Reviews
November: 18 albums you need to hear this month
Month's listening sorted
Ava Raiin 'Ava Raiin' (The Randall House)
As the royal ascension of Solange Knowles after ‘A Seat At The Table’ has shown (her summer show at Lovebox was the undisputed best of the festival after a misfiring headline slot from Frank Ocean), there’s definitely room in the market for well-manufactured electronic soul with (whisper it) depth and meaning. But panic not, because neither Ms Knowles nor her former collaborator Ava Raiin are inviting you to poetry readings: instead, the latter’s new LP is more focussed on offering a snapshot into better places via a mixture of daring attitude, great production and solid-gold songwriting. The brilliant ‘Steady’ and ‘Eagle Eye’ both offer entry points into brave new worlds; Solange would approve. R Moore
7/10
