AtoZ

Save for a solitary solo single in 1987, this is Clare Grogan’s first new material in nearly 40 years, a funky, uptempo disco collaboration with husband (and star producer) Stephen Lironi. There are nods to Altered Images’ post-punk roots – the jangly, anthemic 6/8 stomp of “Your Life Is Mine”, the New Order-style electropop of “Double Reflection”, the baggy indie-dance of “Beautiful Thing” (co-written with Bobby “Bluebell” Hodgens) – but the default setting is dancefloor hedonism with an air of wistful nostalgia. Best of all are the two Bernard Butler co-writes, “Glitter Ball” and “Home”, which soundlike Saint Etienne at their most ecstatic.

JOHN LEWIS

Hit a DJ night in Mexico City and be met with the sounds of historical regional cumbia, a rhythmic form of traditional music from Mexico and Latin America now prized by the city’s heads. Luckily, the best of the sound isn’t relegated to dusty 45s. Chicago’s Así Así, lead by CDMX native Fernando de Buen, make an excellent version that adds reverb and synth but remains loyal to the percussion-driven core of the form. It’s part of the band’s debut album, which combines indie rock with more traditional sounds. The stirring, heart-on-sleeve Spanish-language vocals are the icing on the cake. ERIN OSMON

Two decades ago, Brooklyn DJ and producer Morgan Geist enlisted his Julliard-trained cellist friend Kelley Polar to contribute strings to the first Metro Area album, a still-stunning fusion of futuristic house, Paradise Garage-era disco and electro-pop. Here the pair get close to matching that 2002 milestone with their similarly sumptuous debut as Au Suisse, which includes guest contributions by Caribou’s Dan Snaith and Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan. “Savage” and “Maps” could be John Foxx’s Ultravox remixed by Larry Levan, the songs’ harder synth and post-punk textures continually softened by Polar’s emotive vocals and Geist’s love of warm, soulful grooves. JASON ANDERSON

One of the guitarists in Canadian metal group BIG|BRAVE, Mat Ball takes a massive stride forward on Amplified Guitar. Part of this album’s power is its simplicity – on these one-take, solo guitar performances, Ball doesn’t try to do too much. But what he does, and exceptionally well with it, is work the parameters of the interface between his guitar and amplifiers. There’s deep physicality to the playing here, but also, at times, a lush melancholy, and a smart, poetic capacity to embrace feedback and resonance, sculpturally so. JON DALE

For Natalie Beridze, a songwriter and producer from Tbilisi, Georgia, Of Which One Knows could well be diaristic – collated from recordings made between 2007 and 2021, it’s certainly a wide-ranging selection, spanning ghostly choral vocals on “Ash Wednesday”, meandering ambient electronica on “Sio”, and the haunted worlds of drone in “Drift”. She’s long been an understated creative force, but something about Of Which One Knows feels strangely consummate: she’s captured her core artistic being here, poised yet brittle. JON DALE

The legend of the Blue Orchids rests on the transcendent surrealism of their 1982 debut album, , their formation out of the first lineup of The Fall, and their time as Nico’s backing band. But their most significant work is being done in might be their best yet, a cavalcade of songs that juxtapose the rough energy of ’60s garage and the chime and clang of post-punk, Bramah calling over chintzy organ, hymning the “joyous city”.