The 18 best albums released in August 2021

As we firmly secure ourselves in the second half of 2021, album releases are coming thick and fast. And there's a lot of incredible music out there. From the destructive hatred of Lingua Ignota to the mesmerising alt.pop of Halsey to the blackened aggression of Wolves In The Throne Room to the hazy post-grunge of GLOO, no matter what vibe you're looking for, one of last month's releases is sure to satisfy.

We said: "Without a single blastbeat or power chord in earshot, Kristin has created the heaviest, most intense album you’re likely to hear this year, one that makes a tremendous addition to what is becoming one of the most idiosyncratic bodies of work in modern experimental music."

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We said: "Foxing, however, just keep getting better. Who knows what they’ll sound like by the time the next emo reboot kicks in. But, for now, Draw Down The Moon makes them a champion in their own field."

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We said: "The album’s greatest moment arrives via Phase 90, which promptly establishes itself as the greatest song ever made about, well, losing your place in a novel. ‘Tried to finish a book I was reading, I put it down for too long,’ sings Walter Schreifels over swirling guitars. ‘I got distracted by other things, other dreams, forgot the characters and their names.’ In the hands of a less gifted singer, these words would sound almost trivial. Instead, his concussed delivery freights them with meaning – it doesn’t make you think about all the books you’ve not finished, it leads you to contemplate all the ways life tends to swallow up your time and best intentions. It’s the kind of song that reminds you why Quicksand remain your favourite band’s favourite band."

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We said: "Rites Of Love And Reverence continues the work of 2019’s excellent Valediction, which saw an easing up on the brickwalled aggression and aggro of earlier works into something deceptively charming. The more digestible goth elements are a lure, a way in to a trap of something far darker. The premise might sound a familiar one – especially if you’re a doom fan – but GosT remains an artist with a dark little corner entirely of his own."

Read the full review here.

We said: "Some moments don't explode as well as others, but these are made in the pursuit of ambition, and the refinement of knowing what’s essential and what isn’t comes with greater experience. In the here and now, Trash Boat have made the album they wanted and needed to make."

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We said: "With the exception of their weird ambient 2014 album Celestite, it’s pretty much a given that every Wolves In The Throne Room release is going to be excellent. Primordial Arcana is an example of a band not only matching up to their established greatness, but far exceeding it."

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We said: "At this point Necronautical have transcended black metal and most other notions of genre but there’s still a savage heart of darkness lurking within. Slain In The Spirit is crushingly heavy but it’s also relentlessly melodic, impressively inventive and surprisingly catchy. It’s magnificent, frankly, and one that deserves your attention."

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We said: "You may well get to the end of Deep States unsure what you’ve just been subjected to; you may also discover that this is no barrier to wanting to experience it all again and again."

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We said: "The uninitiated are likely to be overwhelmed by such a glut of material, particularly when it takes so many stylistic detours and about-turns. It’s worth the endeavour, though, because there’s some sublime music here, deep and diverse, which has plenty to offer nerds and newbies alike."

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We said: "Themed around a period of insomnia for singer George Clarke, during which he would see “the morning blue hour for months”, the amazing spaces the band have constructed here share the same shade of woozy, isolated melancholy. Twinkling opener Shellstar (a particularly big nod to Radiohead), is 4am-on-the-motorway-watching-the-world-awake music, drenched in reverb and shimmering guitar lines, as is the vast In Blur. The persistent soft beat of Villain, meanwhile, is almost soothing in its hypnotism, while Great Mass Of Colour is an ’80s British indie single in slightly wonky clothes."

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We said: "Press To MECO’s singular identity remains undimmed. For comparison’s sake, there are elements of the unpredictable playfulness of Don Broco, Sleep Token’s haunting, juxtaposed sweetness, and the sheer unbound brilliance of Biffy Clyro here. But as wondrous closer Hesitation rings away into silence, it's even more clear that you could never really have been listening to anyone else."

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We said: "A defiant swagger shines through the sonic chaos. Disclosure – a one-fingered salute to poisonous detractors back home – injects riot grrrl energy into a cataclysmically sludgy composition. Sleep Of The Righteous wears its Eastern influence like gold thread on a blood-soaked sleeve, while the striking title-track draws palpable claustrophobia from a tense weave of folk, jazz and death metal influence."

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We said: "It’s quintessential British miserabilism filtered through Dinosaur Jr.-esque freak rock, where even running out of rolling papers can be spun into a chuckling back porch strummer, Thomas singing the suburban Rizla blues on the closing track. Despite its self-defeating title, How Not To Be Happy can’t help but put a smile on your face."

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We said: "Hardcore can always benefit from fresh blood, and as well as a new name the band do genuinely seem rejuvenated, dropping one of the scene’s best records this year."

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We said: "Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to The Bronx VI is that it is easily good enough to satisfy long-term supporters who were rather hoping that its creators would return in the form of their Mexican folk music alter egos Mariachi El Bronx. In the wait for that, though, have a taste of this. It’s the stuff of life. It’s world class."

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We said: "Lyrically, they’re confrontational without resorting to one-dimensional slogans, with the school-to-prison narrative of Coming Up Tough and the BLM-inspired White Rags smouldering with an intense intelligence. The latter adds a slow, sludgy groove to its righteous ire and ends up an incendiary stand-out on an album filled with great moments. The Mutt’s Nuts is the absolute dog’s bollocks, and well worth a sniff."

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We said: "Trust Turnstile to upend our expectations. Staggering third album GLOW ON changes the game once again. Upping the experimentation and layering on unprecedented emotional textures, its mixtape-alike 35-minute sprawl is more intricate, engaging and ambitious while feeling simultaneously even further laid back. ‘I wanna celebrate, so I can never feel the cold,’ demands surging centrepiece Holiday, ‘And I can sail with no direction, like it’s a holiday.’"

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We said: "In a world where pop and ‘mainstream music’ is becoming more and more beholden to releasing an endless string of singles, Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is an album best served whole. Sure, it’s packing some infectious, radio-ready choruses, but there is so much more to unpack, with each listen peeling back layers of heartache but also dexterity and adventure, and a much-needed sense of danger that their peers are lacking. As Halsey moves into a new chapter in their own life, so too does their music. And we are here for it."

Read the full review here.

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