20 Exciting June Releases You Won’t Want To Miss

June’s famous for Glastonbury, but there’s fine new music to be heard beyond the fields of Worthy Farm too: there’s a glut of ace new releases scheduled for this month. Here’s 20 we’re particularly hyped to hear…

1
Ho99o9 – ‘Horrors Of 1999’

Ho99o9 – ‘Horrors Of 1999’: Freak-rap duo Ho99o9 (it’s pronounced Horror) stole the show at Brighton’s Great Escape festival last month, and their new EP showcases exactly why: gory, gut-punching rhymes that lift their imagery straight from horror films and slasher flicks and will have you sleeping with the lights on for months. Out June 8.

2
Florence And The Machine – ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’

Florence And The Machine – ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’: On album number three, Florence has curtailed the witchy bombast of ‘Ceremonials’ for something subtler and introspective, teaming up with producer Markus Dravs (Mumford And Sons, Arcade Fire) for an earthier, more restrained sound that still doesn’t scrimp on any of her trademark, joyous magic. Out June 1.

3
Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’

Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’: Finally, the long-awaited debut from The xx’s beat-making genius is here. Cobbled together over the past seven years, Jamie Smith’s first album pays homage to dance’s past masters but is still unmistakably his own creation with a warm, euphoric sound that’s far brighter than the minimalist gloom he peddles with is bandmates for his day job. Out June 1.

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4
Slaves – ‘Are You Satisfied?’

Slaves – ‘Are You Satisfied?’: The ferocious Tunbridge Wells duo’s debut LP, we’re pleased to report, spits in the eye of apathy and delivers the rabble-rousing choruses and violent anthems with gusto, making good on the huge promise of their early singles. Turn it up! Out June 1.

5
Gengahr – ‘A Dream Outside’

Gengahr – ‘A Dream Outside’: North London quarter Gengahr hit the beauty spot on their debut album, combining silky guitars and delicate, tender lyrics for a record that feels like being hit by the first flushes of giddy romance. Out June 15.

6
Girlpool – ‘Before The World Was Big’

Girlpool – ‘Before The World Was Big’: Keep it simple, stupid: it’s a mantra that LA duo Girlpool have been faithfully sticking to since their first explosive self-titled EP, released in November last year. Now they’ve taken that same formula and beefed it up for their debut, with its caustic, stripped-down punk that kicks against the system and ticks with anxious fear. Out June 1.

7
Soak – ‘Before We Forgot How To Dream’

Soak – ‘Before We Forgot How To Dream’: Northern Irish 18-year-old Bridie Monds-Watson shows off all of her wunderkind potential on this stellar debut, composed of delicate sketches and beautiful vignettes taking in everything from teenage kicks (‘Reckless Behaviour’) to problems at home (‘Blud’). Out June 1.

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8
Sharon Van Etten – ‘I Don’t Wanna Let You Down EP’

Sharon Van Etten – ‘I Don’t Wanna Let You Down EP’: Singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten follows-up last year’s devastating ‘Are We There’ album, on which she detailed the end of a turbulent relationship with unflinching candour, with a new mini-release that finds her as dark and raw as ever, and also features a cameo from The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel. Out June 8.

9
Rolo Tomassi – ‘Grievances’

Rolo Tomassi – ‘Grievances’: Siblings Eva and James Spence are the only surviving members of Rolo Tomassi’s original line-up, but it’s still business as usual on new album ‘Grievances’: dizzying mathcore riffs and throat-tearing vocals that’ll have you wincing as hard as ever. Out June 1.

10
The Strypes – ‘Flat Out’

The Strypes – 'Flat Out'

The Strypes – ‘Flat Out’: Irish teenagers The Strypes first put out this stop-gap EP earlier this year in a digital format, but now it’s been re-tooled for a physical release, too – a little taster of what to expect when they release their second full-length album, ‘Little Victories’, next month (July). Out June 1.

11
Muse – ‘Drones’

Muse – ‘Drones’ A concept album about the horrors of modern warfare that also takes in pop stomp, glam rock and Elgar? Yep, that sounds like Muse alright: ‘Drones’ is Matt Bellamy and co at their bravest and most adventurous as they take their well-worn themes of brainwashing, warmongering superpowers, and suppression of the truth in strange new musical directions. When’s it out? June 5.

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12
FFS – ‘FFS’

FFS – ‘FFS’: A meeting of bonkers kindred spirits, here, as Franz Ferdinand join forces with their heroes and pop experimentalists Sparks for a mammoth collaborative project that’s destined to be one of the year’s oddest, strangest albums. Out June 8.

13
Hudson Mohawke – ‘Lantern’

Hudson Mohawke – ‘Lantern’: He’s one of Kanye West’s go-to-producers, but Hudson Mohawke has been working on his own stuff, too. ‘Lantern’ finds the Scottish musician working with Antony Hegarty, Miguel and Jhené Aiko on his first full-length album since 2009’s ‘Butter’. Out June 16.

14
Donald Cumming – ‘Out Calls Only’

Donald Cumming – 'Out Calls Only'

Donald Cumming – ‘Out Calls Only’: What will Donald Cumming do now New York’s The Virgins are no more? We’ll find out on June 16 when the former frontman pops his solo cherry with his debut album ‘Out Calls Only’. Out June 16.

15
Everything Everything – ‘Get To Heaven’

Everything Everything – ‘Get To Heaven’: “I wanted to make something that makes you get angry and want to do something about it, because that’s how I was feeling,” Everything Everything frontman Jonathan Higgs told NME earlier this year. ‘Get To Heaven’, then, finds the Manchester band tapping into uncomfortable themes on their most strident album yet. Out June 15.

16
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’

Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’: The one we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. London’s finest Wolf Alice finally release their debut LP this month, with singer Ellie Roswell promising: “It’s 100 percent not a grunge record. It’s a much braver record than that.” Colour us excited. Out June 22.

17
Bully – ‘Feels Like’

Bully – 'Feels Like'

Bully – ‘Feels Like’: Bully’s Alicia Bognanno spent the summer of 2011 as an intern at renowned producer Steve Albini’s studio, but she and her Nashville bandmates don’t need hand-outs or endorsements from anyone else: their debut EP of scabrous, sinewy punk is already a sleeper candidate for being one of the year’s finest, too. Out June 29.

18
Leon Bridges – ‘Coming Home’

Leon Bridges – ‘Coming Home’: Picked out as one of NME’s artists to watch in 2015 at the start of the year, the Texas soul singer will prove why all the fuss was warranted this month with his slinky, silky debut LP. “There’s a couple of ballads in there and some rock’n’roll tune,” he says. “Everything is very subtle – it’s just like how they did it back in the day.” Out June 22.

19
La Priest –’Inji’

La Priest –’Inji’: Late Of The Pier frontman Sam Dust has undergone a radical reinvention since leaving his former band. The singer’s first solo album, ‘Inji’, is a masterclass in escapist and experimental pop that hums with technicolor beauty. “I’d like my songs to have an effect on people,” he says. “I hope it encourages them to get carried away with their imagination.” Out June 29.

20
Refused – ‘Freedom’

Refused – 'Freedom'

Refused – ‘Freedom’: Swedish hardcore-punk outfit the Refused return with their first album since 1998’s ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come’, but will a 17-year hiatus have dimmed their fury? Frontman Dennis Lyxzén doesn’t think so. “This is one of the most radical things we’ve ever done, both musically and lyrically,” he’s said of their new material. Out June 30.

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