Somehow we seem to be six months into the year and we aren’t really sure how this has happened so quick.
The year has already seen some fantastic new album releases with the latest Arctic Monkeys release setting am incredible record of highest first week vinyl sales in 20 years.
We now turn our attention to June and look ahead at some of this months albums you should be keeping a special ear out for, including the debut album from the Brits Critics Choice, Jorja Smith.
(4:30) Idler by Jamie Isaac
Firstly, released this Friday, June 1, is the debut album from the London based multi genre artist Jamie Isaac. Titled ‘(4:30) Idler’ the album chronicles a personal struggle with insomnia that inspired the album’s title, it combines bossa nova, 70s analogue synths and the polymorphous vibrations of London’s new burgeoning jazz scene.
Listen to: Doing Better
1,2 Kung Fu by Boy Azoogha
Our second choice for an album to look out for this month is another debut but this time comes from the latest hot property band out of Wales who go by the name Boy Azooga.
Titled ‘1,2 Kung Fu!’ the album is a shape-shifting musical mystery tour piloted by Cardiff’s Davey Newington, co-produced by the band and Eddie El Shakarchie aka Dr Ed Boogie and recorded in part in Eddie’s front room in Cardiff.
A prodigious musical talent, Davey was inspired by his art teacher at school who sent him off to town to buy Can’s ‘Ege Bamyasi’ and he takes musical cues from the likes of Sly & The Family Stone, Caribou, Black Sabbath, Outkast, Van McCoy, Ty Segall and The Beastie Boys.
Released on June 8, it will be available from us on pink vinyl.
Listen to: Loner Boogie
Lost & Found by Jorja Smith
Yet another debut album to keep an eye out for this month is the fore mentioned release from the BRIT award winner Jorja Smith. Released on June 8 ‘Lost & Found’ is the rich fruit of Jorja’s past two years of work and an artistic statement.
For her debut offering, Smith’s playfully infectious pop spirit intertwines with her youthful charisma, idiosyncratic storytelling, and informed opinions – attributes that have set her apart from her peers and seen her become one of the UK’s most-loved female-breakthrough stars of recent years. A sonic masterclass, ‘Lost & Found’ spans a number of personal, and observational yet relatable topics that only Jorja Smith could unite so compellingly.
Listen to: Blue Lights
Heaven & Earth by Kamasi Washington
The last but by no means least album to look out for this month is the highly anticipated second album from groundbreaking artist Kamasi Washington.
Follow-up to ‘The Epic’, ‘Heaven & Earth’ is two halves, which find Washington confronting quotidian realities with cosmic themes.
A further investigation of Washington’s world building ideas, the new album explores his reckoning with current global chaos and his vision for the future.
Released on June 22 as a four-vinyl LP album.
Listen to: Fists Of Fury
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