While Skepta was the grime artist who dominated in a fruitful 2016 for the genre, perhaps 2017 will be the year of his fellow scene pioneer Wiley. He claims his new album Godfather, out today, will be his last, but there’s nothing elegiac about brash new songs such as Speaker Box.
The soulful voice of singer-producer Christopher Taylor, who trades as SOHN, makes a welcome return on a new album, Rennen, out today. The darkly minimal highlight Hard Liquor has a new video on YouTube.
The blizzard of hype surrounding La La Land, the new musical out today, should send cinemagoers scurrying to pick up the soundtrack. The signature song, John Legend’s Start a Fire, is more modern-sounding than the film’s retro feel would suggest, and is on streaming services now.
Reading shoegaze band Slowdive reformed in 2014 but haven’t released any music in almost 27 years. Now there’s a powerful new song, Star Roving, which hopefully hints at a fourth album before too long.
David Bowie’s death a year ago hasn’t put a stop to the music just yet. A new EP, No Plan, featuring four of his songs from the musical Lazarus, appeared on streaming and download services on what would have been his birthday. The title track has a video on YouTube too.