There’s not much going on right now, so you may as well catch up on June’s best albums

Well, not an awful lot has happened in the last few days to distract you from June’s best new music (never mind that we’re solidly into July). Assuming you’re way ahead of us, view this more as a courtesy round-up. Here are our seven favourite albums from the solstice month.

Artist: Deliluh
Title: Fault Lines
Label: Tin Angel
What is it? The forceful yet melancholic evidence of a Toronto DIY art rock quartet’s demise into a European-based two piece, dismantling and rebuilding their sound. 
L&Q says: “Tense, throbbing electronic motifs paired with ominous thumps of percussion immediately nod towards the challenging compositions of Alan Vega and Martin Rev.”

Read Zara Hedderman’s full review here.

Artist: Naima Bock
Title: Giant Palm
Label: Sub Pop
What is it? The former Goat Girl bassist turned soloist’s debut, honouring her Greek and Brazilian heritage as deftly as she nestles back into the South East London community. 
L&Q says: “Amid the multiple stylistic touchstones, the throughline of Giant Palm is Bock’s personality.”

Read Sam Walton’s full review here.

Artist: Yaya Bey
Title: Remember Your North Star
Label: Big Dada
What is it? A label debut of R&B bangers, meditative cosmic jazz and introspective Afrobeat sparked from a single tweet. 
L&Q says: “An exceptional feat of storytelling, as much for the ground it covers as for the depths it shows to be lacking in commercial musical discourse.”

Read Nick Tzara’s full review here.

Artist: Robocobra Quartet
Title: Living Isn’t Easy
Label: First Taste
What is it? Proof that there’s life in this avant-garde, jazz-infected “have you heard of BCNR” post-punk thing yet, courtesy of a Belfast band-come-art collective’s quest for a new sound. 
L&Q says: “Robocobra Quartet seemingly operate in perfect balance: musically and lyrically serious, yet also comedic in their experimentation and droll in their delivery.”

Read Tom Critten’s full review here.

Artist: MUNA
Title: MUNA
Label: Saddest Factory
What is it? A huge second wind of euphoric pop from major label losers to Phoebe Bridgers-signed and co-signed trailblazers. 
L&Q says: “When it blazes into life, its message of bittersweet empowerment couldn’t be more fitting.”

Read Susan Darlington’s full review here.

Artist: CANDY
Title: Heaven Is Here
Label: Relapse
What is it? A label debut breaking the orthodoxies in metal, punk and industrial, redefining what a hardcore record can be. 
L&Q says: “This four-piece is like some sort of energy vampire, sucking vibes from Black Flag, Nitzer Ebb and Throbbing Gristle and spitting them back out as brutal yet oddly tuneful metalcore.”

Read Dominic Haley’s full review here.

Artist: Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals
Title: King Cobra
Label: Phantom Limb
What is it? Defiantly political and DIY innercity hip hop, filtered through Afrofuturism and funkadelica, flitting between anger and lament.
L&Q says: “Like fellow Baltimore experimentalist JPEGMAFIA, Ennals and IK bring us into the cutting room, show their working and emphasise the message above all.”

Read Skye Butchard’s full review here.