Gem Samways

We chat to slowthai about his plans for what is going to be an incredible 2019

We've seen her sound described as "electronic fairy rock music", and it's actually a pretty decent descriptor.

"I've been learning how to say what I really mean - weed out the bullshit..."

Despite being reticent to conduct interviews, post on social media or even share their music online, Black Midi are one of the most talked-about new bands of 2018.

Musically, imagine a thrilling composite of The Dead Kennedys, Fucked Up and The Birthday Party, all buzzsaw guitars, gravelly vocals and arid, low-slung grooves, with a healthy side-helping of wild-eyed menace.

"Just a bunch of love songs; a whole heap of thoughts and feelings."

And as May's mixtape, BADKID, continues to win over everyone exposed to it, significant success seems within very easy reach.

Much like the work of Rex Orange County - with whom he shares management - Nyquist's songs are the ideal soundtrack to balmy summer days, making the recent release of his debut EP ideally-time

By contrast, No Shame finds the singer-songwriter abandoning that distracting slickness, and exploring personal traumas to create her strongest set since Alright, Still.

Though his stage name was inspired by a former proclivity to mumble, the Northampton MC spits with a quietly-seething aggression redolent of his early-hero Eminem.

"...now I wake up at three in the morning worrying about Mel Gibson and his mental state..."

Fated or not, there's no denying Parks' artistic vision is exceptional, and that it elicits sublime results.

A paranoid darkness seeps into the set, capturing what the band term "the societal insanity of 2016-17".

Essentially, he's the last musician you'd go to for light relief, and yet this new record was designed to "make people happy and spread peace."

Just a fistful of tracks into her career, her talent stands out, not least because it’s not often you find Ireland's answer to Erykah Badu living above a pub in West London.

Three years on, Alloysious Massaquoi, Graham 'G' Hastings and Kayus Bankole are clearly no keener to convert casual listeners by making concessions to their art.

If you're labouring under the misapprehension that all the UK's best rap and R&B originates from the South, it's time for a long overdue reality check.

Danny Wright brings Gemma Samways and Lee Wakefield together to discuss the farewell of a beloved band.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this 23-year-old, Glasgow-based producer cites Aphex Twin, Autechre and Mike Paradinas of Planet Mu as influential figures.

Belle and Sebastian's new EP How To Solve Our Human Problems, depending on your disposition, could be a plea for guidance or a blueprint for change.

Recorded in just ten days, Songs Of Praise is entirely flab-free, and ably captures the visceral energy and the grimy, claustrophobic feel of the five-piece's legendary live performances.