With All My Heroes Are Cornballs, JPEGMAFIA has created his masterpiece, the next bold step of the Peggy legacy. It is the greatest proof that in a corporately dominated industry, the truest forms of art come from those bold enough to tackle everything themselves, and JPEGMAFIA does exactly that with unrivalled spirit.

On his latest album, Post Malone does little to set the world alight and convince me that he is anything more than the final boss that connects the worlds of pop and hip-hop to form a terrifying commercial monster. There's good songs, obviously, he's far too talented to do much different; but it's his most uninspired effort to date. The locals will love it but it doesn't do an awful lot for me.

One of grime's founding fathers has returned to cast his perspective on the landscape, and he does so with typical attitude. Kano is quite clearly legendary for the culture, you can just tell from the way he rhymes and what he has to say, but my main issue with Hoodies All Summer is how choppy and awkward it can sound. Every single beat is fantastic, every verse is cold and the hooks are great, so what's the problem? The album doesn't feel cohesive, there are moments where it sounds like Kano ... read more

A really snoozy intro track on this album didn't set the ball rolling as I would've hoped, but there were obvious signs of Marika Hackman being completely in control on Any Human Friend. It's unapologetic and raunchy with plenty of scathing nods to her former relationship with The Japanese House's Amber Bain; but it can sometimes lack a real killer blow despite the large instrumental promise. It's not bad by any means, but it promised a little more than we were eventually given. She remains an ... read more

On her intrinsically rewarding debut album, Clairo encapsulates the arts of shoegazed sound and melancholic songwriting with a strong collection of wide-eyed ballads about growing up and facing the bittersweet world. Her naturally emotionally-driven vocals help carry through the occasional production lull but for the most part, Immunity is rich with flavour and character. It's a vast improvement in terms of sonic value from her EP's and one of the more interesting pop releases of the year so ... read more

Lively, wavy and hard from the get-go, Headie One's commercial breakthrough project Music x Road uses typically red-hot delivery and slap-heavy production to grab your attention and never let it go. There are a handful of tracks on here that are undeniably amazing, namely Both, 18HUNNA and Back To Basics, so with bangers like this on a project he was always going to succeed. It isn't perfect and isn't without it's lacking moments, but this project is further proof that Headie One is here to ... read more

The first album in eight years from Hertfordshire natives Friendly Fires is a lukewarm dive into funky indietronica, a move that on paper excited me; but ended up being fairly disappointing. The piano beats and mum drops are all the same on here, once you've heard one song you have basically heard the whole album. Silhouettes and Offline are really great, groovy cuts, but nothing else manages to hit those heights. The 80s synth-pop atmosphere is okay and there's nothing outwardly bad about this ... read more

So often, when an iconic band return from a long lay-off, critics and fans will hail the album no matter how good, bad or indifferent it is; but Slipknot's sixth record is a welcome comeback that is actually unironically good. The energy and spark appears to be back in the metal band, with Corey Taylor's songwriting just as razor sharp as it used to be. They aren't afraid to experiment and try new sounds, and while some don't entirely come off, most work wonders and prove that Slipknot are ... read more

I really didn't want to listen to this, but all that was running through my mind was "surely this can't be as bad as I think it'll be". Well it's worse. Vic Mensa used to be one of Chicago's shining lights, a rapper who was going to push the culture forward and be a star in the hip-hop world. Honestly, this thing is so bad that the only reason it is getting a 1 and not a 0 is because it was pretty funny to listen to. I mean, this album features Good Charlotte, Travis Barker from ... read more

Right, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are absolutely fucking mental. They've embarked on their next genre hop and it's thrash metal done in its purest form; basically just screaming at us for not looking after the planet. The result is enthralling, manic, thunderous and utterly absurd; but in the best kind of way. Your MCM's favourite band could literally never be as versatile as these guys.

There are moments of haunting serenity, larger than life atmospheres and bold soundscapes; it is quite simply the best work of Lana Del Rey's career. She has always been somewhat polarising in her style, but rarely has she found herself this captivating. Norman Fucking Rockwell is LDR's magnum opus, an Art Pop album we will celebrate for years to come.

Never has an album lived up to its name more than this. Jeffery Williams, aka Young Thug, has made an album that is truly So Much Fun. The runtime is slightly long, someone like Thug shouldn't be making hour long projects, but the sheer volume of bangers on this thing raises the bar. Whether he is speaking in British lingo with Future on Sup Mate, asking us What's The Move with Lil Uzi Vert or riding waves with Gunna on a track like Surf, the quality shines through. Young Thug is one of the ... read more

I won't even lie, the first few songs slap, as does Under Enemy Arms. There is absolutely no doubting Trippie Redd's ability to make a bop, he has great beat selection and a distinctive delivery to help him stand out from his contemporaries. The nosedive that ! takes towards the second half of the album is apparent and brings the score down. It's an average release as an entire body of work, but has great tracks to shine through and help Trippie ride the wave of relevancy before his next ... read more

Perhaps the journey Taylor Swift has been on has helped her gain a little more insight and perspective on life, love and legacy as both an artist and human; she sounds like she is free of the frustration that came with the reputation era and can finally get back to business as one of pop music's shining lights. Lover has given her the platform to make bright and wishful music again, leaving her past demons behind and using her own advice: Shake It Off.

This, simply put, is a Rick Ross album. There's as many decent bars as are there are laughable ones; there's as many fire beats on here as there are dull ones; there's as many red hot features as there are lukewarm ones; and there's as many bangers on here as there are filler tracks. Clocking in at over an hour long was always gonna be a hard sell for me, but it honestly isn't as bad as I was expecting. Rick Ross is too good of a rapper to outright flop, with tracks like Turnpike Ike, ... read more

To try and summarise i,i is difficult. It isn't as outright bonkers and experimental as 22, A Million was; but it certainly isn't as stripped back and subtle as For Emma, Forever Ago was. It is a sprinkle of both extravagance and modesty, a humble boast if you will. One thing it absolutely is too, is another fantastic addition to the Bon Iver catalogue; one of the warmest listens you'll find all year as well as being one of the most technically proficient (not that that will come as a surprise ... read more

Someone needs to tell Chance The Rapper that throwing eight hundred genres together onto one album doesn't work. Chance was once one of hip-hop's shining stars, a Kanye protégé with greatness beckoning, but this guy fell off quicker than Felix Baumgartner; creating one of the most disappointing rap albums of the decade.

The Los Angeles singer-songwriter Banks' third LP utilises plenty of interesting elements sonically, making III perhaps her most intriguing effort to date. There's some really great production on this album and despite it feeling a little bloated at times, there's no denying the vision and creativity on display. The vocal chops on the beats are really cool, coinciding with her typically polished voice well and setting up for some nice synthesised wobbles in the hooks. I don't adore this ... read more

One of Britain's emerging success stories of 2018 was Freya Ridings, thanks mainly to her platinum selling single Lost Without You. She's here with her debut album and honestly, there's not an awful lot to report here. It just feels like perfectly safe and steady commercial pop ballads, her voice is strong but can feel somewhat wasted behind lacklustre instrumentals and meh songwriting. If this is the defining statement Freya wants us to recognise her with, then I fear she may suffer a similar ... read more

Coming off the back of 2017's seminal superpower 4eva Is A Mighty Long Time, Mississippi's own Big K.R.I.T. has returned with another full length album, but fallen pretty damn flat in comparison. The southern rap reinventor had such a refreshing sound on his previous record, but K.R.I.T. Iz Here feels really safe and, dare I say boring in its delivery. I understand that K.R.I.T. is having his fun on this thing and has tried to make some big hits, and there are definitely great songs on here, ... read more