Estelle - All Of Me

You may remember Estelle from her hit American Boy with Kanye West a few years back. New album All Of  Me includes further collaborations with the likes of Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Janelle Monáe and Rick Ross, but none match the catchiness of that Kanye collab, and the album is rather underwhelming. Whilst it's hip hop infused neo-soul songs are competent, there are no obvious hits and the spoken-word interludes are grating. Pleasant enough, but nothing to write home about.

Rating: 6/10

Top Tracks: Thank You, Speak Ya Mind, Break My Heart

Release Date: 28 February 2012

Die Antwoord - Ten$ion

It's been an interesting time for Die Antwoord since the release of their debut album $O$. They achieved international recognition, were signed to Interscope Records only to be released by the label for not being commercial enough, and Yolandi Vi$$er was offered, and turned down, the role of Lisbeth Salander in the big-budget films of the Stieg Larsson 'The Girl Who...' trilogy of books. Ten$ion, the group's second album, is released on their own Zef label, and is expected to capitalise on the success of the debut. The album is certainly a step up from $O$; Ninja's rapping is still excellent, as it was on $O$, but the production on this album is better and Yolandi does a lot more rapping than before, and does it very well. These improvements make Ten$ion more rounded than it's predecessor, but don't worry that it's overly different; it's not - if you enjoyed $O$ you will love this - it's just better.

Rating: 8/10
Top Tracks: I Fink U Freeky, Hey Sexy, Fatty Boom Boom, So What?

Release Date: 7 February 2012

Goldfrapp - The Singles

Goldfrapp have been around for 12 years but have never gained the mainstream success their music deserves. Maybe it's because they confused people with their genre-shifting, maybe it's because they are too arty and 'weird' for people. One thing it can't be due to is a lack of quality; The Singles, a compilation of the duo's biggest tracks, illustrates that admirably. The songs vary in style, as their albums have, from trip-hoppy mood music to scuzzy electro-pop to folky semi-acoustic numbers. What they do have in common is that they are all excellent. There are 12 previous singles and two new tracks, and they are uniformly brilliant. If you have never heard or heard of Goldfrapp, do yourself a favour and buy this album. You won't regret it.

Rating: 9/10
Top Tracks: Ooh La La, Strict Machine, Train, Rocket


Release Date: 7 February 2012

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Lana Del Rey is a product of modern times: Born To Die is her debut major label album, but before it had even been released, she had been hyped to the heavens in the blogosphere after a couple of YouTube videos, and then ripped to shreds by those same people when they found out she wasn't "authentic", ie. she has had plastic surgery, has a rich father and, according to the detractors, has been completely created by marketing puppet-masters. More productive would be to judge her actual music, and it's really very good - noirish torch songs with sultry vocals performed to an atmospheric backdrop reminiscent of trip-hop icons Portishead. These are pop songs, but on the dark side, and by and large they are excellent. And that should be all that matters.

Rating: 7/10
Top Tracks: Blue Jeans, Video Games, National Anthem, Dark Paradise

Release Date: 31 January 2012