April and May have been busy months in the music world with new albums being dropped pretty consistently throughout. After finishing my uni assignments (yay!) there’s been little left to do than to sit back and enjoy a couple of these albums in their entirety. After much deliberation, my top three album picks for the months of April and May are, in no particular order…
Chance the Rapper: Coloring Book
Coloring Book is the third album from twenty-two year old, Chance the Rapper, and it definitely did not disappoint. With features from Kanye West, Ty Dolla Sign, T-Pain and many more, his album offers a huge variety of sounds channeling gospel, pop, funk and soul music. “Angels” will make you want to dance to the grooviest steel drums; “How Great” mixes a gritty rap verse with a traditional church choir; “Blessings” a reprise, features group harmonies by Ty Dolla Sign, Raury and BJ the Chicago Kid to close the album in the most soulful and uplifting way. The entire album defies traditional hip-hop norms to create powerful, personal, and spiritually centered tracks that push the boundaries of the genre for the sake of beautiful music and a really good time.
James Blake: The Colour in Anything
James Blake’s new release, The Colour in Anything, is an album for a rainy day. With the combination of soothing electronics and Blake’s fragile and metallic voice, the album took about three of its 76 minutes to put me in a melancholy mood. Despite the overly-emosh vibes and the fact that you really don’t want to listen to this before going out, I loved almost every song on the album. Although “I Need a Forest Fire” drew me in with the mesmerizing addition of Bon Iver, “Meet You in a Maze” was undoubtedly one of my favourites, abandoning the electronics to sing a multifaceted acapella that is almost hypnotizing in its simplicity. The Colour in Anything is definitely an album to fall asleep to, in a good way.
Ariana Grande: Dangerous Woman
Ariana Grande’s fourth studio album, Dangerous Woman, has been out for just over 24 hours now, and on repeat in my room for a good ten of those. Ariana’s insane vocal range and jaw dropping voice doesn’t disappoint in this album, which shows a much more mature side of the twenty-two year old pop singer. With a total of fifteen tracks and the guest appearance of artists such as Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Macy Gray, Dangerous Woman is unsurprisingly full of catchy songs that’ll make you want to get up and dance pretty terribly. “Side to Side” and “Leave me Lonely” are my two favourite songs from the album that will definitely be stuck in my head for the next week (or two).