August: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Flowdan 'Disasterpiece' (Tru Thoughts)

Former Roll Deep mainstay Flowdan is one of the most enduring and distinctive voices in grime. His partnership with The Bug, exemplified on the era-defining collaboration ‘Skeng’, has seen his deep, doomy tones echoing through dubstep and beyond, and here he finally delivers a full album to consolidate his legacy. It’s a record of two halves. The first part, heavily featuring the icy tones of singer Animai, is gothic and cinematic, a bleak gangster movie in miniature. It ramps up, though, to a final five tracks of rowdy grime energy, with Manga and Tinchy Stryder piling in for good measure. Impeccably structured, this is the kind of album grime needs to prove its staying power.

8/10