SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE BEST ALBUMS FROM THE PAST 12 MONTHS

CARDI B

INVASION OF PRIVACY (released April 5) ★★★★★ ALL hail Cardi B, who finally dropped her debut album after a wait that seemed painful to many fans.

Invasion Of Privacy, the 25-yearold rapper’s first full LP following her smash-hit debut single Bodak Yellow in 2017, was well and truly worth the wait. It’s a glittering example of female empowerment, sex appeal and pure attitude combined with the artistry of old-school hip hop.

The record is brimming with top-notch collaborations, with Chance The Rapper, SZA and Migos among those taking part.

IDLES

JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE (released August 31) ★★★★★ BRISTOL punk rock outfit Idles follow up their acclaimed debut Brutalism with a ferocious attack on toxic masculinity, racism and television’s enforcement of a negative body image.

Singer Joe Talbot’s acerbic lyrics make you laugh and think in equal measure. Drummer Jon Beavis’ ominous stick work on opener Colossus are reminiscent of a train chugging down a track that’s about to run you over. When the break comes the album bursts into life as Talbot screams “I put homophobes in coffins”.

Idles succeed in expressing a delicate vulnerability through powerful and savage means.

CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS

CHRIS (released September 21) ★★★★★ WHEN Heloise Letissier delivered Chris to her record label, she produced not only a collection of vividly imagined and brilliantly captured songs of self-discovery but also a 15-page dossier that portrayed her physical emancipation as she embraces her androgynous, non-binary self.

Chris is a fresh shell for Letissier and an unshackled confidence streams through the record – the basslines funkier, lyrics punchier, the full package strikingly sensuous. Girlfriend, the glitterball-disco single, has Chris candidly pursuing flings above commitment, and is one of several songs that recall peak-period Michael Jackson.