April: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Jacques Greene 'Feel Infinite' (LuckyMe)

Admit it: you’ve always had a soft spot for Canadian producer Jacques Greene. Indeed, long before Bonobo was co-opting Brandy on his ‘Migration’ LP, the Montreal-based artist was sampling her track ‘I Wanna Be Down’ on 2010’s ‘The Look’. But there’s so much more to him than that. Ever since he emerged with ‘Another Girl’ back in 2011 and had his re-edit of Drake’s ‘Know Yourself’ endorsed by the megastar himself, the enigmatic producer has nurtured his r’n’b-inflected electronic brand with club cuts such as 2013’s How To Dress Well collab ‘On Your Side’ and remixes for the likes of The xx and Radiohead.

And now, at long last, he’s ready to release his statement album. Fans of Flume and Caribou will find much to savour: the opening ‘Feel Infinite’ is custom-built for an 8PM slot at London’s Alexandra Palace and sets the tone perfectly. ‘To Say’ boasts cascading synths and a looped vocal sample you’ll swear you’ve heard before, while How To Dress Well returns on ‘True’, which comes on like a revved-up The Weeknd on the eve of a huge Friday night in the city.

But there’s beauty among the madness, too: ‘Dundas Collapse’ has a Boards Of Canada quality to it (albeit if they’d been brought up on 90s hip hop rather than classic Warp Recordings), while ‘Real Time’ is a wonderful French Touch track with an infectious disco bassline. ‘You Can’t Deny’ is here too, of course, while the hypnotic ‘Afterglow’ and equally addictive ‘You See All My Light’ both effortlessly weave vocals in and out of glowing synth frameworks and soar towards the sun. Perhaps it’s time for Drake and Brandy to call him in properly: on the strength of ‘Feel Infinite’, the feeling is real. Ralph Moore

8/10

Thundercat 'Drunk' (Brainfeeder)

Wolfskin-wearing, six string-bass-bothering Los Angeleno Stephen Bruner has played with everyone from thrash metallers Suicidal Tendencies to Kendrick Lamar, George Clinton and (most consistently) Flying Lotus. His own solo work is as unpredictable as that list of collaborators suggests, full of jazz, fruitloop electronics, soft rock and funk. His last lengthy LP, 2013’s ‘Apocalypse’, was surprisingly accessible (follow-up ‘The Beyond/The Giants Roam’ was released in 2015, but was only 16-minutes long), but here, he’s gone all-in on freaky psychedelic soul. Despite the presence of multiple high-profile guests (Pharrell, Kendrick, Wiz Khalifa, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins), it’s all woozy atmospheres, unsettling lyrics, some actual miaowing and quick shifts from floaty ambience to zip-zap-pow playing. It’s funny, charming and strange – but just as often as it weirds you out, it brings you back in. There’s head-melting brilliance here, but he makes you work for it. Joe Muggs

7/10

Talaboman 'The Night Land' (R&S)

Catalan John Talabot and his Swedish friend Axel Boman have a lot in common as DJs and producers: both are masters of deferred gratification, using the subtlest of blend techniques to allow slow accumulation of detail, but ultimately delivering big kicks. Their first collab in 2014, ‘Sideral’, proved they could find a coherent voice in the studio together, but it was just one track – and despite many b2b DJ sets since, it’s taken them until now to cement the Talaboman identity.

What’s most wonderful here is that they’ve brought their differences as well as their similarities into play: Boman’s laid-back sunshiney funkiness and Talabot’s much sharper-edged intensities could in theory be hard to reconcile, but it’s done so naturally over these eight long tracks that a separate musical identity emerges. Whether it’s the weightless dream of ‘Loser’s Hymn’ or the percussive shuffle of ‘Six Million Ways’, the Balearic dream of ‘Brutal Chugga Chugga’ or the sinister ambient ‘Midnattssol’, each track takes you to some very unexpected places.

In the process, each delivers feelings much more potent than a lot of the supposedly “emotional” dancefloor music currently flooding the market at the moment. And as a nice final touch, the LP came delivered with the following message: “Love is all this world needs. Loosen up those tight fists and give your sisters and brothers a helping hand and dance your anger away.” Make no mistake, ‘The Night Land’ will be flourishing for a long time to come. Joe Muggs

9/10

Kingdom 'Tears In The Club' (Fade To Mind)

Since co-founding Fade To Mind, LA’s Kingdom has been leading the charge for futuristic takes on club music. He trailblazed the (now rampant) use of r’n’b samples in the club sphere, while his work with vocalists such as Kelela and D∆WN is responsible for creating some of the freshest sounds out there. He continues with the same approach on his debut LP, crafting sleek beats with touches of bass-loaded darkness, and often combining them with affecting vocals from various guests. Syd layers dreaminess over the sparse base of ‘Nothin’, while SZA brings pop superstar quality on her two guest spots. The tracks without vocal turns are left feeling slightly lacking, but the killer outweighs the filler. Patrick Hinton

7/10

Booka Shade 'Galvany Street' (Blaufield Music)

