February: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Everything Is Recorded 'Everything Is Recorded' (XL Recordings)

For his Everything Is Recorded project, XL boss Richard Russell has assembled a starry, varied and super-talented cast of musicians (Kamasi Washington, Peter Gabriel, Infinite, Mela Murder and Green Gartside from Scritti Politti, to name a few) to orbit around his nuanced production work. While collaboration-heavy affairs can often end up feeling a little impersonal and overblown, the results here are impressively intimate and cohesive. Much of the album feels like a continuation of Russell’s production work on Gil Scott-Heron and Bobby Womack’s final records, with the Sampha-featuring tracks ‘Close But Not Quite’ and ‘Show Love’ (also featuring Syd) demonstrating his ability to combine a classic soul sensibility with more modern and hip hop-indebted production techniques. With XL, Russell has always had a knack for getting the best out of his artists, and he’s continuing the trend here, with Syd, Sampha, Giggs and Ibeyi turning in some of their best performances yet. Sean Griffiths

8/10