Lana Del Rey – Honeymoon (Interscope/Universal)
Why you should listen: Lana Del Rey, with her breathy alto singing and highly stylised image, returns with a third album steeped in Hollywood glamour. It has the combination of hip-hop, strings and melancholy pop that first earned her fame in 2011.
It might not be for you if … You maintain that Del Rey is little more than a well-dressed model who sings morosely about love.
What we said: “With a little chopped-and-screwed modernity, hints of jazz and Ennio Morricone-like soundscapes, there’s a timelessness to Honeymoon,” wrote Harriet Gibsone in the Guardian. Kitty Empire called the album a 12-song “long crystalline glide” in her Observer review.
Score: 4/5
David Gilmour – Rattle That Lock (Columbia)
Why you should listen: The Pink Floyd guitarist goes big, making his mark on a fourth album filled with grandiose guitars and a few cameos from Jools Holland, David Crosby and Graham Nash.
It might not be for you if … You’re a Floyd fan, sure, but not sold on all this solo malarkey.
What we said: “As the primary architect of Floyd’s sweeping soundscapes, Gilmour has transposed them on to 10 shorter but equally elegiac, very beautiful songs, half of them written with his wife, the novelist Polly Samson,” wrote Caroline Sullivan, in the Guardian.
Score: 4/5
Empress Of – Me (XL/Terrible)
Why you should listen: Brooklyn-based electropop producer Lorely Rodriguez first appeared in 2012, anonymously releasing one-minute snippets of songs. Her debut LP makes good on the bare bones of those ideas, twitching through deconstructed and icy synthpop while tackling issues from insecurity to street harassment.
It might not be for you if … You have been waiting for the slow death of so-called hipster R&B since 2012.
What we said: “Me is packed with alluring quirks, from the attitudinal squelch of Water Water, a stompy house track set to the sound of someone running through puddles, to the ticking clock that forms the beat for the loneliness-spiked Icon,” wrote Kate Hutchinson in the Guardian.
Score: 4/5
Little Simz – A Curious Tale of Trials and Persons (Age 101)
Why you should listen: The 21-year-old London rapper uses the blistering speed of her rhymes to full effect on this debut, exploring her fascination with fame while serving up a healthy helping of bravado.
It might not be for you if … you’re not a fan of UK rap.
What we said: “It’s clear that Simz wants to put her talents as an MC to some use beyond braggadocio; at some points she is reminiscent of Lauryn Hill, at other times Eminem, or even Drake,” wrote Paul MacInnes in the Guardian.
Score: 3/5
Keith Richards – Crosseyed Heart (Virgin EMI)
Why you should listen: We haven’t had a solo album from Keith Richards in more than 20 years, and Crosseyed Heart offers up as much wry humour, bluesy guitar and trademark swing as fans would hope to hear.
It might not be for you if … You wish the Stones would just stick to being in a band, and leave their solo projects alone.
What we said: “A terrific album, worthy of one of rock’s founding fathers,” wrote Dave Simpson in the Guardian.
Score: 4/5
Elsewhere this week, there’s new music from Pennsylvania rapper Mac Miller, and pop shocker Peaches. Last week, when the five albums column was off, we saw a cracking new album from The Libertines, a heavy one from indie band Low, some beautifully sung R&B from newcomer Kwabs, a fair return for Duran Duran and Slayer living up to their name. What are you looking forward to hearing this week?