You can’t blame Booka Shade for wanting to switch it up after more than a decade of relentlessly touring their cool electro-house. Here, they’ve recruited singer Craig Walker (plus a few other guests) and cut loose from four-to-the-floor to create a diverse kind of stadium pop. It often resembles 80s sounds such as INXS, Terence Trent D’Arby and Simple Minds, but turned hypermodern. Sometimes it works strikingly well (‘All Fall Down’) and sometimes it feels forced; it’s telling that the most immediate tracks are the recognisably Booka Shade-like groovers ‘Numb The Pain’ and ‘Babylon’. It feels like an experiment in progress: we’ll watch to see how it goes, and how these songs develop live. Joe Muggs

6/10

Goldfrapp 'Silver Eye' (Mute)

It wasn’t broke so they didn’t fix it. Though they might take occasional excursions into spacier, soundtrackier, folkier environments – and do very well at it, too – what we really want from Goldfrapp is large helpings of saucy synth pop, and here they are with loads of it. Yes, there’s rather more floaty space-balladry than glam-stomp disco, but nonetheless they’re definitely in the same mode as their early-00s glory days, when they defined the zeitgeist to the point that everyone from Madonna to Kylie was pinching their style. And actually it’s during the ballads, as Alison G’s voice takes flight, that this album is at its best. There’s nothing new here, but you know what? That’s more than fine. Joe Muggs

7/10

Depeche Mode 'Spirit' (Columbia)

This album gets off to a barnstorming start. ‘Backwards’ and ‘Revolution’ are among the most anthemic things Depeche Mode have done this century, apocalyptic both in sound and lyrics and perfect for these dark times. Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford has done a fine job of making them sound like their stadium-sized selves while freshening things up with trippy techno twists, and Dave Gahan is in fine voice. The momentum does slacken, though, and the album doesn’t feel particularly structured. Still, songs such as the fierce ‘Scum’ and the stately ‘No More’ are worthy additions to the band’s catalogue, and have far more grit and vividness than you’d expect from any band 37 years into their career. Joe Muggs

7/10

Various 'Glitterbox: Love Is The Message' (Defected)

There’s no point releasing a house and disco-centric compilation in 2017 if it includes ‘Bad Girls’ by Donna Summer. Sensibly, Defected boss Simon Dunmore avoids the obvious here, with Kings Of Tomorrow’s ‘Tear It Up’ and Mousse T’s mix of ‘Brighter Days’ by Big Moses bumping nicely next to older classics such as Modern Romance’s ‘Salsa Rappsody’ and War’s ‘Galaxy’, which was inspired by George Lucas’ 1977 space epic. But the biggest moment comes when he drops Thelma Houston’s ‘Saturday Night, Sunday Morning’, encapsulating the party’s ethos in one gold-plated disco-soul groove. And listen out for Aeroplane’s brilliant ‘Love On Hold’, too. Ralph Moore

7/10

Nthng 'It Never Ends' (Lobster Theremin)

After impressing us with a series of assured EPs, Nthng returns with another unmissable body of work. ‘It Never Ends’ is as much a journey through space and cosmic riffs as it is an album; it’s essentially a story that unfolds into something beautiful, strange and complex. From the first note on ‘Touches’, you’re transported to a stark landscape inhabited by frosty, lingering chords. ‘Galaxy’ follows suit and introduces you to the main crux of the LP, channelling the deepness of Traumprinz crossed with Robert Hood’s melodic techno. But this is Nthng’s vision; comparisons seem redundant. The luminous title track is a highlight, as is the 10-minute epic ‘Eternal’. Haunting yet soothing and melodic yet jagged, it’s a fucking trip. Jeremy Abbott

9/10

Acid Pauli 'BLD' (Ouïe)

Martin Gretschmann’s second album as Acid Pauli threatens to combust into fiery life at any moment, but never does. This is no criticism; indeed, it’s entirely deliberate. His rhythms eschew the propulsive qualities of the kick drum, leaving behind a kind of ghostly ambient techno and minimalist house variant. That’s not to say that ‘BLD’ is just some genteel, beatless entity: carried along by discreet tribal toms and stabbing synth samples, ‘Jorge’ is an exercise in fluttering, burgeoning intensity and ‘Baris’ is haunted by a meandering, low-register bass hum as it transports you to a rainforest of trickling gamelan tropes. On ‘Majid’, meanwhile, Gretschmann works sub-Saharan blues into eerie house with chilling effect. Stephen Worthy

8/10

Art Alfie 'Reveries Of Art Alfie' (Studio Barnhus)

The curious deep house sounds of Swede Art Alfie are a perfect match for Studio Barnhus, a label that excels at offering music which takes you through the looking glass. His debut LP (which is stitched together from archival works old and new) is a 10-track collection of heartfelt, late-night groovers: it’s curious and whimsical throughout, as melodies drift by like wisps of smoke, naive piano chords bring loveable charm and imperfect field recordings add layers of intrigue. From swaggering and stoned to calypso-tinged and dubby via soul-soothing lullabies, this is a complete and personal exploration of tender house; fans of Barnhus label boss Axel Boman and Smallville champ Moomin are sure to love it. Kristan J Caryl

