10 Best Albums | June 2018

Festival season is upon us and we have one word of advice: prepare your sound systems. Here are our best albums for June 2018.

June has been a month of old meets new. Veterans of the game have emerged from the shadows, and burgeoning artists are making headway with a new brand of creative flair. Here’s a selection of our top 10 best albums from the month of glorious summer sunshine.

Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita

Experimental New York group, Gang Gang Dance released their first record in 7 years this month - Kazuashita. They blend an array of global styles with modern shoegaze into something otherworldly, ambient and completely unique. The group touch upon political discourse lightly on this record and manage to captivate even the staidest imagination in a way that seems entirely effortless. Kazuashita is cosmic, check it out.

Snail Mail – Lush

At the tender age of 18, Lindsey Jordon dropped her full-length debut via Matador Records. The intricate indie-rock coming-of-age piece covers themes of teenage heartbreak and adolescent angst, exposing the young singer-songwriter’s charming vocal range. Together with producer Jake Aron and touring bandmates, Snail Mail has produced a 10-track masterpiece for pining hearts.

Sink Ya Teeth - Sink Ya Teeth

Norwich duo Maria Uzor and Gemma Cullingford have conjured up a trailblazing electro punk record for their self-titled debut. Channelling all eras of dance music from the past 40 years, with a punk attitude reminiscent of naughties electro-clash artists such as Peaches and Ladytron. The album was conceived and recorded in the duo's flat in Norwich and is chocked full of groovy and quirky gems.

Father John Misty – God’s Favourite Customer

Despite its biblical title, Father John Misty’s latest album is arguably his most gritty and grounding to date. His fourth studio album under the title Father John Misty, Josh Tillman moves away from discussing virtual-reality sex with Taylor Swift to laying bare the depth of his love for his wife and his struggles with mental health, under the guise of a two-month stint living in a hotel.

Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch

Penned by critics as their best release in a decade, ‘Bad Witch’ pulls on the steel toe-cap boots for a stomping, physically-charged return to industrial noise. Glitchy, non-linear cyberpunk sounds bleed into violent bleets of the saxophone while climbing ambient noise resonates in extra-terrestrial, Bowie-indebted anthems. Standing at only 6 tracks long, Nine Inch Nails have achieved greatness in both deafening, core-shaking noise and uncluttered silence and certainly one their best albums in years.

Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth

Kamasi Washington’s latest production is a mouth-watering feast of conflicting jazz concepts. While not indebted to it, Washington embodies the fragrance and soul of the jazz tradition and is able to project his vision in an innovative way. Cross-fading ethereal movie scores into snarling sounds befitting of a Gladiator battle scene proves his ability as, not only a vocalist but a craftsman of musical production.

The Carters – Everything Is Love

The only secret in the music industry to ever remain a secret, The Carter’s Everything Is Love dumfounded and delighted fans in equal measure. Closing out a complex trilogy of albums devoted to the trials, tribulations and titillations of married life, Everything Is Love hails the partnership of two of the world’s most powerful artists and the resilience of their love. Vocals and visuals climax in an unrivalled ode to black excellence.

Melody’s Echo Chamber – Bon Voyage

Bon Voyage is a multi-lingual acid trip down memory lane for Melody Prochet, Frederick Swahn and Reine Riske. Crooned and cooed in a whimsical collection of English, French and Swedish, the 7-track mish-mash of genres experiments with elements of new wave disco, 80s synth networks and heady percussion. Blurring the already fuzzy line between genres, Melody’s Echo Chamber has graced us with an innovative avant-garde body of work to really sink our teeth into.

Boy Azooga – 1, 2, Kung Fu!

Since their initial inception as a solo project of Welsh musician Davey Newington, Boy Azooga have forced people to open their ears and listen. Hopping from stage to stage and city to city, the guys have cradled their sound since its first breath, now producing wickedly fun earworms. 1, 2, Kung Fu! traverses different genres through instrumental twists and turns, guaranteeing a slick 35-minute joyride which was conceived for a decent set of speakers.

Gabriella Cohen - Pink Is The Colour Of Unconditional Love

Gabriella Cohen's second album Pink Is The Colour Of Unconditional Love was recorded in a rural farmhouse with her engineer friend and touches upon influences from the 1960's to the 1990's as it weaves into her own brand of lush guitar pop. The production is surprisingly slick considering its layered DIY recording approach, it's a slow burner that is bound to get more pick up as time moves forward.

For past month's best albums see here