Collection: [Ninja Tune]

The fifth Flaoting Points album Cascade is a culmination of creative evolution. In late 2022, Shepherd found himself in the California desert, crafting a new sonic journey via his acclaimed Promises, where he ventured into airy dreamscapes with saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, earning a Mercury Prize nomination and a sold-out Hollywood Bowl show in 2023. With Cascade, Shepherd returns to his electronic roots, craving the pulse-racing communion of the dancefloor. This album serves as a sequel to Crush, diving deeper into ravey, experimental realms, unexplored due to lockdown cancellations. Tracks draw inspiration from Manchester's record shops and California's desert landscapes, blending Buchla rhythms and glitching melodies. Shepherd's journey, from orchestral collaborations to laptop productions, underscores his relentless pursuit of innovation.

Roisin Murphy has finally become a genuine top-tier star - an artist capable of packing-out venues with dynamic live shows, and whose every new musical move is headline news. Hit Parade is not, as the title suggests, a solo retrospective but rather a brand-new album produced not by regular collaborator Crooked Man, but rather another masterful maverick, DJ Koze. The pair has worked together before, so Murphy is in safe hands. Musically, it's a genre-straddling, style-bending affair whose strong songs - rich in sing-along choruses, thoughtful lyrics and musical hooks aplenty - are presented in vivid colour (with plenty of sparkling organic instrumentation). Recent singles 'Cuckoo' and 'The Universe', both instant classics, offer a neat summary of the album's many qualities.

Romare's third album is another exercise in finding the exact sweet spot where happy and sad collide. By now he is something or a master at it and here laces those sorts of sounds with a sense of spirituality, hints of disco, touches of identity and plenty of funk. These more serious influences come as a result of the artist becoming a father, but the album never grows too sentimental (though "Deliverance" sure is a nice adult lullaby.) Elsewhere there is slow acid on "High" and joyous, heartfelt melodic house on "Dreams." Versatile, emotional, dancey - what more could you want?

Hye Jin Park

Bicep

Bicep

Leon Vynehall