June: 18 albums you need to hear this month
You've got a lot of listening to do
Cassius 'Ibifornia' (Love Justice SARL/Justice SARL/Interscope)
Anyone who’s followed Philipe Zdar’s production career over the past few years will undertand why the band’s new album has been jokingly dubbed “Cassius & the Family Stone”: with cameos from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Cat Power and Beastie Boys’ Mike D, ‘Ibifornia’ is a lush, exotic album with star-studded collabs which sounds as inspired by the jungle as it is by the dancefloor. It’s also not scared of playing pop in the same way that ‘1999’ and ‘Feeling For You Did’ – ndeed, ‘The Missing’ with Ryan Tedder and Jaw sounds like a soulful update of ‘Starlight’ by The Supermen Lovers. Mike D also appears on ‘Love Parade’, too, although ‘Go Up’ with Pharrell and Cat Power is ‘the album’s true jewel in the crown.
8/10