Back in stock: Hip Hop/R&B

Review: Despite selling out instantly on first press back in November 2018, it is only now that Nujabes' first solo album "Metaphorical Music" makes it to wax once more. This most spiritual of hip hop records - first released in 2003 - brings together downtempo, trip hop, instrumental, classic era boom bap, neo soul and funk into an accomplished collection of tunes that pack a dance floor as well as heartfelt punch. The album showcases some of the best music that the hip hop genre is capable of. Do not miss this, as it won't be around for long.

Review: Brittney Denise Parks aka Sudan Archives has released some of the most fascinating music of the last couple of years. What makes it so unique is Parks' voice, which tumbles down to melancholic depths or soars to uplifting highs. On this new album, though, she makes more of her own virtuoso violin playing, stretching the sounds in all manner of wonderful directions, couching her voice in lush sonic layers. There is an orchestral, chamber music feel to this most grandiose of works, and it is one that feels rich, poignant and moving from start to finish. Smart, inventive, but soulful, it might be one of the albums of the year.

Review: Beneath the grit and, err, grime of UK MC output, there's a highly fertile and imaginative artsy scene making underground stars in cities like London and Manchester. Names like Blackhaine, Icebox Violet, and Novelist have long-since flown flags - to various extents - for experimental tracks that marry rhymes, poetry, abstract musicality and heavy broken beats.

Coby Sey is another for that list, and like the rest, as he explains on 'Permeated Secrets', he "don't care if you like my work". Simply put, these sounds aren't for everyone, they were never intended to be. Instead, they showcase a staunchly British take on urban observation, packed with melancholy, hints of rave, and a love for exploring outsider ends of established art forms - often winding up in places few have been before.

Review: Let the speculation begin, because here we have a new EP from an artist about which we know nothing on a similarly anonymous new label. T Recs has pressed up these two house cuts on alluring green wax and riddled them with big samples. The first will be familiar to fans of Donald Glover's 'This Is America' which has the vocal samples and crowd chants layered into a chunky tribal house cut. On the flip is a similar tune with tweaked vocals. Both will bring big reactions to the club.