Dead Can Dance - Dionysus

Score: 8.3 

The ninth album from Australian-British duo Dead Can Dance is an enthralling recollection of tribal ambient soundscapes that are as energetic as restrained. Pinches of Balkan, Greek, Turkish, Iranian and Byzantine traditional folk music illustrate and mark up the pace in which the seven tracks unfold and wave into one another, driven by Brendan Perry's voracious and ever-evolving instrumentals and Lisa Gerrard's immaculate vocals. Dionysus feels extremely short, eventually, since one is left wanting more of that exquisitely intriguing world of ancient fantasies and cryptic dancing.

Tracks I like the most: Dance Of The Bacchantes, Sea Borne, Psychopomp

Tracks I like the least: The Forest

Artist: Dead Can Dance

Country: Australia/United Kingdom

Album: Dionysus

Released: 02/11/2018

Genres: Tribal Ambient, Neoclassical New Age, Neoclassical Dark Wave, Worldbeat, Iranian Folk Music, Turkish Folk Music, Greek Folk Music, Byzantine Chant, Balkan Folk Music

Length: 36:12

Julia Holter - Aviary

Score: 8.3 

The latest release from American composer Julia Holter is her most maximalist and exhuberant approach at art pop story-telling. Tackling impressively levitative spaces in an hour and a half, the singer displays an enormous knack for tilting, almost nerve-wracking minimalist compositions while singing disparately cryptic lyrics that submerge us into medieval folklore and tradition. There's breath in Aviary, enough of it to just attack you with pulverising strength when it needs to as well as with chilling introspection when it wants to. If not the best work onto the artist's enviable career (perhaps it gets too long at times), it's the perfect proof to say this woman is a monumental force and an unbreakable, ever-morphing talent.

Tracks I like the most: I Shall Love 2, Les Jeux To You, Chaitius, Voce Simul

Tracks I like the least: In Gardens' Muteness

Artist: Julia Holter

Country: United States

Album: Aviary

Released: 26/10/2018

Genres: Art Pop, Progressive Pop, Ambient, Electronic, Experimental, Avant-Garde, Modern Classical

Length: 89:58

Vince Staples - FM!

Score: 7.8 

The newest release from American rapper Vince Staples comes out as a surprise mini-album with 11 short tracks running for just 22 minutes. But shortness does not imply lacking in any way; what's more, the small amounts of space the artist allows himself to have seem the more propelling for his sharp lyricism and ground-breaking beats. Interludes, skits and repetitive songs also make up for a ride that's energetic and reflective all the same. Even at its "laziest", FM! demonstrates its creator can disarm and fabricate his artistry at his ease without losing momentum at any time.

Tracks I like the most: FUN!, Outside!, New earlsweatshirt - Interlude

Tracks I like the least: Run The Bands

Artist: Vince Staples

Country: United States

Album: FM!

Released: 02/11/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Experimental, Electronic

Length: 22:20

Babasónicos - Discutible

Score: 7.7 

Almost thirty years in, and this Argentinian band continues to evolve and morph in sound and lyricism; yet again, they bring us another collection of tracks that seems to mark the shift for another era into the group's discography. The songs on Discutible are effervescent and transgressive, inviting listeners to reflect upon life in society, in communion and in solitude. The lyrics are raw and almost cocky in their sincerity, and the instrumentals add up to a constant trembling ground packed up with electric vibes and disjointed danceability. After all, most of the record works coherently and heavily, making for the first time in a while where we can see Babasónicos in full control of their mastery, tilting substance and fun at the same time.

Tracks I like the most: Orfeo, La Pregunta, Ingrediente, Cretino

Tracks I like the least: Trans-Algo

Artist: Babasónicos

Country: Argentina

Album: Discutible

Released: 12/10/2018

Genres: Alternative Rock, Alternative Pop, Electronic, Neo-Psychedelia

Length: 39:17

Ricardo Dias Gomes - Aa

Score: 7.0 

The second release from Brazilian artist Ricardo Dias Gomes is more complex than its predecessor, but not necessarily more entertaining. Packed up with just eight songs running for twenty minutes, they all reveal and rebel while forming atonal, almost disparate sonic constellations that are as chaotic as sleep-inducing. Ricardo is a slow menacing force to beckon with, and it's his doubtless idiosyncratic take on ambient music what makes you value both his art and his persona.

