Nowhere near Freddie's best but it's not really trying to be. 'Rabbit Mode' has a great second half so at least there's that.

Favourite Tracks: Rabbit Mode*

Boards of Canada return with an album that has its moments (see the excellent downtempo grooves on the lead single and the beautiful, twinkling 'You Retreat In Time And Space') but is ultimately padded out with too much filler. I like the haunting, eerie sound of the album (definitely more 'Geodaddi' than 'MHTRTC'), however the vocal chops didn't do a whole lot for me and I found the percussion a little lacklustre compared to their older albums.

Favourite ... read more

I love the feeling of discovering an album and knowing straight away it’s going to become one of your all time favourites.

I’ve recently been getting back into trip-hop and along with that I’ve started to look into the broader genre of downtempo. That’s when I stumbled upon this album. I had no idea who was behind the name Frou Frou until I looked it up after being hooked by the first track. I was vaguely familiar with Guy Sigsworth as a huge Björk fan and due to ... read more

These two just don't work together. To make matters worse, Nicholas Craven's beats are hit or miss. There's a baseline of quality but as someone who has loved projects from all 3 of these men in the past, I can't help but think this could've been so much better. 'Collection Plates' is fantastic though.

Favourite Tracks: Forgiveness, Collection Plates*, 16 Tithes

This style of music doesn’t showcase Simz’s talents very well at all. Glad this is only a little side quest EP. Hopefully it stays that way and this isn’t the direction her next LP goes in. It gets slightly better as it goes in fairness with the 070 Shake song being a genuine highlight.

Favourite Tracks: Telephone*

Not quite the full trip hop album I was hoping for from this collaboration after the incredible single ‘The Thing’ but the beats for the most part definitely have a distinctive 90s/early 00s feel to them. Still, this is easily Aurora’s strongest set of tracks in the decade since her debut. I really hope she fully commits to this more ambitious direction in the future.

Favourite Tracks: Come Closer, Ring The Alarm, My Baby, Somewhere Else, I Drink The Light, Side By Side, The ... read more

Thundercat's long awaited new album is his second best after 'Drunk', helped tremendously by the almost flawless Side A and held back only by the comparatively disappointing Side B. The features all do well, none more than Thundercat's close friend, the late Mac Miller. I wish Flying Lotus had more of a hand in the production, although having heard 'Great Americans' and most of FlyLo's 2020s output, maybe I should be careful what I wish for.

Favourite Tracks: ... read more

Along with Songs: Ohia, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy is almost solely responsible for getting me into country this year, or at least various sub-genres of it. His latest album comes at a perfect time for me as a listener starting to explore his catalogue. What is here is more like a chamber folk album with an alt-country or Americana tinge, whose delicate strings bring to mind a scene just like the cover art. Unfortunately after a strong start, it does drop off on side B.

Favourite Tracks: ... read more

Arlo Parks has to have one of the most frustrating discographies of any new artist in the 2020s. At the start of the decade, I was ready to knight her the next Phoebe Bridgers after her excellent debut ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’. Unfortunately, her 2023 follow up was a big step down. This album continues its washed out alt-pop sound just as I feared it would (albeit with some paper thin dance beats). Given how much I miss her debut sound, no wonder my favourite here is ... read more

After a disappointing project last year, dälek bounce back in a big way. Even if it loses steam in the middle, there's enough quality at the very beginning and end of the track list to make me want to come back to this in the future. The two singles kicks things off with the more abrasive, industrial darkness I've come to expect from dälek. Another gem towards the end of the record is 'For The People' with an eerie beat reminiscent of prime Amon Tobin.

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Coming into this new album cycle, I already really liked some of the stuff I'd heard from RAYE, namely tracks like 'Escapism', 'Genesis', 'Born Again' and 'Suzanne'. While I enjoyed the singles coming into this record, it's all a bit too overblown in terms of the cinematic sound it goes for and the lyrics are often too meta for my taste. Even without these issues, the 1 hour 13 minute does drag a little bit.

Favourite Tracks: I Will Overcome., ... read more

Boldy James fatigue continues strong into 2026 with his third collaboration with producer Your Boy Posca. The promise for future collaborations shown by their first crossover in early 2024 has once again not been realised with this project. Perfectly solid in pretty much all aspects but hard to get excited about. I am once again begging to Boldy James to release a proper solo album working with a variety of different producers.

Favourite Tracks: Advanced Children*, The Dealers Cut

Not their best work as a whole but it is a huge shame 'Glassman' in particular didn't make the album. 'Thank You By Dido' is not their best slower song, I do find it very emotive and powerful nonetheless. While nothing really sticks with me melodically on 'Majesty', the unorthodox rhythms are pretty interesting. Can't wait for the band's next full length album.

Favourite Tracks: Glassman*, Thank You By Dido

This almost makes me appreciate Drake. I said almost. This makes 'Come Home The Kids Miss You' look like TPAB. Apart from the instrumental to 'All Of My Friends', nothing really stood out to me about this album. Ultimately, very forgettable.

Favourite Tracks: All Of My Friends*

'Secret Waters' was the last great album from Cities Aviv imo. What we've got from him since is solid enough but nowhere near as awe-inspiring as his best material from the early 2010s and early 2020s. I really like the tracks with his clearer delivery for the way it cuts through the hazy, moody atmosphere.

Favourite Tracks: Even Colder Spring (Part 1)*, The lan Vital, Even Colder Spring (Part 2), Blkcardprince / The World Shares Her Tears, Tribeca, Operation 8, Closing Door

Never been a Homeboy Sandman fan. I wish he was on second on more of these tracks so I could skip straight to the next track after each Aesop Rock verse. Aes himself does well on the mic but this is not his strongest performance behind the boards—a problem I also had with both of his albums from last year.

Favourite Tracks: Who Sent You?*, The Burgers

As much as I love billy woods' 'Hiding Places' and 'Maps', there's a certain genre of rapper that fits Kenny Segal's production perfectly and MC Paul Barman is very much cut from that cloth. While I don't think this is on the same level as 'The Night Green Side of It', for example, it is consistently entertaining. There's not really one standout track but I thought the run from track 2 to track 5 was great.

Favourite Tracks: Anarchist ... read more

Middle of the road in the context of his whole discography but definitely better than some of his recent side quest projects with some very high highs, none higher than the jazzy 'Battle Of Ressentiment'. There are plenty of other reasons to come back to this as well, including the Child Actor-produced 'Jouissance The Wealthy', the 'Too Many Nights' sample on 'Unreliable Narrator' and the low-key contemplative final two tracks.

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Elucid's latest sees him linking up for a full project with past collaborator and Backwoodz associate Sebb Bash. With every passing year, I'm more and more impressed by Sebb Bash's contributions to abstract hip-hop projects from the likes of Evidence, Elucid himself and Armand Hammer, Fly Anakin, PremRock and Navy Blue. I'm glad I finally sat down for a full album produced by him. Elucid and an impressive selection of features are the cherry on top.

Favourite Tracks: First ... read more

Pretending ‘Bad Cameo’ was a bad dream. James Blake’s back to his electronically-tinged art pop best with his latest album. The singles are both quality but neither of them really had me looking forward to the whole record. Luckily, I do think they’re quite easily surpassed by a handful of the non-singles even if the project does feel very front loaded.

Favourite Tracks: Walk Out Music, Death Of Love, I Had a Dream She Took My Hand, Trying Times*, Make Something Up, ... read more