Japanese Breakfast review – a two-way high-wire act
Korean-American songwriter – and bestselling author – Michelle Zauner revels in an expansive set of dreampop and electronica laced with heartbreak and joy
Parklife festival review – northern rave culture clearly in rude health
The in-demand Fred Again eclipses Aitch’s confident homecoming headline set, while the Prodigy chime with Parklife’s rave ethos
Christine and the Queens: Paranoïa, Angels, True Love review – a grief-stricken masterpiece
A howl of despair sublimated into beautiful experimental pop, the artist’s fourth album is his best yet
Four Tet review – Kieran Hebden’s spiritual techno lights up the room
In collaboration with lighting artists Squidsoup, Hebden has found a way to make his wistful dance music seem thrillingly tangible
Overmono: Good Lies review – certified bangers galore
The Russell brothers mix weapons-grade nostalgia with two-step, trap and sped-up vocals in a set full of emotional ambushes
Overmono: Good Lies review – UK rave history is distilled to perfection
Knitting garage with techno and chopped-up vocals, the pounding yet poppy debut album from Monmouth brothers Ed and Tom Russell is masterfully done
Fred again.. and Brian Eno: Secret Life review – dull ambient set reveals both men’s weaknesses
While their signature sonic flotsam and spartan melodies are present, Eno’s contributions prove witlessly unimaginative while his mentee’s are trite
Adjunct Ensemble: Sovereign Bodies/Ritual Taxonomy review – a disorientating act of resistance
Free jazz, opera, hymns and newscasts intermingle in an oddly compelling sonic collage addressing issues of asylum and migration
Nabihah Iqbal: Dreamer review – between dream pop and the dancefloor
Her studio equipment stolen, the London musician began with a more acoustic sound on this second album – but pure electronics are still her strong suit
Bongeziwe Mabandla: amaXesha review – South African singer in his own lane
The singer-songwriter elevates his reimagining of Xhosa folk music with synth-pop hooks and his melismatic voice
Everything But the Girl: Fuse review – still staking out pop’s frontier after 40 years
Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt have absorbed the revolutions in dance and electronic music since their previous album in 1999, and shaped them into melancholic, finely detailed stories
Yaeji: With a Hammer review – pop-facing rage and candour
The Korean-American singer-DJ examines complex questions of heritage on a debut album proper that expands her beatscape to include moments of grace
Tim Hecker: No Highs review – ambient music that reflects our polluted world
Full of alarms, arrhythmic pulses and deep bass, Hecker’s eerie work feels as if it’s bracing for cataclysm – but is nevertheless rich, warm and inviting
Katie Gately: Fawn/Brute review – beguilingly disordered pop
A third album whips up a maelstrom of dislocated voices and junkyard-style percussion as the US musician plots a trajectory from her daughter’s imagined childhood to adolescence
Depeche Mode: Memento Mori review – a life-affirming farewell for Fletch
Andy Fletcher’s two surviving bandmates reflect on mortality on an album of warm, weird electro-pop