![Shamir - Ratchet:]()
Shamir - Ratchet: "To those who keep asking," Shamir tweeted earlier in the year, "I have no gender, no sexuality, and no fucks to give." This same sentiment comes through with a gleeful exuberance in his debut album. Combining his androgynous, counter-tenor voice (with which he both raps and sings) with synthy electronica instrumentals, it's an unselfconscious and self-assured debut.
![Jamie xx - In Colour: This might be Jamie xx's first solo LP, but he's still recruited the help of both of his xx band members. Romy Madley-Croft on both 'SeeSaw' and 'Loud Places' - the latter of which skilfully melds minimalist electronica with a soul-inflected chorus - and Oliver Sim on 'Stranger In A Room'. This is Jamie xx's baby though, and it's allowed him to fully embrace his passion for dance music - dance music that you can cry and dance to at the same time.]()
Jamie xx - In Colour: This might be Jamie xx's first solo LP, but he's still recruited the help of both of his xx band members. Romy Madley-Croft on both 'SeeSaw' and 'Loud Places' - the latter of which skilfully melds minimalist electronica with a soul-inflected chorus - and Oliver Sim on 'Stranger In A Room'. This is Jamie xx's baby though, and it's allowed him to fully embrace his passion for dance music - dance music that you can cry and dance to at the same time.
![Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit: Courtney Barnett can somehow inject deeper significance into the most mundane of lyrical narratives. Who'd have thought that a song with the opening line,]()
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit: Courtney Barnett can somehow inject deeper significance into the most mundane of lyrical narratives. Who'd have thought that a song with the opening line, "Jen insists that we buy organic vegetables" could be so affecting?
![Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool: Such is Wolf Alice's formidable reputation at this point in the summer, that it's easy to forget they only released their debut album two months ago. There's something lingering within their heartfelt guitar riffs and unaffected vocals that evokes instant feelings of heady nostalgia. Or, as in the case of 'You're A Germ', bruising, euphoric rage.]()
Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool: Such is Wolf Alice's formidable reputation at this point in the summer, that it's easy to forget they only released their debut album two months ago. There's something lingering within their heartfelt guitar riffs and unaffected vocals that evokes instant feelings of heady nostalgia. Or, as in the case of 'You're A Germ', bruising, euphoric rage.
![Eskimeaux - O.K.: An unassuming folk album encased in light synths and rockier guitar riffs. Whatever genre it's dipping its toe into, the lyrics remain consistently poignant:]()
Eskimeaux - O.K.: An unassuming folk album encased in light synths and rockier guitar riffs. Whatever genre it's dipping its toe into, the lyrics remain consistently poignant: "While you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up, I was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you."
![Joey BadA$$ - B4.DA.$$: There was a lot of pressure riding on the debut of the 20-year-old forerunner of the Beast Coast movement, and Jo Scott did not disappoint. Hailed from the beginning for his ludicrously smooth flow and homage to hip-hop's humble beginnings, B4.DA.$$ fulfils all of this and more, incorporating elements of the playful and the thug, while retaining the introspection and unique wordplay that built up his rep when he first stepped into the spotlight.]()
Joey BadA$$ - B4.DA.$$: There was a lot of pressure riding on the debut of the 20-year-old forerunner of the Beast Coast movement, and Jo Scott did not disappoint. Hailed from the beginning for his ludicrously smooth flow and homage to hip-hop's humble beginnings, B4.DA.$$ fulfils all of this and more, incorporating elements of the playful and the thug, while retaining the introspection and unique wordplay that built up his rep when he first stepped into the spotlight.
![Rae Morris - Unguarded: There's a distinctive style and tone to Morris' voice - the shape of her vowels and sharpness of her consonants forms as important a role as the melody itself. Some of these songs, such as album highlight 'Don't Go', have been around for a good few years now - and the organic evolution of Morris' songwriting style is starkly visible as the album progresses.]()
Rae Morris - Unguarded: There's a distinctive style and tone to Morris' voice - the shape of her vowels and sharpness of her consonants forms as important a role as the melody itself. Some of these songs, such as album highlight 'Don't Go', have been around for a good few years now - and the organic evolution of Morris' songwriting style is starkly visible as the album progresses.