Tracks I like the most: Precipício, Tela Parada

Tracks I like the least: Partimos Daqui, Pt. 2

Artist: Ricardo Dias Gomes

Country: Brazil

Album: Aa

Released: 14/09/2018

Genres: Electronic, Experimental, Ambient, Drone, Noise, Rock

Length: 20:46

Twenty One Pilots - Trench

Score: 8.0 

The fifth record from American duo Twenty One Pilots is an incredibly mature concept album that feels like a rollercoaster of emotions, going from hiperkinetic pop rap to cutting-edge protest songs, wiggly disco-soul bops and even touching piano-driven balads. Trench feels hungry at the edge of starvation for melody and swing, and it's a peerless coming-of-age stance for a group that seems to have finally found a strong voice to operate on on their artistry.

Tracks I like the most: Jumpsuit, Nico And The Niners, Levitate, Morph, Cut My Lip

Tracks I like the least: Bandito

Artist: Twenty One Pilots

Country: United States

Album: Trench

Released: 05/10/2018

Genres: Indie Pop, Pop Rap, Indietronica, Synth-Pop, Pop Rock

Length: 56:09

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Japamyu

Score: 7.4 

The fourth album from Japanese sensation Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is another hyperkinetic, uplifting approach to pop music that cements the artist's reputation as the ambassadress of the kawaisa and decora cultures. The tracks are filled with bubbly, sugary production that moves in a lot of directions, propelling the singer's child-like vocals and tender lyrics. Japamyu might not be the best album released on Earth, but it's at least a thrilling experience and another example of just how interesting things can also be in other parts of the planet.

Tracks I like the most: 2- キズナミ, 4- 音ノ国, 7- 演歌ナトリウム

Tracks I like the least: 6- ちゃみ ちゃみ ちゃーみん

Artist: きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ (Kyary Pamyu Pamyu)

Country: Japan

Album: じゃぱみゅ (Japamyu)

Released: 26/09/2018

Genres: Bubblegum Pop, J-Pop, Electropop, Dance Pop, Picopop, Dance-Pop

Length: 35:56

Sheck Wes - Mudboy

Score: 6.8 

The debut full-length album from Harlem rapper Sheck Wes manages to be both formulaic and odd. The tracks flow cohesively and restlessly, though the motifs and words expressed grow tiresome after the first half. There's evident potential in the artist, but the focus that's usually lost here and there makes Mudboy an experience that trembles for its decisively atonal charm as well as for its somewhat unstable weaknesses.

Tracks I like the most: Live Sheck Wes, Never Lost, Fuck Everybody

Tracks I like the least: Chippi Chippi, WESPN

Artist: Sheck Wes

Country: United States

Album: Mudboy

Released: 05/10/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Trap

Length: 49:10

Robyn - Honey

Score: 8.5 

The first album in eight years from Swedish artist Robyn is a fantastic exploration of love, loss and bittersweet hope. The record excels thanks to its magnetic production that takes elements of fluffy pop, dark techno and euro-disco and combines them with subtlety and an immense knack for low tension. But Robyn herself is the one who commands the tracks with her usual breathy vocals and formless soul, doing that skillfully and amicaly. Honey defies what pop should be, each song revealing vast amounts of euphoria and cacophony (no matter how settled or tranquilised they might seem), and it ultimately sets the standard for another masterpiece of a singer-songwriter who knows how to tackle emotions both joyfully and cleverly.

Tracks I like the most: Becasue It's In The Music, Between The Lines, Missing U, Ever Again

Tracks I like the least: Send To Robin Immediately

Artist: Robyn

Country: Sweden

Album: Honey

Released: 26/10/2018

Genres: Electropop, Dance-Pop, Synth-Pop, Deep House, Nu-Disco

Length: 40:26

Kurt Vile - Bottle It In

Score: 7.2 

The latest album from American singer-songwriter Kurt Vile is another good example of his skills at mellow storytelling and chilling approach to psychedelic folk-rock. Most of the tracks recount an intricate anecdote and are conveyed with delicacy and strength, though one is left wishing the artist could have taken more risks sonically as well as lyrically. Anyway, Bottle It In is long but not exhausting, though imaginative but not exhuberant.

Tracks I like the most: Bassackwards, Rollin With The Flow, Hysteria

Tracks I like the least: (bottle back)

Artist: Kurt Vile

Country: United States

Album: Bottle It In

Released: 12/10/2018

Genres: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Psychedelic Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Americana, Alt-Country

Length: 78:46