SOUND JUDGEMENT

The latest album releases reviewed

PARADISE AGAIN Swedish House Mafia HHHHI

After dominating commercial house music throughout the 2010s, the Scandinavian trio returns with a full-length debut.

Opening tracks Time and Heaven Takes You Home sees the DJ supergroup – Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso – utilise guest female vocals to great effect, creating modern dance tracks tailored for the dancefloor.

Jacob’s Note is a 60-second operatic piano piece that acts as a prelude to single Moth To A Flame, featuring vocals from Canadian R&B superstar The Weeknd that blend smoothly with the group’s swirling synths.

The record is heavier at times, evident in the sinisteryet-epic Mafia and club track Redlight, featuring Sting and sampling Roxanne by The Police. Paradise Again sees Swedish House Mafia take a more experimental approach.

HOPE IS A DRUG CHARLIE SIMPSON HHHII

The varied career of the former

Busted frontman and Fightstar rocker continues with a third solo album, more than a decade on from his first.

It sticks to a tried and tested “former boy band” template, applying synths and vocoder to a set of intimate, emotional lyrics. It improves as it goes on, starting with the achingly vulnerable Twice in the middle of its 10-track running order.

I See You is tender and sweet, punctuated by the first appearance of a jarring falsetto, while Anything For Love ploughs a similar furrow and is perhaps the album’s most touching moment.

(WATCH MY MOVES) Kurt Vile HHHHI

Slacker king

Kurt Vile is back, parading his lo-fi skills on this charming new album.

His ninth studio album, it was largely made at his new home studio, taking Vile back to his self-produced CD-R roots, though The Violators recorded some tracks in LA.

It’s packed with frazzled melodies and a summery feel that doesn’t always apply to the themes.