This summer may have let us down, but thankfully, there are a whole bunch of new releases set to soundtrack hot girl autumn.
Drake - Certified Lover Boy
Unless you’ve been calling the netherside of a rock your home for the past 24 hours, you’ll have probably noticed that Drake has just dropped his long awaited album (it’s over a year late), Certified Lover Boy.
There’s a few bangers (Way 2 Sexy featuring Future and Young Thug is the biggest party starter), but if you’re going to listen to one song, make it Fountains, a real standout track featuring Nigerian singer Tems. It’s a sultry, muted R&B moment. In the smoothest of tones, Tems sings, ‘I want to dance tonight / It’s in the air tonight’ and we couldn’t agree more.
By this point, Drake knows exactly what the people want; highly meme-able content. The album cover might look like twelve pregnant emojis wearing different jumpers, but it’s actually an original artwork by Damien Hirst. While Twitter memes it into infinity, Lil Nas X - who just posted a picture of himself pregnant to promote album Montero (out 17 Sep) knew exactly what to do..
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
One of the most underrated rappers on the planet has had the bad luck of releasing an album the same day as one of the biggest rappers on the planet (see above).
In a nineteen-track album that moves from gorgeous neo-soul moments to late noughties hip-hop, Simz proves she’s more than able to go against Drake. With rousing, orchestral-backed songs (Introvert is the most powerful and moving introduction to an album we’ve heard in a long time) and unexpectedly ethereal interludes featuring The Crown’s Emma Corin, Simz confronts everything from her relationships with her family to the impacts of systemic racism. Go listen, right now.
Lady Gaga - Dawn of Chromatica
Last month Gaga confirmed that a remix album was in the work with a brilliantly worded tweet. "The Chromatica remix album is so f*cking fuego music is life" she said. Turns out, it was no hyperbole. The Chromatica album was a real love letter to pop and dance music, and one which got us through the peak of pandemic. We may have been locked in our flats, but the album was an urgent call to turn dining rooms into dancefloors, kitchens into clubs.
Along with a whole host of collaborators, Gaga has revisited her pandemic album. Dawn of Chromatic features remixes from the likes of pop princess Ariana Grande, K-pop juggernauts Blackpink and star on the rise, Rina Sawayama. It's mood-lifting, party-starting and in the words of Gaga, 'f*cking Fuego!'