Bon Iver straddles stark indie-folk and poppy R&B while PinkPantheress makes an unarguable case for going out out as we revisit six months of the music you mustn’t miss
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Yazz Ahmed’s Bahraini heritage has always been key to her take on jazz: from the start, the London-based trumpeter/flugelhornist has deployed Arabic quarter-tone scales (she has a specially made flugelhorn to play them) and Middle Eastern percussion. But on her fourth album, it’s more pronounced than ever: the tracks are rooted in Bahraini wedding poems and in fijiri, the songs sung by pearl fishers around the Persian Gulf. The results are enthralling: soloing that feels alternately yearning and exuberant, rich and emotive melodies, the sound – big on vibraphone and electric piano – regularly strafed with fizzing electronics. It’s an album to lose yourself in. Alexis Petridis
A family band who have spent the best part of 40 years honing their God-fearing blend of gospel, funk, disco, southern soul and R&B, Annie and the Caldwells were once Mississippi’s best-kept secret. They break cover with an album recorded live (although without an audience) in a church in their home town of West Point. You don’t have to share the Caldwells’ faith to find the songs on Can’t Lose My (Soul) life-affirming, their message of hope both infectious and timely. This music is tough, powerful and tightly played, but still raw, blessed with incredible vocals and almost telepathic interplay between the musicians. Read the full review. AP
