When the chips are down, music becomes our life raft, buoying us through all the insecurity and instability with songs that empathise, galvanise, satirise or even trivialise. Music is the warm blanket, to wrap you up and steal you away, even if it's just for a moment.

And so to 2021 which, so far, has bore nothing short of a goddamn goldmine of new albums. In no particular order here are our favourites.

Music played
Arlo Parks - Caroline
Mogwai - Midnight Fit
Dry Cleaning - Unsmart Lady
Japanese Breakfast - Posing In Bondage
Serpentwithfeet - Fellowship
BICEP - Atlas
Sleaford Mods - Elocution
Cassandra Jenkins - Hard Drive
Black Country, New Road - Sunglasses
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

Browse all Albums of the Year So Far 2021

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