![Kagoule - Urth: It's surely only a matter of time before Kagoule enjoy the same skyrocketing career trajectory as Wolf Alice. Combining gritty alt-rock stylings with syncopated, jagged drumming and melodies that are both accessible and indefinably left-field, Urth is a satisfying, well-rounded debut. We only wish bassist Lucy Hatter would take the vocal reins a little more often - 'Made Of Concrete' is a true highlight.]()
Kagoule - Urth: It's surely only a matter of time before Kagoule enjoy the same skyrocketing career trajectory as Wolf Alice. Combining gritty alt-rock stylings with syncopated, jagged drumming and melodies that are both accessible and indefinably left-field, Urth is a satisfying, well-rounded debut. We only wish bassist Lucy Hatter would take the vocal reins a little more often - 'Made Of Concrete' is a true highlight.
![Bully - Feels Like: So unflinchingly honest are Bully's lyrics that it's sometimes easy to overlook how musically proficient (and yet by no means clinically so) the album is.]()
Bully - Feels Like: So unflinchingly honest are Bully's lyrics that it's sometimes easy to overlook how musically proficient (and yet by no means clinically so) the album is. "My new friends, they're okay", sings Alicia Bognanno underneath infectious guitar hooks, "Not that social anyway," before swiftly, unblinkingly switching to something darker, "I thought that he would never hit a girl / But I guess you never know / And that's the world."
![Marika Hackman - We Slept At Last: There's a sort of delicate ferocity lurking underneath Hackman's pure, melancholic vocals. Lyrically too, she intensifies cliched images of love and attraction until they curdle and sour:]()
Marika Hackman - We Slept At Last: There's a sort of delicate ferocity lurking underneath Hackman's pure, melancholic vocals. Lyrically too, she intensifies cliched images of love and attraction until they curdle and sour: "I'm jealous of your neck / That narrow porcelain plinth of flesh / It gets to hold your head / And I'd rather perform the task instead." Beautiful and slightly creepy in equal measure.
![Say Lou Lou - Lucid Dreaming: We're still a little baffled that Say Lou Lou haven't quite blown up to the extent they deserve yet. Lucid Dreaming is electro-pop at its finest and most intricate, and is jam-packed with explosive, euphoric hooks sung with dreamy richness. See 'Nothing But A Heartbeat' and 'Everything We Touch' for proof.]()
Say Lou Lou - Lucid Dreaming: We're still a little baffled that Say Lou Lou haven't quite blown up to the extent they deserve yet. Lucid Dreaming is electro-pop at its finest and most intricate, and is jam-packed with explosive, euphoric hooks sung with dreamy richness. See 'Nothing But A Heartbeat' and 'Everything We Touch' for proof.
![Girlpool - Before The World Was Big: It takes a lot of talent and nuance to make music this simple. At just 24 minutes long, the album comprises simple bass and guitar riffs, while Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad sing unaffected melodies with big, open voices. Often, they sing in unison before one of them swoops above or below the other with a youthful, exuberant synergy. The sense of youthful nostalgia is compounded too, when they sing the same line slightly out of time with each other, like a primary school round.]()
Girlpool - Before The World Was Big: It takes a lot of talent and nuance to make music this simple. At just 24 minutes long, the album comprises simple bass and guitar riffs, while Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad sing unaffected melodies with big, open voices. Often, they sing in unison before one of them swoops above or below the other with a youthful, exuberant synergy. The sense of youthful nostalgia is compounded too, when they sing the same line slightly out of time with each other, like a primary school round.
![Gengahr - A Dream Outside: Putting a nail in the paint-by-numbers indie-rock coffin that the UK has been grieving over since the mid-noughties, Gengahr takes from the more left-field sounds of US alt-rock and makes melodic, exciting and blissful music that is still quintessentially British. Their debut album was suited head-to-toe in instrumentally daring manoeuvres and retains a levity without drifting irreversibly into the ‘floaty’ axis - A Dream Outside is more than just a promising debut, it’s indicative of the immense musicianship that hasn’t been present in UK indie for a minute.]()
Gengahr - A Dream Outside: Putting a nail in the paint-by-numbers indie-rock coffin that the UK has been grieving over since the mid-noughties, Gengahr takes from the more left-field sounds of US alt-rock and makes melodic, exciting and blissful music that is still quintessentially British. Their debut album was suited head-to-toe in instrumentally daring manoeuvres and retains a levity without drifting irreversibly into the ‘floaty’ axis - A Dream Outside is more than just a promising debut, it’s indicative of the immense musicianship that hasn’t been present in UK indie for a minute.
