazz, RnB, hip-hop, experimental and contemporary classical
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Benjamin Clementine: And I Have Been
New album: Sublime third album by the British singer-songwriter, actor and 2015 Mercury winner, whose powerful, expressive, soul and gospel voice brims with elegance and stark emotion in stripped back, tender songs that capture many forms of pain, but also defiantly soar
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Loyle Carner’s third album, Hugo
New album: The British rapper returns with one of his best LPs yet, a candid exploration of his own identity, from seeking out his estranged biological father, how that reflects back onto his own son, ADHD, being mixed race and fearing inner-city violence
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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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Jake Blount
New album: After his acclaimed 2020 solo debut Spider Tales, the American bluegrass fiddler, banjo player, Afrofuturist and historian returns with a starkly beautiful, atmospheric album drawing on old spiritual numbers and set in a climate-changed, apocalyptic world
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Miraculous Mule: Old Bones, New Fire
New album: Channelling the spirit and sound of the Delta and Appalachian Mountains, a superbly evocative, haunting, powerful new release by the Anglo-Irish Londoners with reworked traditional blues and gospel given a stirring new lease of life
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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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Old friends: Mavis Staples and Levon Helm
New album: A timeless live album of soul, gospel, funk and blues capturing a 2011 Midnight Rambles show by the evergreen singer made at the home studio of the former drummer and co-lead singer of The Band who then died a year later
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Obongjayar’s debut album
That floating feeling: Kojey Radical has Reason To Smile
Debut album: After many singles and four EPs, the British rapper’s and brand designer’s full debut LP is a stylish mix of hip hop, jazz and R&B filled with impressive braggadocio, reflections on his Ghanaian heritage, with songs love, crime, race, and the black experience, and talking excerpts by his beloved mother
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Wasuremono’s Let's Talk, Pt. 2
New album: With a big, exuberant, joyously upbeat sound, this follow up to last year’s excellent Part 1 LP by the Bradford on Avon quartet is rich in vocal harmonies with an overlying theme of human connection
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Favourite selection part 2.
Favourite albums of 2021 – Part 2: Welcome the second instalment, following Part 1, which can be found here. A huge number of excellent releases, of which again this is just a selection many of which were written during, and about lockdown, but also saw many outstanding voices emerge as well as innovative sounds developed
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Take your pick. Are your favourites here? Also check out Part 2 coming soon.
Favourite albums of 2021, part 1: Another difficult year for everyone, but from soul and jazz, electro-pop the experimental and avant-garde, an outstanding one for music releases, perhaps in part because out of diversity comes great art. Also feel free to explore Part 2, which is now available to view here.
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Curtis Harding’s third solo LP, If Words Were Flowers
New album: Classic high-quality 70s-style soul and gospel by the Atlanta singer on his third solo album, filled with beautiful instrumentation and packed with vocally strong emotions that seek the positive through dark times
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Rebecca Taylor’s back
New album: Rotherham’s Rebecca Taylor returns with a second LP under her liberated moniker after Compliments Please with an even greater triumph of darkly humorous and caustic honesty topped with glorious gospel harmonies, big drums, orchestration and a celebration of emancipated womanhood
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The Specials perform a wide variety of well-chosen covers
New album: Uplifting, cleverly chosen and beautifully performed, the great Coventry band return with an album of timeless covers from folk to blues and ska, recorded during lockdown and perfectly reflecting the urgency of the times without being dogmatic
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Jungle: Loving In Stereo
New album: West London’s Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland return with undeniably, strong, catchy selection of falsetto soul and disco pop that has strings, horns, hip hop and gospel elements that hit perfect, broad appeal notes
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