Because I make my own rules on this site, I chose to feature 12 albums this month instead of the usual 10. July really brought it and I’m supremely happy about that. Some really wonderful records that I had been greatly anticipating from artists like Jessy Lanza and Land Of Talk paid off, relative newcomers Thanya Iyer and (Liv).e wowed me, and jazzy blasts of brilliant creativity from Kamaal Williams, Lianne La Havas and Keleketla! kept me moving and inspired. This list is airtight and I hope you find something you love here. Favorite songs of the month below the list of 12!

Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death [Partisan]
A person returns to their small hometown after trying to make it the big city, recounting their sorrowful and harrowing tales to deadbeat bar-crawlers.

Jessy Lanza – All The Time [Hyperdub]
An intelligent humanoid made of water can morph its shape and alter its state, diffusing into a gas to pass through walls, hardening into ice to slide down hills, and combining it all to accomplish its goal of being the greatest dancer of all time: this is their story.

Kamaal Williams – Wu Hen [Black Focus]
Navigating the backstreets of a futuristic, sprawling city and hearing the hustle and bustle coming from behind restaurants, residential windows and underground dance clubs.

Keleketla! – Keleketla! [Ahead Of Our Time]
Legions of super-powered psychic humans band together from around the world to stop an incoming meteor from destroying the Earth.

Land of Talk – Indistinct Conversations [Saddle Creek]
A woodsy bike ride at dusk transports the rider into a rare twilight realm plane of existence, and they must connect with their memories to escape before sunrise.

Lianne La Havas – Lianne La Havas [Warner]
The most refreshing beverage on the hottest day of the year grants brief ice powers, cooling down your entire block and popping pockets of air into edible ice crystals.

(Liv).e – Couldn’t Wait To Tell You… [Real Life Records]
Having an unidentifiably large amount of tabs open in your internet browser at 4am, reaching enlightenment.

Madeline Kenney – Sucker’s Lunch [Carpark]
Skipping a stone across a placid lake yields bright, shining ripples after each skip, culminating in a small firework that echoes against the grove of trees surrounding you.

Nicolas Jaar – Telas [Other People]
An underground temple with a primitive, early computer system interwoven with hulking roots and vegetation grinds to life after being dormant for thousands of years and performs searches for lost cosmic artifacts.

Protomartyr – Ultimate Success Today [Domino]
A valiant slalom down a mountain of broken junk powered by a gas-guzzling, smoke-churning hell machine into a pit of flames.

Thanya Iyer – KIND [Topshelf]
A twinkling meadow populated by floating bioluminescent creatures exists in a cave behind a secluded waterfall.

Winter – Endless Space (Between You & I) [Bar/None]
Diving incredible depths into a dark ocean and discovering a vast galaxy of cosmic beings residing in an undersea gardens of unearthly delights.

GR8 SONGS OF JULY::

A LOT of album cuts as usual – I try and avoid pre-album singles, but hey, sometimes they sneak in. That Cut Worms song is still hitting so strong. Hell yeah.

Listen to my running Best Songs of 2020 playlist here!

• Alexia Avina – “Fit Into”
• Animal Collective – “Rain In Cups”
• The Beths – “Jump Rope Gazers”
• Cut Worms – “Sold My Soul”
• Dehd – “Loner”
• Ela Minus – “megapunk”
• Fontaines D.C. – “No”
• Fontaines D.C. – “Televised Mind”
• Holy Wave – “Interloper”
• Jayda G – “Both Of Us (Jayda G Sunset Bliss Mix)”
• Jayda G – “Compelled”
• Jessy Lanza – “Alexander”
• Jessy Lanza – “Anyone Around”
• Jessy Lanza – “Badly”
• Jessy Lanza – “Over and Over”
• Julianna Barwick – “Healing Is A Miracle”
• Kamaal Williams – “Mr. Wu”
• Kamaal Williams – “Pigalle”
• Keleketla! – “Crystallise”
• Keleketla! – “International Love Affair”
• Keleketla! – “Papua Merdeka”
• Kllo – “Still Here”
• Land of Talk – “Footnotes”
• Land of Talk – “Love In 2 Stages”
• Lianne La Havas – “Can’t Fight”
• Lianne La Havas – “Read My Mind”
• Lianne La Havas – “Weird Fishes”
• (Liv).e – “I Been Livin”
• (Liv).e – “Lessons From My Mistakes…But I Lost Your Number”
• (Liv).e – “To Unplug”
• Madeline Kenney – “Jenny”
• Madeline Kenney – “Sucker”
• Madeline Kenney – “White Window Light”
• Protomartyr – “Michigan Hammers”
• Protomartyr – “Processed By The Boys”
• Soko – “Being Sad Is Not A Crime”
• Thanya Iyer – “Bring Back That Which Is Kind To You”
• Thanya Iyer – “Into The Water”
• Thanya Iyer – “Please Don’t Hold Me Hostage For Who I Am, Who I Was”
• Winter – “Bem No Fundo”
• Winter – “Say”
• Winter – “Wherever You Are”