9/10

ADULT. 'Detroit House Guests' (Mute)

The visual arts and popular music have had close ties before but, with the possible exception of Throbbing Gristle, ADULT. blur the lines like few before them. Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller have toured the world with their paintings, sculpture and installations but with ‘Detroit House Guests’, home is where the heart and avant-garde music is. Their collaborators – including Swans’ Michael Gira and Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas J McCarthy – spent three weeks living with them while working on the LP, resulting in this collage of raw, percussive grooves that combines post-punk, performance poetry, analogue synth explorations, crypto-techno and acid. It’s challenging, yes, but endlessly hypnotic, too. Stephen Worthy

7/10

Charlotte OC 'Careless People' (Polydor)

Charlotte OC grew up in the former mill town of Blackburn and used to go raving with PBR Streetgang in Leeds. And as ‘Hangover’ and the still-brilliant ‘Colour My Heart’ will attest, she’s got a voice that could melt the coldest icecap. Her new album ‘Careless People’, however, has its sights set on America, hence a slight switch in songwriting direction and a sound more attuned to LA than London or Leeds. The best tracks are ‘In Paris’, a song which Lady Gaga would be proud of; the disco-tinged ‘Other Guys’, a brilliant coming together of her voice and former Ima Robot member Tim Anderson’s production; and the brooding ‘By Your Side’, which wouldn’t sound out of place on the new London Grammar album. Ralph Moore

7/10

Hauschka 'What If' (City Slang)

Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka) has been at the forefront of what you might call ‘alt-classical’ for more than a decade now. His pieces always glimmer with a love of electronica and club music, and he’s reached increasingly larger audiences, culminating with an Oscar nomination for his score for Lion. He remains as experimental as ever, though, and on new album ‘What If’ he’s still clearly very much in love with the possibilities of sound. Gently fizzing electronica meets grand structures and intimate explorations of instruments, and the results are both strange and deeply, instantly enjoyable. With the bar already set very high, he may just have produced his best record yet. Joe Muggs

9/10

Maher Daniel 'Feelings From The Other Side' (The Other Side)

Maher Daniel has done a lot and seen a lot, having performed on the decks at some of the most prestigious clubs on the planet, including a residency at Montreal’s legendary Stereo. As well as all that, he’s released on labels like All Day I Dream, Souvenir, 8bit, Circus and many more. On his own label, The Other Side, we’re presented with his debut album, which showcases his versatility and dexterity as a producer. From groovy dancefloor bubblers like ‘Modular Hallucination’ to wistful downtempo cuts such as ‘Destination In Retrograde’, he covers several bases with panache. This is the work of an artist who knows what’s up, and does the job with confidence. Marcus Barnes

8/10

Geotic 'Abysma' (Ghostly)

Will Wiesenfeld, best known for his multi-layered experimentalism as Baths, changes tack with his Geotic alias to produce an album of sonic simplicity that still reaches impressive depths. The combination of restrained vocals and bleeping pads usher in a sense of warmth on ‘Actually Smiling’ and there are washes of strings and flurries of hi-hats on ‘Sunspell’, as Wiesenfeld creates an LP that’s calming and kaleidoscopic in colour. Keys echo beneath the pulses of ‘Nav’, while his falsetto reaches into your psyche on ‘Laura Corporal’. An album that’s underpinned by atmospherics that flicker between stalling and soaring, ‘Abysma’ is blissfully evocative from start to finish. Leah Connolly

7/10

Various 'Soma 25' (Soma Recordings)

Soma calls on both heavy hitters and newer, forward-thinking talents for its 25th anniversary compilation, resulting in a collection that reflects the Scottish imprint’s uncompromising ethos. Robert Hood’s charging ‘The Bond We Formed’ sets the pace, its heaviness matched by Jonas Kopp’s dark edit of Slam’s ‘Stepback’. Jeff Mills’ ‘A Tale From The Parallel Universe’ fuses bleeping synths with atmospheric touches, while Blawan’s ‘Clipper’ starts minimally before introducing sharp, piercing synths. Adam Beyer’s ‘Just Things’ matches Drumcode’s pounding aesthetic before Kobosil gets even spookier, overlaying Slam’s ‘Visions’ with eerie howls and hisses. Ben Jolley

8/10

Nathan Fake 'Providence' (Ninja Tune)

Nathan Fake’s 2005 debut ‘Drowning In A Sea Of Love’ was a gorgeous intermingling of electronic and rustic flavours. He maintained the quality output for James Holden’s Border Community label but then dried up, struck silent by writers’ block. His return is inspired by a Korg Prophecy, an old piece of analogue kit which was the starting point for an odyssey of strange machine experiments ranging from the epic, almost Wagnerian atmospherics of‘HoursDaysMonthsSeasons’ to the discordant machine breakdown of ‘Radio Spiritworld’. ‘Providence’ is a jittery robot trip-out, but it’s full of juicy strangeness that will find favour with both fans of both techno and oddball electronica. Thomas H Green

7/10