![A collaboration between The National's Matt Berninger and Ramona Falls' Brent Knopf, El Vy naturally share a little of the same terrain as the former, but the truth is that this collaboration has allowed both artists to really cut loose like never before - and the order of the day is simply letting the good times roll. While many debuts by 'side-projects' are half-arsed vanity projects, this is a labour of love from a band fully realised.]()
A collaboration between The National's Matt Berninger and Ramona Falls' Brent Knopf, El Vy naturally share a little of the same terrain as the former, but the truth is that this collaboration has allowed both artists to really cut loose like never before - and the order of the day is simply letting the good times roll. While many debuts by 'side-projects' are half-arsed vanity projects, this is a labour of love from a band fully realised.
![Benjamin Clementine - At Least For Now: This year's Mercury-winner - and rightly so. This soulful body of work follows Clementine from his childhood through to his life on the streets of Paris and up to his return to the UK to find his fortune, which he finally has. One of the more 'human' releases you could hope to hear this year.]()
Benjamin Clementine - At Least For Now: This year's Mercury-winner - and rightly so. This soulful body of work follows Clementine from his childhood through to his life on the streets of Paris and up to his return to the UK to find his fortune, which he finally has. One of the more 'human' releases you could hope to hear this year.
![Jennylee - Right On! The Warpaint bassist goes solo, and the result is a refreshing step towards forming her individual brand. It can never be a bad thing to sound just like Warpaint - particularly when you're a member of said band - so the fact that 'Never' could have sat quite easily alongside 'Love Is To Die' and 'Keep It Healthy' is not a problem. The track that follows, though - 'Long Lonely Winter' - takes us to territories thus far unexplored, and is all the more vibrant and exciting for it. There's synths in there, and a minimalist, R&B tinge. If there's any justice, Right On! will gain Jennylee the attention and acclaim she deserves. Just don't start worshipping her too hard:]()
Jennylee - Right On! The Warpaint bassist goes solo, and the result is a refreshing step towards forming her individual brand. It can never be a bad thing to sound just like Warpaint - particularly when you're a member of said band - so the fact that 'Never' could have sat quite easily alongside 'Love Is To Die' and 'Keep It Healthy' is not a problem. The track that follows, though - 'Long Lonely Winter' - takes us to territories thus far unexplored, and is all the more vibrant and exciting for it. There's synths in there, and a minimalist, R&B tinge. If there's any justice, Right On! will gain Jennylee the attention and acclaim she deserves. Just don't start worshipping her too hard: "Everyone shits, everyone pees," she says, "but people lose themselves when they’re put on a pedestal."
![Farao - Til It's All Forgotten: Part of the incredible wave of new talent coming over from Norway, Farao doesn't lean on any influences or points of origin - but simply forges all of the elements at her disposal to create a genre-defying and utterly bewitching statement of individuality. You may have missed this record, but be sure to get it in your life at once.]()
Farao - Til It's All Forgotten: Part of the incredible wave of new talent coming over from Norway, Farao doesn't lean on any influences or points of origin - but simply forges all of the elements at her disposal to create a genre-defying and utterly bewitching statement of individuality. You may have missed this record, but be sure to get it in your life at once.
![Guy Garvey - Courting The Squall: The Elbow frontman steps out alone, carrying with him all of the charm and everyman poetry that makes it seem familiar, but taking his sound to a far more personal and adventurous place - calling on the rumbling blues of Tom Waits and some far more cinematic elements. Total satisfaction from one of the most prominent forces in music for his generation.]()
Guy Garvey - Courting The Squall: The Elbow frontman steps out alone, carrying with him all of the charm and everyman poetry that makes it seem familiar, but taking his sound to a far more personal and adventurous place - calling on the rumbling blues of Tom Waits and some far more cinematic elements. Total satisfaction from one of the most prominent forces in music for his generation.