1 Arca
The Venezuela-born, London-based composer’s third album was his most personal yet, connecting his avant-garde electronica with intimate, improvised lyrics. His ambition? To create a “healing balm that can ooze out from the heart in the face of strife or confusion or loss”.
Roundhouse, NW1, 28 April
2 Migos & Lil Yachty
Fresh from their recent collaboration – the dark, minimalist, profanity-laden Peek a Boo – the modern rap titans unite in the capital for a double hit of high-octane entertainment. The showcase for these digital-age deities is hosted by Quality Control Music, the Atlanta label at the forefront of the new wave of hip-hop.
O2 Academy Brixton, SW9, 25-26 April
3 Dream Wife
Winner of the best band-formation story this week goes to this Brit-Icelandic new wave trio: forming first as a fictional girl band at art school, they went on to make a Spinal Tap-like mockumentary about their group and performed at the opening of an exhibition. All of which went so well they decided to pursue their fantasy project – all skewered guitar pop and groovy gutter funk – for real.
The Dome, NW5, 27 April; touring to 29 April
4 Blanck Mass
It doesn’t get more raw than the latest project by Fuck Buttons’s Benjamin John Power. His third solo album is inspired by a year “teeming with anger, violence, confusion and frustration”. Expect an absence of sunny harmony and a lot of hyper-modernist eruptions of jackhammer beats.
Brighton, 26 April; London, 27 April; Leeds, 28 April; touring to 4 May
5 Rejjie Snow
This Dublin MC’s soporific, MF Doom-inspired tunes may befit the hip-hop coming from the other side of the Atlantic, but his success is based on local grassroots graft, selling out tours with very little media exposure.
Manchester, 22 April; Bristol, 23 April; Nottingham, 24 April; Leeds, 25 April; Brighton, 26 April; London, 27 April; touring to 29 April
