Lorde – Solar Power

For her third album, Lorde trims the fat and brings things back to their most basic level – paying tribute to nature, the Earth around us, and marijuana. An album that’s peppered with the natural sounds of New Zealand (note the cicadas), and touches upon some of the most enjoyable and brutal aspects of the natural (or unnatural) world, Solar Power feels like the natural progression from 2016’s Melodrama, but leaves room to grow further.

9.4

LORDE

SOLAR POWER

Holy Holy – Hello My Beautiful World

Holy Holy have always been able to make music that sounds as if it’s come to life. But now, they’ve moved on to building entire worlds. Their latest LP, Hello My Beautiful World, lives up to its namesake, as a hyperkinetic, introspective, and ethereal mixture of tracks that exist entirely in their own universes. But together, they tell an uplifting story for the ages. A story many of us need to hear right now.

9.1

HOLY HOLY

HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL WORLD

Durand Jones & The Indications – Private Space

Listening to Durand Jones & The Indications is a truly spiritual experience – a light at the end of the tunnel as the world seems to constantly flux between chaos, and terror. However, this bright spark is only amplified further on their latest LP, Private Space, a unification of the soul-pop and funk psychedelia that the band has been busily refining for years. Needless to say, it’s a feel-good LP, that isn’t afraid to poke at some uncomfortable questions.

8.2

DURAND JONES & THE INDICATIONS

PRIVATE SPACE

Angus & Julia Stone – Life is Strange: True Colours

Angus & Julia Stone return after four years with a soundtrack for the upcoming video game Life is Strange: True Colours. The latest instalment in the Life is Strange series by Square Enix’s European subsidiary, Angus & Julia leave no stone unturned in an LP that aims to explore the different kinds of love in our – between siblings, families, and communities. Poetic, masterful, and genuinely enjoyable to listen to on repeat.

7.8

ANGUS & JULIA STONE

LIFE IS STRANGE: TRUE COLOURS

The Wombats – If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You

It’s almost too easy placing The Wombats in a Best New Music list – kinda like taking candy from an iconic, British indie-pop baby. However, their latest single, If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You deserves an exception. Maximalist, and seeing with energy at the seams, The Wombats turn hyperkinetic into gratifying, and subtle possessiveness, into self-aware romance.

7.7

THE WOMBATS

IF YOU EVER LEAVE, I’M COMING WITH YOU